HARALSON COUNTY, Ga. — Searchers were out in Haralson County on Thursday, looking for a woman who has been missing since early June. A person of interest in her disappearance turned himself in Wednesday, but he is not talking, officials said.
[READ MORE: Georgia mother vanishes, hasn't been seen in 20 days]
Jeffrey Odom, a career criminal, according to sheriff’s investigators, is not saying a word, so investigators are not getting any help in finding Jessica Earl.
Sheriff’s Office deputies in Haralson and Paulding counties have been searching for Earl since she vanished from a house along Little Circle on June 8 after arguing with Odom, the man she'd been dating.
“I can’t even tell you. I can’t even put into words how hard this has been for all of us,” said Earl's mother, Sandy King.
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On Wednesday, in a stunning turn of events, the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office got an anonymous tip.
The wanted man went to a friend’s house, who refused to harbor a fugitive and had Odom turn himself in. Odom, on the run for weeks, had been bitten on the leg by a snake and had an infection.
Odom was taken to a hospital and then booked into jail on outstanding charges. He had two bench warrants for receiving stolen property.
The career criminal was also wanted for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Investigator Heather Mecillas was hopeful Odom would offer up where Earl is, but that hope faded fast.
“Nothing from him. He lawyered up immediately,” Mecillas said.
"If he was not guilty, I wish he would let us know something because her family needs answers," another investigator told Channel 2 Action News.
They also hit a dead-end with a cellphone that investigators initially thought belonged to Earl. Investigators said the Secret Service was able to get into the phone, but discovered it was not hers.
“We will not stop looking until we find her and we bring her home,” King said.
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