Killer John Couey has died

Click here to see what local parents say about how he died.

Tallahasee, Florida - Florida prison officials say the man who kidnapped, raped and buried alive 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford has died of natural causes.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said John Evander Couey, 51, died Wednesday at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. If family does not come to claim his body, he will be buried at a cemetery for inmates.

She said Couey had been ill for some time. She declined to provide any specifics, citing a federal law protecting the privacy of hospital patients.

Here's the official statement from the Department of Corrections:

Inmate John Evander Couey DC063425 died of natural causes Wednesday, September 30, 2009. He died at 11:15am at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. He was transported to the hospital on August 12, 2009.

On August 24, 2007, Inmate Couey was convicted of and sentenced to die for the 2005 murder of Jessica Lunsford. Couey was 51 years old.

If inmate Couey's body is not claimed, he will be buried at an inmate cemetery at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

Jessica was kidnapped and killed in Citrus County in 2005. Couey was sentenced to death in 2007. When the 9-year-old was kidnapped from her bedroom, law enforcement and volunteers immediately started an exhaustive search of the area. It took nearly a month before Jessica's body was located. She was buried outside a trailer very near her home.

In 2007, John Couey was convicted of murdering Jessica after he confessed to the crime. There have always been questions about whether Jessica was still alive when deputies knocked on Couey's door during the investigation.

Here's a timeline of events that took place in the case:

February 24, 2005: Jessica Lunsford was reported missing.

March 18: Couey confessed and was arrested in Georgia.

March 19: Jessica's body was found.

July, 2006: Efforts to seat a jury in Lake County failed. Too many people knew about the case.

February, 2007: Jury selection began in Miami.

March 1: The state began presenting its case.

March 7: A jury found Couey guilty of killing Jessica Lunsford.

March 14: A jury recommended Couey be put to death after about an hour of deliberation.

August 24: Judge agreed and sentenced Couey to death for the murder of Jessica Lunsford.

Click here to see all of our prior coverage of this story.