People Magazine investigates the murder of Jessica Lunsford

On the night of February 23, 2005, Jessica Lunsford got under the covers at bedtime – wearing a pink nightgown and holding her stuffed purple dolphin under her arm – and fell asleep.

Jessica was never seen alive again.

The 9-year-old disappeared in the middle of the night from the home in Homosassa, Florida, where she had lived for a year with her father, Mark Lunsford, then 41, and her grandparents.

Authorities searched for the third-grader for nearly a month before finding her body in a shallow grave, wrapped in a plastic bag, just 150 yards from her home.

Her heartbreaking murder is the focus of the season premiere of People Magazine investigates on Monday, October 28th.

The episode, titled “The Boogeyman,” airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery/ID and streams on Max. She describes what happened that night, the exhaustive search for Jessica – and how the authorities finally caught her sadistic killer.

There are back-to-back episodes on Monday nights, with the episode about the murder of reporter Sarah Greenhalgh, “A Story to Die For,” following the episode about Jessica's murder, and on Monday, October 28 at 9/10. is broadcast.

In the days following Jessica's disappearance, search and rescue teams searched Citrus County for any sign of the little girl.

On March 5, police suspended search and rescue operations to focus resources on following up phone tips and other important leads.

During their investigation, they learned of a man named John Couey, then 46, who had been living in a mobile home across the street from the Lunsfords when Jessica disappeared.

In an exclusive clip from the episode, retired Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey Dawsey talks about how they started tracking Couey as a suspect.

“One of the lead roles came from Maddie Secord, Couey’s niece,” says Dawsey.

“Maddie Secord came in because she knew John Couey’s history of sexually assaulting people. She told us that Couey lived in the house across the street from Jessica Lunsford, but no one knew.”

The house belonged to Dorothy Dixon, Couey's sister, who was among the people police questioned when they began canvassing the neighborhood. But when police came to her home, they were only allowed into certain parts of the house – which seemed worrying after they learned of Couey's past.

“Did we actually go into that house and maybe the child was there and we missed him?” Dawsey says.

On March 17, 2005, police arrested Couey, who slipped into the Lunsfords' home through the unlocked front door, placed his hand over Jessica's mouth and led her to the trailer where he had been staying.

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Authorities don't know how long Jessica lived after her abduction, but they say he raped her before burying her alive.

Authorities said he was a convicted sex offender who had not registered his new address, which was required by law.

He was sentenced to death in March 2007 for Jessica's murder.

He died of natural causes in 2009.

People Magazine Investigates: The Boogeymanthe season premiere, airs Monday, October 28th at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery/ID and streams on Max. This episode is immediately followed by another People Magazine investigates Episode “A Story to Die For,” about the murder of reporter Sarah Greenhalgh, airing at 10/9c.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.