An 8-year-old Florida girl abducted while shopping with her mother was found dead in a wooded area near Jacksonville yesterday, authorities said.
Cops later charged registered sex offender Donald James Smith, 56, with the murder.
Smith had befriended young Charish Perriwinkle and her mom at a dollar store late Friday, and he later disappeared with the young girl during a shopping trip to Walmart, cops said.
Perriwinkle’s mom called 911 after they didn’t return — triggering an Amber Alert that yielded a tip about a suspicious van in the woods near a church.
Cops cornered the white van on I-95 and took Smith into custody. An hour later, they found Perriwinkle’s body near the church.
In 1993 Smith was convicted of attempted kidnapping and selling obscene materials, and had a 2009 arrest for child abuse.