Investigators searching for leads in baby’s death

South Carolina Now - South Carolina,USA

Investigators searching for leads in baby’s death

By David Hart

Published: December 29, 2008

Horry County Police Detectives are still asking for the public’s help in tracking down the parents of a baby boy whose body was found by workers in early December.

The child, who investigators later nicknamed “Baby Boy Horry,“ was discovered in a wood line of Meadowbrook Road on December 4.

He had been placed inside a limited-edition white canvas bag from Bath and Body Works. The bag had a baby blue bottom with straps.

Investigators are asking anyone with any information on the mystery to call the Horry County Police Department at 915-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous. (more...)

State decided to not look at Sheppard disappearance

Sandusky Register - OH, USA

State decided to not look at Sheppard disappearance

By SUSAN MCMILLAN Monday, December 29, 2008 5:25 PM EST
PERKINS TWP.


Register photo/JASON WERLING Rosalie Gottwald holds a photo of her and her son Michael A. Sheppard at her Milan home with her husband George standing by her side. Gottwald wants answers to her son's disappearance in 2003.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation is not investigating a local man's 2003 disappearance, a spokeswoman said.
BCI agent Kip Lewton spoke with local authorities about Michael A. Sheppard Jr.'s disappearance and reviewed the facts of the case, but the agency never opened an official investigation, said Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.
Former Perkins Township police Chief Tim McClung said last week that his department handed the case over to BCI, but Brindisi said the agency determined that the case did not "warrant a criminal probe on our part."

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/12/29/front/1052184.txt

Letter’s discovery widens mystery around missing French Polynesian journalist

Left: Jean-Pascal Couraud

Radio New Zealand International - Wellington,New Zealand

The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific

Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa

Letter’s discovery widens mystery around missing French Polynesian journalist

Posted at 01:39 on 30 December, 2008 UTC
French investigators are reported to have found a letter about the 1997 disappearance of a French Polynesian journalist, Jean Pascal Couraud, during a search of the home of the veteran politician Gaston Flosse.
The disclosure was made to the news agency AFP by two lawyers acting on behalf of the Couraud family who lodged a murder complaint four years ago when a former spy working in behalf of Mr Flosse claimed that the
journalist was kidnapped and drowned off Tahiti by members of the so-called GIP intervention force. (more...)

Information sought on missing child

Left: Amber Barker

Edmond Sun - OK,USA

Published: December 29, 2008 10:45 pm

Information sought on missing child

The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — Authorities are seeking information on Amber Renee Barker, who was born Oct 14, 1987. Amber went missing Dec. 18, 1997, from Oklahoma City. Now the white female with brown hair and brown eyes is age 21. Amber’s photo, above at right, is shown age-progressed to 21 years. She was last seen leaving a friend’s house on her bicycle. Her bicycle was found in Denniston Park in Oklahoma City. Amber was 10 years old at the time of her disappearance. Foul play is suspected. Anyone having information should call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678, the Oklahoma City Police Department 297-1290 or the Oklahoma City FBI office. Calls are confidential and may be made anonymously.Information on other missing Oklahoma children can be viewed at http://www.ok.gov/osbi.

http://www.edmondsun.com/local/local_story_364224511.html

Family's pauper grave torment

The Star - Sheffield,England,UK

Family's pauper grave torment

Final journey: The Doncaster funeral of Richard Massey

Published Date: 30 December 2008
A DONCASTER man who vanished in New York six years ago was buried in a pauper's grave when police failed to identify his body - even though it was found within weeks of his disappearance.
The family of 27-year-old computer programmer Richard Massey, from Edenthorpe, who disappeared in December 2002 while he was working in New York, faced six years of anguish not knowing if he was alive or dead. 'It was a difficult time for us and they just didn't seem bothered' Katie Massey.

Richard's body was discovered in the Hudson River in March 2003 but never identified by police - and he was buried in a pauper's grave.His family had no knowledge of his fate until his sister Katie employed a US lawyer who traced his body and yesterday the family were finally able to lay Richard to rest in Doncaster. (more...)


Police mix-up led to family's 6-year agony over lost son

Published Date: 30 December 2008
By Paul Whitehouse

EXCLUSIVE: A Yorkshire family faced six years of anguish after police in New York failed to identify the body of their missing son – even though it was found within weeks of his disappearance.
The questions that might never be answered over son's death »

The New York Police Department had the information which could have identified the body of Richard Massey, 27, after it was discovered in the River Hudson in March 2003. That never happened and the computer programmer was buried in a pauper's grave, leaving his family unaware of whether he was alive or dead. Yesterday, they were finally able to lay him to rest in Doncaster, but that was only after his sister Katie employed a lawyer who traced his body immediately. She took the action after a legal hearing earlier this year when officials admitted the superficial nature of their inquiries. (more...)

After nine years, Welch girls’ kin long for answers

NewsOK.com - Oklahoma City,OK,USA

Lauria Bible, left, and Ashley Freeman, both 16, disappeared Dec. 30, 1999. That was the night Danny Freeman, 40, and his wife Kathy, 38, were killed and their home set on fire. Photo provided by the Freeman family

After nine years, Welch girls’ kin long for answers

TEENS’ BODIES HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND AFTER CRAIG COUNTY DISAPPEARANCE
BY SHEILA STOGSDILL
Published: December 30, 2008
WELCH — Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible vanished nine years ago today.
Lauria Bible, left, and Ashley Freeman, both 16, disappeared Dec. 30, 1999. That was the night Danny Freeman, 40, and his wife Kathy, 38, were killed and their home set on fire. Photo provided by the Freeman family

The last trace of the 16-year-old best friends was a scent police dogs picked up that led across the Freeman yard to a dirt road in rural Craig County.
Hundreds of thousands of fliers have been distributed across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Leads have been followed up, but the girls remain missing.
"There is no closure when no bodies are found,” Craig County Sheriff Jimmie Sooter said.
The investigation has been thorough, leading authorities to several places over the years, he said.
The girls were reported missing on Dec. 30, 1999, the day Ashley’s parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were found shot to death in the charred remains of their Welch mobile home.(more...)

Additional info: Unsolved Mysteries

Authorities question guilt of suspect in Adam Walsh murder

San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA


Authorities question guilt of suspect in Adam Walsh murder
By David Smiley


McClatchy Newspapers

Posted: 12/28/2008 02:22:57 PM PST


MIAMI — From his grave, Ottis Elwood Toole, a career criminal with a penchant for storytelling, still bedevils police.

His numerous murder confessions earned him a spotlight in dozens of unsolved homicide investigations throughout the country and a reputation as one of America's most heinous serial killers.

They also earned the drifter a reputation as one of the country's worst serial liars. Investigators have been unable to confirm many of his stories and in some cases have discounted his confessions altogether.

His most infamous story — of abducting 6-year-old Adam Walsh outside a Hollywood, Fla., Sears store on July 27, 1981, and beheading him in a marshy field near Florida's Turnpike — has sparked controversy anew as Hollywood police this month identified Toole as the man who murdered the child.

That announcement, delivered at a news conference, was welcomed by Walsh family members, who said they finally had justice.

But the announcement drew instant questions from critics who say the evidence against Toole has been shaky, at best, from the start, and who note that police never charged him while he was alive.

"I was appalled, absolutely appalled," Pat Brown, a criminal profiler in Washington, said of the decision to close the case. "There is no reason to close a case without sufficient evidence that one particular person has committed the crime." (more...)

Investigating bones of lost people

Times-Standard - Eureka,CA,USA

Investigating bones of lost people

Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard
Posted: 12/28/2008 01:33:47 AM PST

When the bone settled at the top of the quarry's sifting equipment, the workers weren't sure if it belonged to a person. After all, it's not every day skeletal remains are found in Scotia.
The sun-bleached leg bone was found Nov. 6 and Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Roy Horton said no one is certain how long it sat entombed in gravel along the Eel River. No one knows who it belongs to. But Horton said the femur has been sent to the California Department of Justice laboratories where forensic scientists will attempt to cross reference its DNA with the agency's database of missing persons.
The finding of a nameless femur is nothing new for the Humboldt County Coroner's Office. Since 2006, it is the third such bone discovered in Humboldt County -- none of which have yet been identified.
”We get a lot of bone calls in Humboldt County,” Horton said. “Every once in a while, it turns out to be human.”
Femurs are the longest, and one of the strongest, bones in the body. As such, Horton said they are resistant to weathering, and sometimes turn up when other skeletal remains have since eroded away.
Following a preliminary examination, Horton said investigators believe the left femur found in the Scotia gravel quarry likely belonged to a male, more than 20 years old, standing between 5 foot 7 inches and 5 foot 11 inches tall. It is not yet certain how long the bone spent underground, but Horton said it was probably there for “years.”
There are a number of missing people in Humboldt County who match that description, and Horton said although they have some possible suspects, the Coroner's Office is waiting for an examination at the DOJ labs.
There's no telling whether that examination will identify the bone's owner, however, and it may take years just to find out that much, Horton said. (more...)

Cold case on front burner

Hamilton Spectator - Hamilton,ON,Canada

Left: Sheryl Sheppard

Cold case on front burner

SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

11 years later, Hamilton police take another crack at Sheppard file
December 30, 2008 Susan ClairmontThe Hamilton Spectator(Dec 30, 2008)
Michael Lavoie is the primary suspect in the disappearance and murder of his fiancee Sheryl Sheppard.
Homicide investigators say so.
And yet there is Sheryl's mom driving along a while ago. She stops at the intersection of Barton and Wentworth. A man strolls past. He's carrying a pizza.
It's Michael Lavoie.
"This world is so cruel," weeps Odette Fisher, recalling that day, "that he could walk free."
Eleven years ago, Michael proposed on a live New Year's Eve television show.
"I'd like to ask you to marry me, Sheryl," he said.
"Yes," she replied.
They hugged. Kissed.
A day later, Sheryl vanished. Her body has never been found. She would be 40 now. (more...)