A man arrested in Meridian Thursday afternoon by agents with the FBI and the US Marshal’s Office has been named as a “person of interest” in the months long investigation into the disappearance and murder of a seven-year old Florida girl.

          Agents arrested 24-year old Jarred Harrell at a home located at 1520 22nd Avenue Heights. Clay County (Fla.) Sheriff Rick Beseler said Harrell, although not charged with Thompson’s death as yet, is a “person of interest” adding that Harrell lived in a home near Thompson’s.

         Deputies with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department were called to the federal building above the main post office in Meridian where Harrell was then transported to the Lauderdale County Jail to be held until he could be extradited back to Clay County, Florida. Harrell is being held on $1 million bond. Harrell was taken into custody on 29 counts of possession of child pornography. Somer Thompson disappeared Oct. 19, 2009 as she walked home from School in Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in a landfill in Georgia.

       Deputies and an FBI forensics team were seen searching its front yard with rakes and shovels earlier today. The sheriff’s office restricted access to at least a block around the home, which is in a neighborhood filled with tidy, ranch-style houses.

      FBI agents surrounded the Meridian home today for a few hours. They refused to comment on the arrest.

Beseler, who announced the arrest during an evening news conference, said a vehicle had also been searched.

Somer vanished Oct. 19 as she was walking home from school, sparking a search that lasted for two days. Investigators sorted through more than 225 tons of garbage at a landfill some 50 miles away, across the state line in Georgia, before their worst fears were realized: Sticking out of the rubbish were a child’s lifeless legs.

Authorities have checked into thousands of tips in the case in the nearly four months since, but no one has been charged in the killing.

Dawn Nuss, 39, whose 8-year-old daughter Christina used to walk home with Somer, said her daughter told her that Somer used to stop at the house and pet a white dog. No one would ever come out of the house. Sometimes Somer would run ahead of the children walking home and hide in a ditch.

“I thought this was the safest place to allow my children to! walk ho me,” she said.

Before the arrest was announced, the girl’s mother, Diena Thompson, said she didn’t want to get her hopes up that a break had been made in the case.

“I’m not speculating on anything. I don’t want to get my hopes up and I don’t want to get my hopes down,” she told The Florida Times-Union. “I’m going to put my faith in God.”

After the news conference, a friend who answered a telephone that belongs to Thompson referred callers to Thompson’s attorney. A telephone message and an e-mail sent seeking comment from the attorney were not immediately returned.

P.J. Simms, who has lived in the neighborhood 17 years, said she hopes authorities find what they are looking for.

“I just hope they find what they were looking for because it has been a long time coming. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. It’s broken our hearts,” she said. “You used to see 40 to 50 kids out here every day, now there’s always somebody with them.”

Simms said she knew Somer because she used to baby-sit for the girl’s friend.

“She was a sweetheart, just very loving. She always wanted to be a part of everything. I hope and pray to God that this is it so we can finally let the kids play.”

Associated Press Writers Lisa Orkin Emmanuel and Suzette Laboy in Miami also contributed to this report.