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Post by artemis on Jul 16, 2011 15:25:30 GMT -5
"MISSING CANADIAN FOUND DEAD IN PHILIPPINES
Philippine police said Saturday they had found the body of a missing retired Canadian missionary and arrested a family-of-three who owned the farm where the corpse was buried.
The decomposed remains, thought to be of Darcy Hans Rentenberg, 53, were sent for a post mortem examination to determine the cause of death, said Michael Codaste, a murder squad detective in the central city of Cebu.
Rentenberg's landlord reported him missing on July 5, 10 days after he left his flat in nearby Mandaue city on his motorbike and failed to return, Codaste said, reading from a police report.
"We have three suspects in custody," Codaste said, identifying them as Rentenberg's 46-year-old Filipino former assistant during his missionary work, the ex-aide's wife and their 17-year-old son.
Police looking for the missing Canadian visited the former aide's farm on the outskirts of Cebu on Thursday and found a concealed grave beneath a pig pen, Codaste said.
The family fled the property during the search but were arrested at a nearby village a few hours later, he said, adding that they were being held on suspicion of causing the Canadian's death and concealing his body.
Police said Rentenberg had been involved in missionary work in the Philippines from the 1980s and chose to live in the area at the end of his assignment. They said they did not have the name of his mission.
Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade ministry spokesman Alain Cacchione said: "The Canadian Embassy in Manila is in contact with the local police authorities to gather additional information."
"Due to the Privacy Act, no further information can be provided," he added.
The Canadian embassy in Manila was closed for the weekend."
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Post by artemis on Jul 28, 2011 3:56:49 GMT -5
"FBI abduction team searches for missing NH girl
STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. (AP) — Shy and sweet, with a gap-toothed smile and a reputation as reliable, 11-year-old Celina Cass is the last person anyone in her New Hampshire community would expect to run away. At this point, they only wish that were the case. The other explanations are too scary.
Last seen at a home computer Monday night, the fifth grader vanished overnight from her home a mile from the U.S.-Canada border, leaving family members and friends incredulous. Police and conservation officers are searching fields, woods and the Connecticut River while FBI child abduction specialists have joined the hunt.
Police have said that there's no indication she ran away or that someone took her, and there are no signs of a struggle
But tight-lipped police investigators revealed little about the probe beyond that Wednesday, despite a flurry of activity in and around the three-story house where Celina lives with her mother and stepfather. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said it is still being treated as a missing persons case.
"We are still desperately looking for her," Young said.
She wouldn't comment when asked why an Amber Alert was never issued for the girl, even though the FBI said it had enlisted a four- to six-person "child abduction rapid deployment team" to pitch in. Earlier in the day, state police Sgt. Sheldon Belanger, the lead investigator in the case, said Celina's disappearance did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert and wasn't considered suspicious.
Police were going through phone and computer records at Celina's home, he said.
Those who know Celina say it's unlikely she ran away.
"She never went anywhere without her mom or sister," said family friend Rebecca Goodrum, 30, fighting back tears and holding a lit candle Wednesday night at a vigil held in a park in neighboring Canaan, Vt., about a half-mile from the girl's home.
"She is very shy," said Kayla Baglio, 18, who knows her, too. "If she doesn't know you, she'd look at her sister to see if it was OK to talk to you."
Celina's friend, 11-year-old Makayla Riendeau, described the girl as very athletic and a stickler about getting her school work done on time.
"She's a very good friend, and she never lets anybody down," Makayla said.
Vermont State Police, the U.S. Border Patrol, New Hampshire State Police, the state Department of Fish and Game and local law enforcement agencies searched for the girl Tuesday and Wednesday, at one point resorting to lowering the water — via dam release — in the Connecticut River so a helicopter could search from above.
Nothing.
At the peak of the search Tuesday, there were at least three dozen officers, New England police dog handlers and a search and rescue group assisting by water, air and land, including all-terrain vehicle trails in the woods.
"We found no evidence that she had been in that area, and, of course, we have no evidence she is lost as opposed to missing, either," said Lt. Douglas Gralenski, a state Fish and Game official.
"Honestly, we don't know where else we can look," he said. "There's so much that's unknown."
At midday Wednesday, about a mile north of town, five Fish and Game officers searched the woods behind an apartment building. They carried bags and boxes, but it was unclear if they collected anything.
Some of the police activity was closer to home. Police were seen entering the home and then stretching yellow crime scene tape around it late Wednesday afternoon before posting a uniformed trooper outside.
After that, plainclothes police officers wearing purple rubber gloves surrounded a red pickup that was parked across the street from the girl's home, photographing it and looking inside. When news cameras began shooting pictures of what was happening, troopers moved a cruiser and a New Hampshire State Police SUV in front of the scene, to block the cameras.
The girl's disappearance hung heavy over Stewartstown, a community of 800 residents with one blinking streetlight and a handful of stores. Friends posted fliers of the girl on trees, utility poles, storefronts and car windows, and stood along the street in front of her house, waving motorists down to hand them copies.
"It's creepy," said Shannon Towle, who owns Towle's Mini-Mart on Route 3. "Things like this don't happen here. I know that's kind of a tired phrase. I'm an overprotective mom as it is. Now it's going to be way worse."
After sunset, about 80 people — many with candles in hand and tears in their eyes — gathered for the nighttime vigil. A framed picture of the girl sat on a picnic table, surrounded by candles. Friends, classmates and even people who didn't know Celina were among those in the crowd, and young children sobbed as adults comforted them.
Goodrum, of nearby Beecher Falls, Vt., said she was praying that Celina, whom she's known since she was 2, is safe.
"She was beautiful," said Goodrum. "She was the light of everything."
Towle said her 13-year-old daughter, Echo Towle, asked her mother whether she thought Celina was still alive.
"How do I answer that question? And do I want to?" Towle said. "I don't want to think about it, but I pray every second that she is."
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Post by artemis on Aug 2, 2011 3:40:03 GMT -5
Just as I knew it would happen. Classic case...
"Missing NH girl's body found in river near home
STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. (AP) — After nearly a week of massive searches and volunteers handing out fliers with photos of a missing fifth-grader, residents in this town of 800 in far northern New Hampshire are absorbing the bitter news that there will be no happy ending now that divers have recovered the 11-year-old's body from the Connecticut River.
Residents and investigators alike hope to find answers about how Celina Cass came to be in the river a quarter-mile from her home when an autopsy is conducted Tuesday.
Celina, who lived with her older sister, mother and stepfather a mile from the Canadian border, was last seen at her home computer around 9 p.m. on July 25 and was gone the next morning, authorities have said. Police said there was no sign of a struggle and there was no indication she ran away or someone took her.
On Monday, the intense search came to an abrupt end when New Hampshire Fish and Game Department divers found her body near a hydroelectric dam that spans the Connecticut River between her hometown, Stewartstown, and Canaan, Vt., Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said.
"We're all very devastated," said Jeffry Pettit, whose daughter Kaylin was a friend of Celina's, after word that the body had been found.
Based on what divers found, her death was described as suspicious, and investigators were treating the case as a criminal investigation pending autopsy results, Young said.
At the peak, more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers descended upon Stewartstown, searching a mile-wide area around her home, including woods and ponds. Law enforcement officers went so far as to have a cellphone tower erected to assist in communications.
Fliers featuring pictures of Celina with a gap-toothed smile had been put up throughout Stewartstown and neighboring communities. Residents passed out purple and pink ribbons and held vigils.
No one was more baffled by Celina's disappearance than her friends and family, who described her as studious and reliable, shy and timid, not the type to run away from home.
"People don't tend to think it's going to happen up here," said Karen Ramsey, of Lancaster, referring to the tight-knit, rural community. "It doesn't just happen in the city."
According to several media outlets, Celina's stepfather was taken to a hospital Monday. MSNBC reported that Wendell Noyes was taken by ambulance after lying down in the family's driveway and rolling around, and video showed him dropping to his knees and then lying with his head resting on his hands.
A spokeswoman for Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital, in Colebrook, N.H., said she couldn't comment on whether Noyes was taken to the hospital on Monday.
In 2003, Noyes was involuntarily committed to a hospital in Concord after he entered his girlfriend's house in the middle of the night and threatened to throw her down stairs, according to court documents. An order signed by a probate judge indicated Noyes suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
A court motion filed by his attorney at the time indicated Noyes received a medical discharge from the Air Force because of mental illness. The attorney didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
Celina's death was tough for law enforcement officials, as well as residents. State police and FBI agents from as far away as New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia turned the local school into a bustling command post. The FBI brought in a special team specializing in child abductions.
"We have brought Celina home, obviously not the way we wanted to bring her home," said Young, her voice breaking with emotion."
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Post by artemis on Aug 13, 2011 15:06:08 GMT -5
"Suspect held in disappearance of three-year-old Missouri girl
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Authorities in southeast Missouri said a suspect was in custody on Saturday in connection with the disappearance of a toddler last seen riding her bicycle in front of her home last weekend.
The unidentified suspect was from the local area but unrelated to the family of 3-year-old Breeann Rodriguez of Senath, Mo., said Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder and Senath Police Chief Omar Karnes in a statement.
County and state authorities are searching for the girl's body and bicycle in an undisclosed area of the county, according to the statement.
The man, whose name was not yet being released, was being held at the Dunklin County Justice Center, pending formal charges.
The Dunklin County prosecutor's office said it would release more information after the suspect is charged.
The small town of Senath is about 90 miles north of Memphis, Tennessee."
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Post by artemis on Aug 16, 2011 6:24:55 GMT -5
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Post by artemis on Aug 26, 2011 14:13:01 GMT -5
"2-year search for missing mom suddenly escalates
PUYALLUP, Wash. (AP) — The nearly two-year search for a Utah mother is suddenly escalating on different fronts, with detectives scouring through her husband's Puyallup, Wash., home while family members exchange sordid accusations of sex and deceit.
Investigators said Josh Powell has recently stopped returning phone calls from authorities seeking his aid in finding Susan Cox Powell, though he appeared calm when they arrived at his two-story home in the suburbs Thursday afternoon. Detectives spent several hours combing through the house and vehicles, using disposable gloves in a search for evidence they said could propel the case forward.
Officials seized several computers while loading sealed boxes and bags into a mobile command center.
"We came here looking for specific things, and some of those things we've been able to find," West Valley City police Lt. Bill Merritt said Thursday night, about six hours after investigators arrived at the house. He called the evidence collected "very, very important" to the investigation.
Josh Powell is the only person of interest in Susan Powell's disappearance, but he has not been charged or detained. He was allowed to leave the area with their children as investigators went through the property.
Police said the plan to search Powell's home had been in the works for a while — since before a recent search through abandoned mines in Nevada. A few investigators thoroughly examined a van in the driveway, looking through every CD, flipping through scraps of paper and examining under seats.
Investigators declined to discuss what pieces of evidence they gathered.
"What we have here today will help us draw closer to a conclusion," Merritt said. "Whether it's the conclusion that everybody wants and hopes for, we don't know. It may be a conclusion that nobody wants to admit could happen."
The search came just hours after the case spiraled into an emotional saga pitting one side of Susan Powell's family against the other.
Josh Powell's father, Steve Powell, claimed in a nationally televised interview on Thursday that he had a flirtatious relationship with his daughter-in-law — something her parents adamantly denied, saying Steve Powell initiated unwanted sexual advances toward her.
Steve Powell told reporters outside the home Friday morning that investigators told him they were looking for Susan Powell's journals — and they took his journals, as well.
"I didn't want them to have my journals," he told KOMO-TV. "There's very embarrassing things in my journals."
The Powell family, portraying Susan as promiscuous and emotionally unstable, offered as proof several diary pages from the missing woman's teenage years. Her family says the entries were written by a young girl still growing up and have no bearing on her disappearance. They say they'll sue if the Powell family publishes them as promised.
Josh Powell denied killing his wife or having anything to do with her disappearance.
"I would never even hurt her," a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS' Early Show. "People who know me know that I could never hurt Susan."
Josh Powell, who still wears his wedding ring, said he loves his wife. He said she came from an emotionally abusive home with controlling, manipulative parents.
In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, Steve Powell said he and Susan Cox Powell were falling in love and even implied a sexual relationship had occurred.
"Susan was very sexual with me," Steve Powell said. "We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that."
Susan's father, Chuck Cox, told the AP that his daughter claimed years ago that "something had happened" with Steve Powell that made her uncomfortable. He said she didn't disclose the details.
"She said something about Steve had wanted her to be a common wife for him and Josh," Chuck Cox said. According to him, when Susan discussed the remark with Josh, he dismissed it as part of his father's penchant for saying outrageous things.
Chuck Cox said he believes his daughter's discomfort with her father-in-law was part of what motivated her to move her family to Utah from Washington.
"She wanted as far away from him as possible," Cox said.
Chuck Cox, who also lives in Puyallup, denies allegations in court filings by Josh Powell seeking a protective order that he has harassed or threatened his son-in-law and said he only wants to spend time with his young grandchildren.
A court commissioner in Washington state Tuesday ordered Chuck Cox and Josh Powell to keep 500 feet apart.
Chuck Cox has never said he believes his son-in-law is responsible for Susan's disappearance, but wants him to be more forthcoming with police, who claim Josh Powell hasn't been cooperative.
"If he can get himself cleared, that's fine with me," Chuck Cox said. "But he has obstructed the investigation of the police, he has refused to talk to them and there's enough inconsistencies ... they have to look into it."
Police say Josh Powell has refused to answer questions about a supposed midnight camping trip he said he took with the couple's sons — then ages 4 and 2 — in the mountains west of Salt Lake City the night before Susan Cox Powell was reported missing.
Susan Powell was last seen by her husband Dec. 6, 2009, in her West Valley City, Utah, home outside Salt Lake City. She was reported missing the next day when she didn't show up for work.
Alina Powell, Josh's sister, has said her family has cooperated with the FBI, and will continue to do so, but they have nothing new to contribute. She said the family allowed its Puyallup home to be searched last year without a warrant.
The Powells also have been saying they believe the missing woman may have run off with another man, although Josh Powell said in interviews Thursday he doesn't know if his wife was ever unfaithful.
He said he would like to tell his wife that he loves her and that her children love her, but he vacillates in his beliefs about whether she is still alive.
"It's a rollercoaster," he told ABC News.
Chuck Cox said his family remains hopeful, but they are preparing "for the worst."
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Post by artemis on Sept 4, 2011 13:58:58 GMT -5
"Sharon West, Missing Texas Teen, Vanishes Without A Trace
A distraught mother in southeastern Texas is trying to locate her 15-year-old daughter who disappeared under mysterious circumstances more than a month ago.
"I can't even describe how I am feeling. I miss her so much. I just want my baby to come home," Sandra West told The Huffington Post.
West's daughter, Sharon West, has not been seen since July 30. The teen had been staying with family friends in Fannett, an unincorporated town about an hour northeast of Houston. Her living arrangements there were temporary while her mom attempted to secure a job.
Sharon West's friend, Austin Meaux, last saw her at the residence in the 11100 Block of Gaulding Road at about 2:00 a.m. He said she was awake and still there when the rest of the family went to sleep.
According to Chuck Foreman, a private investigator based out of Austin who has volunteered to assist in the case, West sent a text message to a friend at about 5:20 a.m., saying she was at the Seabreeze Youth Club's soccer field, a couple of miles from where she was staying.
Roughly 40 minutes later, West used her cellphone to contact another friend and again indicated she was at the soccer field. According to police the area is a popular hangout area for kids. West did not contact any other friends after that and her cellphone died shortly thereafter.
What happened to Sharon West after those calls remains a mystery.
"I don't believe she ran away," Foreman told The Huffington Post, noting West did not take any clothing or personal belongings -- other than her cellphone -- with her.
"This is out of character for her," Sandra West added. "She would have contacted us."
Foreman said the soccer field is situated on a somewhat busy road and he fears the teen may have been abducted.
"I suspect foul play and I'm afraid something bad happened to her," he said.
Without many clues a frustrated sheriff's office has struck only dead ends in its search for the teen. They have conducted land and aerial searches, but thus far nothing of interest has been found.
On Tuesday, Foreman and West's family members organized a community search near the soccer field.
"We had seven fire departments out there and almost 100 citizens," Foreman said. "It was a huge search."
Searchers did find a cellphone during the search but police say it is not the phone West was carrying when she disappeared.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the lead agency on the case, is working with a representative from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They have been making home visits to area sex offenders and have reclassified the case from "missing" to "missing endangered."
Sandra West said she is grateful for all the support but she is upset that the sheriff's department did not issue an Amber Alert when her daughter was first reported missing.
"They said her case didn't meet the criteria," West said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office did not return calls for comment from The Huffington Post.
According to The Beaumont Enterprise, the sheriff's office said cases must meet specific guidelines for an alert to be issued. Those guidelines, according to the Enterprise, are:
Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place;
The child is at risk of serious injury or death;
There is sufficient descriptive information of child, captor or captor’s vehicle;
The child must be 17 years old or younger.
"It's not right," Foreman said. "She has been missing weeks now and we have nothing. If [the authorities] had taken this more seriously from the start they might have found something."
Sandra West agreed.
"They have nothing. They haven't found anything. She's just vanished," West said.
Sharron West is described as a white female, 5'6" tall, 115 lbs., with deep red hair on top of her head and purple underneath. She has a mole below her left eye. Anyone with information is asked to contact Beaumont Crime Stoppers at 409-833-TIPS or the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at 409-835-8411. A Facebook page, "Help Find Sharon West" has also been created."
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Post by artemis on Sept 13, 2011 15:27:47 GMT -5
"Missing NJ hiker found dead in Delaware Water Gap park
BUSHKILL, Pa. -- A New Jersey hiker missing since Sunday was found dead inside the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on Tuesday, park officials said.
Officials said Alexander Morros, 25, was identified Tuesday morning.
The native of the Long Valley section of Washington Township, N.J., was last seen early Sunday afternoon at Van Campens Glen. The area, a popular hiking spot alongside a stream, is located on the New Jersey side of the park, which straddles the state border with Pennsylvania.
According to WNBC-TV, park rangers began their search Sunday afternoon and continued to search the area all day on Monday. The search resumed Tuesday with help from New Jersey State Park Police, canine handlers from New Jersey Search and Rescue and other volunteers.
It is not clear why Morros disappeared or what led to his death."
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Post by lucy on Sept 18, 2011 10:24:46 GMT -5
While I am not aware of this particular situation, it serves to remind me that the "hiker" story seems to rear its head every once in a while. Not that hiking is something mysterious, or that someone could have possibly had a heart attack while hiking, but most skilled hikers, travel in pairs, or in groups in the event something happens and there can be help, like falling, twisting and ankle, etc. But going alone is a dangerous and stupid thing to do....unless it was a setup. Someone taking them out to the woods, thinking nobody will find them... Don't know, that's happened a few times locally where a body is found on a hiking trail....but later finding out a body was dumped there. Seems suspicious to me. Regarding the Susan Powell story, this happened almost two years ago. They hadn't sent dogs out there to sniff out remains before this time?  One would think that if a body was buried out in the middle of nowhere that scents would have been picked up sooner. She went missing in the winter months...her husband takes two small boys camping in December? Suspicious that he claimed to take sons camping in the cold and she goes missing, and after all this time they just have dogs sniffing out remains where she may have been buried??? Something I don't like about modern journalism, is reporting "bits" of information and leaking out some stuff, and having programs like Jane Velez Mitchell and Nancy Grace on HLN having programs that focus on such "bits" and then discussing the matter with "talking heads" (which is what I call it when you have any such "news" shows and they have their "Experts" weighing in on the matter, and all you see are heads...thus...talking heads) It's a strange way to draw people into a matter, they catch their attention with the headlines, sucker people into watching it, only releasing bits of info here and there, and just dwelling on the bits by talking with their "heads" of choice. Rather than just giving out "bits", they should just wait until they have enough information to actually put something on the air. Like a "Breaking news" story, rather than just watching film clips played over and over of a celeb or political figure, or even these "victims", and leaking out stuff from an "unnamed source"...just tell us something when you find out the matter.... It's all rather staged, I remember the Anna Nicole thing, while they were waiting for news about it, they would show the same brief clips over and over...and I have to think this has something to do with mind control, and using snippets of film or the same pics being shown over and over...for some sort of "hypnotic" state, or some sort of strange "state"....or like sitting and watching the WTC being hit, having reporters talk, and watching it smoke, and even later in the day, showing the same footage over and over of the towers collapsing.... Triggering responses from the masses who sit and watch for hours.... I recall when JFK Jr and those on the plane that died....how they would have the camera fixed on a boat that was supposedly where they were having services for the deceased...and just hearing voices of reporters...yes, I had watched some of it...but thought to myself, enough of this, I can only sit and watch this for a shot bit, perhaps I have a short attention span, or bore easily just sitting on one thing...I don't see the point of having a fixed camera on a boat and not seeing anything taking place, just hearing talking "heads"... Another situation that I recall as if it were yesterday, when Diana was sacrificed..."killed"....My sis and I were up late on a Sat. night watching tv and surfing through, as we do to find something interesting, and the report of her being in a wreck and waiting for an ambulance...and waiting for an ambulance...and wondering what in the name of pete was wrong with this picture. She was in Paris, not some isolated desert that would have needed a helicopter to come in to get her....and it took how long for an ambulance to come to get her??? I thought, crap, even in my little corner of PA in the town itself, an ambulance would have arrived in minutes.... Anyhow...the first reports and first witnesses said about being chased by motorcyles....paparazzi....oh, later the stories changed and the driver was drunk....blah blah blah.... You get the picture...I've babbled on so long, I forgot my original point....first of all, the media and their presentation of "news" has changed in the past decades. Rather than just coming on the air when there was definitive information, it's now just dribbled in, while looking at a wreck, or a site where something took place.... What other examples do we need? Waco, Texas in 1993?, Oklahoma City 1995, Columbine High School 1999, WTC/Pentagon 2001.......and it goes on and on.... |
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Post by artemis on Oct 18, 2011 5:17:27 GMT -5
"Missing Ark. college student found dead in pond
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A college sophomore who was reported missing last week in central Arkansas was found dead in a pond south of Little Rock, police said Monday.
Authorities ruled the death of 20-year-old Patricia Guardado a homicide after her body was discovered Sunday afternoon in a few feet of water south of Sweet Home, Ark. A cause of death was not immediately released.
No suspects have been named. Police wouldn't comment Monday about whether Guardado had been assaulted, whether she might have known her assailant or how long she had been in the pond.
The scant information released by authorities Monday shocked Guardado's uncle, Gerardo Garcia Ramirez.
"It's incredible that there isn't a single clue or suspect," he said in Spanish.
So, while authorities offer rewards for information that leads to an arrest, he asked people — especially in the Hispanic communities of central Arkansas — to come forward with any details about what happened to his niece.
He said Guardado's family still can't believe that they have to bury such a wonderful young woman.
"She was always working and studying," he said. "She was a good daughter, a good sister, a good niece."
A dive team on Monday searched the waters where her Guardado's body was found near a cemetery less than 10 miles south of Little Rock. Lt. Carl Minden, a spokesman for the Pulaski County sheriff's office, declined to comment on what evidence, if any, had been recovered.
Two men scoping out a place to go fishing spotted Guardado's body in a pond in rural Arkansas. They told authorities that a gate leading to the water was open, so they headed onto the property to check it out.
Guardado was last seen leaving her parents' home about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. She had a 9 a.m. calculus class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she studied international business, but she never made it. She was reported missing that night.
The car she drove was found in a parking lot near the school. Authorities are looking for evidence in the vehicle. Police wouldn't say whether they believe anyone else was in the car.
At a vigil Monday night in downtown Little Rock, the Rev. Jason Tyler echoed relatives' pleas for information and answers.
"If you know of anything, don't try to resolve it on your own," Tyler said. "Call the police."
As he spoke to hundreds of people crammed into St. Edward Catholic Church, Guardado's parents and younger sisters sat up front in a wooden pew. Guardado's mother, Leonor Garcia, clung to her two daughters as Guardado's other sister rested her head against her father's arm and sobbed.
Prayers in Spanish and English drifted to the rafters, and a framed picture of a smiling Guardado rested next to a statue of the Virgin Mary near the altar. A woman kneeling on the floor strummed a guitar while leading the church in hymns, singing in Spanish "in peace, in peace you'll rest."
Another vigil is scheduled Tuesday night at the university campus."
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Post by beatlies on Oct 18, 2011 20:44:59 GMT -5
Spain's stolen babies BBC News - 16 hours ago This was Franco's Spain. A dictatorship. Even now we Spaniards tend not to question authority. ... Lawyers believe that up to 300000 babies were taken. ... 24 related articles Spain's Stolen Babies: An Ugly Past On a Staggering Scale - ABC News (blog) A crying shame for Spain - Olive Press More news for spain 300,000 babies » The Pain In Spain: 300000 babies stolen - AFA Forums www.atheistfoundation.org.au › ... › News and Current Affairs The Pain In Spain: 300000 babies stolen News and Current Affairs. FARK.com: (6648558) Catholic church steals, sells 300000 babies ... www.fark.com/.../Catholic-church-steals-sells-300000-babies-in-Spai... 2 days ago – Catholic church steals, sells 300000 babies in Spain over 50 years. Well, they have to make money somehow (dailymail.co.uk), divider line ... 300000 babies stolen and sold in Spain by the Catholic church and ... twentytwowords.com/.../300000-babies-stolen-and-sold-in-spain-by-t... 14 hours ago – Today the BBC is airing their documentary, 'Spain's Stolen Babies'… Spain is reeling from an avalanche of allegations of baby theft and baby ... 300000 babies stolen from their parents - and sold for adoption ... richarddawkins.net/.../643544-300-000-babies-stolen-from-their-par... 1 day ago – Up to 300000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for ... 'There are men and women across Spain whose lives have been ... Spain's Stolen Babies www.roundtown.info/181-spainas-stolen-babies.html - Spain (Benidorm) It is estimated that as many as 300000 babies were stolen from their Mothers in Spain over a period of six decades from the 1940's to the 1990's. ... The Catholic Church in Spain stole 300000 babies from their ... www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1675364/pg11 day ago – Up to 300000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five decades, a new investigation reveals. |
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Post by artemis on Oct 19, 2011 0:17:58 GMT -5
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Post by lucy on Oct 20, 2011 17:55:00 GMT -5
The latest Missing child, one called Baby Lisa. The story of a baby taken from it's own home, mother had been drinking....parents hire a sleazy looking lawyer....
It's really quite pathetic...
I heard about the Spanish babies...and not surprised that the Catholic Cult is involved in it....
Quite appalling...
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Post by artemis on Nov 5, 2011 6:59:31 GMT -5
"Police Search For Missing Mother Of 4
Police are looking for a northwest Tennessee woman who has been missing since Sunday, hours after picking up her daughter from a Halloween party.
Karen Johnson Swift, a 44-year-old mother of four, was last seen at her home in Dyersburg, a city located about 77 miles north-northeast of Memphis.
"She had picked her daughter up from a Halloween party around 1:30 that morning because [her daughter] was not feeling well," Swift's close friend, Carrie Engelhardt, told The Huffington Post. "She went to bed with her daughter, and when the girl woke up around 6 a.m., her mother was gone."
Swift's vehicle, a white 2004 Nissan Murano, was found abandoned on the Millsfield Highway, roughly a half mile away from her home. The vehicle had a flat tire.
A neighbor, Marty Lamb, spotted Swift's disabled vehicle around 5:30 a.m. when he was driving to work.
"I noticed it was her vehicle, so I pulled in behind it and shined my lights, and I could see that she wasn't in her vehicle," Lamb told WREG-TV.
The vehicle was taken to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab for processing. Investigators have yet to comment on what, if anything, has been found in the vehicle.
One clue that investigators are working on is cellphone records, which show that someone used the internet on Swift's cell phone at around 5 a.m. Sunday. Authorities have yet to comment on any further details of the search, and calls to the missing device go to voicemail. Investigators are now working with the cellphone carrier to try to determine the last known location of the phone.
The Dyer County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return a call from The Huffington Post on Friday requesting comments on the case. According to a dispatcher, the sheriff's office is busy conducting a search for Swift in and around the area where her vehicle went missing in collaboration with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol and the FBI.
Police have said little about the searches except to report that investigators have found no signs that Swift was a victim of foul play.
Swift's friends, however, are not convinced.
Engelhardt said she doesn't believe her friend would have hitchhiked or accepted a ride from a stranger.
"Karen was an avid runner," she said. "She could have jogged home in two to three minutes. She would not have sat there or gone off with someone."
"None of us think she got up after she went to bed with [her daughter] and decided to go somewhere," Engelhardt added. "So, the question is, who would have taken her or done something to her in the house?"
On Oct. 11, Swift filed for divorce from her husband, David Swift, due to irreconcilable differences. Even though they were divorcing, they still lived together.
David Swift has been interviewed by police, and has not been called a suspect or person of interest in his wife's disappearance. He has yet to speak with the media, but, according to WMC-TV, he did tell a friend on Facebook, "We want her home and love her very much ... My main focus is to work with the authorities to get her home safely. Thanks for the many prayers and kind words, which is greatly appreciated."
Holly Bobo, 20, disappeared from ahome in Darden,
about 80 miles southeast of Dyersburg, seven months ago.
Swift's disappearance comes seven months after Holly Bobo, a 20-year-old nursing student and cousin of country music star Whitney Duncan, vanished from a one-story ranch-style house in Darden, a small community 80 miles southeast of Dyersburg.
According to police, Bobo's brother said that he saw a man dressed in camouflage clothing drag his sister through the carport next to the home and into a wooded area behind it. A small puddle of blood was later discovered by the carport.
Local and state law enforcement authorities coordinated a massive search effort behind Bobo's home. Investigators found items that belonged to Holly, such as her lunch bag and cellphone, but nothing to suggest where she was taken.
But those close to Swift didn't suspect a link, and the circumstances between the two cases significantly differ.
"I do not think that they are linked at all," Engelhardt said.
Meanwhile, friends of Swift are planning to hold a prayer vigil for her tonight. They have also kept busy posting missing person flyers and updating the "Karen Swift Missing Mom of 4" Facebook page with information about the case.
"We all know Karen very well. She would never leave. She would never run away and leave her kids. It's not the type of person she is whatsoever. She does everything for those kids. We hope that she turns up, but we grow more concerned with the length of time that's gone by," Engelhardt said."
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Post by artemis on Nov 30, 2011 14:06:28 GMT -5
"Woman “imprisoned” on Scientology cruise ship for 12 years
For most people, an extended stay aboard a luxury cruise liner sounds like a dream vacation.
But Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the Scientology cruise ship "Freewinds" for more than a decade. During her stay on the vessel, she alleges, she was forced into hard labor and never allowed to leave the ship without an escort.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC News) Lateline program, Paris claims that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship when she was 18 in order to prevent her family from pulling her out of the organization.
"I was basically hauled in and told that my mum had attacked the church and that I needed to disconnect from her because she was suppressive," she said. "He decided the ship, and I found out two hours before my plane left, I was woken up in the morning and I was sent to the ship for 'two weeks.' "
Paris was born into a Scientology family, but her mother quit the group after her husband committed suicide, blaming Scientology for coercing him out of a self-made personal fortune of more than a million dollars.
Instead of the promised two week stay, Paris found herself unable to leave the ship without an official Scientology escort and was often forced into hard labor on the lower levels of the ship for stretches as long as two full days. "It's hot, it's extremely loud, it's smelly, it's not nice. I was sent down there at first for 48 hours straight on almost no sleep and I had to work by myself," she said.
So, why didn't Paris simply escape from the ship when it would take port? The Freewinds has a relatively small sailing route, traveling throughout the Caribbean and occasionally docking at small islands.
"I did not want to be there, I made it clear I did not want to be there and that was considered bad ethics, meaning it was considered not right," she said. "They take your passport when you go on the ship and you're in the middle of an island. So it's a bit hard [to escape] and by that time I was 18, I'd been in Scientology my whole life, it's not like I knew how to escape," she said.
The Church of Scientology calls Paris' claims false but declined ABC requests to make church officials available for interviews for the story. The church, which has a well-known litigious history, threatened Lateline with legal action for taking part in an alleged breach of confidentiality between Paris and the church. In a statement, the Church of Scientology said Ms Paris' claims were false.
"She certainly wasn't 'forced' to be there. She was also never forced to perform labor in the engine room," the statement said. "The Freewinds is a wonderful place, as even Valeska said on numerous occasions. Her allegation that she could only leave the ship with an escort is totally false."
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One would think that if a body was buried out in the middle of nowhere that scents would have been picked up sooner. She went missing in the winter months...her husband takes two small boys camping in December?