250 Tips Pour Into Police in Murder Investigation of Constantine Girl

by Leanne Tokars (ltokars@wsbt.com)

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Jodi Parrack Constantine cemetery visitation memorial

A memorial has been left at the Constantine, Mich. cemetery where 11-year-old Jodi Parrack's body was found Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

(WSBT) Murder in a small town has people on edge and police looking for the person who killed an 11-year-old girl.

Jodi Parrack's mother found her daughter's body in a cemetery near their home in Constantine, Mich. Thursday.

Police say she reported Jodi missing hours earlier when the girl didn't make it home from a friend's house.

Police say they're looking at a lot of evidence collected at the cemetery, and they're plowing through tips, contacting people and doing interviews.

Yet, what remains is an almost six-hour block of time no one can account for.

Family and friends attended a visitation for Parrack Monday, and at the cemetery where her body was found a memorial has grown.

“I can't imagine going through this. I don't know, it's such a nice small community — you don't expect something like this to happen,” said Mary Bullock, who lives in Constantine.

The question now in this quiet town is what happened between 4:45 p.m. Thursday when Jodi left her friend's house on her bike and 10:30 p.m. when she was found in the cemetery dead.

“I don't know whether the answer is going to come from children or adults who know the person or just blind luck. I don't know, but I'm confident it's going to happen,” said Constantine Police Chief Mark Honeysett.

Police say they've gotten 250 tips through phone calls and from officers going door to door.

“The one that we haven't gotten yet – ‘Yeah we saw Jodi at such and such a time after the time she was last seen.’ That's the one thing that we're really looking for right now,” explained Honeysett.

Leaving officials at Riverside Elementary School where Jodi was a fifth grader reminding their students about keeping safe.

“My little stepson is the same age as the little girl. He was in the same grade and at the school they're really shaken up, and they have extra counselors in every day. It's really scary,” Bullock said.

Police still aren't saying how she died, but they continue to warn parents to keep a close eye on their children.

They're also still looking for any information, especially on a suspicious light colored van or dark pick up truck seen in the area.

Jodi Parrack’s funeral is Tuesday morning at 11 at Trinity Missionary Church. Her burial will follow in White Pigeon.

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