ORANGE PARK, Fla. (AP) - Authorities in north Florida say they will announce a major development in the slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson.

The Clay County sheriff's office plans a news conference Friday in Orange Park to provide new information about the death.

The girl disappeared in October while walking home from school in a Jacksonville suburb. Her body was found in a south Georgia landfill two days later.

Authorities have not released further information regarding the announcement - and Somer Thompson's family is also remaining silent for now.

"We are hopeful that it will be good news that will permit Somer's family to begin the healing process," Michael Freed, the lawyer for Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, told The Associated Press on Friday morning. "We will all find out the details at the same time. All developments are bittersweet for Diena as she gets information that she desperately thirsts for but she is forced to relive the truth that she will never see Somer again in this life."

A 24-year-old man is jailed as a person of interest in the case. Jarred Harrell was arrested in Mississippi on charges of child molestation and child pornography and was transferred to Florida.

Authorities have said they planned to question him about Thompson's
death.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)