FedEx driver is arrested in the kidnapping and killing

FedEx driver: According to police, a FedEx driver was arrested and charged on Friday in relation to the kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old girl who vanished from the driveway of her Texas home earlier this week.

FedEx driver is arrested in the kidnapping and killing of a 7-year-old girl

Athena Strand’s corpse was discovered Friday night, according to Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin.

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It tears our hearts to discover that tiny child died, Akin stated on Friday.
It’s one of the most difficult investigations I’ve ever been a part of because a child is involved. And when a child passes away, it just tears your heart, he added.

After Athena went missing on Wednesday, investigators began hunting for her in Wise County, which is northwest of Fort Worth. The small girl was taken from her family’s driveway, which is about 200 yards from her home, and authorities think she was slain an hour later.

Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, is being held in the Wise County jail on suspicion of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the jail’s website. Akin claims that a $1.5 million bond was set. On Friday, it wasn’t known if Horner had a lawyer.

Sherriff Lane Akin of Wise County spoke with reporters after her body was found that evening. It’s one of the most difficult investigations I’ve ever been a part of because a child is involved. And when a child passes away, it just tears your heart, he added.

Authorities believe a FedEx delivery person took the youngster from her driveway, which extends approximately 200 yards from the residence, after receiving a report on Friday. Around the time that Athena vanished, Tanner Lynn Horner, a 31-year-old FedEx contract driver, delivered a package to the home of the Strand family, according to Akin. He was detained on Friday.

According to Akin, the driver confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Strand and led police to the child’s body after providing them with at least two fake addresses. She was found close to a country road approximately six miles from her home, where investigators suspect she was slain one hour after being kidnapped.

FedEx driver is arrested in the kidnapping and killing of a 7-year-old girl

Currently incarcerated in Wise County, Horner’s bond has been set at $1.5 million, per the records. Although Horner did not know the family or Athena, according to Akin, the sheriff’s office did not disclose any known motives. Her official cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

In a memorial posted on Facebook on Saturday, the girl’s mother, Maitlyn Presley Gandy, called her “simply the brightest, happiest person you could ever meet.” Athena enjoyed swimming, painting, attending to school, dressing up as princesses, and collecting jewelry and shiny objects, according to Gandy. Her preferred fast food restaurant was McDonald’s, and pink was her preferred color. When she grew older, she wished to be a Viking princess.

Athena Presley Monroe Strand is the name of my kid, which she would joyfully share with anybody in earshot and force to listen, according to Gandy. “I don’t want her to be known as the girl who was killed and dumped by a monster. I want everyone in the world to know that this is my kid and that my baby was stolen from me. I want everyone to be familiar with her name, voice, and amazing personality.
Gandy published a second Facebook post in which she thanked “the hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers” and the law enforcement for their assistance in finding her daughter.

She wrote, “As a mother, I know no one is as broken as I am…,” adding that the government organizations that helped with the investigation “have all cried with me.”
Working crime scenes involving children is difficult whether the child is yours or not, she continued. “It requires a certain kind of person.” “I appreciate you finding my child. Everyone, I’m sure, would have preferred a different outcome.

In a statement to CNN, FedEx expressed their sympathies and directed any queries to law enforcement.

“We are so horrified and grieved by the news of this terrible occurrence that words cannot explain how we feel. The sentence starts with, “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the family during this extremely trying time, and we continue to fully cooperate with the authorities conducting the investigation.