She and her family can never hope to get back what was lost. But starting today, her family - and the multitudes who have come to love her even though they never knew her - will begin the long, hard road to recovery.

Barring any more legal wrangling, the trial of John Couey, the man accused of doing the unthinkable, will begin today in Miami. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has said from the moment that Couey was charged in the death of Jessica that "I have my man." The case against Couey, the sheriff has insisted, is "rock solid."

The time has come to see if he is correct.

Two years have passed since first Citrus County, then the nation, was transfixed by the desperate search for the missing 9-year-old.

Hundreds of people poured into the Homosassa neighborhood where she lived, into the makeshift emergency operations center set up at her church, to get marching orders from authorities for an unprecedented inch-by-inch search of the surrounding countryside.

Millions more around the country were caught up in the drama, as parents everywhere put themselves into the shoes of Mark Lunsford and his frantic family. We all worried along with the Lunsfords as the days dragged by without any clues as to Jessica's whereabouts.

And the nation gasped in horror as authorities tracked down Couey in Augusta, Ga., and the details of Jessica's last hours emerged.

All of this will be replayed, in graphic detail, in the coming days and possibly weeks in a courtroom far from here. In an effort to ensure that Couey receives a fair trial, a large segment of the Citrus County judicial apparatus has been packed up and sent south. Jury selection that proved impossible in rural Central Florida will be tried in urbanized Miami.

Some would say that all of these precautions are being wasted on Couey, that anyone who would do what he is accused of doing to a little girl deserves no mercy or consideration.

That is simply raw anger talking. Clear minds, and the law, demand much more.

The courts so far have taken great pains to ensure that Couey's rights are protected. Alleged confessions have been thrown out, the venue has been changed, continuances have been granted. The case is now 2 years old.

None of this is about coddling a defendant; it is about adhering to the dictates of justice in a case that, more than most, brings out the strongest emotional reactions.

More is on the line than Couey's fate. Dawsy's two top investigators obtained a confession from Couey shortly after he was arrested, then lost it because they violated his constitutional rights by not getting him an attorney when he requested one. Dawsy and prosecutors have played down the significance of that setback, saying there is enough physical evidence to obtain a conviction.

If they are right, the sheriff and his team, who came under intense criticism from media pundits when the confession was tossed, can claim vindication for their tactics.

If they are wrong, careers will be ruined.

Even the judge in the case, Ric Howard, will not escape scrutiny. Howard has earned sharp criticism for his harsh sentences in a number of cases involving young men. Any missteps in this high-profile case will only give ammunition to his critics.

All of this, however, is secondary to the real aim of the trial, finding justice for a little girl who had no one to speak for her at the moment when she needed it most.

[Last modified February 11, 2007, 19:38:08]