Jersey Bridgeman, a Bentonville 6-year-old found dead in a vacant house on Nov. 20, will be laid to rest Tuesday.
Her funeral is set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 27) at the Rollins Funeral Chapel in Rogers, with burial to follow at Bentonville Cemetery. Visitation will be held Monday (Nov. 26) from 5 p.m. 7 p.m. at the funeral home.
Bridgeman was found in an abandoned house two doors down from her home on S.E. A Street last Tuesday. No arrests have been made in the child’s death, however the Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the search for her killer.
Last week law enforcement agencies began looking into sex offenders who live in the area where Bridgeman was found, said Bentonville Police Captain Justin Thompson. Seven Level II sex offenders are registered as living within a few miles of the crime scene. Level II means they’re at moderate risk for re-offending.
The department received a call at 6:43 a.m. of a child missing from her home at 608 S.E. A St., according to the release from Police Chief Jon Simpson said.
A neighborhood search resulted in the body being discovered, the release states. The girl’s body was located within 15 minutes, according to police.
Officers served three search warrants on three homes the day the child was killed, including the girl’s home, the house two doors down where she was found dead, and a trailer residence between the houses. Police collected about 50 pieces of evidence during the searches, Simpson said.
David Bridgeman was sentenced to 18 years in prison in June after he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, permitting the abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Jana Suzanne Slinkard, the girl’s stepmother, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on the same charges. She received an additional three years for violating her probation on a previous drug offense.
