How long was Jessica inside Coueys bedroom?
Two elements of the investigation still torment volunteers and authorities who led the national search for Jessica: finding her less than 150 yards from home, and the notion that she could have been alive when authorities first visited the mobile home where Couey lived. In conflicting statements, Couey said he kept Jessica in his bedroom for at least three days but possibly as long as six days. He said he hid her in his closet, giving her water and food. Law officers went to the mobile home and talked to one of Couey’s housemates within the first three days that Jessica was missing. Couey hid out back when they came. He said if they had searched closely they would have found Jessica inside. Couey’s housemates dispute this claim. “There’s no way, there’s no way,” said Madie Secord, Couey’s niece. “We had to have heard that little girl if she was in there.” Prosecutors say they think Jessica was dead before sunup the day she was reported missing. They point to the medical examiner’s repo
