Man hurls daughter, five, from bridge

Agency had number of clues all was not well

ST PETERSBURG, Florida: In her short life, 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck bounced from home to home and often witnessed her parents fighting and arguing. Still, friends and family said, she loved her daddy and told him that often.

And by all accounts, John Jonchuck doted on Phoebe. Their once- strong bond left police wondering why he dropped her – perhaps while she was still alive – over a bridge and into Tampa Bay.

The fall was 19m, police said.

Phoebe lived with her father, and in the last day of her life, he made comments that frightened his lawyer so much she called authorities and wondered if she should have kept the girl at her office. He called his attorney “God” and asked her to translate a Bible in Swedish.

A short time later, a deputy questioned Jonchuck and found nothing wrong. Phoebe was smiling and happy.

Twelve hours later, during an unusually cold and windy night along the Gulf Coast, a police officer spotted Jonchuck speeding by in his car early on Thursday.

Then the officer said he witnessed Jonchuck drop Phoebe.

Jonchuck is in custody at the Pinellas County Jail without bail. Phoebe’s body was recovered 1.6km from the bridge about two hours later.

A post-mortem is yet to be held.

Before her death, Jonchuck and Phoebe had an odd encounter with his attorney. Genevieve Torres told the emergency dispatcher she had asked Jonchuck if he wanted her to file paperwork in his custody case during a meeting on Wednesday in Tampa.

“It’s not going to matter anymore,” she recalled him saying.

“That really scared me,” Torres told the dispatcher, her voice trembling. He was “out of his mind”.

Police investigated and Jonchuck told the officer he was happy, didn’t want to hurt himself or his little girl and had “new clarity in his life”.

The Florida Department of Children and Families said on Thursday evening that the agency received a call to the abuse hotline on Wednesday “regarding the mental health of Phoebe’s father”.

The caller said Jonchuck was “depressed and delusional”.

DCF secretary Mike Carroll said a team was reviewing the agency’s involvement with the family, which included at least three prior investigations into the family.

Phoebe had long, curly hair and loved princesses. She hated baths and water, making her death even more gut-wrenching, said Linda Mattos, the owner of a daycare centre that looked after Phoebe.

Phoebe’s mother, Michelle Kerr, was with Jonchuck for six tumultuous years, and police were called numerous times. Since 2008, Jonchuck has been charged with domestic battery six times, but in every case, the charges were dropped or never pursued.

Kerr had an arrest record consisting of child neglect, petty theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, among other charges.

Jonchuck had custody of Phoebe and they lived with Jonchuck’s parents in Tampa.

“I always saw him as a good dad,” Kerr said. “She would always say, ‘I love you daddy.’ She loved her dad.” – Sapa-AP

‘DELUSIONAL’: John Jonchuk.