This happened about 5 minutes from my house.
Dad throws this 5 year old daughter off a bridge. She was alive. She survived for a little while.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...father/2213057
ST. PETERSBURG — Investigators said Friday that 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck was alive when her father dropped her 62 feet from a bridge and into Tampa Bay, killing her early Thursday in a crime that stunned the region.
Authorities also called on the public and local clergy to help them reconstruct the week before John Jonchuck Jr. took his daughter to the bridge.
Jonchuck, 25, of Tampa, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of his daughter, Phoebe. An
off-duty St. Petersburg police officer saw Jonchuck drop Phoebe from the Dick Misener Bridge, on the southbound approach to the Sunshine Skyway, about 12:09 a.m. Thursday.
Phoebe plummeted 62 feet into the cold, dark waters of Tampa Bay. The officer said he thought he heard her scream and tried unsuccessfully to spot her in the water. Initially, investigators said they were not sure whether she was alive when Jonchuck dropped her.
Rescuers later recovered her body a mile away, and Manatee sheriff's deputies arrested Jonchuck after he fled.
Detectives think Jonchuck may have spoken to members of the local clergy in the days before his daughter's death, according to St. Petersburg police. A former roommate and his lawyer said Jonchuck had ranted to them about God and the Bible this week.
About 11 a.m. Wednesday, Genevieve Torres, who Jonchuck recently hired to represent him in a paternity lawsuit,
called 911 because she was concerned about his mental state.
"He's out of his mind, and he has a minor child with him driving to the church now," Torres tearfully told a dispatcher, according to a recording of the call released Thursday.
After leaving the law office, Jonchuck drove to St. Paul's Catholic Church on Dale Mabry Highway, where he met with the Rev. Bill Swengros, the parish's head pastor, to ask about joining the church. At the same time, deputies arrived to assess Jonchuck's well-being.
They spoke with Swengros, who said that Jonchuck had made some odd statements, but nothing to indicate that he might be a danger to himself or others, according to a sheriff's report. He said he often sees people who come into the church seeking advice.
Swengros could not be reached Friday. A parish manager declined to comment.
Deputies determined Jonchuck was healthy, not a threat, and that Phoebe appeared happy, according to the sheriff's report.
Now investigators are trying to piece together what happened between then and midnight, when St. Petersburg police officer William Vickers saw Jonchuck atop the Misener Bridge.
They asked that anyone who may have seen Jonchuck, Phoebe or the PT Cruiser Wednesday afternoon or evening call Detective Kenneth Miller at (727) 892-5916 or text "SPPD" and the information to TIP411.
Authorities also announced Friday that they finished a search of Jonchuck's vehicle and recovered a pink booster seat, cell phone and "religious items." They released a video from a tollbooth near the Misener that shows Jonchuck driving through not long after police say he dropped his daughter into the bay.
Vickers is not available for interviews because he is the primary witness to the murder, investigators said.
Records show that authorities had numerous interactions with Jonchuck in recent years, including a few times in the last two weeks.
At 2:30 a.m. Dec. 30, Tampa police pulled over Jonchuck's PT Cruiser near Highland Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Officers smelled marijuana in the car, but found nothing, said police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. An unidentifies male passenger was described as being drunk and belligerent.
Officers gave Jonchuck two citations for not carrying a driver's license or proof of insurance, court records show. No report was made.