Georgia deputies, working as part of a volunteer group searching for Jorelys Rivera in the apartment complex where she went missing from may have overlooked or dismissed a blood stain early in the case, delaying the discovery of the child's body by nearly thirty six hours. Those deputies, a trainee and a three year veteran were part of a group of fire and emergency services providers who were searching the complex when they came upon a small amount of trash as well as a small blood stain in an empty apartment. At the time, the deputies described the blood as what you would see if someone had had a bloody nose, noted it in their search report and went on with their search. Sheriff Roger Garrison said the deputies may have dismissed the blood at that time because they were still looking for the girl as a missing (living) person, rather than for a body.

The experienced deputy is now facing disciplinary actions because of that mistake, but there has been no action discussed for the trainee.

Garrison insists that the mistake would have not changed the outcome of the case nor should it have any impact on the prosecution of the suspect that has been arrested in the matter. Twenty year old maintenance worker, Ryan Brunn was arrested and is being charged with abduction, rape and homicide. Brunn, represented by a state appointed attorney is expected to plead not guilty to all charges when he appears in court.

Jorelys Rivera, age seven years old, was last seen alive in the playground of the apartment context where she lived on December 2. The little girl's body was found in a trash compactor in the same complex three days later.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was brought into the case the day after Rivera was reported missing and the day before her body was found. It was after GBI came on board that the blood stain was reported by the two deputies. Authorities now believe that that apartment was the scene of the little girl's death, where she was reportedly raped, beaten and finally stabbed to death.

Canton's Mayor Gene Hobgood has called for an investigation into how that case was handled from the very start, including why Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance was not on the scene until later in the morning on the day that Rivera was reported missing. The search was described as chaotic in those early hours, with mostly volunteers handling the search.