Cherokee sheriff: Jorelys case required outside help

By the time a massive search was under way for a missing Canton girl, the 7-year-old was likely dead. But two weeks after the first-grader was last seen alive, questions linger regarding the police investigation that ultimately led to the girls' body.

The case of missing Jorelys Rivera was not one local police should have handled alone, Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison told the AJC on Thursday. Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood said he wants an outside consultant to determine if the city's police department handled the case properly.

"This was a case that, even though we have 400 deputies, we would have had to have sought outside expertise," Garrison said during an interview in his office. "We would have to seek outside help because it is so rare."

The horrific crime is believed to be the first of its kind in Cherokee County. There have been homicides, but nothing involving a stranger-on-child abduction and killing. Investigators have said Jorelys was sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed before being put into a trash bin.

Jorelys disappeared after leaving the playground in her apartment complex around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 2. The Canton Police Department launched a search that evening for the girl, with the assistance of sheriff's deputies.

When the first-grader had not been found two days later, Garrison called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, he said. Within a few hours, GBI agents were on the scene, Garrison said.

"A case of that magnitude required a very specialized, trained unit," Garrison said.

GBI and FBI agents, along with dozens of searchers from numerous agencies, were mobilized the morning of Dec. 5, a Monday, to help with the search for Jorelys. But the search efforts ended with the discovery of the girl's body by midday in a trash compactor that had been at the complex.

Two days later, GBI Director Vernon Keenan announced an arrest in the case. Ryan Brunn, 20, was charged with homicide and remained Friday in the Cherokee County jail, where he is being held without bond.

Hobgood told the AJC he has heard concerns from people about how the city's police department handled the investigation. He announced to the City Council at Thursday night's meeting that he wants to hire an outside consultant or another law enforcement agency to examine the police department's actions.

"If any mistakes were made, we certainly need to know how to improve for any future investigations," Hobgood said Thursday afternoon.

Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance spoke to Channel 2 Action News after Thursday night's City Council meeting.