The man suspected of killing Jacksonville child Charish Perriwinkle, 8, has been charged with murder.
Members with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Saturday that 56-year-old Donald Smith, a registered sex offender who has been convicted in the past of kidnapping, acted alone in the incident.
Charish's body was found Saturday morning. She went missing while shopping with her mother Friday night.
Sheriff's deputies said in that same press conference Saturday afternoon, Charish's mother met Smith at a Dollar General at 7 p.m. Friday night. He apparently befriended them, and asked if he could buy them clothes at a nearby Walmart on Lem Turner Road.
The family and Smith then went to Walmart. Officials say they were in the store for several hours.
Smith then took Charish to get some food at a McDonald's inside the Walmart. He then walked out of the store with her and into a white van. Deputies are not saying what was in the van when they found it.
Officials received a call about the missing girl at 11 p.m. Friday.
Charish's mother provided detectives with a description of the suspect, which investigators then used to identify Smith as possible suspect, a police report said.
When Charish's mother was shown a photo of Smith, she identified him as the man who abducted her daughter, deputies said.
Charish's body was found at an unnamed church on Broward Road on Saturday. Smith was taken into custody later that morning after officers surrounded his van.
Details emerging about Donald Smith
A quick scan of Smith's personal file shows he lived at the Palace Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg for a short time after his release from prison in 2007. The park, in its infancy back then, is a place where sex offenders can live freely and go through rehabilitation while on probation.
There is very little in Smith's file about his time there. Nobody there now remembers his stay. His therapist at the time said the only notes he has on Smith show he was getting on top of his issues and his attendance at therapy sessions was good.
The Department of Corrections sent Smith to the mobile home park shortly after his release, but they allowed him to leave after only eight weeks.
Therapist Don Sweeney worked with Smith at the time and still works with residents who live there today. Sweeney said his time in the facility just wasn't enough.
"Probationers are sometimes sent here only for a month or two, and there isn't a whole lot we can do," he said. "We can maybe break some ice, but we're talking a couple of years in therapy, minimum."
Sweeney said that six years later, it is far more common for sex offenders going through the program to live at the Palace for at least two years.
"They come here, and we try to get them to open up, and we do a pretty good job of it, but it takes some time," he said. "This isn't a quick fix thing."
Jacksonville deputies say they did an address check on Smith Friday morning. He had done everything required of him as a registered sex offender up until that point.
An address check is required once a month.