DIENA THOMPSON: Her Daughter's Killers Through Diena's Mind's Eye

We need to listen closely to people close to victim(s), they often can tell use a great deal through statement analysis. Do they use the same tense when speaking about the perp? do they refer to them differently sometimes?

These do not necessarily mean they are guilty.

I heard her refer to the person who did this- from the start- I felt she had an idea who did this. This was slightly troubling, and if taken at face value would lead any reasonable person to suspect the male adult babysitter that was waiting for the children to walk home. Problem was he had been cleared by the police.

There were several people who felt that Diena had something to do with this, and I remember waiting for an interview with Diena (and someone from the police department) for 'The Today Show' and for a split second you see Diena "loose" it and say she cannot hear out of her earpiece, and I said to myself "this should be interesting" and when they return 30-60 seconds later she is emotional. I was skeptic at first, but I very clearly knew within a couple of minutes she was exhibiting real emotions. They seemed different only because she was nervous at the time, and she was internally fighting to be able to speak and hopefully make a difference, and bring her child back home.

The police department is top notch, you have to be to have that many offenders on the violent and sexual registry. I saw interviews with the police right there sitting beside her, and people online were saying she was fake crying. I felt it was a real cry, not like the fake cries I have pointed out in past posts. While different than most, it was still real emotions. You could see they way her eyebrows changed shape before she would cry- you cannot fake that. The detectives would have seen through it a second; they know real emotion when they see it.

Often times through statement analysis you can find out more about the investigation (because the police do talk to the victim's family). Below is a sampling of the exact statements made by Diena over time, starting days after Somer's body was found. They are statements where she is commenting about who committed this terrible crime.

When Somer first went missing, Diena often used plural pronouns, as we can see below...

"But we, all of us, our whole entire family, my friends, everyone, we`re devastated. I can`t believe that they would put my baby in the trash!

"I want them to die. I want them to get the death penalty…I've got to be the voice for Somer."

There was an attempted abduction days prior to Sumer's disappearance. The police have cleared those involved and likely told Diena why they cleared them (three people, two men and a woman). At which point, she changed to singular pronouns...


"Why? Give me your best excuse, your best reason as to why you had to do this,"

"I can't imagine them not catching him,"

"I Want [Killer] to Die'

Even though the police have not specifically told her the exact details of her daughter's death, it is clear they are giving her some information at this point...

"Think that when she ran off, she was upset and she`s got to a point and decided to stop and wait and that this predator was waiting. He had been waiting. And that was a perfect opportunity. There was no one else around. That`s the only thing I can think. And probably told her, I`m going to take you to your mommy.

Something happens about a month after her daughter's body was found: She starts making comments in interviews about the likely hood that it is someone she knows or has had contact with.

This becomes a recurring theme. She even will correct herself when she uses the "him" pronoun and change "him" to "it" or "monster."

This is very interesting from a statement analysis viewpoint. She is coming to terms that it could be someone she knew, and is distancing herself from that person. Those closest to Somer have been cleared. It is at this time, some interviewers make a mistake of making certain assumptions that she knows nothing about the investigation, because she does not know the specifics of how her daughter died- as we will see later...

"I've thought, 'Please don't let it be one of these people that's come around and hugged me and said how sorry they were.' I've thought, 'I wonder -- when we were doing the candlelight vigils if -- if he was out there,"

When asked, "And if it turns out to be someone she knew?"

"God have mercy on their soul. And they better be lucky that the Clay County Sheriff's Office is gonna get to 'em before I can."

"We're coming for you. We'll get you, and hopefully justice will be served," she said.

"I will not sleep until this person is found. I hope they get you and I hope they make you pay.

“I want to get justice for Somer and find this animal,”

"You don`t take from somebody. You didn`t take her from just me. You took her from my family, you took her from all of these people. And you don`t do this to a little baby and to put my baby in the trash like she`s nothing. It`s not OK."

"I can't imagine them not catching him," Thompson said at the time. "I feel like there's a piece of broken glass in front of me, and I've got all the pieces to the broken glass except for this one, huge piece -- and that's to catch the monster who did this."

Here is the point it becomes clear she does in fact know certain items not publicly known.

"This sick -- I don`t know what I`m allowed to say. But this sick man, person -- what, he`s not a man, he`s not a person, was waiting. He`d been waiting. And that was a perfect opportunity. There was no one else around. That`s the only thing I can think and probably told her I`m going to take you to your mommy."

"I want you to know that I will not sleep until this person is found. I hope they get you and I hope they make you pay. For a long, long time.

"And instead of looking in the mirror and blaming myself, I'm going to have a picture of someone else to blame. I want to see this person's face. I can't wait to meet him face to face."

"Why? Give me your best excuse, your best reason as to why you had to do this."

It becomes interesting at this point, she switches back to the plural pronoun of "they." Are there accomplices or people that did things after the fact to conceal the killers identity? We know the "person of interest" had roommates- when he lived near the victim- who turned over the computer containing pornography containing minors. We also know that the person of interest has always been a person of interest, and had been watched closely by the police since the abduction. I feel confident that Diena did not know his name, but she had been told by the police they continued to investigate and have strong leads.

"I want them to get the death penalty," she said. "So in that sense I care, but other than that I don't, you know, I don't care."

I feel confident that justice will be carried out in this case, and it will bring some closure to her family. I pray the other children do not blame themselves and this does not scar them for their entire life. It will be difficult for the entire family.◦

DIENA THOMPSON: Her Daughter's Killers Through Diena's Mind's Eye