GPS Data From LandAirSea Tracking Device Aids Murder Investigation of 12-Year Old Girl
Written by LandAirSea
Monday, 31 March 2008
CARY, Ill., March 31 - The following press release is being issued by LandAirSea:
What appeared to be a tragic accident in the early hours of July 8th, 2007, turned into possible murder as the LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key provided unprecedented evidence for the Chenango County Sheriff's Department. George Ford Jr., 42, of Piscataway, N.J., told police he was taking their babysitter, 12-year old Shyanne Somers, home the night of July 7th but took a detour to show her some horses. He then claimed that he accidentally ran her over as he turned his truck around on a rural road in central New York.
Chenango County Sheriff Thomas Loughren said that Ford's routes of travel, times and speed were all recorded by the LandAirSea (http://www.landairsea.com/) GPS Tracking Key that Ford's wife had installed a few days earlier because she suspected he was having an affair. "Wherever he drove; the locations, the roads, the times, the speed -- it's all in there," Loughren said in an interview.
Without the GPS Tracking Key evidence, George Ford Jr. would have been charged with only reckless endangerment. Once the Sheriff's Department detectives found the tracking device, a different story emerged.
The sheriff said the GPS tracking data proves that Ford was with the girl for three hours before he killed her. George Ford claimed that the accident occurred around midnight. Investigators said the GPS Tracking Key shows the truck was not at the location where she was killed until 3:20 a.m. They said Ford didn't take the girl to see horses, but instead drove around other roads and spent more than three hours with her behind an abandoned house.
Police said Ford told them he didn't take Shyanne to a hospital for nearly six hours because he was in shock, then he got lost. The GPS Tracking Key showed Ford drove around with the girl's body for a while, passing the hospital and traveling around the city before taking her there.
"This evidence is really unusual in a homicide case," Loughren said. "But in this particular case, it's crucial. Without this evidence from the GPS Tracking Key, we would have no case."
About LandAirSea:
Headquartered in Cary, IL, LandAirSea has been a pioneer in GPS-based surveillance technology since 1994. Government, consumer, and businesses have selected LandAirSea as the product of choice based upon superior design, ease of use, and quality customer service.
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