Body of Jorelys Rivera found in dumpster in Canton, Georgia/ | Ryan Brunn pleads guilty to murder of Jorelys Rivera and is sentenced to LIFE!/ RYAN BRUNN HAS COMMITTED SUICIDE!

The body of a Canton girl who police say was abducted from her apartment complex was found Monday afternoon.

The body of Jorelys Rivera, 7, was found in a dumpster located within the River Ridge Apartments complex where she lived, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said.

Keenan said it appears Jorelys was “severely beaten” and sexually assaulted and an autopsy will be performed tonight at the GBI crime lab to determine the cause of death.

Jorelys was last seen around 5 p.m. Friday at an apartment complex playground, located off Reinhardt College Parkway.

She was being supervised by a teenage caregiver when she went back to her apartment for drinks before she disappeared, Canton Police Detective Candy Worthy said.

Keenan said no one has been detained in relation to what he now classifies as a murder investigation and they are still searching for a suspect. He also said the child’s parents are not suspects in Jorelys’ death.

He did note the department, along with the Canton Police Department, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are pursing several leads in an attempt to solve the crime.

“What we know at this point is a 7-year-old child was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered,” he said, adding it’s unknown how long her body was in the dumpster.

Keenan said investigators had to remove items in the dumpster before discovering the child’s body.

The GBI director also said investigators searched other trash dumpsters at the complex throughout the weekend, but did not search the final dumpster until Monday. He also said the dumpster had to be moved off-site before the search could begin.

Along with Canton police, the sheriff’s office, the GBI and FBI, officials with Canton Fire, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), the Georgia State Defense Force and the Georgia Department of Natural Resource’s Search and Rescue Team participated in the search efforts, which spanned a one-and-a-half mile radius of the complex.

Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance once again pleaded with the public to provide information that could help in finding a suspect.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Canton police tip line at (770) 704-7074.

Cherokee County School District spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby said the district is “saddened by the tragic and untimely death” of Jorelys, who was a first-grade student at Canton Elementary School.

Additional counselors and support staff have been provided at Canton Elementary to help students cope with the news.

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one of the most important people in my life and thier kids just moved out of thid apt. complex...

Slys Hunny wrote:one of the most important people in my life and thier kids just moved out of thid apt. complex...

Maybe just in time!

Jorelys' family was informed about her death.

Hours earlier, her mother Joselin Rivera pleaded for her daughter's safe return. "I want to tell whoever has her or took her not to harm her, to return her. She's innocent. She's a little angel. She doesn't know what she's doing. She doesn't know why they took her. Give her back."

Her mom said that she hadn't seen her daughter since she left for work Thursday night.

"She gave me a kiss and told me that she loved me a lot," Joselin said, adding that by the time she got home Friday morning, Jorelys had already left for school.

The girl had been in the care of a teenage family friend when she disappeared Friday. She was last seen at a playground in her apartment complex. Canton Police Detective Candy Worthy said Jorelys had gone back to her apartment to get a drink.

She never came back.

"There were several kids out there playing. Why her?" her mother asked. "I feel destroyed."

Police weren't able to issue a Levi's Call, because no witnesses came forward to confirm an abduction. Investigators nonetheless treated it as one, pulling resources from across the state and even calling in the FBI.

On Sunday night, investigators searched the family's van and took evidence bags out of their apartment.

Police said the family has cooperated throughout the investigation. But Jorelys' mother still lost custody of her two younger children, at least temporarily. She appeared in family court Monday. The outcome of that appearance was not immediately reported.

"We don't think the child's mother had anything to do with her disappearance at this point," Det. Worthy said. "We just think that she was not supervising well enough to keep all of the children safe."

"I am a very good mother," Joselin said Monday. "I'm a very hard-working mother. My kids have everything they need. Everything is in order. They have their room. They have their food. They don't want for anything."

Speaking through a translator on Saturday, the mom told 11Alive News Jorelys was "friendly, sweet, had a lot of friends and everyone just loves her."

Jorelys' father lives in Florida, but he arrived in Canton Saturday to try to help with the search.

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I hate stories like this one. the mom was working and doing the best she could for her kids. granted a teen babysitter may not have been the best choice but it very well may have been her only choice.

The body of Jorelys Rivera, 7, was found in trash container Monday afternoon, after an extensive search to find the missing child.

Officials are conducting an autopsy to definitively confirm the girl's identity and her cause of death, however, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson John Bankhead told news media that “everything points to it being” Jorelys.

According to Bankhead, the child's body had been brutally beaten, disfigured and sexually assaulted.

Jorelys was last seen around 5:00 p.m. On Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 at the River Ridge apartment complex where she lived. She was at the playground with her teenage babysitter and had gone back to her apartment alone to retrieve refreshments for her friends when she vanished, according to authorities.

Bankhead said investigators believe Jorelys was murdered at the apartment complex and her body was then dumped in the trash receptacle.

The girl's mother reportedly works the graveyard shift at a local poultry plant. Police have removed two other children from the home due to “concern about the supervision of Jorelys,” Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Dept. told media.

Pamela Asansa, who has lived in the apartment complex for just a year, told the Cherokee Tribune that she babysits children who often played with Jorelys and her siblings and noted that the Rivera children often played unattended without adult supervision.

Jorelys mother's employer, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has set up a Jorelys Rivera Memorial Fund to assist the family, Margaret McDonald, a company representative told the Tribune. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund can contact the United Community Bank in Canton at 770-479-6700.

Anyone with information regarding Jorelys case is urged to call a command center established by authorities at 770-721-7852.

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Cannot read this yet.

This child was subjected to shocking violence and was sexually assaulted. There is something wrong here - I know that child predators take children, but its unusual for them to beat a child in this way. There was rage involved here and that usually means it wasnt a stranger. This is just a thought I had, maybe Im off base or its just something I havent heard of in an abduction such as this.

Jorelys was also stabbed. LE feels that she was murdered by someone living in or having access to the apartment complex.

Investigators believe a Georgia girl abducted from a residential playground was taken to a nearby vacant apartment, where she was sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death before her body was placed in a trash bin, authorities said Tuesday.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan on Tuesday released autopsy results and new details in the killing of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera of Canton.

Rivera was last seen Friday evening. The autopsy shows she died of blunt force trauma to the head about 60 to 90 minutes after she disappeared, Keenan said.

"This was a very calculated and planned crime," Keenan said. Police did not give a time of death.

Investigators strongly believe the killer either lives in the apartment complex or has regular access to it, Keenan said.

No suspects are in custody. Keenan said evidence collected from the child's body and the vacant apartment are being tested. Investigators hope to have preliminary DNA results later Tuesday.

Police said the girl was last seen around 5 p.m. Friday at the River Ridge apartments in Canton, about 40 miles north of Atlanta.

The girl was at an apartment complex playground with a teenage baby sitter. She had left the playground to return to her apartment to get drinks for her friends when she disappeared.

Keenan said investigators have received numerous tips from the public and said valuable evidence has come from residents at the apartment complex.

Several sex offenders living at the complex have been identified and interviewed, Keenan said. But he added, "We have no reason to believe, at this point, that sex offenders are involved."

About 65 local, state and federal investigators are working on the case and several hundred interviews have been conducted, authorities said.

Maria Rodriguez, a former resident of the apartment complex, said she works with Jorelys' mother at a nearby poultry plant.

"She was a very sweet girl," Rodriguez said Monday, crying as she held her own 4-year-old daughter. "She was the type of little girl who likes her presence to be known. It's just so sad."

Rodriguez said the girl's mother worked a graveyard shift. Police have since removed two other young children from the Rivera home over "concern about the supervision of Jorelys," said Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department.

Baker said no charges were expected against the mother or the baby sitter.

A prayer vigil was held late Monday at the playground, where people left flowers, balloons and stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial for Jorelys.

A $15,000 reward has been issued for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the girl's killer.

"We're following up on every single tip," Baker said.

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I wonder if it was someone trying to get back at the mother.

And they are good questions!

This was posted by someone on WS that watched the press conference.

Q: we hear you have agents over at the _________twelve at the apartment complex and a car may have been taken away. what can you tell us about that

A: cannot really get into that. we have served several search warrants.....

Q: we got a tip that it was a maintenance worker and that an rso lives above the family

A: not going to talk about the suspects.. all rso's have been checked and none appear to be involved

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I think I remember hearing that a friend of the mother's was also in the apartment.....only heard it once and not since...

The autopsy results have returned from the killed 7-year-old Georgia girl, Jorelys Rivera. Her body was found late yesterday after she disappeared from a local playground just feet away from her home. The results revealed that the girl had been bludgeoned to death, due to extensive head trauma. She also had stab wounds and signs that she had been sexually assaulted. However, the report from ABC News does not reveal if any DNA had been found on the body. If the killer had sex with the child, then semen may be inside the body, which could identify the killer through DNA.

The police believe that the killer "lives in her apartment complex," so he is familiar with the playground, the landscape and the dumpster where the body was found. The dumpster is only 400 yards from the playground. According to ABC, Jorelys Rivera suffered a brutal and horrific death. Apparently the wounds were so extensive that the coroner who performed the autopsy refused to go into detail about the stab wounds.

In addition to the cause of death, the autopsy does reveal another piece of the giant murder mystery puzzle. It is unclear whether the child was a target, but one thing is crystal clear; "this was a very calculated and planned crime." In the ABC report, police speculate that Jorelys Rivera was killed in an unlocked apartment where she lived. The entire area does have sexual offenders and police believe that if the crime was committed by a sexual predator, then the killer must have assaulted and murdered the child in one of the vacant apartment. After she died, she was tossed in the dumpster.

Jorelys Rivera's killer may be identified soon, as the laboratory is working all day and night to get the first DNA results. These results are expected to be released today at some point. The scariest part of this murder mystery is that police still believe that the killer is nearby, watching as they are solving the crime.

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The part about the killer watching I absolutely believe is true. I just cant get over the brutality involved here,
if it had been an adult women it would have made sense of rage against the victim - but this child - why?

Jorelys Rivera Stabbed, Assaulted in 'Calculated' Murder

Georgia Girl Taken to Apartment, Killed
By CHRISTINA CARON (@cdcaron )
Dec. 6, 2011

Jorelys Rivera, the 7-year-old girl whose body was found in a Georgia dumpster, was bludgeoned, sexually assaulted and stabbed in a remarkably vicious attack by a killer who police believe lives in her apartment complex.

The wounds to the girl's body were so severe that Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan refused to describe them beyond that fact that she had blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds.

Keenan described the crime as a "very horrific and brutal murder."

Jorelys had been missing since Friday and was last seen at her apartment community's playground in Canton, Ga. Her body was pulled from a dumpster Monday and an autopsy was completed Monday night.

"We don't know if the child was targeted or not. We do know from what was determined through the autopsy and other evidence this was a very calculated and planned crime," Keenan said.

Police believe the murderer is still nearby.

"The investigators feel very strongly the killer of the child resides in the apartment complex or has ready access to the apartment complex," said Keenan. "It's very important that persons who live in that apartment complex … If they have any information that could have bearing on this case, to let us know."

Keenan said there are several registered sex offenders who have resided in the River Ridge apartment complex, but they have all been interviewed and "we have no reason to believe at this point that [those] sex offenders are involved."

The scene of the murder may have been an unlocked apartment at the River Ridge apartment complex where Jorelys lived.

Investigators believe Jorelys was abducted near the River Ridge playground, taken to a vacant apartment within the complex, assaulted and murdered, and then tossed in the dumpster.

"We have found evidence in [the vacant apartment] we believe is blood," said Keenan. "We are awaiting results of the investigation. The lab worked all night long."

Preliminary DNA test results are expected to be released today.

The award for any information that leads to the capture or conviction of the murderer is now $15,000, up $10,000 from yesterday.

Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance told reporters Monday, "What we need is help from the public -- that's the key to this right now."

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call 770-704-7074.

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They located the apartment early on in the investigation, shouldn't LE know blood when they see it?
And if she was attacked with a knife in such a vicious way wouldn't there be a great deal of blood?
Shouldn't they have brought in dogs to track her into the apartment?
Now I'm wondering if the murder did actually happen there at all.

I thought the exact same thing. Makes no sense. Good ole' boys seems to me.

Funeral services will be held this weekend for Jorelys Rivera, the 7-year-old girl who was abducted and killed near her Canton home.

Jorelys' funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m Saturday at First Baptist Canton.

Her family will receive friends from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m Friday at Darby Funeral Home.

Private donors are paying for the services.

The little girl will be buried in Puerto Rico.http://www.11alive.com/news/article/215763/3/CANTON--Jorelys-Riveras-funeral-arrangements-announced

An arrest has been made in the Jorelys Rivera homicide case, the GBI told the AJC.

Vernon Keenan declined to identify the man, but investigators plan to release more details in the case at a 1:45 p.m. press conference today, Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said.

The suspect appeared to be a young man, wearing a blue jacket, according to witnesses at the Canton apartment complex where the little girl lived.

The 7-year-old Canton girl's body was discovered Monday died of blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds, the GBI said Tuesday. Jorelys Rivera had also been sexually assaulted, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said at a news conference in Canton.

Keenan also said investigators found what they believe to be blood in a vacant apartment unit, and that substance is being tested at the State Crime Lab to determine if it is linked to Jorelys. Keenan said investigators believe Jorelys was killed within two hours of her disappearance Friday.

As of Tuesday morning, police did not have any suspects or anyone in custody, Keenan said. But the investigation is now focused on the River Ridge complex where Jorelys lived and may have been killed.

"We believe the suspect lives or has readily access to the complex," Keenan told the AJC.

There are 65 local, state and federal investigators currently working on the case, Baker said Tuesday. Numerous tips have been reported to police, Baker told the AJC.

"Several search warrants have been executed thus far and hundreds of interviews have been conducted," Baker said.

Several registered sex offenders live in the vicinity of the apartment complex, and investigators have extensively interviewed all of them, Keenan said.

"We don't have any reason to believe any of them were involved," he said.

Hours after Jorelys' body was found at the apartment complex where she lived, her Cherokee County neighbors and friends held a candlelight vigil Monday night in her honor at the same playground where she was last seen. Her body was found Monday afternoon in a metal trash bin, the GBI said.

At the River Ridge apartments, neighbors were shocked and saddened about the fate of the girl, a friendly child often seen playing outside with other children. The playground where Jorelys often played is across the street from the apartment where she lived. And Monday night, it was at the playground where the community mourned the girl.

On the fourth day of the search for Jorelys, a 50-member team made up of GBI agents, Georgia State Patrol troopers, Department of Natural Resources rangers and other state officers specially trained in child abductions was brought in Monday to assist local police and firefighters. Police said they believed they were working a child abduction case.

Searchers combed the apartment complex, checking every vehicle and some apartments for any clues to the girl's whereabouts. The parking lot of a nearby movie theater served as the command center for search efforts, which included a state patrol helicopter Monday.

But just hours after state and national search crews began to look for the girl, the massive effort ended with Keenan's announcement. The girl's body was found around 12:30 p.m., he said.

Jorelys, who turned 7 on Aug. 20, disappeared around 5 p.m. Friday while she took a break from playing at the apartment complex on River Ridge Drive, police said. She reportedly told other children at the playground that she was going inside to get drinks, but never returned.

The girl's mother was inside while the child played outside, but a teenager was supposed to have been watching Jorelys, Lt. Jeff Hall with the Canton police department said Monday. The girl's two younger siblings were taken from their mother and placed in protective custody because of a lack of supervision, Det. Candy Worthy with Canton police said Sunday morning. The children were still in protective custody Tuesday, according to Baker.

Canton police launched a search for the girl late Friday, releasing pictures and a description of the Canton Elementary School first-grader. Police officers knocked on doors at the complex and interviewed registered sex offenders in the area Saturday, Worthy said.

"Everybody came together in the cold, at all hours of the night to look for her," David Lott, a resident of the complex, told the AJC Monday night.

The girl's family cooperated with the investigation, police have said. Her mother, who police have said is not a suspect, was told the horrific news before Keenan's announcement to reporters.

Maria Rodriguez, a friend and co-worker of the girl's mother, said news of the girl's death was a devastating blow after having the other two children removed from the home. Rodriguez said there are always children and adults at the park.

"There's no way that someone didn't see anything," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said she and Joselinne Rivera, the girl's mother, worked the overnight shift at the Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant, also in Canton. Rodriguez said Monday evening she had not spoken with the girl's mother since the body was found.

Police had been searching the apartment complex throughout the weekend, but the trash bin where the body was found was not searched until Monday due to the amount of items it contained, Keenan said. The search area was about a 1-mile radius from the complex and included another nearby complex, police said.

Investigators moved the compacted trash bin across Reinhardt Parkway and to an open area, where they removed the contents and found the girl's body. Keenan declined to say the proximity of the trash bin to the location where Jorelys was last seen. But residents in the complex pointed out the trash bin, located a short walk from the playground.

Calling it a "very, very horrendous crime," Keenan declined Monday to discuss details regarding how or where the girl died.

Monday afternoon, investigators remained at the apartment complex, which was the focus of the search from the beginning, Keenan said.

No one was on the playground at the apartment complex Monday afternoon, but neighbors gathered outside after learning the girl's fate.

"I'm scared to death to walk into my apartment right now," Mary Johnston told AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB. "I'm packing my stuff tonight. I'm moving."

Johnston's 11-year-old son was playing with Jorelys on Friday and she said she helped search for the girl. Now, she fears for her family's safety.

Skylar Watkins and her 2-year-old daughter, Cheyann, brought a bouquet of flowers to the playground, placing it on the ground near the slide.

"That's the playground I bring her to," Watkins said while holding the toddler. "Knowing that whoever did it is still on the loose is really scary."

Daniel McFarland said he was in the complex Friday evening around 7 p.m. visiting his mother. By then, family members and neighbors were already looking for the girl, he said.

"It's very, very disturbing," McFarland said.

McFarland told police he saw a white Honda running near the playground Friday evening for about an hour, but no one was inside. He isn't sure if the vehicle is a clue, but wanted to make sure he informed police, he said.

Law enforcement officials stressed the need for more information in the case, asking for anyone with any information to report it to police. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call 770-721-7852.

"What we need is help from the public," Canton police Chief Jeff Lance said.

A $15,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the crime, police said. The GBI is offering a $10,000 reward and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office foundation has added $5,000, Baker said.

A Facebook page called "Light Up Canton for Jorelys" was created Monday and encouraged those in the community to leave porch lights on to honor the slain girl.

"Let's show this family that we care, and let's show this killer that we are all united until he is hunted down and brought to justice," the Facebook page stated.

Monday night, neighbors and friends held candles and brought flowers and stuffed animals to the playground, creating a makeshift memorial.

As the collection of flowers and candles continued to grow at the playground late Monday, neighbors told the AJC they were worried about a suspect in the girl's death being on the loose.

"You don't know if it's your neighbor. You don't know if it's someone you say ‘hey' to every day on your way to work," Lindsey Hale, who lives next door to the Riveras, told the AJC. "You can't trust anyone."

Additional counselors and support staff were at Canton Elementary School on Tuesday to assist students and employees with the death of a classmate, a spokeswoman for the school district told the AJC.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely death of Canton ES first-grade student, Jorelys Rivera," the school district said in a statement. "The Cherokee County School District continues to cooperate with local and state law enforcement agencies relative to the ongoing investigation."

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Someone please post the press conference if they can.

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BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: An arrest has been made in the murder of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, who was abducted and killed near her Canton home.

11Alive News has been able to confirm that a maintenance worker from the apartment property has been taken into custody.

GBI Director Vernon Keenan said, "It's been a good day."

A news conference has been scheduled for 1:45 p.m. in Canton. 11Alive.com will stream the news conference live.

Offender Name: RYAN MCCABE BRUNN
Offender ID: P00044116
Date of Birth: 07/29/1991
Age: 20
Race: White
Gender: Male

Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office

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Police have made an arrest in the killing of a Canton girl found dead in an apartment complex Dumpster. Channel 2 Action News was at the complex when the suspect was taken away in handcuffs Wednesday.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan identified the suspect as 20-year-old Ryan Brunn. He said Brunn, an employee of the complex, killed Jorelys Rivera in a vacant apartment adjacent to the building where she lived.

"This is a mammoth case. We believe that this horrendous crime was planned and calculated and we recovered a lot of evidence that’s going to require processing,” Keenan said at a Wednesday news conference.

Neighbors said they weren't surprised.

"I just knew it was him," a neighbor told Channel 2's Sophia Choi.

The neighbor said authorities removed the suspect's car and items from his apartment. He said everyone at the complex had been suspicious of the man, whom he identified as the groundskeeper. The neighbor said the suspect lives with the property manager's son and keeps to himself.

"Everybody in here gets a bad vibe from him," the neighbor said.

Rivera, was a 7-year-old who disappeared from a playground at the River Ridge apartments where she lived. She was being watched by a teenage baby sitter. Neighbors said she was playing with friends Friday afternoon when she left to get drinks but never returned. Her two younger siblings have since been taken into state custody.

Law enforcement officials launched a massive search and found the body three days after the disappearance while sifting through the complex's Dumpster. Autopsy results show she was sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed. Keenan said investigators found Jorelys' blood in the vacant apartment.

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Ryan Brunn - Lives in Canton, Georgia - Knows Spanish, English - From Brooklyn, New York

it looks like he's wearing his mother's sun glasses

A 20-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the killing of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera of Canton, authorities announced.

GBI Director Vernon Keenan identified the man as Ryan Brunn of Canton. Keenan said Brunn lived at the apartment complex where Jorelys was killed and had been a maintenance worker there.

Calling the killing "planned and calculated," Keenan declined to discuss evidence leading to the arrest. But said the investigation is not over. "This is a mammoth case."

Brunn, who has no known criminal record, had been under police surveillance since Tuesday evening, Keenan said. He had been employed at the complex since Nov. 7, John Bankhead, GBI spokesman, told the AJC.

Keenan said Brunn had been charged in the killing and additional charges may be filed by the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office.

"We are confidant that Brunn is the killer, that's why he's in custody," Keenan said, when asked if there are any other suspects.

Brunn, wearing a navy blue shirt, a blue Hollister hoodie and jeans and was taken into custody around 12:30 p.m. at the Canton apartment complex where the little girl lived. He was booked into the Cherokee County jail about 20 minutes later.

Keenan told the AJC the man did not have any connection to the 7-year-old girl prior to her disappearance.

Keenan said investigators believe the murder took place at a vacant unit at the apartment complex.

Neighbors in the complex told the AJC they were relieved at news of an arrest. Lorenza Wright said he heard the news, along with his mother and brother, when he went home for a lunch break.

"We all burst into tears," Wright said. "We were ecstatic."

The Canton girl's body was discovered Monday. She died of blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds, the GBI said Tuesday. Jorelys had also been sexually assaulted, Keenan said at a news conference in Canton.

Keenan also said investigators found what they believe to be blood in a vacant apartment unit, and that substance is being tested at the State Crime Lab to determine if it is linked to Jorelys. Keenan said investigators believe Jorelys was killed within two hours of her disappearance Friday.

There are 65 local, state and federal investigators currently working on the case, Baker said Tuesday.

"Several search warrants have been executed thus far and hundreds of interviews have been conducted," Baker said.

Several registered sex offenders live in the vicinity of the apartment complex, and investigators have extensively interviewed all of them, Keenan said.

"We don't have any reason to believe any of them were involved," he said.

Hours after Jorelys' body was found at the apartment complex where she lived, her Cherokee County neighbors and friends held a candlelight vigil Monday night in her honor at the same playground where she was last seen. Her body was found Monday afternoon in a metal trash bin, the GBI said.

At the River Ridge apartments, neighbors were shocked and saddened about the fate of the girl, a friendly child often seen playing outside with other children. The playground where Jorelys often played is across the street from the apartment where she lived. And Monday night, it was at the playground where the community mourned the girl.

On the fourth day of the search for Jorelys, a 50-member team made up of GBI agents, Georgia State Patrol troopers, Department of Natural Resources rangers and other state officers specially trained in child abductions was brought in Monday to assist local police and firefighters. Police said they believed they were working a child abduction case.

Searchers combed the apartment complex, checking every vehicle and some apartments for any clues to the girl's whereabouts. The parking lot of a nearby movie theater served as the command center for search efforts, which included a state patrol helicopter Monday.

But just hours after state and national search crews began to look for the girl, the massive effort ended with Keenan's announcement. The girl's body was found around 12:30 p.m., he said.

Jorelys, who turned 7 on Aug. 20, disappeared around 5 p.m. Friday while she took a break from playing at the apartment complex on River Ridge Drive, police said. She reportedly told other children at the playground that she was going inside to get drinks, but never returned.

The girl's mother was inside while the child played outside, but a teenager was supposed to have been watching Jorelys, Lt. Jeff Hall with the Canton police department said Monday. The girl's two younger siblings were taken from their mother and placed in protective custody because of a lack of supervision, Det. Candy Worthy with Canton police said Sunday morning. The children were still in protective custody Tuesday, according to Baker.

Canton police launched a search for the girl late Friday, releasing pictures and a description of the Canton Elementary School first-grader. Police officers knocked on doors at the complex and interviewed registered sex offenders in the area Saturday, Worthy said.

"Everybody came together in the cold, at all hours of the night to look for her," David Lott, a resident of the complex, told the AJC Monday night.

The girl's family cooperated with the investigation, police have said. Her mother, who police have said is not a suspect, was told the horrific news before Keenan's announcement to reporters.

Maria Rodriguez, a friend and co-worker of the girl's mother, said news of the girl's death was a devastating blow after having the other two children removed from the home. Rodriguez said there are always children and adults at the park.

"There's no way that someone didn't see anything," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said she and Joselinne Rivera, the girl's mother, worked the overnight shift at the Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant, also in Canton. Rodriguez said Monday evening she had not spoken with the girl's mother since the body was found.

Police had been searching the apartment complex throughout the weekend, but the trash bin where the body was found was not searched until Monday due to the amount of items it contained, Keenan said. The search area was about a 1-mile radius from the complex and included another nearby complex, police said.

Investigators moved the compacted trash bin across Reinhardt Parkway and to an open area, where they removed the contents and found the girl's body. Keenan declined to say the proximity of the trash bin to the location where Jorelys was last seen. But residents in the complex pointed out the trash bin, located a short walk from the playground.

Calling it a "very, very horrendous crime," Keenan declined Monday to discuss details regarding how or where the girl died.

Monday afternoon, investigators remained at the apartment complex, which was the focus of the search from the beginning, Keenan said.

No one was on the playground at the apartment complex Monday afternoon, but neighbors gathered outside after learning the girl's fate.

"I'm scared to death to walk into my apartment right now," Mary Johnston told AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB. "I'm packing my stuff tonight. I'm moving."

Johnston's 11-year-old son was playing with Jorelys on Friday and she said she helped search for the girl. Now, she fears for her family's safety.

Skylar Watkins and her 2-year-old daughter, Cheyann, brought a bouquet of flowers to the playground, placing it on the ground near the slide.

"That's the playground I bring her to," Watkins said while holding the toddler. "Knowing that whoever did it is still on the loose is really scary."

Daniel McFarland said he was in the complex Friday evening around 7 p.m. visiting his mother. By then, family members and neighbors were already looking for the girl, he said.

"It's very, very disturbing," McFarland said.

McFarland told police he saw a white Honda running near the playground Friday evening for about an hour, but no one was inside. He isn't sure if the vehicle is a clue, but wanted to make sure he informed police, he said.

Law enforcement officials stressed the need for more information in the case, asking for anyone with any information to report it to police. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call 770-721-7852.

A Facebook page called "Light Up Canton for Jorelys" was created Monday and encouraged those in the community to leave porch lights on to honor the slain girl.

"Let's show this family that we care, and let's show this killer that we are all united until he is hunted down and brought to justice," the Facebook page stated.

Monday night, neighbors and friends held candles and brought flowers and stuffed animals to the playground, creating a makeshift memorial.

Additional counselors and support staff were at Canton Elementary School on Tuesday to assist students and employees with the death of a classmate, a spokeswoman for the school district told the AJC.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely death of Canton ES first-grade student, Jorelys Rivera," the school district said in a statement. "The Cherokee County School District continues to cooperate with local and state law enforcement agencies relative to the ongoing investigation."

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Friends are disappearing from his FB. He had 353 a couple hours ago and now he's down to 339.

BJ, thanks for the text re: the arrest. WOW, these good ole boys sure didn't take their time. Maybe the GOB's can teach the Clark County SO, Putnum County SO and so many other SO's how to catch a killer and immediately put him in jail..

The COP (I think it's him talking at the press conference) reminds me of an older and Much wiser Bozo w/a hat.

Now, I have to wonder WHAT motivated this pervert to do this to this poor little girl? He has no record. Well, he damned sure does now. His parents must be so proud! He should get the DP!!!

Im so glad they caught this SOB now give mommas Kids back it wasnt her or the babysitters fault!!!

Ryan's FB has been shut down.

Surprise, Surprise.

Brunn is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Cherokee County Justice Center in Canton, according to Lt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

The district attorney has not said if he will seek the death penalty in the case.

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There are very few reasons for the death penalty...this is one damn good reason for it.

By CHRISTINA CARON (@cdcaron)
Dec. 7, 2011
Police today arrested a maintenance worker who lives at the same apartment complex where 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera is believed to have been bludgeoned, stabbed and sexually assaulted in a vacant apartment near the playground where she disappeared.

Ryan Brunn, 20, doesn't have a criminal history, investigators said, but Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Vernon Keenan told reporters, "We are confident that Brunn is the killer and that is why he is in custody."

Jorelys disappeared Friday evening from the playground at the River Ridge apartment community, where she lived with her mother in Canton, Ga. Her body was discovered Monday in one of the complex's dumpsters.

"This investigation will continue on for several months," Keenan said today. "This is a mammoth case. We believe this horrendous crime was planned and calculated and we've recovered a lot of evidence that will require processing."

Prior to being arrested on murder charges today at 12:40 p.m., Brunn had been under surveillance since last night, Keenan said.

"We reached a point this afternoon where we had sufficient evidence to obtain arrest warrants for murder of the 7-year-old child," he said.

Keenan would not say what evidence police had gathered, but did say Brunn "had access to the trash compactor."

"The state crime lab has much evidence they are still processing," Keenan said. "They are updating us routinely."

Brunn was well known in the apartment complex because he was employed there.

"To the extent he was known to the family of the child, I don't know," said Keenan.

A neighbor told ABC News affiliate WSB, "I just knew it was him."

The neighbor also told the TV station that investigators had removed the suspect's car and items from his apartment and that Brunn lives with the property manager's son.

Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance, who attended today's press conference with heavy circles under his eyes, told reporters, "We've had a lot of men and women working ... around the clock. There's a lot of tired people right now."

He said they accomplished their goal -- "to make an arrest for what happened to this sweet, innocent little girl."

Who Is Ryan Brunn?

Brunn's Facebook page, which was public but has since been disabled, said he is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and speaks both Spanish and English.

The information section said, "Hello! I'm Ryan I live in Canton GA I have a wonderful Life/Family/Friends.Im very outgoing not shy at all so if ya wanna get to no me hit me up. :-)"

Recent entries were filled with updates about sports teams. The last post was on Nov. 28, and read, "Gettin off here bout to eat some PIZZA! Hit me up! Lets go GIANTS.."

But some of his older entries appear angry, and are filled with expletives. In one post, he ranted about someone named "Connor Cheek." Brunn wrote he's "the biggest p***y b**ch i ever met in my life."

In an entry dated July 6, Brunn appeared to be commenting on the July 5 Casey Anthony acquittal.

"At wrk tires as fuk.. Tht b**ch was not gulity for killin her kid b**ch should of died really but she'll get her," he wrote. Huh????

His online activity on the social networking site indicated he moved at least once this year. In a Jan. 26 entry, he mentioned working at Krystal restaurant in Dawsonville, Ga., and in October he appeared to be saying goodbye to his friends in Dahlonega, Ga., which is where his mother lives, according to her Facebook page.

"New job,apt,life coming soon cant wait ima miss DAHLONEGA tho," he wrote. "Yall n***a no who u r!! But moneys betta right now.. Hit ya n***a up i wont forget yall.."

He appeared to have moved to Canton, Ga., on Nov. 5, which he refers to as "moving day" on his Facebook page.

"Not ready to go but i got to," he wrote. "Im gonna miss yall/Dahlonega.. I Love yall hit me up n we'll do something sometime.. Got my own place now. :-)"

Investigators are piecing together Brunn's history.

"We have sent agents to another state and also other counties and we are going to backtrack all of his activities," Keenan said. "We still have much work to do."

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According to a warrant obtained by The Associated Press, Brunn was arrested on suspicion of murder and making false statements to authorities. The arrest warrant says, "the accused did unlawfully and with malice aforethought cause the death of Jorelys Rivera by hitting her on the head with a blunt object." No other details are contained in the document, which was filed Wednesday.

Brunn's brother says Brunn is not violent and says he doesn't believe the younger man was involved in the slaying. Steven Brunn, 26, told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that "the real person may still be out there" plotting another attack.

"I don't know where this all is coming from," Steven Brunn said. "They said it's innocent until proven guilty, but they already done proved him guilty."

Steven Brunn, a tattoo artist, said his brother "is great with kids" and has no criminal record. He said he last saw his younger brother two months ago. The family is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., he said, adding that Ryan Brunn and his siblings moved to Georgia with his mother several years ago.

His mother, Karen-Ann Whiteley, filed for bankruptcy last month, according to court records. She lives in Dahlonega, about 50 miles northeast of Canton.

Steven Brunn lives in Dahlonega, where Ryan Brunn lived until a month ago when he moved to Canton to take the maintenance worker job.

Ryan Brunn also previously lived in Dumfries, Va. No one answered a knock on the door of a relative's home there Wednesday.

Nancy Hudgins, 57, who lives near trash bin where Rivera's body was found, said she talked with Brunn on Monday as police searched apartments in the complex. She said Brunn told her that he was nervous about allowing officers into his apartment because he had beer bottles and is not of legal drinking age.

"He was just kind of scared about them going in," she said.

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He has no record thats why he passed the background check. I dont understand this I wonder if he has committed other crimes that havent been discovered.
Where did all that rage against this child come from.

In comparison to some of his scrape-prone brothers, Ryan Brunn did little to brand himself as a troublemaker.

“He was always polite. He never spoke without saying yes sir or no sir,” said Don Allen, headmaster at War Hill Christian Academy in Dawsonville. Brunn, who was home schooled, did not attend War Hill, but five years ago he played on the school's football and basketball team.

On his Facebook page, Brunn was full of foul language and adolescent swagger.

Who he was beneath those contrasting public faces, few outside his family may know -- and none of them were present Thursday when Brunn made his first appearance Cherokee County Superior Court, charged with the murder of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera of Canton.

Brunn, wearing an orange jail suit, a bulletproof vest and shackles, sat beside two court-appointed public defenders. After glancing around the courtroom, the 20-year-old suspect showed little emotion as charges were read against him. At one point, he hung his head. When asked about his education level, Brunn told Judge Frank Mills that he had completed the 10th grade.

Only a few minutes later, deputies escorted Brunn out of the courtroom and back to the county's jail, where he is being held in isolation without bond.

"He's separated from other inmates," Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said after the hearing.

Brunn's next court appearance is expected in January.

According to his Facebook page, Brunn lived with his mother until early November, when he moved to the River Ridge complex in Canton. “He looked forward to moving out on his own," said E.J. Young, who used to play basketball with Brunn. "There’s not much to do here” in Dahlonega.

Ryan and his four brothers were foster children, according to documents their mother, Karen Whiteley, submitted Dec. 2 as part of a bankruptcy filing. That was also the day that, according to police, Brunn beat, raped and stabbed Jorelys in a vacant apartment in the complex where he had recently started work as a groundskeeper.

The meager picture that emerges in Dahlonega is of a family under stress. In the bankruptcy filing, Whiteley listed her sole income over the past three years as child support and an "adoption stipend" received from the state of New York, where the family lived before coming to Georgia. In 2009 and 2010, the stipend came to $48,000; this year it was $40,000.

Two months ago, the family left the home Whiteley owned in Dahlonega and moved to another house. Thursday, no one answered the phone number listed under her name.

"My mom is doing all right," Ryan's brother Steven told Channel 2 Action News. "She's still in shock. She cannot believe that her son would do this, and she sticks to her story right now and believes he did not do this."

Various other family members also insisted via social media sites that Brunn is innocent and that police have rushed to judgement.

Ryan has no prior criminal record, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Both Steven and another brother, Connor, do. When Connor was 18 in 2009, he was charged with theft by taking and theft by deception. When Steven was 24 in 2009, he was charged with shoplifting.

Steven told Channel 2 that Whiteley moved the family to Georgia in search of a better life. “We moved up here thinking it would be better,” Steven said. “But moving to Georgia has been a nightmare.”

He said he was talking to Ryan on the phone shortly before he was arrested.

“He just told me he had to go, he had to go. The next thing I knew I looked at the TV and he was being handcuffed,” Steven said.

Allen, the headmaster at War Hill, said that unlike many of the home-school parents, who want to be very involved in their child’s activities, Brunn’s parents were rarely if ever seen at school games.

He said Brunn briefly dated a girl who attended the school. He said the girl was a popular student whose family are very involved in the church of which the school is a part. He said the girl's parents contacted him after Brunn's arrest to say how shocked they were by the news. The girl has posted on her Facebook page that she is also surprised.

Jorelys' death has also cast an unwelcome spotlight on her family.

State child protection authorities removed Jorelys' two younger sisters from the home after she disappeared on Dec. 2 but returned them to the family following a hearing Thursday.

Documents from the Division of Family and Children Services reveal that the mother, identified by a family attorney as Joselinne Rivera, was investigated several months ago for improper supervision of the children.

On at least two occasions, Jorelys was temporarily missing after school and found at a neighbor's house. School officials and her mother disagreed over whether the mother had been present to greet her daughter as she got off the school bus. On one of those occasions, Jorelys later told school officials her mother had been “too sick” to get her at the stop.

Then, in February, Jorelys once again had no one to meet her at the bus stop, and the driver took her back to the school, according to the report. The incident prompted someone from her school to contact DFCS.

A case manager who visited the home found no signs of abuse and a safety plan was written.

The report also reveals that after Jorelys vanished, police were frustrated because no one in the home could tell them much about her playmates or where she played.

When the case manager arrived Saturday to see the other children and examine the apartment, neighbors volunteered concerns that the children regularly went unsupervised. DFCS subsequently decided to temporarily remove the two younger girls, a separation that lasted until Thursday's hearing.

"They're going home with their parents," attorney John Connolly said Thursday after the ruling that they should be returned. "The family is very pleased."

David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, said people often place too much emphasis on any parental lapse by the parents of children who fall victim to tragedy.

“It’s easy for us to think, well, she didn’t supervise her child. I supervise my child. It won’t happen to me,” he said. “We reassure ourselves of that, but it’s not necessarily that this was a failure of supervision. … Trying to supervise our children 24/7 is just not possible.”

“It’s very hard to accept that these things happen," he said, "that there are people in society disordered enough to do this kind of thing, and that some unfortunate random child might be the victim."

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The mood on Sleepy Hollow Road in Dahlonega on Thursday was that of shock and disbelief.

Ryan Brunn, whose family lives on the tree-lined road in Dahlonega, appeared in court that day wearing a bulletproof vest. He's facing charges of sexually assaulting and killing Jorelys Rivera, 7, last week in a Canton apartment complex.

Bond was denied at the hearing, and he's being held in isolation for his safety.

But the 20-year-old's former neighbors in Dahlonega were trying to grasp the fact that the suspect in the crime lived right next door. Brunn moved to Canton from Dahlonega just one month ago.

Chasity Sanford lives about a hundred feet from Brunn's mother's Sleepy Hollow Road home. She has two young daughters and wonders if their safety could have been at risk.

"I've got two little girls, so it's really scary living next to somebody that would do something like that," she said.

Neighbors describe Brunn as having a troubling past in which police were called to the family's home on several occasions.

"I've never really met him. We've called the cops on him several times," Sanford said.

In October, Sanford called police because she said Brunn was smoking marijuana in her backyard.

"I've really been keeping up with everything because I'm definitely moving if he comes back here," Sanford said.

Other neighbors said they have also notified police of incidents involving Brunn, including marijuana use and domestic violence.

"We have had several instances where some questionable things have happened," said Brittany Partin, who also lives next door. "There's just been several things where we were caught off guard but we didn't know what to do."

In one example, Partin said Brunn punched his family dog in the face.

Partin still said she is shocked about the news of his arrest in Rivera's death.

"I'm still very surprised. I didn't think that anything like that would happen here in Dahlonega, especially to think it was them next door," she said. "I'm just horrified. I feel especially bad for both moms."

A convenience store about a mile from the family's home buzzed with the news.

"Customers were talking about that in the morning when I got here. Everybody was talking about it," Ali Bukhari said.

The store clerk then looked up a photo of Brunn and realized the man was a customer of the store on multiple occasions.

Like so many others, Bukhari is shocked that a customer he served is now facing such horrible allegations.

"If we have these kind of customers, you have to be kind of aware of that," he said. "... You don't know."

Family members and Brunn's public defender say he is innocent.

Brian Staples, whose brother is married to Brunn's sister, said Brunn is outgoing and friendly, not the socially awkward, quiet maintenance man that residents at the apartment complex described.

He said Brunn is "into helping people, not hurting people."

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