FedEx Driver Strangled Athena Strand, 7, After Hitting Her With Van, Affidavit Says

Tanner Lynn Horner. (Wise County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The FedEx driver accused of kidnapping and murdering Athena Strand told authorities he killed the girl after accidentally hitting her with his delivery truck.

Tanner Horner, 31, confessed to abducting and killing the 7-year-old girl in North Texas, according to the arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Wise County Messenger. (pdf) The suspect told authorities he killed Athena because she was going to tell her dad that he had hit her with his truck.

Elizabeth Strand, Athena’s stepmother, reported the girl missing at 6:41 p.m. on Nov. 30 from the family’s home in Paradise, a rural community northwest of Fort Worth. Athena was living with her father for the fall semester. Maitlyn Gandy, Athena’s mother, lives in Oklahoma.

An Amber Alert was issued.

Hundreds of volunteers searched the surrounding fields and ponds for the first-grader who went missing in below-freezing temperatures.

Two days later, Athena’s body was found in the nearby town of Boyd.

Vehicle Video Cameras

The Wise County Sheriff learned that FedEx had delivered a package to the Strand’s home about the time she went missing.

Investigators worked with FedEx to identify the contracted driver who worked for Big TopSpin. After confirming the vehicle used in the delivery, investigators found it was equipped with video cameras.

An FBI agent viewed a video taken from the vehicle that showed the driver taking a girl into the van.

Horner, who lives about 30 miles southeast of Paradise in Lake Worth, was identified as the driver.

Authorities located Horner for questioning.

He told police he accidentally hit the girl while backing up but that she was not seriously injured, adding that he “panicked and put Athena in the van,” according to the document.

In the video, the girl was alive and talking to Horner inside the van. He said she told him her name was Athena.

Then he killed the young girl because she said she would tell her dad that the FedEx driver backed into her.

“The defendant stated when he attempted to break Athena’s neck, it did not work, so he strangled [her] with his bare hands in the back of the FedEx van,” the document said.

Horner led police to the girl’s body, less than 10 miles from her home.

“We don’t work a lot of criminal investigations that involve children that young, so it touches our heart, it hurts us to the very core, which motivates us to get the job done right so that we give a good package over to the district attorney’s office,” Akin told KXAS News.

Horner was taken into custody and charged with aggravated kidnapping and capital murder. He is detained in the Wise County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.

On Wednesday, thousands paid tribute to Athena at a prayer vigil at the First Baptist Church of Cottondale. A private funeral was held today.

The Wise County Sheriff did not immediately return a request for comment.