Athena Strand – latest updates: Suspect Tanner Horner’s Instagram posts emerge as kidnap and murder motive unclear

According to Wise County Jail records, 31-year-old Tanner Horner was booked at 2am on Friday on one count of capital murder of a person under 10 and aggravated kidnapping.

His bond was set at $1.5m.

Mr Horner has worked as an Uber driver, according to reports, and posted on social media about being a musician.

Here’s everything we know about the case:

Athena was last seen alive at her home on the 200 Block of County Rd 3573 in Paradise, at about 5.40pm on Wednesday.

Her stepmother reported her missing around an hour later, sparking a massive search involving multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies who used canine units and helicopters with thermal imaging.

Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin announced at a late night press conference on Friday that Athena’s body had been found and a FedEx driver Tanner Horner had been arrested.

The suspect allegedly confessed to abducting Athena and murdering her about an hour later before disposing of her body, Mr Akin told reporters.

Tanner Lynn Horner’s neighbours have shared their shock and horror at the news that he is suspected of killing Athena Strand.

The neighbours said that Mr Horner lived with his grandmother and mother in the west Fort Worth neighbourhood and that he would leave for weeks at a time before returning home.

The heartbroken mother of Texas schoolgirl Athena Strand has described the suspect who allegedly confessed to her murder as a “sick, cruel monster”.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Athena’s mother Maitlyn Gandy wrote that she was struggling to describe “the pain and absolute anger” that she felt towards the alleged killer.

“My princess was taken from me from a sick, cruel monster for absolutely no reason,” she wrote along with a home video taken of Athena aged three.

“Athena is innocent, beautiful, kind, intelligent, and just the brightest, happiest soul you could ever meet. I don’t want her to be the girl known as the one murdered and discarded by a monster.

“I want everyone to know, every single person in this world, that this is my baby and my baby was taken from me.”

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley has the story:

In a late night press conference on Friday, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin announced that authorities had taken a FedEx contract driver into custody.

Investigators had determined that Tanner Horner, 31, had made a drop-off near the family home around the time Athena went missing.

Mr Akin said the driver had allegedly confessed to taking Athena and shown them where her body could be found, in a ditch around six miles out of Paradise.

They believed she had died within an hour of her abduction, but did not provide further details on how she was killed.

“It’s one of the toughest investigations I have been involved in because it’s a child,” Mr Akin said at the press conference, according to Fox4.

“Any time there’s a child that dies it just hits you in your heart.”

Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, is accused of snatching little Athena from her home in Paradise, Texas, before killing her and dumping her body in a ditch about six miles away. Police said that he confessed to the heinous crime and is being held on charges of capital murder and kidnapping.

Following his arrest, the aspiring musician’s dark song lyrics and disturbing social media posts have emerged.

In one Instagram post from December 2014, he wrote: “Sometimes I hear her cries. Silence is the dirtiest trick in life. If im so empty then why do I feel alive.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Wise County sheriff Lane Akin told reporters that the driver, 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner, had allegedly confessed to her abduction and murder.

Here’s everything we know about the suspect and the case:

Athena’s mother Maitlyn Presley Gandy posted the video to Facebook on Monday, three days after her child was found dead in Paradise, Texas. The little girl was reported missing on Wednesday (30 November) and suspect Tanner Lynn Horner is now charged with her abduction and murder.

Ms Gandy explained that the video of her other daughter sobbing uncontrollably for her “sissy” was taken days before Athena went missing, as the seven-year-old was visiting her father in Texas. At the time, Ms Gandy said she assured the unconsolable girl that her sister would be back with them in Oklahoma soon.

“That video of [redacted] begging for her sissy was Sunday 11/27 when we thought sissy would only be gone a few days. I kept telling her, ‘it’s okay, we will see sissy soon,’ not knowing how twisted our lives would become,” Ms Gandy wrote.

The Independent has the story:

The devastated grandfather of murdered seven-year-old Athena Strand has said that he forgives the “psycho” FedEx driver accused of abducting and killing her – but also wishes he could have “five minutes alone in a cell” with the suspect.

“This flesh, this man that I am, is angry and I want 5 minutes alone in a cell with the psycho that took our Athena away from us, but there’s a soft gentle voice in the back of my head telling me I need to forgive him,” he wrote.

Area school districts will wear pink in support of Athena Strand, her family and the local community.

Athena’s mother’s Facebook page has also been flooded with comments and pictures of mothers and kids across Texas and the country wearing pink in tribute of the seven-year-old girl killed on Wednesday.

“I put my little girl in pink today for Athena. She said “my favorite color is pink too, we could have been friends” I’m praying so hard for you. And I’m so so sorry,” a mother wrote.