LifeDaily

While around half of married couples consider themselves to be happily married, an equal amount do not. With divorce rates around the 50 percent mark in the U.S. today, a massive and highly lucrative industry has been created in the form of divorce attorneys.

For Chris Watts divorce wasn’t an option. The husband and father-of-two was recently charged formally with killing his pregnant wife and thier two daughters; 4-year-old Bella and her younger sister Celeste.

Happy Families

Watts had been married to his wife Shanann for some years, and they had two beautiful daughters together. While the girls were just three and four years old, the couple decided it was time to expand the family and Shannan fell pregnant with a boy just a few months ago. The future was looking bright for the Watts family.

Doctor’s Appointment

A friend of Shanann’s grew alarmed when she missed a doctor’s appointment at 10 a.m. one day. The close friend was so concerned that she contacted local law enforcement to report her missing, having double-checked the situation with Chris Watts. He claimed he hadn’t seen Shanann or the girls.

Police Visit

When the cops arrived at the house, Watts let them into the property claiming he had no idea at all where his wife and daughters were. When the attending officers found Shanann’s purse in the kitchen and a suitcase at the bottom of the stairs their suspicions were raised and they also grew concerned. There was no sign of Shanann or the girls, and Shannon was pregnant!

No Foul Play

While the officers noted that the bed in the Master bedroom had been stripped of linen, they questioned Watts. At the time his answers seemed legit and as there was no sign of foul play at the residence Watts wasn’t immediately suspected of any wrongdoing. But he later told officers that he and Shannan had been involved in a difficult conversation that morning about “marital separation.”

Emotional Conversation

According to Watts, he had an “emotional conversation” with his wife before work. As per the affidavit: “Chris stated it was a civil conversation, and they were not arguing but were emotional.” However, during the investigation, officers revealed that Watts admitted to having an affair with another woman. That fact raised suspicion among law enforcement.

Plot Thickens

It took investigators some time to get down to the truth of the matter. The fact that his pregnant wife and two young daughters were missing had cops extremely worried. As they pushed Watts, he admitted to murdering all three but had a story as to why.

Admitting Guilt

Watts said that he had admitted to his wife that he was having an affair and that the couple spoke about separating. According to Watts, his wife went upstairs to pack her suitcase and then he heard her strangling their two daughters via the baby monitor. At that point, Watts claimed, he went into a rage and rushed upstairs.

In a Rage

According to the affidavit: “Chris (Watts) said he went into a rage and ultimately strangled Shanann to death.” But then he needed to rid himself of the evidence: “Chris said he loaded all three bodies onto the back seat of his work truck and took them to an oil site,” it continued. Now it was time to locate the bodies, but that was easier said than done.

Dumped in Oil

Having been employed at Anadarko oil, Watts decided to load the three bodies onto the back of his truck and take them to his place of employment. When Watts came clean, his dead wife and unborn son were found buried in a shallow grave. At the same time, Watts had dumped his two young daughters inside oil and gas tanks. Officers dealing with this harrowing case were clearly affected.

Overwhelming Support

Frederick Police Chief, Todd D. Norris, thanked the community for their “overwhelming support” in a letter published recently. He also noted the “emotional rollercoaster” this case had caused for the good men and women of the Frederick Police Department. Norris stated that he was proud of “the way all agencies have come together and continued to work as one to achieve justice.”

Bereaved Family

Shanann’s family were understandably shocked and outraged when they heard what had happened. At a press conference, the Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke revealed the charges to be brought against Watts. Frank Rzucek, Shanann’s father, spoke after Rourke, thanking the Frederick Police Department for all thier hard work.

Keep Praying

Frank Rzucek said at the press conference: “We would like to thank everyone in the Frederick Police Department and all the agencies involved for working so hard to find my daughter, granddaughters and [unborn child] Nico,” Rzucek said. “Thank you everyone for coming out to the candlelight vigil and sending all your prayers. They are greatly appreciated. And keep the prayers coming for our family. Thank you very much.”

Shocking Deceit

Watts did no favors for himself when, on the day he murdered his family, he made a public plea for them to come home. Watts gave an interview to Denver7 on that fateful Tuesday claiming his wife has left him and taken his daughters after their “emotional conversation.” However, Watts was lying through his teeth simply to throw cops off the trail.

Just Come Back

Perhaps the most sickening part about it is the words that Watts said to the press. “I mean, she wasn’t here. The kids weren’t here. Nobody was here,” Watts claimed. He then said: “Shanann, Bella, Celeste: If you’re out there, just come back. Like if somebody has her, just bring her back. I need to see everybody. … This house is not complete without anybody here. Please bring ’em back.”

Concerned Friends

The family friend of Shanann who notified the police of her disappearance originally said she knew Chris Watts had something to do with the murders. Nickole Atkinson spoke to reporters about her suspicions. “I knew [Chris Watts] had something to do with it the day I was at his house with him, but I didn’t want to think that,” she said.

Having Problems

Atkinson spoke about the problems the couple was having, and how she pieced things together. “Anyone in their right mind will start piecing things together and think something had happened, but you don’t want to go there. You want to believe the best in people,” she said. For that matter, Watts drew suspicion on himself during a recent trip the couple took to North Carolina.

Needed a Friend

Atkinson was sure something wasn’t right. “She texted me and said she was going to need a friend now more than ever when she got back,” she said. “He wasn’t being the loving Chris that he normally was. He wasn’t touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. And he wasn’t being as attentive to the girls as he normally is.” For Shanann something had changed in Watts and that much was true.

Funeral Fund

Shanann’s brother, Frankie Rzucek, took to Facebook ahead of the tragic funerals. He explained that the family were struggling to meet the funeral costs and sent out a plea for help. “I’m not one to ask for donations or any kind of money I didn’t earn, but at this time we don’t know how long we will have to be in Colorado or what all were supposed to do about this tragedy,” he wrote. “I’m so distraught and in shock with this sickening news … For all the people who are helping and donating may god bless you for helping a family in need.”

Paying Tribute

Having raised the necessary funds, the family announced that the funerals were to take place at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina. A spokesperson for the family also confirmed that an obituary for Shanann and her two daughters was published by the Sandhills Sentinel over the weekend.

Facing Justice

For his part, Chris Watts is facing the full force of the law and rightly so. Prosecutors will have 63 days to decide whether they will seek the death penalty for Watts. If they don’t pursue that, they will be going for mandatory life in prison without parole. However, Watts, who is now under suicide watch while in custody, will have to wait until his forthcoming court hearing on November 19 to learn his fate.

Man Faces Potential Capital Punishment After Admitting to Heinous Crime Against Wife and Two Daughters is an article from: LifeDaily

For homosexuals living in the Middle East and North Africa, life can be a struggle even at the best of times. As the cultures in these regions generally frown upon homosexuality, deeming it unnatural and immoral, many people need to hide their sexuality from friends and family lest they are found out.

One Afghan asylum seeker was shocked after being rejected by Austrian immigration authorities because he didn’t “act” or “dress” like a homosexual. He also wasn’t “social enough,” they claimed.

Hostile Environment

Denied Asylum Story — www.foreignpolicy.com

In Afghanistan, it’s not illegal to be homosexual, per say. But it is highly frowned upon, and dangerous in most cases. What makes matters even worse is that those who get caught engaging in homosexual activities are sometimes arrested, with the maximum sentence of such behavior being death.

Seeking Asylum

Because of this, homosexual men who have come out, and also those who have not, live in constant fear for their lives. As well as seeking financial gain by moving to Europe, homosexuals and those who are part of the LBGTQ community want to move to Europe or America so they can practice their sexuality freely and without threat.

Life Under Threat

The young man, who hasn’t been named by sources, initially arrived at the SOS Children Village refugee camp in Austria back in 2016. At first, he claimed asylum for the fact that he was from the Hazara minority in Afghanistan; a minority under constant threat of violence. However, he changed his asylum claim soon after, basing it on his sexual orientation.

Afraid to Come Out

According to officials, the reason for the man’s change of heart when it came to seeking asylum was because he was afraid to come out. Having thus far lived a life of fear, the man wasn’t sure how well his homosexuality would be accepted in Austria, even though it’s a country within Europe. But it’s the immigration authorities’ take on things that was surprising.

Walk the Walk

The young asylum seeker was stunned when he received the news that his application had been rejected. The reason is that he simply didn’t look, walk or act homosexual. According to the Deutsche Welle (DW) news outlet, an official wrote to the man: “The way you walk, act and dress does not show even in the slightest that you could be homosexual.” As such, the authorities claimed he had no reason to fear for his safety back home.

Violent Streak

Another issue which further hindered the process was the fact that this young man had a history of violence. The immigration official took issue with the fact that he had been involved in some physical fights at the asylum center where he was staying. They felt he had the “potential for aggression” that “wouldn’t be expected from a homosexual.”

Be More Social

The next line on the official’s report was even more shocking and made many people ask what was really going on. The official noted that the man had few friends and preferred to hang out in small groups of people. “Aren’t homosexuals rather social?” the report said. This sent many people into a meltdown about what they thought was a clear case of discrimination and stereotyping.

Kissed a Man

For whatever reasons, Austrian authorities took serious issue with the asylum seeker, doubling down in their questioning of him. When he claimed he had kissed a man before, the case officer doubted him. The officer’s take was that if this were true, he would have been arrested. But more tough questions lay ahead.

Questionable Timeline

The official continued to quiz the man on his sexuality, asking questions most people would find offensive and rude. When he was asked when he realized he was gay, the man said it was when he was just 12 years old. The official also doubted that, claiming it was unlikely but for the most curious of reasons. It all had to with stimulation levels.

Lack of Stimulation

The case officer’s claims were now going from the sublime to the ridiculous as the weird questions persisted. The official took issue with that claim, writing that Afghan society is one “where there is no public sexual stimulation through fashion and advertisement,” according to DW. The case was so controversial it even made it to the highest echelons of the Austrian government.

No Comment

The whole case has been an awkward one for everyone involved. Even Austria’s Interior Minister became involved although he refused to comment on the case when approached to do so by reporters. The minister simply noted that this case was “not reflective of the [wider] reality.” However, gay rights groups are up in arms about this asylum case.

Rules of Proof

The ministry added in their statement, also printed on the DW site: “Asylum-seekers must substantiate their reasons for fleeing. There are no concrete rules of proof, but the authorities must show if and why a claim was found to have been unsubstantiated.”

Hungarian Case

In another example of asylum being denied due to sexual orientation, we take a look at Hungary. Recently, a Nigerian man who sought asylum there was asked to undergo a psychological test to prove he was homosexual. At the time, the European Court of Justice brought down a ruling that the test amounted to “disproportionate interference in the private life of the asylum-seeker.”

Dangerous Secret

One teenager from Kabul made news headlines recently too when he explained that he lives with a dangerous secret which could potentially threaten his life. He explained how negative the view on homosexuality is in Afghanistan, noting that many people believe that homosexuals should be put to death.

Like a Disease

Ahmad, who has to hide his true identity for fear of being outed, spoke to reporters about his predicament. “Homosexuality is seen as a disease in Afghanistan,” he said, according to the RadioFreeEurope website. “It is seen as a sin in Islam, and many people think homosexuals should be executed.” But Ahmad knew he was homosexual from a young age.

Attracted to Men

Ahmed explained in a phone interview with the website: “I realized I was gay when I was around 15 years old. … All my friends were talking about girls, but I realized I was not interested in girls. Slowly I began to realize that I was only attracted to men. It was scary because I felt like an alien and I couldn’t even talk to anyone about it.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

HRW noted that while no one has been killed in Afghanistan since 2001 for being gay, they live with that threat permanently. A report they complied back in February said that homosexual men in the country “risk arrest, prosecution, and violence from their families, the larger community, and the government.”

No Protection

HRW takes special issue with countries like Afghanistan as people there essentially have no protection under the law at all if they’re gay. “Afghan law provides no protection against discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” the report added.

Best-Case Scenario

As Ahmad explained to RadioFreeEurope: “If my family found out, I would be kicked out from home and disowned. … That’s the best-case scenario. The worst case would be my family would kill me so they can restore their honor and get rid of the shame that I brought them.”

Hope for the Future

As views in the West regarding homosexuality become more liberal, many hope that this will have an effect further afield. If only countries like Afghanistan allowed people to be open about their sexuality, no matter what it is, they wouldn’t need to fear being disowned by their friends and family, while living in constant fear for their lives.

Homosexual Man Denied Asylum in Austria for Not ‘Walking the Walk’ is an article from: LifeDaily

For most married couples the prospect of having children is an exciting, if not slightly scary one. Laying eyes on that cute bundle of joy for the first time is something that many people can’t wait to experience.

For one couple, that bundle of joy was multiplied many times over when they decided to adopt twins. It was multiplied again when they adopted another set of twins and then had twins of their own. But there was something unique and extra special about this extended family of doppelgangers.

Big Dreams

Craig & Carrie Kosinski Story — Carrie Kosinski / Facebook

Carrie Kosinski and her husband Craig had always dreamed of having a large family. It was something they’d discussed when they were dating before they tied the knot and they couldn’t wait to get started having babies. But fate seemed to have different plans for this loving couple.

Bad News

Both Carrie and Craig were devastated when doctors informed them that they wouldn’t be able to conceive naturally due to various medical issues between them. All those dreams of little feet pottering around the house were seemingly dashed in an instant. The couple was understandably distraught but weren’t about to give up hope.

Old Friends

When, in July 2013, an old friend of Carrie’s reached out to her on Facebook, she was pleased to hear from her but curious about what she wanted after all this time. Carrie hadn’t spoken to her for years, and her random Facebook message seemed to have a point to it, other than just saying hi. Carrie fired a message straight back asking what was up.

Amazing Timing

Carrie and Craig were desperate to have kids. So when their old friend informed them that she was pregnant but wanted them to adopt her child when it was born, they were thrilled beyond words. However, it was a few months later when they found out they were adopting not one but two babies as it turned out to be twins.

Sad Situation

The twins’ mother had fallen pregnant but was not in a position to raise or care for the unborn children. She had second thoughts many times about giving up her babies but decided in the end that it was the right thing to do. She also had full confidence in Carrie and Craig that they would make wonderful parents.

Taking Custody

It was February 28, 2014, when little Adalynn and Kenna were born in a hospital in Ohio. Carrie and Craig were excited to lay eyes on them for the first time but decided at the time to adopt them on a trial basis, having made that agreement with their birth mother. But the Kosinski family was about to grow even bigger.

Trial Success

About a year into the trial period with Adalynn and Kenna the couple decided to keep them forever. But then something remarkable happened which they weren’t expecting. The birth mother of the twins already had a set of twins which she had raised since birth. They were two years old by now, and the women felt she was unable to care for them any more. She reached out again to the Kosinskis.

Seeing Double

Carrie and Craig barely hesitated when they were asked if they would take on the other set of twins. They wanted a large family and were financially secure enough to support one, so they answered in the affirmative. Within just a few weeks, Cece and J.J. were living in the Kosinski home and were proud new members of the family. The fact they were also born on February 28 was just an uncanny coincidence.

Staying Together

Carried explained to reporters that the decision was a tough one but one that had to be made as they didn’t want to split the kids up. “It was a difficult decision. We were trying to get pregnant ourselves. But they were siblings, so that was definitely was part of our consideration — we wanted to keep the siblings together,” reported The Journal Times.

Wanting More

Despite the rambunctious household they now had, Carrie and Craig wanted kids of thier own and kept working towards that goal despite what the doctors had told them. Just one year later and Carrie couldn’t have been more thrilled that she was having morning sickness. Could a miracle have happened?

Great News

When Carrie and Craig went for the pregnancy test, they were nervous and still in a state of disbelief. They were sure they couldn’t conceive but were so hoping that the test would be positive. Positive it was, and that was only the half of it.

Double Trouble

The couple jumped for joy when they were told that Carrie was indeed pregnant. What made it even more special was that she was pregnant with twins against all the odds. Overnight, the family grew from an already healthy six to eight, and the timing was so uncanny everyone was in shock.

Feeling Scared

Carrie was only five-months-pregnant as she sat on her sofa folding clothes one day. When she felt she might be having contractions both Carrie and Craig were desperately worried that they might lose the babies. Carrie was rushed to hospital having called her doctor. It was a worrying time, but the couple remained positive.

Hospital Time

The couple, as well as the doctors, were even more concerned when Carrie showed up to the hospital and was fully dilated. They kept her in for six long weeks of bed rest until it was safe enough to carry out an emergency T-section (similar to a C-section.) However, no one knew what the outcome would be especially as she was pregnant with twins.

Uncanny Coincidence

It may be hard to believe but the end of that six weeks worked out to be a very special date on the calendar. It was February 28 which meant that all three sets of twins shared the same birthday! The chances of that are probably a million-to-one, but it just made the Kosinksi clan that bit more special and unique.

Intensive Care

Some felt at the time that the new babies’ survival was a little touch and go. After all, they had been born at just 25 weeks, and the babies weighed a mere 1 pound, 6 ounces at the time of their birth. They were immediately transported to a special neonatal intensive care unit as they needed special care as well as surgery.

Getting Better

After a few weeks and a tough time in intensive care, the babies began to show signs of progress. Despite having undergone numerous surgeries and suffered through viral infections the twins are doing better and have gained 1.5 pounds. They remain stable but in a critical condition due to being born so premature.

Regular Visits

Despite having a lot on thier hands at home, both Carrie and Craig tried to visit the twin girls at the hospital as often as possible. Carrie would make her way once a day to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa. At the same time, Craig visited the girls three times a week when he could get the time off work.

God’s Plan

The Kosinskis are religious people who pray a lot and have a deep faith in God. The fact that all six children share the same birthday proves, in thier mind, that it was all part of God’s plan. Cece and J.J. were born on Feb. 28, 2013; Adalynn and Kenna on Feb. 28, 2014, and Karraline and Clarissa, on Feb. 28., 2016.

Feeling Blessed

As Carrie told The Journal Times: “We think it is definitely meant to be that we would have all of them. It’s just God’s way of saying here I’m giving you these children as a blessing, and I am going to make it interesting and fun for you by having them all born on the same day.” She said. “It just kind of happened all at once. You can’t fuss with the stuff too much,” she said, “You’re just trying to put out the big fires and hope that the little fires aren’t too serious.”

Unique Family Has Three Sets of Twins All Born on Same Day is an article from: LifeDaily

With the advent of websites like Ancestry.com, people who know little about their heritage and roots can now reveal almost everything about their past from a simple DNA test. These days, it’s so easy that folks can even do the DNA test in the comfort of their own home.

When John Gonsalves’ daughter Robin gifted him a home DNA kit from Ancestry.com, he was a little nervous but extremely excited to learn more about his European heritage which he knew little about. However, remarkable and life-changing revelations were just around the corner.

Happy Birthday

Jeanie Siciliano Story — www.scarymommy.com

When it comes to buying an appropriate birthday gift for a family member, it can be a challenge to get them the right thing. As people get older and acquire more possessions, often it’s hard to buy a guy for a person who more or less has it all. But Robin wanted to get something special for her dad on his birthday and wanted to make it count.

Humble Beginnings

While many people know where they come from, especially if they are born into an affluent or strong family unit, many other people don’t enjoy that privilege. John knew that his ancestors hailed from somewhere in Europe, but he didn’t know exactly where and knew very little about them. However, that was all about to change.

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is a genealogy website, in the business of genomics and biotechnology, based in Utah. As with many similar websites, members of the public can send off a saliva specimen and find out a bunch of information about their DNA and ancestry. The company uses cutting-edge technology to tell people more about their DNA and heritage; something John was excited to know more about.

Always Curious

John was raised by kind and loving parents and was afforded all the opportunities a kid could want in life – wanting for nothing in his childhood. But John always had a nagging voice in the back of his head. Where did he come from? What was his ethnic background? So many questions were unanswered in John’s busy mind for many years.

Feeling Nervous

When the birthday present arrived at John’s house, he experienced a bunch of mixed emotions. On the one hand, he was amazed that all he had to do was spit in a cup and put it in the mail to find out about his roots. On the other hand, he was nervous about the prospect of what could be revealed.

Waiting Patiently

John went ahead and sent his saliva sample to Ancestry.com, waiting with bated breath for the results to come back. It was a good few weeks before John heard back, and during that time he often found himself daydreaming about the outcome of the test. But in his wildest dreams, he never could have foreseen the shocking news he was about to be told.

Meet Jeanie

Jeanie Siciliano was born in 1977. Her mother, who was a single mother, was unable to care for her at the time and decided to give her up for adoption when she was just two months old. Jeanie was adopted by a loving and very caring family, and despite not being raised by her birth mother, she was very lucky to have been placed with such good people.

Constant Curiosity

Jeanie loved her adoptive folks, but she had a constant curiosity as to who her biological parents were. At the age of 19, Jeanie embarked on a mission to locate her birth mother and father and was partially successful. However, finding one’s biological parents after so many years comes with its pitfalls and perils.

Found Mom

At 19, Jeanie felt she was mature enough and ready to find out who her real mother was, even though she had been rejected at birth. When Jeanie found her birth mother, it was a mixed experience for her and was indeed bittersweet. But Jeanie had only satisfied part of her curiosity and wanted to know who her real father was.

Looking for Dad

Jeanie explained to CBS News: “I did some searching … but I didn’t come up with any solid information. So I kind of put that all to the side,” she said. Jeanie would have to wait for some time to find out who her father was, and it came in the most unexpected of ways. All her perseverance had finally paid off.

Holy Cannoli!

Jeanie also turned to Ancestry.com for a DNA test. As she explained to reporters “When I first opened my AncestryDNA.com results, and John’s name came up, and underneath it, it said ‘father,’ and I was, like, ‘Holy cannoli this guy is my biological father. Oh my gosh.'” It was at that point that she decided to write John a letter. But he was half expecting it as he had also done a DNA test which mentioned Jeanie as his daughter.

So Exciting

According to CBS “It’s just as exciting to me to have a daughter who’s 40 years old as one that’s only one-month-old,” John said. But at first, John was sure it was some kind of scam as he couldn’t believe that the revelations were true. “I was stunned,” John said. And understandably so.

No Way!

“I literally felt the world stop and the second thought was, This is a scam. There’s no way that I could have a child 40 years old,” he said. But when the pieces came together and John had a chance to reflect, he was moved to tears. All those years not knowing he was a father affected him in the deepest way.

Great Gift

John has no negative feelings about the news; other than the fact he had missed out on knowing his daughter for all those years. “I started to cry. I felt joy. I was like, ‘This is such a great gift.'” He said. But it would be a good two months before the long-awaited reunion would take place.

Just Three Miles

Perhaps the most ironic, and even painful part of the story was the fact that John and his long-lost daughter only lived three miles apart for the best part of eleven years! They shopped at the same grocery store and assumed that they must have crossed paths on numerous occasions. John and Jeanie couldn’t have been happier to have found each other.

It’s Plural!

John was beaming with pride and joy when he spoke to CBS News’ Elaine Quijano. “I get to chat with my daughters. It’s no longer singular. It’s plural!” he said. Sure the years had passed, and the pair had missed out on a bunch of quality time together, but that was all about to change. As a believer in God, John said he thought that “divine intervention” had brought him and Jeanie together.

Thanks to Robin

Robin was the one responsible for the reunion as it was her who got the DNA test kit for her dad in the first place. “I knew that he wanted it, and I never know what to get him, and he had been talking about it … So I gave him the gift of another child basically for his birthday,” Robin told Quijano.

Motherly Role Model

For her part, Robin was seemingly as thrilled to have a long-lost sister as everyone else. After he mother died a few years ago, Robin felt lonely and was lacking a motherly role model. But, due to the circumstances, Jeanie was many years older than Robin, and that was a wonderful thing for them both, as well as perfect timing.

Perfect Timing

For Robin, finding Jeanie was a gift from heaven. “I think that when I lost my mom, the thing that I was most concerned about was, like, ‘How am I going to navigate my dating life, like, without my mom?” Robin said. “I don’t have too many women figures in my life but losing my mom was really hard. So it’s important to have women to look up to. So having someone like Jeanie is really nice.”

New Family

Jeanie also said she was excited to have been reunited with her half-sister. “Nobody can obviously replace your own mother but like maybe I can be there for her,” she said. “I’m also, like, super immature, so she’ll probably make better, more mature decisions than I will. I’ll be calling her, like, ‘Dude, there’s this guy, and I don’t know what to do.'”

Father Gifted DNA Home Kit by Daughter Discovers Remarkable Revelation is an article from: LifeDaily

At some point in our lives, many of us have had less-than-stellar jobs in fast food restaurants. Some readers may even be currently working in that industry. We all know the reality, it isn’t glamorous, but it pays the bills. On the plus side, jobs like these can help us find other kindred spirits and close friends in the same boat.

As with any job though, not all your coworkers are going to be your friends. If you’re lucky, many of them might be nothing more than acquaintances. If you’re like the Jane Doe of this story, however, you might be unlucky enough to work with a person who could be considered nothing less than a predator.

Feeling Woozy

Jordan Johnson Subway Story — www.glassdoor.com

Jane wasn’t feeling so good. It wasn’t that this particular shift at Subway was more grueling than any other, she just felt like something was wrong with her. She felt light-headed, woozy, dizzy even. She felt as if she was on some sort of strong painkiller. The problem was, she didn’t remember taking anything.

Falling Down

As her shift went on, things only got worse. Jane could barely stand after a while. She fell and her co-worker Jordan helped her into the kitchen in the back. But as she came to and saw the predatory look in Jordan’s eyes, she remembered what had occurred earlier in the evening.

Headache

Jane recalled a splitting headache she had when she arrived at Subway for her shift that night. She was working with Jordan, a skinny, slightly awkward but generally sweet guy around her age. After a while, the headache began to get the better of her, and Jane had no choice but to ask her coworker if he had any aspirin or Tylenol on him.

Opportunity Knocks

Jordan Johnson had been working with Jane at the Evansville Subway for some time. He’d liked her, that much was obvious, probably obvious even to Jane, but he wasn’t the type of guy who just asked someone out. Still, her impromptu headache gave him the perfect idea. He might just get his chance.

Jagged Little Pill

Jordan took a small, white pill from his pocket and gave it to her. He told her that it would “make her feel better.” What Jane didn’t know at the time was that this was no mere dose of aspirin. Her coworker and friend had drugged her without her knowledge, and she had accepted the dose without reservation.

Evidence on Video

As Jordan helped an inebriated Jane to the kitchen, he was unaware that the whole sordid ordeal was about to be caught on camera. The restaurant’s manager and franchise owner was watching the video on a live feed and noticed their employees looking suspicious. Unfortunately, by the time they did anything about it, it would be too late to stop the inevitable.

Complaints

Generally, the manager trusted his employees and had no reason to watch them construct sandwiches over a remote surveillance camera. On this particular evening, however, a customer had called to complain to them about two employees having sexual relations in a supply closet. That was definitely a no-no as far as they were concerned.

Not Aware

The surveillance showed several things. It showed the employees working as usual, serving customers, making sandwiches and the like, but it also showed Jane falling down more than once. Both employees were acting strangely and then they went into a supply closet and when they came out, Jordan came out shirtless.

Save the Day

Seeing how inebriated Jane looked on camera, the manager drove to the restaurant to relieve her and take her home. She was obviously too impaired to drive by that point. Of course, at the time, the manager didn’t know that Jordan had drugged the poor girl. All they knew was that one of their employees was either too drunk or sick to work.

Pulled Down

When the manager reviewed the tapes more closely, they saw Jordan Johnson’s true depravity. CCTV footage of the restaurant’s kitchen showed Jane on the floor with her pants off and Jordan Johnson standing above her, touching her inappropriately in what did not appear to be a consensual fashion.

Coming Forward

It wasn’t until three days after the incident that Jane decided to report the whole ordeal to the police. This was partially due to the fact that she didn’t fully recollect what had occurred. Eventually, though, she realized she had no choice. Her manager thought the sex was consensual and if that misinformation spread, Jordan might get away with it.

Nonconsensual

Jane told the police that Jordan had taken her into the utility closet and sexually assaulted her. He raped her, forced her to perform oral sex on him and touched her inappropriately on her genitals. She also explained that if it hadn’t been for whatever pill he’d given her, she’d never have consented.

Failing Memory

When the police arrested for Jordan, he allegedly identified himself as the person seen in the surveillance video. That is correct, he claimed to be the one standing over the victim. That said, he also told investigators he “didn’t remember” what happened during the shift and refused to give them a DNA sample.

Book Him

In lieu of his partial confession and Jane’s details, Jordan was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on preliminary charges of sexual battery and rape. It remains to be seen what will happen in his case, but this is hardly the first time fast food coworkers have behaved, shall we say, “inappropriately” in recent years.

Other Tales

Another story of sexual assault comes from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Seminole County, Florida. This tale involves two Wendy’s cooks being accused of raping a co-worker in the bathroom after business hours had concluded. Unlike Jordan Johnson, it seems these workers had the “good sense” to wait until all customers had left.

Afraid to Speak

The 18-year-old victim explained to Seminole County deputy sheriffs that she had been waiting for a ride home after work when the two former friends came upon her. Like the girl in the above story, she was ashamed of what had happened and had waited more than 24 hours to come forward.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

It’s not unusual for victims of sexual assault to wait some amount of time to come forward. Many victims feel as though the assault is their fault or that it reflects badly upon either their character or their judgment. Before we continue, we want to make it clear that no one who is the victim of an assault, sexual or otherwise, should ever feel that way.

Double Threat

The woman explained that she had been in the women’s restroom when Orenthal Hughes came into the bathroom and pulled her from a stall. He then proceeded to sexually assault her right there and before she could clean herself, was interrupted by the second worker, Dyshaun Collins.

Criminal Records

23-year-old Dyshaun Raytan Collins, and 26-year-old Orenthal Jermaine Hughes, both have criminal records for various charges including theft and possession of firearms charges. Both men are facing charges of sexual battery, despite the fact that they claim the sex was consensual.

Wendy’s Owner

Raul Dominquez, who owns the Wendy’s franchise location, explained that “It’s a terrible tragedy. We’ve begun our own investigation.” He would not comment on whether or not Wendy’s requires background checks on employees.

Sudden Headache Turns Into Shift of Horror for One Subway Restaurant Worker is an article from: LifeDaily

There are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the U.S. at any given time. Frankly, that is a staggering, worrying statistic. Whenever we hear about someone gone missing, a child, a woman, a senior citizen etc., we always hope that they’ll be found safe and sound.

It’s always tragic when a missing person resurfaces as a homicide victim. Take for instance the recent case of Mollie Tibbetts of Brooklyn, Iowa, who disappeared for a month only to be the victim of a brutal assault and murder. Yet the more we learn about her alleged assailant, the more we see that this tragedy could have happened to someone else, even before happening to Mollie.

Keeping in Touch

Mollie Tibbetts Story — www.clickorlando.com

Prior to her disappearance, Mollie Tibbetts was a psychology major at the University of Iowa, preparing for her sophomore year. Though her parents had divorced when she was in second grade, she remained in touch with her father. Despite the divorce, the family was close and Mollie even managed to attend her father’s wedding in 2017. It was the last time he’d see her alive.

Jogging Disappearance

On July 18, 2018, Mollie went for an evening jog. She was a former cross country runner and loved to keep in shape. She left her boyfriend’s brother’s place at around 7:30 pm, but never came back to the house. When she didn’t show up for work the next morning, her family alerted the police.

Last Snaps

At the time of her disappearance, Mollie’s long-term boyfriend had been out of town for work in Duque, Iowa. It was more than 130 miles away and the two kept in touch using Snapchat. She messaged her boyfriend before leaving for the jog, but he hadn’t received it until later that evening.

Hundreds of Leads

In the following weeks, police in multiple states investigated Mollie’s disappearance. Hundreds of leads came in with information. These included unconfirmed sightings on roads and highways miles away, including at a truck stop in Kearney, Missouri. Most of these proved to be false and even the 500 interviews they conducted couldn’t drum up any solid leads.

A Brilliant Idea

Police then had a brilliant idea. Mollie always wore her Fitbit activity tracker when she went for a jog. If the police could use the device’s data, they might be able to see where she ran. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to pinpoint her location. They were able to narrow the search to several areas in and around Brooklyn. These included her boyfriend’s home, a truck stop, a car wash, and two farms.

Body in a Cornfield

It was on August 21, more than a month after Mollie had gone missing, that police announced the discovery of a body in Poweshiek County, Iowa. A medical examiner performed an autopsy and determined that it was indeed Mollie’s body.

A Helpful Suspect

The coroner also determined that Mollie’s cause of death was homicide by way of “multiple sharp force injuries.” As to who had actually committed the murder, police had a pretty good idea. They had been led to the location of the body by 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera.

Candid Camera

Rivera lived and worked in the area and had become a target of the investigation after police had obtained footage from a nearby surveillance camera. The footage showed a Chevrolet Malibu driving back and forth in the area where Mollie had been jogging. It was easy enough to link the Malibu to its owner after that.

Confessed

Once in custody, Rivera confessed to having kidnapped Mollie during her jog, killing her, and dumping her body within a secluded cornfield. He then led police to the aforementioned cornfield, where they found the 20-year-old’s body. Rivera also told police that he “blacked out” before the murder and didn’t remember even doing it.

No Recall

Rivera’s recollection was spotty, to say the least, and prior to the blackout, he only remembered that he got angry. Mollie had apparently threatened to call the police on him and it drove him over the edge. He claimed it was only after seeing her bloodied body within his trunk that he knew what he’d done.

Illegal Immigrant

Complicating matters further was the fact that Rivera, who hails originally from Mexico, had been living illegally in the U.S. for more than seven years. Since he was 17, Rivera used a fake name along with someone else’s ID and Social Security number to work a number of jobs at farms in the area.

Not Alone

It appears that Mollie may not have been the first girl that Rivera followed. Recently, another Iowan has come forward with an account of Rivera tailing her and trying to flirt with her. It is only now, after learning what Rivera is accused of, that she realized the actual danger their seemingly innocuous interactions had posed.

Unwelcome Flirting

Bailey Gibson has come forward to talk about how her younger sister was once stalked by Rivera in the same manner as Mollie. The younger sister had been walking alone through their rural town when the worrying event occurred.

Charming

Rivera was well-spoken but his subsequent advances had a creepy vibe about them that worried Gibson’s little sister. He told her she was pretty and asked her to get in the car. This apparently happened on more than one occasion. Rivera was much older and his “charm” was not appreciated by the shy 17-year-old girl.

No Thanks

“It was more flirty than sexual but my sister is very shy,” Gibson explained. “She didn’t appreciate it. Even though she knew him a little she felt unsafe and didn’t want to talk to him.” More worrying to the Gibson girls was Rivera’s outright persistence in the face of refusal. “She was really creeped out by his behavior. She had to keep telling him she wasn’t interested.”

Nothing of It

Ultimately, Rivera left Gibson’s sister alone and the girls got on with their lives. It wasn’t until they read about Mollie that they realized it could have been the younger sister instead of her. It appeared that Rivera had attempted to use similar pick-up methods prior to murdering Mollie.

Terrifying

Because she had come so close to being one of Rivera’s possible victims, Gibson had asked that her little sister not be named in the story. “It all clicked when we heard the news,” she explained. “It’s so scary to think he did something similar with my sister.” It has also come to light that Rivera might have actually known Mollie prior to approaching her during her jog as well.

Familiarity

Rivera’s girlfriend, Iris Monarrez is actually connected to Mollie through Facebook. She was friends with Mollie and Mollie’s brothers Scott and Jake. She also attended the same high school as Mollie. Since she had been dating Rivera it’s plausible that he may have seen Mollie before the night he murdered her.

Punishment

Rivera, though reportedly “well spoken,” has said nothing other than answering yes or no to an interpreter when prompted. It appears as if he is doing his best not to incriminate himself further. If convicted, Rivera faces deportation and life in prison with no parole, plus he’d have to register as a sex offender.

Political Issues

The fact that Rivera is an illegal immigrant has become yet another political talking point for the immigration policies of the Trump administration. Mollie’s family, however, has denounced the efforts to politicize their daughter’s death and prefer the focus be on Rivera’s criminal actions rather than his immigration status.

Mollie Tibbetts’ Killer May Have Stalked Another Girl Before Her is an article from: LifeDaily

Accidents happen all the time. Some of them, like breaking a coffee mug or falling off a bike, are relatively innocuous.They’ll ruin your day, but not your life. Some accidents, however, can have deadly consequences for those involved.

Recently, Chinese police and paramedics were called to the scene of what looked like an incident involving a carbon monoxide leak in a car. They quickly labeled the case little more than an accident, until they realized that this tragedy was no accident at all.

Passing Jogger

Tong Yuk-ling stepped out for his morning jog. She ran down the road, heedless of the world around her as usual. Suddenly, she noticed something parked on the side of the road straight ahead of her. The runner gazed into the Mini Cooper to see two women sound asleep within. She thought they were napping.

One More Pass

The runner thought nothing of the strange sight until she ran back the other way. As Tong Yuk-ling passed the car again, she halted briefly to check on its occupants. It had been 45 minutes since she’d seen them and the women inside the Mini Cooper appeared just as motionless as before.

Strange Signs

The other thing that Tong Yuk-ling had noticed was that even though it hadn’t rained, the windshield wipers were on. It was a strange coincidence to be sure. She called the police, who took the 47-year-old woman and her 16-year-old daughter to nearby Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin. Unfortunately, help had come too late.

Late Rescue Attempt

Wong Siew-fung and her daughter Khaw Li-ling, had not been merely motionless when Tong Yuk-ling had found them in the Mini Cooper, they had been dead for a long while. Postmortem evidence indicated that the two had died from inhaling carbon monoxide, which can happen. There were some differences in this case, however.

Checks Out

Because the two women had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the Mini Cooper was subjected to a thorough inspection. Oddly enough, the car showed no defects at all. The exhaust worked fine, the ventilation system was intact, and nothing had been altered within the car to force carbon monoxide back into the cab.

Strange Clues

The investigating officials did notice something strange within the vehicle, however. The trunk contained a deflated yoga ball, which some preliminary tests indicated might have contained a fair amount, that is to say, a lethal amount, of carbon monoxide. But who would fill a yoga ball with deadly gas and put it in the back of a car?

Grim News

53-year-old Khaw Kim-sun was grieving. The Chinese University associate professor had just learned that his wife and his 16-year-old daughter had both been found dead in their vehicle; the apparent victims of some sort of strange carbon monoxide poisoning. He took the news rather hard, considering he and his wife weren’t on the best terms.

Divorce Proceedings

The reason that Khaw and his wife weren’t on the best terms was due mostly to the fact that the associate professor had been having an affair with one of his students. The other reason was that because of this new relationship, he had been seeking to divorce Siew-fung for some time, albeit unsuccessfully.

Uncooperative

Unfortunately for the philandering professor, Siew-fung was having none of that. She wasn’t about to lose her husband to some little girl. Despite the fact that Khaw asked her many times for a divorce, she refused to cooperate with or enter into any formal proceedings. Khaw would divorce her over her dead body.

Accusations

It was because of this difficult divorce that police immediately turned their attention to Khaw as the main suspect. It was very possible that he had deliberately placed the gas-filled yoga ball in his wife’s car with the intention to kill her. Yet, if he just intended to kill his wife to get out of the marriage, why kill his daughter as well?

Accidental Demise

The police actually don’t believe he intended to kill Li-ling at all. They realized this when they’d heard that Khaw had urged his daughter to stay home that day and to finish her homework. He didn’t want her to go driving with her mother for some reason. It’s a pity that she didn’t listen to him.

Advanced Knowledge

The police and prosecution had even more evidence against Khaw by virtue of his background as well. Khaw is an anesthetist in addition to an associate professor, he even worked at Prince of Wales Hospital where his wife and daughter were brought following their deaths. This proved that he knew about how deadly and toxic carbon monoxide could be.

Further Links

In addition to possessing knowledge of the gas’ lethality, Khaw also had ample access to it via a flimsy research project he’d embarked on as an associate professor at Chinese University. As if that weren’t enough of a smoking gun, his research assistant was the same student he’d been having an affair with,

Gassing Rabbits

There was also evidence that some of Khaw’s colleagues had seen him filling up two separate yoga balls with the deadly gas. When they asked him why in the world he was filling yoga balls with carbon monoxide, he told them that he planned to use the balls to gas rabbits. It was an odd answer to be sure.

A Scientist Would Know…

Khaw’s colleagues were shocked by his plan. First and foremost, any scientist would know that such an experiment would not be transferable to human beings. Secondly, even if it was, it was exceptionally dangerous to store such toxic gasses in something as flimsy as an inflatable yoga ball. They weren’t exactly known for their long-term durability.

Not His First Attempt

Also, Khaw obviously understood the risk to himself. Transferring the balls home would be just as dangerous as filling them and he seemed to have minimized that risk by having a carbon monoxide meter in his car when he took the two yoga balls home. Clearly, Khaw was the one behind his family’s murder.

Spending Wildly

Invoices in Khaw’s name also indicated that he’d sent tens of thousands of dollars on 6.8 cubic meters of carbon monoxide of 99 percent purity. Though he posited that these were “for his experiment” of course. When the police arrived at his home and asked about the purpose of the balls and the gas, he gave a different answer than he’d given his colleagues.

Killing Vermin

Khaw told police officers that he had taken the gas home in the yoga balls in order to exterminate rats in his house. Not only would a scientist working with carbon monoxide know this was extremely dangerous, but a domestic helper in his employ told the police that Khaw had no rodents in his home. Still, Khaw had one more card to play…

Suicidal Plans

Khaw suggested that it was his daughter, Li-ling who might have used the gas-filled balls from his experiments to committing suicide. This was a bald-faced lie and was confirmed by Li-ling’s teachers who said she was happy and fulfilled. That he would even attempt to lie about such a thing was inexcusable.

It Does Kill

The gas does kill and has killed. It killed Li-ling and her mother and it very likely that Khaw is the one who put it there. Khaw has since plead not guilty and is awaiting a verdict and though he has not yet been proven to be the culprit, the facts all seem to point to his direct involvement in the double homicide.

Chinese Police Investigate Professor in Strange Case Involving Gassy Yoga Ball is an article from: LifeDaily

Have you ever been so hot that you can’t stand it? So unbelievably hot that you could swear there is a heat haze around you? Well, if you’ve been living anywhere in the U.S. this summer, then you know how this feels.

2018 has been one heck of a hot summer in the United States. Temperatures in some parts of the country have reached in excess of a hundred degrees and we’re not even mentioning some of the states in the Southwest. It was on one such day, in Waterford, Michigan, that our story takes place.

Loading Up

Michigan-born Lacey Guyton had gone to visit her grandmother in Waterford to show off her 2-month-old daughter, Raina. It had been a wonderful visit and one that had been a long time coming. Lacey brought little Raina out to the car and strapped the now drowsy infant into the car seat. She set the diaper bag down and shut the car door.

Locked Inside

As Lacey walked around the side of the car, she heard a sound that sent her heart straight into her stomach. It was the echoing click of all four doors locking at once. She reached down into her purse, only to realize with a pang of sheer panic, that the keys themselves were still inside the diaper bag sitting in the backseat.

Found a Fob

Panicked, she rooted around inside her purse to see if she had brought her spare with her. Something plastic grazed her fingers and she turned it over in her hand, clenching it tightly as she brought it up from the depths of the bag. It was her key fob, which she then tried to use to unlock the doors. It was no use, she needed the car keys.

Smash the Window

The 25-year-old mother grew more fearful with each passing moment and more desperate. She looked around the driveway for something, anything that might be of use to her and frenziedly grabbed a chunk of nearby asphalt. Using all her strength, she threw the asphalt at the car window. It barely made a dent.

Frantic Call

Meanwhile, Lacey’s grandmother frantically called 911. Grandma explained to the dispatcher that there was a 2-month-old baby trapped in a car, but was met with a rather unhelpful reply. The dispatcher explained to her that the department doesn’t unlock vehicles or break windows. As an alternative, they suggested the grandmother call a towing company.

Crying Child

Little Raina, unsure why her mother was beating on the windows with a rock, began to wail uncontrollably. Despite this, Lacey continued to attempt to break-in to the car manually. In the meantime, her grandma tried her best to explain the severity of the situation to a rather obstinate 911 dispatcher.

No Time for Tow

Grandma tried to explain that she didn’t have time to call a tow truck, that this was a real emergency and that the temperature was already at 85 degrees that day. She ran out to Lacey and attempted to calm the crying child while Lacey took a turn at calling 911 a second time. This time, she was not to be denied.

Fire Department

Lacey pleaded with the new 911 operator to have the fire department come to smash the window. Out of breath and becoming emotional, she must have sounded very worried indeed. The new 911 dispatcher turned out to be just as unmoving as the previous one, however, and explained that “The fire department doesn’t come out for that.”

No Breaks

Lacey handed the phone back over to grandmother, who had been unable to calm the crying, sweating infant inside the car. She picked up a window breaker she’d found and tried cracking the window, but it wouldn’t budge in the slightest. The longer they waited to get her out of the car, the more dangerous Raina’s situation became.

No More Crying

Suddenly, Raina stopped crying and her eyes became heavy. It was very possible that she had exhausted herself and was just falling asleep because she was only two-months-old. Of course, it was also possible that she could have been succumbing to heat exhaustion. 911 wasn’t going to be of any help to her, Lacey had to get her baby out on her own.

Shattered

Lacey Guyton had one more chance to try and open the window. This time, instead of trying for the side windows, she ran to the back windshield and raised the window breaker. The first hit cracked the glass, the second, shattered it entirely. Lacey climbed into the car and pulled Raina free from her seat.

Speaking Candidly

Thankfully, after 15 minutes of fear and uncertainty, Raina was completely safe. Their ordeal was at an end. She decided to take Raina to the doctor to be sure, but the baby was fine. Soon enough though, news of the situation and the obstinate, unhelpful nature of the 911 dispatcher’s comments, soon hit the Internet.

Different Circumstance

Lacey admits that it’s an easy thing to lock one’s keys in the car. It just so happened that it was one of the hottest days of the year and that the aforementioned car had her baby inside it. “Obviously the police department had a policy where they don’t unlock cars if the keys are in there but this time is different…there’s a baby,” she explained.

Speaking Candidly

Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood spoke out about the whole situation in a public apology. “While it is true we do not normally respond when people lock their keys in their vehicle and we do offer to contact a wrecker service for them, this is a completely different situation…” he explained.

A Mistake

Chief Underwood added that “We should have responded in this case and we should respond in any similar case when there is a concern for the health, safety or welfare of any person, especially a young child. We acknowledge our mistake and are doing everything we can to make sure we do not repeat it. We will learn from this and correct the problem.”

A Mother’s Take

For her part, Lacey Guyton has made it clear that she doesn’t blame either the police department or fire department of Waterford. As she sees it, “they didn’t even have the chance to come” and that in-and-of-itself absolves them of most of the responsibility. Though she admits that the procedure itself should be changed.

The Line

As far as Lacey is concerned, that day was the worst day of her life. “It’s the most helpless feeling…the dispatchers, their job is essentially one of the most important,” she explained. “They are like the lifeline between someone potentially dying and people that are going to go save them. So it’s not something to take lightly.”

Discipline

As for the dispatcher who “helped” Lacey and her grandmother during the ordeal, they have not been back to work since the incident occurred. The Waterford Police Department has indicated that they will be addressing the situation with the dispatcher directly via either disciplinary processes, remedial training, or both.

Affecting Many

At least 35 children have died from being inside hot cars in the United States this year alone. Yet even taking into account the idea that “accidents happen,” this number should be well out of the double digits. Common sense should tell anyone that it’s nothing less than complete idiocy to leave one’s child in a hot car.

New Procedure

Lacey is hopeful that news of her story will spread and make people more careful going forward. She hopes parents will be more mindful of their surroundings and that police protocol in these situations will be evaluated less by procedure and more by mitigating circumstances. That is to say, on a case-by-case basis.

Michigan Police Offer Apology After Failing to Help Baby Locked in Hot Car is an article from: LifeDaily

College can be a fun, albeit stressful time. For many of us, our first year at college represents our first chance at true freedom from our parents and our first opportunity to reinvent ourselves into the person we choose to be.

Yet, going away to college can be just as harrowing as it enjoyable. Sometimes, being “free” becomes synonymous with being reckless. One night of heavy drinking and partying can end in dire consequences for you and everyone around you.

First Year

It was October 2016, and 18-year-old Nikki Yovino of South Setauket, New York was happy to finally feel like an adult. She was away a school, barely into her first year of college at Sacred Heart University, and the swell of independence she felt was quite liberating. Liberating enough that she decided to celebrate with some new friends.

Liberation and Libation

Nikki and her friends headed off-campus to Bridgeport for a party. There, she met two Malik St. Hilaire and several of his fellow Sacred Heart University football team buddies. The new friends spent several hours celebrating their liberation with libations until suddenly, the night took a turn for the worse.

School Daze

Though the major details of the night seem to be fuzzy, Nikki did recall the most unpleasant of the evening’s escapades. At some point in the evening, Malik, Nikki, and one of his unnamed friends went into the bathroom together. The next morning, when Nikki returned to Fairfield, she reported that she had been sexually assaulted.

Consensual

Both Malik and his friend were brought before the school’s disciplinary committee and made to explain their actions. According to them, the sexual encounter in the bathroom had indeed happened but it was no assault; it was completely consensual between the three parties involved. It was now a true “he said, she said” situation.

Something Aint Right

Erring on the side of caution, the school decided to suspend the boys pending further investigation. Police began looking into the matter and soon discovered that texts between Nikki and the two football players seemed somewhat inconsistent with her account of the evening’s more violent events. They decided it might be time to bring her in for further questioning.

Questioned Again

Because she had allegedly been the victim of a sexual assault, the police were remiss to question her too intently. Nevertheless, the fate of two potentially innocent young men was hanging in the balance. The officers began by questioning her about the inconsistencies in her account.

Admission

Faced with the truth, Nikki knew that she had little choice about what happened next. She admitted that she’d made up the sexual assault. The sexual intercourse that she, Malik, and the other student had engaged in had indeed been consensual. But why had she had lied about something so serious?

Reasoning

As it turned out, Nikki had made up the sexual assault on little more than a whim when one of her friends questioned her about the incident. The friend was a young man who Nikki saw as a potential boyfriend if she played her cards right. Having casual sex with two other young men at a party was not going to ingratiate her into his good graces.

Sympathetic

Nikki’s belief was that when the potential boyfriend heard the allegation, he would become angry at the two “assailants.” She also believed that this would make her seem more sympathetic. She had been right of course, though the ruse all fell apart when the boys were punished for doing nothing wrong.

Serious Consequences

Although the two players were never officially arrested, both Malik and his friend ended up withdrawing from Sacred Heart while facing possible discipline. One of the young men even lost his football scholarship because of the fallout. As for Nikki, she wasn’t about to go scot-free, not after having called in the dogs.

Clearing their Name

Nikki pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges of falsely reporting an incident and interfering with police. Malik St. Hilaire spoke out about the situation after Nikki was finally held to account. “I went from being a college student to sitting at home being expelled with no way to clear my name,” he explained.

I Hope She Knows

Malik went on to say that he hoped his accuser knew exactly what she had done to him. “My life will never be the same. I did nothing wrong, but everything has been altered because of this,” he said. The second player, one who wished to remain unidentified, had a similar reaction to Nikki being taken to court.

Depression and Anxiety

Frank Riccio, an attorney who represents the second player, was asked to read a detailed account from the second accused player. The account detailed how the young man had suffered from anxiety, humiliation, and depression. He added that because he lost the scholarship, he is now $30,000 in debt for no reason.

Rolling Her Eyes

Even as she sat in the courtroom, hearing testimony from the two men whose lives she’d ruined, Nikki rolled her eyes at their accounts. It appeared that there was not much about the situation that impressed Nikki. Had the whole ordeal become something of a joke to her? She didn’t even take the sentencing seriously.

Suspended Sentence

After two years of court proceedings, the now 20-year-old Nikki was recently sentenced by Bridgeport Superior Court. Her sentence consisted of three years in prison with a suspended sentence to follow after she has served only one year. She smirked and rolled her eyes at one of the victims even as the verdict was read.

Roll On

Nikki’s lawyer, Ryan O’Neill, denied that she gestured in such a disrespectful way and even noted that if the judge had seen it, he had chosen to not comment upon her alleged misbehavior in court. Regardless of her negative behavior, it appeared that charging her in the first place was actually a subject of some debate.

Not Easy

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Tatiana Messina allegedly told the presiding judge that it was not an easy charging decision when it came to bringing Nikki Yovino to account. That said, she added that given the evidence they had against Nikki, they believe the disposition to be both fair and appropriate.

Disservice

Messina added that, “Many true victims of sexual assault are often disbelieved, but that is because of cases like this and the impact they have on public perceptions. Miss Yovino’s actions are a disservice to those true victims, in addition to the two young men whose lives were greatly affected, and that was not something that could have been ignored.”

Accountability

Despite her allegedly sarcastic expressions in the courtroom, Nikki’s lawyer has stated that “her willingness to accept the plea deal reflects her accountability for what happened.” Accountability won’t repair the two football players’ tarnished reputations, however. It also won’t pay their mounting college debt.

Civil Suit

Even though justice was officially done, both Malik and the other, unnamed player are moving forward with a civil suit against Nikki. They want to recoup damages and get their lives back on track before her baseless accusations derailed them. It remains to be seen if they will see this portion of justice done.

Woman to Serve One Year in Prison After Falsely Accusing Two Young Men of Heinous Crime is an article from: LifeDaily

There are a lot of things about living in the United States that are completely different from what you’d experience living in any other country in the world. While many of those differences are great, there are some that no one likes.

While healthcare is one of the most contentious issues in American politics, the one thing everyone on every side of the debate agrees on is that the prices for treatment and medication are sometimes out of control.

Complicated Mess

It would be impossible to point to one single person, agency, or policy and say: “That’s why healthcare costs so much.” There are a large number of individual factors that come together in a complicated way, resulting in big price tags and bigger headaches for consumers.

Clear Look

But every now and then, something happens in healthcare where all of the smoke and dust clears and we’re able to get a good look at one of the culprits behind the exorbitant rates we are forced to pay for medication.

Skyrocketing Costs

That happened just a short while ago when the price of a necessary and life-saving medical device skyrocketed out of nowhere. The device was the EpiPen, a delivery system for epinephrine, a medication that acts quickly on the whole body to shut down an extreme allergic response.

Life-Saving Drug

For people with extreme allergic reactions, having quick, easy access to a dose of epinephrine can literally be the difference between life and death. Fortunately, epinephrine is cheap. You can buy a vial just about anywhere in the world, including in the U.S., for less than a dollar.

Expensive Delivery System

But the delivery system that makes giving yourself that dosage quick and easy — especially if you’re going into anaphylactic shock — is far from cheap. Technically called an epinephrine autoinjector, EpiPens have been around since the 1970s. Since its introduction, the price of the device has climbed as steadily as other healthcare costs.

High and Higher

By 2007, the price for a two pack of EpiPens cost about $100. This is a pretty hefty price for a device that delivers less than a dollar’s worth of medication, especially considering that the epinephrine in the device expires after a year. But things would get far worse over the next few years.

Big Increase

Between 2007 and 2016, the price of an EpiPen two pack shot up from just over $100 to over $600. Unlike many expensive medical costs that leave people looking in vain for an explanation, the blame for this price hike didn’t take a detective to figure out.

Monopolistic Pricing

Because the company Mylan effectively has a monopoly on the production of EpiPen-like devices in the United States, they can set whatever price they want. They simply decided that they could get away with charging more. And with customers given the option of paying the higher price or risking death from an allergic reaction, they had no choice but to dig deeper in their pockets.

Corporate Costs

Of course, there are those who would defend pharmaceutical companies, saying that the high costs of some of their products are necessary to offset the costs of production. After all, if a company spends a hundred million dollars to bring a product to market, they argue, that company has to make that money back somehow.

Not This Time

But that argument doesn’t hold much weight in this particular case, considering Mylan simply purchased the rights to the EpiPen and never had to pay for any research or development. And according to most industry analysis, the cost of manufacturing a two pack of EpiPens costs the company an estimated $10.

Pricing Elsewhere

Mylan is also still able to sell their product at a profit for far less internationally. In Germany and France an EpiPen two pack costs about $200 and $100, respectively. When news about this price gouging became better known to the public, there was a massive backlash against the company. There were even calls from Congress for the CEO to appear before them and explain their actions.

Big Increase

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch’s pay soared from $2.5 million in 2007 to almost $19 million in 2015. The scandal was that Bresch’s pay increase aligned almost directly with the cost increase of the EpiPens. Such a direct correlation can in some situations be considered unethical.

A Solution

Bresch wasn’t deaf to the cries of the public. She could tell that people “needed a solution and wanted a solution,” she said in an interview with CNN. “And so before we did anything else, before I testified in Congress, before I did anything, we came to the market with a generic and cut the price in half.”

‘Helping Out’

The “authorized generic” EpiPen, which was basically identical to the name-brand version, was announced and sold in December of 2016 for about $300. Afterward, Bresch patted herself and her company on the back for taking “unprecedented” and “decisive action” to help American families.

Character Building

When Bresch was interviewed on a CNN podcast about the EpiPen scandal, she described it as a “defining moment” that left her a better person. “There is no question it strengthened me,” she said. “Things happen for a reason.”

Unwilling Participant

She went on to paint herself as an unwilling participant in a broken system. “I wasn’t going to be apologetic for operating in the system that existed,” she said. “What I decided to do was put my effort and energy [toward] what needed to be fixed,” adding that she hoped to be a part of the solution to the general problem of skyrocketing pharmaceutical prices.

Be Happy For Me

But that doesn’t exactly mesh well with the price increases that happened under her direction or her own sky-high pay increase. That’s something she was seemingly insensitive to when she said that people should be happy that a woman in the drug industry was making as much money as the men.

Past Misdeeds

It’s not the first time Mylan has made a pretty penny at the expense of the public. In August of 2017, they finalized a $465-million settlement with the Justice Department after they’d overcharged the government for EpiPens by misclassifying them as a generic rather than a branded product. That meant they would have to make far smaller rebates to state Medicaid programs.

She’s Got a Point

But for all Mylan’s bad actions and Bresch’s apparent insensitivity, there is some truth to what she had to say about the pharmaceutical industry. She and her company aren’t necessarily all that bad when it comes to the way that they operate.

Broken System

Mylan is operating within a system that burdens everyday people with exorbitant healthcare costs and, with increasing insurance costs and growing deductibles, they are feeling more of the squeeze. It’s not the individuals like Heather Bresch or even single corporations like Mylan that need to change — it’s the entire system.

Pharmaceutical CEO’s Response to EpiPen Pricing Scandal Highlights Serious Problem in Healthcare Industry is an article from: LifeDaily

The Atlantic hurricane season of 2017 was the deadliest and costliest hurricane season of all time, largely due to three of the season’s hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Harvey in particular had a massive impact on the United States mainland.

Over the course of four days, more than 40 inches of rain fell in the Houston area, causing massive flooding, displacing tens of thousands of people, and leading to dozens of deaths. But in the midst of that natural disaster, there was a man-made human tragedy playing out.

One Big Difference

Crystal McDowell Story — www.cbsnews.com

Crystal McDowell was a realtor living in Baytown, Texas. She lived with her two children and their father Steve. There was nothing remarkable about that situation except for one major omission: Crystal and Steve were divorced.

On Good Terms

After their divorce had been finalized in June, Crystal had helped her now ex-husband buy a house, indicating that they got along pretty well with one another. Then while Crystal’s townhouse was being remodeled, she went to stay with Steve.

Never Better

Despite having split romantically, there were apparently no problems between the two. Just a few days before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Crystal made a Facebook post that said: “I’ve never been happier in my whole life than I am right now … God is so good.”

New Beau

Part of the reason that Crystal was feeling so happy was that she had a new relationship in her life. She’d started seeing a man named Paul, who was a well-known local jeweler. Aside from the coming hurricane, it seemed like everything was going as well as could be expected for her.

Not According to Plan

Then on the morning of August 25th, the day before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Crystal told her ex-husband Steve she was headed over to his house in order to pick up the kids to take them to Dallas. But apparently, something happened between when they spoke and when she was supposed to show up.

She Never Came

Steve said that Crystal never showed up to pick up the kids. Her family went into something of a panic as it was completely unlike her to do something like that. When she didn’t show up all day, they felt they had no choice but to come forward and tell police that she was missing.

Harvey Hits

But when the rain began falling on Texas, police would have their hands full dealing with one of the worst natural disasters the state had ever seen. Very little investigative work could be done to try and find Crystal as countless tons of water flooded the state.

Massive Search

Crystal never showed up during the storm and in the days that followed, her disappearance began to gather national attention and sparked as large a manhunt as could be mustered under the circumstances. As more and more time passed and no signs of Crystal were found, it became more and more likely that she had been killed.

Slew of Suspects

If Crystal had been killed, it was difficult to determine exactly who was behind her death. Investigators developed a list of persons of interest that included as many as ten different people at one point, including her uncle, her ex-husband, and her new boyfriend Paul Hargrave.

Beneath the Surface

As the police investigation continued, they found more and more evidence that suggested that the situation between Crystal and Steve wasn’t as congenial as it seemed. Like any couple that had gotten divorced, there were problems between them but they uncovered things worse than just simple arguments.

Serious Threat

In the months before her disappearance, there was one occasion where Steve had apparently threatened to kill them both and their children too, according to court papers investigators uncovered.

More Than Words

There was another occasion where Crystal had called police after Steve had allegedly threatened to hurt himself and the children. She’d made the panicked 911 call after she found out one of the kids hadn’t shown up for school.

Returned Safe

“We tried locating him but didn’t have any luck,” said police spokesman Steve Dorris. “But the next day he brought the kids back.” Crystal had decided not to file charges after that event.

Her Cell Phone

The first big break in the case came when police were able to get Crystal’s phone records and tracked down the final ping from her cell phone. They were able to find her phone in a marshy area and several days later, found her flooded car in a Motel 6 parking lot near Interstate 10.

Tearful Confession

At that point, it was nearly two weeks after Crystal had gone missing. Whether it was the moral weight of what he had done or the inevitability of the police investigation uncovering the truth, Steve McDowell broke down and made a tearful confession: he had killed his ex-wife.

The Real Story

Contrary to what Steve initially said, Crystal did make it to his home on the morning of August 25th. According to Steve, the two of them had gotten into a fight and he had strangled his ex-wife in a fit of rage inside the home that she had helped him buy.

They Didn’t See

Steve then stashed Crystal’s body in the home overnight and disposed of it the next morning along with her car and cell phone. Though the children were home at the time, investigators believe that they remained asleep through the entire ordeal and didn’t see or hear their mother’s death or the aftermath.

Fully Cooperative

“He is a little emotional, but he said very little,” Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said of Steve after his arrest. “He has been 100 percent cooperative. He was a person of interest as were others and every person involved, including Mr. McDowell, has been very cooperative.”

The Boyfriend

“I believe [Steve] knew exactly what he was doing. I think he knew the storm was coming in and this would help cover his tracks,” Crystal’s boyfriend Paul Hargrave said. “I think I had a lot to do with his decision to do this and I can’t help but feel responsible for that.”

An Angel

While Crystal’s family was glad to finally know what had happened to her, they were naturally devastated to find out that she was gone forever and a man who was once a part of their family was behind it all. “She is a light in the heavens that can never be extinguished,” said her uncle Jeff Walters. “She is an angel that watches over us all with that bright smile.”

Woman’s Disappearance Before Hurricane Harvey Caused by Storm of a Different Sort is an article from: LifeDaily

Police officers dedicate their entire lives to protecting their communities and civilians from crime and danger. Yet when they fail to do their job properly, it can cost innocent people their lives.

In the early 2000s, the police from a village in central China received several reports that teenage boys were disappearing at an alarming rate. They insisted that nothing was wrong and that the village was totally safe. So when the truth was finally revealed, parents were furious that their sons suffered needlessly.

A Weird Obsession

While growing up in rural China in the late 1970s and 80s, a little boy was obsessed with movies about murderers and assassins. He learned everything he could about the topic whenever he had the opportunity. And the more he learned about it, the more he dreamed of becoming an assassin when he was an adult.

A Red Flag

While growing up, the young boy didn’t keep his worrying obsession a secret. His biggest heroes were ruthless killers and he would write school papers and assignments about wanting to be a professional killer when he grew up. While talking to adults or his peers, the boy would often talk about how he just needed a chance.

Ignoring the Warning Signs

Despite all the warning signs, however, the boy’s family and his teachers failed to take him seriously. At the time, most adults assumed the little boy didn’t actually want to kill anyone. They thought he really just liked the idea of all the action and adventure.

Just a Phase

Everyone assumed the young boy was just going through a phase; eventually, he would grow out of it, grow up, and get a normal job. However, that never happened. The boy grew up, yet his obsession with killing and murderers never went away. In fact, as he got older, the obsession only got more intense.

Time to Act

As an adult, Huang Yong was a migrant worker and lived in a small home on the outskirts of Dahuangzhuang, which is a large village in the Henan Province of China. After years of thinking about what it would be like to kill someone, Yong decided to finally act on those thoughts.

The Search Begins

In 2001, Yong began his search for his first victim. The village had a few Internet cafes and video game arcades. Yong decided the cafes were the perfect places to find and stalk his victims. That year, Yong found a boy and convinced him to come back to his home, where he lived alone.

The Intelligent Wooden Horse

Once Yong convinced the boy to come with him that night, he brought him to a shed behind his home. Inside, he had a device set up that he called the “intelligent wooden horse,” which was a modified table that Yong had built out of a stand used for making noodles. Yong used the table to restrain, rape and strangle his victims to death.

The Urge Returns

Once the boy was dead, Yong buried him on his property. The only thing he kept from his victim was his belt. After that first kill, Yong was thrilled that he finally did the very thing he had idolized his entire life. It wasn’t long before he felt the urge to kill again.

The Search Continues

So Yong went back to the gaming arcades and Internet cafes where boys and young men spent hours at a time playing games. Yong quickly developed a system for stalking his victims. After watching the young men, Yong would pick his target and get them to go home with him.

The Modus Operandi

According to local authorities, Yong would approach the young men and convince them to go back to his house by promising them a nice dinner or a well-paying job. Once they arrived back at Yong’s house, he would offer them something to drink, which was usually mixed with sleep-inducing drugs. Yong would use other methods, too (physically beating them, for example) to render them unconscious.

The Shed of Horrors

After the victims lost consciousness, Yong would drag them to the shed behind his house, where the intelligent wooden horse was waiting. Yong would then prop his victims up on the modified table and proceed to rape them. Once he was finished, he strangled his victims with a rope.

A Worrying Trend

In the months that followed Yong’s first kill, teenagers from the village began vanishing without a trace. It was estimated that Yong raped and murdered around 20 teenage boys in his shed. Once he was finished with his victims, he would just bury them on his property. Sometimes, he just left his victims to rot in the shed.

The Trophies

Like his first victim, Yong kept the rest of his victims’ belts if they were wearing one on the night of their deaths. It wasn’t long before people in the village started to notice that teenage boys were going missing and took their concerns to the police. But the police assured them the village was perfectly safe.

Uncontrollable Bloodlust

Rather than looking into the reports of missing boys, the police spent their time assuring citizens that nothing sinister was going on. Meanwhile, Yong’s bloodlust was getting out of control. He was getting increasingly vicious and started taking bigger risks.

A Parent’s Worst Nightmare

At one point, Yong left the severed hands of several of his victims on the doorsteps of the Internet cafes and gaming arcades where he had found and stalked the boys. When the police failed to do anything, the parents of the missing boys traveled to Zhengzhou, the capital of the province. They hoped that by telling officials in the capital what was going on that authorities would have to do something.

The Village Troublemaker

Despite the desperate parents’ pleas to find their sons, the police still didn’t do much to get to the bottom of the vanishing teenagers. It wasn’t until a 16-year-old boy named Zhang Lei went to police that the case was taken more seriously. Local police from the village knew Lei as a troublemaker. So when they first heard that Lei was claiming to have been abducted and attacked by a serial killer, they didn’t believe him. The police were sure he was making it all up for attention, but then they saw his stomach…

The Proof

Doctors discovered multiple needle wounds on Lei’s stomach, which indicated that he had been drugged. At that point, the police finally started taking Lei seriously and listened to his entire story. According to Lei, Yong first approached him and told him that he had developed a new game called “God Riding a Wooden Horse.” Yong asked Lei if he would go test it out, and he agreed.

The Brutal Assault

Once back at the house, Yong told Lei the game was played by being tied to a table and counting to a thousand. The last thing Lei remembers was that Yong started choking him with a rope. At some point, Lei woke up and Yong was raping him. He passed out again, but Lei would wake up two more times during the assault.

The Police Raid

Each time he was awake, Lei would talk to Yong and talk him out of killing him. During one conversation, Lei promised to take care of Yong when he was older. As soon as Yong left him alone, Lei broke free from the shed and ran for his life. Police raided Yong’s home and found an endless amount of evidence, including the victims’ belts and even several victims who were still tied up in the shed. According to the police, the table that Yong raped and murdered his victims on was covered in feces and semen.

The Trial

Police finally arrested Yong on November 12, 2003. During his trial, Yong not only showed no remorse for his actions, but he spoke out saying that he was happy that he got to live out his dream. During the trial, the victims’ families condemned Yong but also criticized the police for failing to act faster and stopping Yong earlier. Yong was sentenced to death on December 9, 2003, and was finally executed on the 26th by a single gunshot to the head.

Police Partly to Blame After Innocent Boys Fall Prey to Disturbed Serial Offender is an article from: LifeDaily

One cool thing about social media platforms is they allow you to communicate with a lot of people very quickly. It’s the sort of powerful technology that has genuinely changed the world.

But the benefit of being able to communicate with so many people so easily is it also makes it possible to put your foot in your mouth in front of just as many people in a single instant. When one woman put a single joke out there, she would learn that lesson the hard way…

Social Media Czar

Toward the end of 2016, the Frederick County Public School (FCPS) district in Maryland was looking to hire a social media coordinator. Schools have been using the Internet to make important announcements and post schedules and information since the days of AOL, but this was something different.

Increased Importance

With the explosion of users on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, social media platforms have gone from places where you can chat and share pictures with old friends, to important tools for professionals and organizations to network with people.

The Right Candidate

The person FCPS would hire for the job would be in charge of things like making announcements about school plays and snow days as well as responding to the comments and tweets of students and their families. The person they picked for the job was a woman named Katie Nash (no relation to musician Kate Nash).

Insider’s View

Not only was 34-year-old Katie well qualified for the job, she was also a part of the parent-teacher association and had two children who attended the school district. Meaning, she would share a point of view with the people she’d be interacting with.

Standard

When she first started at the job, Katie worked in a fairly standard way, not adding much personality or flavor to her posts, answering questions in a very business-like fashion. She was doing an adequate job as far as FCPS was concerned, but they wanted to find out what the students thought.

Kinda Boring

“We’d received feedback from some students and a focus group that our tweeting was a bit flat,” said Katie. “They were looking for some more engagement, they were looking for us to tweet back [at] them.”

Getting Conversational

“I really took that to heart because I know I’m a little bit older and maybe not as hip as some of the students,” Katie continued. That meant having to take a more casual and interactive approach, and maybe even throw in a little friendly banter with the students.

Snow Day?

Then one day in January, there was a chance that a significant amount of snow would fall overnight. Naturally, every student in the district was hoping that would mean school closure for a snow day and they started to chatter about it on social media. Then one particular student tweeted something that Katie couldn’t pass up.

A Little Banter

It was a silly little tweet begging the school to close “tammarow.” It was the sort of typo that might have been ignored if it weren’t being sent to a school district’s official Twitter account. Katie took a swing at the softball tweet and answered back with a respectable though sarcastic joke.

Natural Flow

“The students were tweeting back and forth,” Katie said, “so it just sort of provided a natural opportunity to respond and do so in a fun, lighthearted way.” She wasn’t the only one who thought the tweet was entertaining. It ended up being retweeted more than 1,000 times and liked nearly 1,500 times.

Not a Big Deal

Even Nathan, the student who tweeted out the original comment, thought it was playful, tweeting out that he “just thought it was funny” and saying he “didn’t take it personally.” There was a lot of other lighthearted tweeting between Katie and the students and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Take it Down

But there was one important party that hadn’t enjoyed the Twitter exchange. They told Katie that she was to delete the tweet containing the joke. The director of communications for the school district also personally apologized to Nathan, though he hadn’t asked for one.

Short Meeting

Then on January 13th, Katie was called into her boss’s office. Once there, she had a very short meeting where she was given some terrible news: she was fired, effective immediately.

Not the Right Attitude

“It happened really quickly,” she said. “They handed me a letter and then asked for my badge and ID.” It was all due to that single tweet, which apparently rubbed the district higher ups the wrong way. They apparently felt that the tweet was harmful to Nathan, bordering on bullying.

No Grace Period

Katie was confused by the reaction, especially considering that she had just started on the job a few weeks before. “As a new employee, I … would have expected that there would have been some counseling or some suggestions on how to improve,” she said to the Frederick News-Post.

Community Support

Many members of the FCPS community felt that Katie had been treated unfairly. Her firing became the subject of two hashtags, #KatiefromFCPS and #FreeKatie. Nearly 4,000 people signed a petition in support of rehiring her to her position as social media coordinator.

What They Wanted

Ironically, firing Katie had sparked an explosion of engagement, getting the community to become involved in the doings of the school district. It was more interaction than they’d had for just about anything in the history of their social media efforts.

To No Avail

But all of the community support for Katie Nash fell on deaf ears. Despite the outcry from students and teachers alike, the district’s decision to sack the popular social media employee was final.

Consumate Professional

Throughout the entire ordeal, Katie remained extremely positive and professional. She didn’t have any bad words to say about FCPS, nor did she take her firing to be representative of the school district as a whole. “FCPS is more than just a couple of people and we do have amazing teachers and support staff who are doing amazing things,” Katie said.

Hopefully it’s Better

Katie hoped that as a result of this incident “something really positive comes out of this … I hope that FCPS thinks ‘how can we use social media to engage our community going forward.’”

Lighthearted Tweet Causes Firestorm for Maryland School District Employee is an article from: LifeDaily

Nearly every religion in the world is based upon some fundamental document or documents. With scriptures and holy books like the Vedas, Quran, Torah, and Bible being so influential, it’s hard to believe the religions they support would be possible without them.

But one of the problems about old things is they can be lost, which leaves the opportunity for historians to discover some old shred of paper that expands what we know about the past. But that also leaves the opportunity for a skilled con-man to trick a lot of people…

Devout Family

Mark William Hofmann Story — www.pixabay.com

Mark Hoffman was born in the mid 1950s and raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), better known as the Mormon Church. He was a member of the sixth generation of Mormons in his family so it would come as no surprise that his parents were devoutly religious.

Different Smarts

Growing up, Mark displayed an atypical kind of intelligence. While he was a poor student in school, he had an aptitude for all sorts of brainy hobbies, including magic, electronics, and chemistry. He also loved collecting stamps and coins.

Making Things

He had the kind of smarts that let him build a metal detector out of household items. He and his friends would even make small bombs for fun, blowing them up on the outskirts of his hometown in Murray, Utah. When Mark was just a teenager, he would pick up a habit that would shape the course of his entire life.

Fake Coin

One day, he got the idea to try and reproduce a rare mint mark on a common dime and send it in to an organization of coin collectors, mostly for a laugh. He figured if they spotted it as a fake, there would be no harm done. But the coin collectors told him the coin he’d forged was genuine.

Two Year Mission

A couple years later, Mark volunteered to spend two years as an LDS missionary, as is expected of most young Mormon men. So the Church sent him to Bristol, England, in 1973. While he was there, he told his parents in letters that he was working hard to bring new people into the faith.

Historical Study

In reality, he was studying accounts of Mormon history, such as No Man Knows My History, a skeptical biography of Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith. Mark was collecting all sorts of old books about Mormonism, both for and against it. Somewhere in his studies or perhaps before them, he’d lost his faith.

Incredible Find

After he returned from England, Mark enrolled in as a pre-med student at Utah State University. In 1979, he got married to a woman named Doralee Olds and they would eventually have four children together. One year after they’d married, Mark claimed that he’d found a 17th-century King James Bible with a folded piece of paper inside.

Anthon Transcript

That paper appeared to be an important document to the Mormon faith known as the Anthon Transcript. It was supposedly the transcript of unusual Egyptian characters copied by Joseph Smith from the golden plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon. In reality, Mark was bringing his forgery from the realm of child’s play into the realm of serious fraud.

Fooling the Experts

And just like the coin he’d forged in his teenage years, the fake document he’d made was good enough to fool the experts who evaluated it. The LDS Church announced the discovery of the Anthon Transcript and purchased it from Mark for $20,000.

New Business

Mark promptly dropped out of school and went into business as a dealer in rare books and artifacts. He began forging other historically significant documents and grew a reputation among Mormon history buffs for his “discoveries” of materials from the early days of the LDS movement.

More Church History

In 1981, Mark “uncovered” a particularly impactful document for the Mormon Church. It was a letter from John Smith that designated his son Joseph Smith III as his successor instead of Brigham Young, as was believed by the mainstream LDS Church. When he tried to sell it to the church, they balked at the price he was asking.

Battle of Legitimacy

Instead, Mark sold the document to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS; now known as the Community of Christ), an offshoot faith that believed that the line of succession had been bestowed on Smith’s descendants. This “proof” would affirm that claim. And a scramble between the LDS and RLDS Churches to obtain the document ensued, with the LDS Church eventually obtaining it in exchange for items worth more than $20,000.

Going Public

Mark arranged for the document to become public, even though the LDS Church had purchased it to prevent doubt from spreading about their version of Mormon history. In 1984, Mark also produced the Salamander Letter, a supposed letter between two early leaders in the LDS Church that described a drastically different story of how Joseph Smith recovered the golden plates, a foundational story of Mormonism.

Ironic Refutation

The salamander name came from the fact that an an angel that appeared before Joseph Smith had been replaced by a white salamander in Mark’s version. Again his forgery was believed until Jerald and Sandra Tanner, ironically two prominent critics of the LDS Church, became the first to declare it a forgery, despite the fact that it would strengthen their arguments against the truthfulness of official Mormon history.

American History

In addition to forging documents from Mormon history, Mark also forged and sold documents from famous non-Mormons from American history such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Despite selling so many forgeries, he was deeply in debt so he hatched a scheme to sell the “Oath of a Freeman,” a one page document that was the first thing ever printed in the American colonies. In 1985, he entered into negotiations to sell it to the Library of Congress.

Mounting Pressure

But the sale was delayed amidst questions about its authenticity. At the same time, Mark’s creditors and collectors who were waiting for documents from the “McLellin Collection” — an extensive group of documents written by an early Mormon apostle who broke from the LDS Church. He didn’t have the time to produce the necessary documents so as they pressured him, he developed a deadly plan.

Deadly Explosions

On October 15, 1985, a bomb killed document collector Steven Christensen (pictured). To mislead the police, a second bomb later that day killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of Christensen’s former employer, leading investigators to suspect the bombings were related to the impending collapse of an investment business that belonged to Kathy Sheets’ husband.

Blowing Up in His Face

But the following day, Mark himself was severely injured when a bomb blew up in his car. That evidence let police discover the truth behind the first two bombings. Their investigation also led police to discover evidence of the forgeries in his basement.

More Out There

Now documents were previously determined to be authentic were being given a more skeptical look. In total, it’s not clear exactly how many false documents, LDS-related or otherwise, Mark had put out into the world. There are quite possibly more forgeries of his still in circulation today.

Consequences

As a result of his actions, Mark was charged with 27 crimes, including two counts of murder and a number of forgery and fraud charges. He would eventually be sentenced to five years to life in prison and be excommunicated from the LDS Church.

Master Forger Nearly Changes the History of a Religion With Bogus Documents is an article from: LifeDaily

If there’s one commonality between all people throughout all time, it’s that we tend to make stupid decisions every now and then. Just reading that last sentence probably brings to mind something in your past you’d rather not have done.

Unfortunately for some of us, our stupid choices can land us on the wrong side of the law. In those cases, the best thing a person can do most of the time is to own up to what they’ve done, throw themselves at the mercy of the court, and do everything that’s asked of them. But as one man would find out, even that isn’t always enough…

Dumb Move

Judge Sends Man to Jail Story — Shutterstock

Alfred Scott had made a boneheaded choice and, unfortunately for him, got caught in the process. In 2017, he was arrested for a first-time marijuana distribution offense. He owned up to what he’d done and plead guilty to the charges.

Rock Bottom

It was a low point in his life to be sure. Not only had this been the Florida man’s first brush with the law, he was also unemployed the time. It woke Alfred up to the fact that he was headed in a bad direction and needed to turn his life around.

Making a Change

In between the arrest and the trial, Alfred started to look for a job in earnest for two reasons. For one thing, if he managed to avoid jail time, he’d be able to gain some control over his life and start to move things in the right direction.

Showing Improvement

There was also the fact that if the judge in his case saw that he was working to make something of himself, he would be more likely to show some leniency in his sentencing. Thankfully, Alfred’s hard work would bear fruit.

Landing a Job

Alfred had lined himself up a job at a local Home Depot. He’d arranged for his start date to be after his day in court because, after all, he couldn’t guarantee that he would be a free man afterwards.

Showing Mercy

When he informed Judge Russell Healey of the situation, it seemed that his idea had worked. Judge Healey had initially been planning to sentence Alfred to 90 days in county jail for selling marijuana, but when hearing of his efforts to turn his life around, he decided to show some mercy.

One Condition

Judge Healey said he would just give Alfred probation and let him off without any jail time but there would be a condition: “that he gets a job, full-time job, or show at least five applications per week until he gets a job.”

Falling Through

It seemed like things had worked out about as well as they could for Alfred on that day. Unfortunately, Alfred’s probation officer later informed the judge that Home Depot had rescinded the job offer, likely because of the drug conviction.

Doing His Best

However, according to the probation officer, Alfred had been “complying with everything I asked him to do.” It also seemed like his intent to turn his life around through hard work was more than just a way to stay out of jail.

Overtime

Not only had Alfred landed himself a full-time job at the arts and crafts store Michael’s, he had picked up a part-time job at McDonald’s as well. In total, he was putting in 60 hours of work a week, building himself a better life through hard work.

Odd Reaction

You would imagine that Judge Healey would be happy to hear that the young man was taking full advantage of the second chance he’d been given. That’s why it came as something of a shock to Alfred when he learned that the Judge wasn’t all that happy with him.

Probation Violation

In Judge Healey’s eyes, Alfred had violated the terms of his probation because he hadn’t gotten the job at Home Depot. All of his hard work did nothing to sway the judge, who said he shouldn’t have offered any lenience to begin with.

Jail Time

Judge Healey sent Alfred to jail for 90 days, the original length of time he was contemplating before the work-for-probation offer he’d given. Alfred thought this was entirely unfair and appealed the decision.

Inconsistent Language

When the case came before the appellate court, they saw things the same way. Judge Scott Makar ruled that Judge Healey had been inconsistent about the particulars of the probation terms he’d offered to Alfred.

Unclear Instructions

It was true that at some points, Judge Healey had specified that Alfred had to get a job at Home Depot. However, at other points in the trial, he had said that Alfred simply needed to get a “full-time job.”

Everything in His Power

Regardless, Judge Makar wrote that Judge Healy could not prove that Alfred had “willfully violated” the probation given that he’d done everything in his power to secure the Home Depot job and, when that fell through, two others. As a result, Judge Makar overturned the decision.

History of Harshness

This wasn’t the first time an appellate court ruled that Judge Healey had violated a defendant’s rights during sentencing. It also hadn’t been the first time he’d handed down what many would describe as an unreasonable sentence for a minor offense.

Danger to Society

In one case where a woman appeared before him for a shoplifting charge, Judge Healey deemed Marlena Woods a “danger to society.” That determination sent her to state prison for a year and a half.

Not His Call

But for one thing, the woman had only stolen $17.19 worth of food from a Walmart. An appellate court also found that Judge Healey had violated Woods’ right to a jury trial, since it is a jury and not a judge who should determine if a person is a danger to society and thus, worthy of incarceration in a state prison.

Pyrrhic Victory

That ruling unfortunately did little to help Woods, though. By the time the court had come to the decision that her rights had been violated, she’d already served out the entirety of her sentence in state prison.

Guilty Man’s Sentence Reversed Because of Inconsistencies in Court Proceedings is an article from: LifeDaily

A parent’s job is to put their child’s needs above their own at all times. For some parents, that means giving away their child to someone who can care for them better.

In their older age, a couple struggled to provide the care their adult son with a developmental disability needed. So the parents sent their son to a care home, where they were promised he would be well cared for. Tragically, however, the very people who promised to protect him ended up putting him in danger.

New Parents

Over three decades ago, a couple from Missouri gave birth to a healthy baby boy. However, in the months that followed, it became apparent to the parents that something wasn’t right with their son. He didn’t seem to be hitting normal milestones like other babies his age.

The Diagnosis

Eventually, the couple went to the doctors to figure out if they were just being paranoid new parents or if something was wrong. After examining baby Carl, the doctor agreed that he seemed to be delayed developmentally. Carl was ultimately diagnosed with a developmental disability.

Only Time Will Tell

The doctors explained to the couple that as Carl got older, the limitations to his development would become more apparent. He would likely need more care than other children. However, because developmental disabilities manifest differently in everyone, there was no way of knowing how severe the disability would be.

Hope For the Future

The couple did everything they could to give Carl a childhood full of happiness and love. They also hoped that he would have some measure of independence as an adult. Yet as Carl got older, the couple realized that Carl would always need constant care and attention.

A Painful Realization

The couple always imagined that they would be there to provide that care for Carl. But as they got older, it became harder and harder for them to physically help their adult son do the things he couldn’t do on his own. At that point, they started looking into their options for getting Carl the care he needed.

A Ward of the State

Ultimately, the parents decided that the best place for Carl would be in a care home for the disabled. In order to get him the best care, however, Carl had to become a ward of the state. The decision wasn’t an easy one to make, but it was in Carl’s best interest.

In Good Hands

Carl was then sent to live at the Second Chance Group Home in Fulton, Missouri. The staff at the facility promised that Carl was in good hands and that he would be happy there. Carl’s family hated to send him away but they truly believed that the staff would be able to better care for Carl.

No Visitors

“They entrusted his care to a state agency, who they thought they could trust,” Rudy Veit, the attorney for Carl’s family, told Fox News. At some point, however, the staff at Second Chance Group Home asked Carl’s family to stop visiting him. According to the staff, the family’s visits were making it difficult for Carl to get accustomed to his new home.

A Difficult Decision

“They were instructed not to contact him because it agitated him and created other problems,” Veit explained. Carl’s parents were crushed. Yet they were willing to stay away from their son if it meant he was happy and having an easier time getting used to the care home.

Monthly Check-Ins

Since they could no longer go in to check on Carl themselves, Carl’s family made sure that either a nurse or a special services representative went in to check up on Carl. Their job was to check in on Carl, make sure he was happy and well cared for, and write up a monthly report on Carl and his status.

A Missing Persons Report

For months, the reports claimed Carl was doing well in the group home. His family finally felt more at ease about the situation. However, that ease was quickly replaced with fear and stress when Carl was reported missing on April 17, 2017. According to the staff at the home, the 31-year-old walked off the property.

The Search Begins

Police immediately went out in search of the 31-year-old. With the help of police canines and drones, the cops left no stone unturned. Yet they found no trace of Carl. “Carl means no harm to nobody,” Carl’s dad, Larry Summers, told KRCG TV during the search. “He can’t talk that well, but he means no harm to anybody. He’s just a good little boy.”

The Trash Can

Police worked tirelessly in their search for Carl. In their attempt to find Carl and bring him home alive, the cops were granted 12 search warrants. One of those search warrants was for a storage unit in Fulton, which they started searching a week after Carl disappeared. During their search, cops discovered a trash can mysteriously full of concrete.

The Search is Over

Detectives discovered Carl’s body inside the concrete-filled trash can. However, after Carl’s body was examined, it was determined that he had really been dead for six months before he was reported missing. As a result of the alarming discovery, both local and federal authorities started investigating the matter.

Six Months Earlier

Investigators determined that Carl died sometime between October 25, 2016, and November 24, 2016. Leading up to the night he died, Carl had been sleeping at the home of Sherry Paulo, the manager of the assisted living home where Carl was a resident. According to the police, they believe Carl and another resident from the home were being forced to sleep on the hard basement floor.

A Medical Emergency

At some point on the night Carl died, he started screaming. Paulo’s husband, Anthony R. Flores, who was also an employee at the home, went to see what was going on and found Carl convulsing on the ground. Carl clearly needed medical attention, but the couple never called for help.

Hiding the Body

Instead, Carl was placed in a bathtub, where he started bleeding from the nose and mouth. Carl eventually died in that bathtub. His body was left in the same spot for about two to three days before Paulo and Flores put Carl’s body in the trash can, filled it with cement, and hid it in a storage container.

The Lawsuits

In the wake of the investigation, police charged Paulo and Flores with involuntary manslaughter. The couple “recklessly caused the death of Carl DeBrodie by failing to obtain medical services for DeBrodie while DeBrodie was suffering a medical emergency.” A federal wrongful death lawsuit was also filed on behalf of Carl’s family.

The Verdict

The civil suit claims that in the days leading to Carl’s death, he was forced to perform manual, unpaid labor around Paulo and Flores’ home. Paulo and Flores have since been found guilty of six to seven charges each including a class D felony of client neglect, class C felony of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree, class D felony of abandonment of a corpse, and a class A misdemeanor of making a false report of a missing person.

Justice Prevails

Others involved with Carl’s death and its cover-up, including the nurse who made fake monthly reports about Carl’s progress after he died, are also facing jail time. “We are thrilled, because it is the beginning of the other charges that would be coming down,” Mary Martin, a family friend, told KOMU. “We’ve waited over a year.”

Search for Missing Disabled Man Leads to Grisly Discovery About His Care Home is an article from: LifeDaily

A journalist’s job is to report facts to the public. Yet when a powerful person or an organization wants that information to stay a secret, a journalist’s job as truth-teller can become incredibly hazardous.

In 2018, three Russian journalists were tragically killed while working on a documentary in Africa. At first, official reports claimed the men were killed in a random ambush. Yet when people heard what the journalists were investigating, they started suggesting that something more sinister happened.

An Abandoned Car

On the morning of Tuesday, July 31, 2018, local authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR) found a car riddled with bullet holes about 14 miles north of the village of Sibut, an important transport hub in the country. Along with the car, authorities found the bodies of three Caucasian men. Like the car, their bodies were peppered with bullets.

An Investigation Begins

By the time they were found that morning, the men were already dead. However, authorities took them straight to the UN mission hospital in the city. While hospital officials worked to identify the men, local authorities began an investigation to find out what happened the night before.

The Lone Survivor

Authorities managed to locate the driver of the car, who survived the attack. After speaking with the driver, authorities learned that the group had been ambushed while driving the night before. From the beginning of the investigation, it was suggested that a rebel group was behind the attack.

The Victims

Eventually, the three bodies were identified as Orkhan Dzemal, Alexander Rastorguev, and Kirill Radchenko, well-known Russian journalists. Dzemal was best known for his work as a war correspondent. His work mainly focused on his reporting from the wars in Georgia, Libya, Syria, and east Ukraine.

Dangerous Work

Rastorguev was a documentary film director best known for filming the Russian protests of 2012. Radchenko was a freelance photographer who worked in Syria for many years documenting the civil war. According to their driver, the men were shot and killed instantly during the ambush that occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on Monday.

Working on Tourist Visas

“The Russian embassy in CAR, unfortunately, was not informed about the presence of Russian journalists in the country,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement about the attack. “Employees of our diplomatic mission are now in close contact with local law enforcement agencies and government agencies to discover all the circumstances relating to the deaths of Russian citizens.”

On Assignment

The attack came just three days after the group arrived in the country. Together, the journalists were working on a documentary for the Investigations Management Center, a media organization owned by an exiled Russian oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, known as a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Is Hope Lost?

“These were brave men who were not prepared simply to collect documentary material, but wanted to ‘feel’ it in the palms of their hands,” Khodorkovsky said in a statement after the deaths and the identities of the bodies were confirmed. “I hoped until the last moment that they had been captured, and that they could be rescued.”

A Warning

“They were kidnapped by about 10 men, all turbaned and speaking only Arabic,” Marcelin Yoyo, a deputy official in Sibut, told The Guardian. According to local authorities, a government official warned the men not to continue their journey the evening they were killed as it can be dangerous to travel on the roads at night.

A Random Robbery

“Security forces in charge told them not to go because it was already dark,” Yoyo explained. After local authorities and Russian officials conducted their investigation into the three deaths, they announced that the attack was simply a random robbery. At the time of their deaths, the men had a large amount of cash on them as well as expensive cameras and equipment, which made them a target.

Many Started to Doubt …

However, when people discovered what the journalists were investigating for their documentary while in CAR, many started to doubt the official explanation. Instead, they suspected that the journalists were killed because of the highly sensitive and dangerous story they were working on. A random robbery seemed, to some, to be too much of a coincidence.

The Wagner Group

According to Khodorkovsky, the men had been sent to the country to work on a documentary about a private military force called the Wagner Group. The organization is allegedly funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who has close ties to Putin. Prigozhin is also known for being a financial backer of the Internet Research Agency, which created countless fake news campaigns to influence the 2016 American presidential election.

Past Actions

In the past, the Wagner Group had sent mercenaries to conflict zones to help advance Russian objectives in places or situations where the Russian government cannot officially send regular troops. Wagner Group helped separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. They also helped loyal, pro-government forces in Syria.

An Unofficial Link

Wagner Group appears to be a private force used to protect Russian business and military interests. Yet the Russian government has always denied that it has anything to do with the mercenary organization. Recently, however, Wagner Group has gotten involved in CAR.

The Civil War

In 2017, the UN gave Russia permission to supply CAR’s government with small arms to help in their civil war against rebels. It is believed that Wagner Group is part of the group of 170 Russian civilian instructors sent to help train CAR’s forces. Yet some suspect Wagner Group is doing more than just helping the government…

Fighting on Both Sides

Analysts suspect that Wagner Group is also helping the rebels so that Russia can have access to areas controlled by rebel forces that have mines rich in deposits of uranium, gold, diamonds and other rare minerals. While in CAR, the three journalists planned on figuring out just what Wagner Group was doing in Africa and what connection, if any, that they had to the Russian government.

Denying the Allegations

“There is no sensation in the presence of Russian instructors in the CAR, no one hid anything,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote in a Facebook post after it was suggested that the journalists’ death had something to do with their assignment. “The murdered Russian journalists, based on the location of the bodies, did not move at all to the place where the instructors work. Moreover, based on information received from the local site, they ignored warnings that they are leaving the zone controlled by local law enforcement agencies. What they really were doing in the CAR, what were their goals and objectives — is a question.”

An Independent Investigation

In the weeks after the attack, a private group conducted their own investigation. Their findings supported theories that the killings were actually a planned attack to stop them from finding anything out about Wagner and send a message to other journalists looking into the same topic.“Our sources determined that the killers had set up a temporary camp at the point where the ambush happened,” Roman Popkov told The Independent regarding the results of the investigation.

An Inconsistent Story

“Whoever killed the journalists left expensive items in the car, including three full canisters of petrol, some of the technical equipment and clothing. And then they packed up their camp. None of that seems consistent with a robbery,” Popkov said. “This was done in a very demonstrative fashion,” Andrei Konyakhin, the chief editor of the Investigations Management Center, told the Associated Press.

A Hell of a Coincidence

“If they could have just taken everything from them, why kill them,” Konyakhin speculated. “It sure seems like a hell of a coincidence that all four Russian investigative journalists that turned up dead in the last few months were investigating Wagner [Group],” Julia Ioffe, a Moscow correspondent, told the Columbia Journalism Review.

Investigation Suggests Mysterious Demise of Russian Journalists Wasn’t an Accident is an article from: LifeDaily

Never underestimate the generosity of complete strangers. When a person is in need of a helping hand, there are those who quickly turn a blind eye. Yet, there are others who restore our hope in humanity by giving their time to help the underprivileged of the world, forgotten by the masses.

When a Walmart cashier in Burton, Michigan, saw a wheelchair bound customer get turned away from the store’s nail salon, she took matters into her own hands.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a developmental disorder and the leading cause of disability in young children. It affects approximately 500,000 children and adults, with around 8,000 babies and between 1,200 and 1,500 preschool-age children diagnosed each year. It is a chronic illness that affects movement, muscle tone and posture caused by damage that occurs to the developing brain, most often before birth. From the moment they are born into this world, those battling the disease frequently struggle with walking, swallowing, and fine motor skills.

A Debilitating Illness

The type and severity of symptoms can vary significantly from one patient to the next, but often many of them, such as a young girl named Angela, are not able to walk, forcing them to become wheelchair bound for the entirety of their lives. For the thousands of people living with cerebral palsy, like Angela, abrupt and rapid shaking of the body is another debilitating effect of the disease. Before she was even two years old, Angela’s tiny body would shake often, making it difficult for her to hold a toy for more than a few seconds.

A Difficult Labor

Angela’s mother was aware of the pains and stress involved in childbirth, but the labor she had experienced with baby Angela was different. Angela’s mother went into labor months before her actual due date, resulting in baby Angela weighing less than four pounds, and a whole list of other birth complications. Angela’s parents felt utterly devastated. The worst feeling as a parent is seeing a child suffer and not being able to help them.

The Diagnosis

After a few months in the hospital’s intensive care unit, doctors were finally able to diagnose baby Angela with cerebral palsy. A relatively unknown illness at the time, her parents were unsure what this meant for the future of their baby girl. But, as only a year or two passed, Angela’s parents quickly grasped the reality of what was to come in Angela’s future.

Wheelchair Bound

By the age of three, Angela could not walk more than a few feet without falling to the ground. And within a year, after it became almost impossible for little Angela to walk a few feet, she was bound to crutches, and then soon after, a wheelchair.

Not a Normal Childhood

What would have been a normal childhood for Angela Peters had been stripped away by the debilitating illness. Angela’s life had revolved around round-the-clock hospital visits and physical therapy sessions to help strengthen her weak muscles. Once Angela started school, she found joy in her loving teachers, and felt somewhat normal and relatable to others kids who had similar illnesses.

A Head Held High

Angela, an unbelievably brave and strong child, refused to allow her illness to become a setback in her life. Even at a young age, Angela tried her best to listen to her mom’s advice to ignore the occasional stares of those who were ignorant to her situation. She held her head up high, persevered through endless obstacles, and eventually grew up to be a smart, beautiful young woman.

Like Most Girls

And like most young woman, Angela enjoyed the occasional pampering, whether it was getting her hair cut and styled to the current trends or getting her nails done her favorite shade of pink. But, one summer day, Angela’s visit to a nail salon in a local Walmart would not end with a pretty manicure, but instead, a personal test of her faith in humanity.

Just About to Exit

On July 30th, when Angela finished purchasing her items from the cashier at the local Walmart, she navigated her wheelchair towards the exit. Her eyes idly looked towards the nail salon with its’ vast nail polish selection and the bright colors on display, and her heart melted, but she continued towards the exit. Then, suddenly, she stopped in her tracks

Brave and Bold

Angela turned her wheelchair around towards the nail salon, feeling bold and brave, she asked the nail technician for a manicure service. When the technician noticed Angela’s hands were visibly shaking, caused by her cerebral palsy, she refused to provide her with any services, without giving any sort of explanation.

The Rejection

Without saying a single word to the technician and feeling unbelievably defeated, Angela turned her wheelchair around yet again, and left with her head down. But, unbeknownst to Angela, someone else had been watching from afar.

An Unknown Witness

Ebony, a cashier at the Walmart was taking her lunch break, watched in horror as Angela was turned down at the nail salon because of her hands shaking. Seeing the look on Angela’s face had been too much for her to handle, prompting her to take matters into her own hands. “I just wanted to make her day special. I didn’t really want her day to be ruined. That’s why I did it. And plus she’s a sweetie,” Ebony said.

Let Me Help

As Angela navigated her way through the store towards the exit doors, Ebony stopped her in her tracks and asked Angela if she could take a few minutes of her time. Confused, Angela could no longer bear dealing with anymore rejection. But, Ebony looked at Angela, straight in the eye, overlooking her visibly shaking hands or being wheelchair bound, and offered to spend her entire lunch break doing her nails.

Shift of Moods

In an unexpected turn of events, Angela’s mood quickly shifted from utterly depressed to a new found hope from the kind gesture of a complete stranger. It was difficult for Angela to process the complexity of what had just happened. In a matter of a few minutes, one person’s action symbolized the blatant ignorance of humanity towards those who are different, while another person symbolized the boundless compassion and love human beings are capable of.

A Manicure Done Right

Together, the two picked out the perfect nail polish color and began the special pampering session in the seating area at Subway for a manicure. “And you know, she moved her hands a little bit and she kept saying she was sorry. And, I told her don’t say that. I said you’re fine,” Ebony Harris said.

Another Unknown Witness

As Ebony polished Angela’s nails, another person had also witnessed the ordeal in its’ entirety. A Subway employee was busy making sandwiches when she saw the whole scene play out before here eyes. Tasia felt inspired by Ebony’s random act of kindness, viewing it as an opportunity to take a picture of the two strangers whose worlds collided unexpectedly.

Viral Sensation

In the picture Tasia captured, Angela is shown beaming as Ebony paints her nails a sparkling blue. Tasia decided to post the picture of the two on social media to inspire a few of her friends to also partake in acts of kindness. In a surprising twist of fate, the photo of the complete strangers’ encounter would not only be liked by her social media friends, but shared and liked with thousands of people across the globe.

An Act of Kindness

It was a simple act of patience and kindness that’s still making Angela smile. “I thought that was so nice of her and I already felt comfortable with her because, like I said, I shop at Walmart a lot,” Angela said. Ebony has no contention with the nail salon, but she hopes her actions inspire others to treat people with disabilities the way they would want to be treated themselves.

No Hard Feelings

“We’re not trying to bash the nail salon. We’re not trying to make them lose customers, or make them look bad,” Ebony said. “But maybe spread awareness that no matter the person, who they are, what color they are, disability, whatever, they’re people too. She’s a girly girl. She’s just like you, me, Tasia, my daughter, anybody. She wants to look pretty, you know, and so why can’t she?”

A New Friendship

As the new friends sit next to one another at Angela’s shop, Heavenly Poems For You, Angela says she’s grateful not only for Ebony’s help, but most importantly, developing an everlasting bond. The three plan to continue their friendship, already scheduling a dinner at Angela’s favorite restaurant in town. And if you are ever around the small town of Burton, make sure to stop by Angela’s store, because you never know, she may inspire you to become a kinder person, too.

Walmart Cashier Saves the Day When Nail Salon Refuses Service to Wheelchair-Bound Woman is an article from: LifeDaily

Each year, between three million and four million dogs and cats are euthanized in the U.S. In the 1970s, before the creation of the world famous People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization, that number was somewhere between 12 and 20 million. PETA was created in 1980 as a means of stopping and prosecuting those who abuse animals.

The group has been the focus of controversy, both by those who believe their aims are admirable though unrealistic, and those who believe they aren’t doing nearly enough. Either way, a number of PETA’s practices are what many could call unorthodox, or in this case, what some might categorize as horrific.

Damning Words

There is an alleged postcard out there in which one of PETA’s founders, Ingrid Newkirk, indicates that PETA does not explicitly believe that animals have a right to live. Whether or not this postcard does indeed exist, it’s rumored existence casts doubt on PETA’s public perception as an animal rights organization.

Right to Life

Many animal rights activists believe that the right to life is the most fundamental right that any sentient being can possess. Yet there are also plenty of animal rights activists who can still enjoy a hamburger or a salmon steak. To them, it’s more about acting humanely towards our furred and feathered friends than anything else. Not everyone agrees.

Shocking Revelations

At its core, PETA is an organization that publicly claims to represent the best interests of all animals. This is evident by their organization name but also by the thousands of animals they apparently help each year. Recently, it was discovered that of the estimated 2,000 animals that pass through PETA’s front door every year, very few of them actually come out alive on the other side. One of the existing theories is that in the last 11 years, PETA has killed more than 29,000 dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domestic animals.

A Numbers Game

The numbers don’t lie either. In 2012, 733 dogs, 1,110 cats, and 34 other pets like rabbits, were all taken in by PETA. When all was said and done, 12 dogs, 7 cats, and 4 of the companion animals were adopted. What happened to the other animals? They were euthanized. You may be asking yourself, how do we know this is all true?

Huge Percentage

This is backed up by Pet Cremation Services of Tidewater, who stops by the Norfolk, Virginia-based offices of PETA to pick up the remains of the euthanized animals. The cremation service has confirmed that they make regular visits to the giant, “well-stocked” walk-in freezer on the back of the premises.

Misuse of Funds

This so-called “mercy killing” by one of the world’s most prominent animal rights organizations is only compounded by the now evident misappropriation of donation funds; funds that were intended to be used to help PETA find homes for all these animals. These may sound like heavy accusations, but the truth is there if one looks hard enough.

Office Hours

Take for instance the fact that PETA has no adoption hours nor a floor where prospective pet owners may meet prospective pets. They also don’t engage in any adoption promotion. All this despite the fact that they are registered with the State of Virginia as an animal shelter/humane society.

Inspected for Proof

Inspection reports by the Virginia Department of Agriculture offer further proof of this as well. The reports indicate that the PETA facility “does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody.” So where then are they taking all the animals they “rescue” from shelters across the U.S.?

Logical Conclusion

The only logical conclusion that can be made is that despite the thousands of animals that presumably come through PETA’s doors each year, most of them are euthanized within the first 24 hours of custody. So how can people adopt any animals if PETA kills them within hours of acquiring them? More importantly, how do they get away with it?

Hard to Believe

Many animal lovers will find this a hard pill to swallow but even PETA has admitted to, or rather, justified their having euthanized the animals. They told the Daily Mail that animals taken into the shelter are those who are elderly, sickly, and generally unadoptable. Therefore, they would have presumably ended up being euthanized anyway.

Humane

The question then arises, can an organization professing to fight for animal rights be considered an animal rights organization if they are euthanizing the animals under their care? The answer, complicated and divisive as it may sound, is yes. Though, of course, PETA would argue that the answer is yes because it is euthanizing animals as humanely as possible.

Alleged Lies

There is much evidence to support these allegations against PETA, including the fact that sanitation employees and police officers allegedly found supermarket-sized dumpsters of animal bodies killed by PETA. These animals had been given to PETA by a vet who believed the organization would help them when he could not.

Dump Site

In June 2005, police found a dumpsite in North Carolina where PETA employees unloaded puppies, cats, kittens, and dozens of other euthanized animals. The evidence is clear and apparently justified by the organization, but it doesn’t make the process any less horrific.

Pit Bull Policy

There is also evidence that PETA specifically targets pit bulls in every shelter they visit. Not to help the shelters secure adoptions for this misunderstood breed, but because they, like many Americans, believe the breed to be too dangerous. Many U.S. shelters are enacting bans or mandatory destruction for any pit bull, and it is believed that PETA supports this position.

Defense of Cruelty

Poisoning pets, killing unloved animals, unceremoniously dumping their remains, and seeking out the destruction of a particular dog breed — how can any of this be in line with an organization calling itself People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? These actions are the antithesis of any animal rights organization, much less one that’s supposed to be the poster child for them all.

Radical Take

Much of this evidence has been collected and disseminated by an individual who many would consider to be a radical supporter of animal rights. Nevertheless, the reporter and former criminal prosecutor who gathered and released this information was doing so in order to shed light on these horrific practices, even if they are a bit extreme.

Exposed

Nathan J. Winograd is a graduate of Stanford Law School who went into law and is, as you might expect, an avid animal rights supporter. He’s spoken nationally and internationally about animal shelters and has created successful “no kill” programs in many urban and rural areas. He’s also written animal protection legislation at the state and local level.

For Better or Worse

Clearly, these accomplishments make him something of an expert on the issues of animal rights and the damning information he’s gleaned about PETA has been used to shed a light on their questionable practices for some time. The intent is to show the public that PETA is not the altruistic animal rights organization they are perceived to be, but perhaps something much worse.

Legal Action

Since the information has gotten out into the world, there have been many animal lovers who have come forward to publicly condemn PETA for their unabashed animal euthanization. All of these outspoken animal advocates have received a cease-and-desist letter from PETA’s legal department. This may seem like PETA just trying to save face, but it’s a portent of much more.

Empty Threats

Ultimately, any lawsuit carried out against their critics would mean subpoenas for many of PETA’s own employees, past and present. Subsequent testimony might unveil more than PETA wants the world to know. Therefore it’s just empty threats. Meanwhile, it falls upon the rest of us to continue to advocate for animals, even in the face of controversy.

Animal Activist and Former Lawyer Brings PETA’s Dark Secrets to Light is an article from: LifeDaily

Weddings, by-and-large, are an expensive undertaking no matter how you turn and twist. Even with the most careful, meticulous budgeting, there are bound to be unexpected costs that pop up in the later planning stages. Nevertheless, most brides understand this fact and budget according.

The Internet is full of stories about crazy weddings, budgets, and bridezillas out there, but this one might take the cake. It begins with one Canadian woman and her fiancé who attempted to circumvent all wedding costs by using a rather unusual method.

A Love Story

Bride Cancels Wedding - Story — Shutterstock

Susan and her fiancé had known each other since they were 14 years old. Even at such a tender age, they thought that they were destined to be together. They fell in love at 18 and a few years later, he presented her with a $5,000 ring and a marriage proposal that she accepted. In their early 20’s, before the wedding, Susan became pregnant.

Focus on Career

Susan wanted to take some time to focus on her career and become financially stable before they tied the knot. It was prudent thinking — an unusual thing for her as you will come to realize as our story unfolds. They scrimped and saved and in time, Susan even got the degree she had worked so hard for.

Modest Prices

They then saved up about $15,000 for their dream wedding. They started out by looking at more modestly priced options and venues. That is, until a psychic they saw prior to all this actually encouraged them to go for something a bit more expensive. They figured “Hey, we worked hard, we deserve this.” They were in love and ready to throw the biggest party of their lives.

Rising Prices

They began touring some of the more expensive venues but quickly discovered their wedding would end up costing a bit more than $15,000. Wedding costs in the United States and Canada do vary, but it appears that the average price of a reasonable wedding in 2017 was about $34,000. Susan’s new dream wedding would cost them about $60,000; an amount they obviously did not have.

Outrageous Expectations

As plans began for the wedding, Susan began asking friends and family members for their wedding presents to be specifically cash. Many people ask for cash gifts, it’s a bit tacky, but not unheard of. Of course, most of them don’t ask for gifts, cash or otherwise, prior to the wedding itself. Obviously, the couple had some outrageous expectations.

Help Out, Please

“All we asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen,” she wrote in a Facebook post following the ensuing debacle. Susan and her fiancé were essentially asking their friends and family to pay up front to attend her wedding. Their “plan” went about as well as one might expect.

How Much?

Susan sent out invitations, asking each guest to contribute $1,500 to her wedding. She believed that this was a reasonable request. In addition, she specifically asked for a $5,000 pledge from her maid of honor and a $3,000 pledge from her groom’s parents. Originally, her maid of honor and future in-laws begrudgingly agreed to contribute those amounts.

A Bridezilla is Born

Though it may seem unsurprising to most of us that the majority of Susan’s guests did not agree to their ridiculous stipulation, Susan and her fiancé were shocked and incensed. Only eight of their guests RSVP’d with the requested funds. Susan was livid and took to social media to express her dismay. She had gone from bride to bridezilla in a matter of weeks.

Backing Out

Susan was about to get even worse news. Her fiancé’s family soon rescinded their promised offer of $3,000. One by one, each of her eight confirmed guests also took back their offer and their money. Finally, her maid of honor, Susan’s best friend since childhood, decided she couldn’t afford it either.

A Little Help From My Friends

“How was this supposed to happen without a little help from our friends?” Susan asked in her subsequent Facebook response. But sorrow quickly turned to rage. She became convinced that everything was everyone else’s fault but her own. She seemed completely unaware that she had asked far too much of her friends and family.

Exclusive Event

“Like, we made it CLEAR. If you couldn’t contribute, you weren’t invited to our exclusive wedding. It’s a once in a lifetime party,” she continued in her post. “We just needed a little push. Our dream wedding amounted to $60,000. … All we asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen.”

Desperate Times and Measures

Determined to have the day they had dreamed of, Susan and her fiancé resent the invitations to their friends and family, asking them to give whatever they could. They couldn’t believe that everyone would “let them down” like that. “I mean seriously people, what is $1,000, what is $1,500, clearly not a lot,” she said, unaware of how petulant it sounded.

Sacrifice?

They set up a GoFundMe page but received a paltry $250 for their troubles. As far as she was concerned, this was nothing less than a direct insult from the people she had trusted her whole life. Realizing they would not be able to afford their dream wedding, Susan’s fiancé suggested tying the knot in Las Vegas.

Vegas Instead

The bride quickly shut down the idea, asking, “Am I supposed to get married in the heart of shady gamblers, alcoholics and the get rich fast fallacy?” Susan had a mini panic attack. With nowhere else to turn and time running out, Susan reached out to a close friend.

No Apology

She called her maid of honor and told her to stick to her budget. “How could someone who offered me THOUSANDS OF F*CKING DOLLARS then deny me MY promised money and then tell me to shift down my budget????” Susan called her a poor excuse of a friend and hung up. The next day she found herself blocked on Facebook.

Threats and Backstabbers

Susan went on to discuss how she had received anonymous threats after that. She explained that her former maid of honor and bridesmaids began hanging out without her, and talking behind her back. As for her fiancé, he kept staying out later and later. Their relationship was falling apart just as fast as their dream wedding had.

Canceled

As expected, four days before the now-diminished wedding was to take place, the couple called it off. Susan cited irreparable differences but believed that her former fiancé had been bad mouthing her to her former maid of honor behind her back. She added that the two will continue to remain civil and a team when it comes to taking care of their son.

Misplaced Blame

Eventually, Susan posted a long-winded, expletive-filled explanation on Facebook. She blamed her family and her friends for ruining both her marriage and her life. “How could we have our wedding that we dreamed of without proper funding?” she asked the world at large. Eventually, the world caught wind of the situation and the story went viral.

Control-Alt-Delete

An hour after posting her final status, Susan deleted her Facebook account, stating that social media had been nothing but a source of paranoia and toxicity. It seemed, however, that the world was not on her side. Everyone seemed to think that this selfish bridezilla was in the wrong.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Luckily for Susan, she wouldn’t find out what the world thought of her until some time later. She had taken an impromptu trip to South America following the cancellation. She wanted to, as she put it, “Explore my soul and rid myself of the toxic energy brought about by family and friends; the ones I thought I could trust the most.”

Bride Cancels Wedding After Friends and Family Refuse to Pay for It is an article from: LifeDaily