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17-Year-Old Walmart Employee’s Dramatic Resignation Goes Viral

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Jackson Racicot Story

Even for people who love their jobs, there will always be some responsibility or aspect of the job that is less than enjoyable. However, they stay because the good aspects of the job outweigh the bad.

For a long time, one teenager from Canada stayed at his job at Walmart because he was getting a lot of hours and was making a steady paycheck. Yet when the bad things about the job started to outweigh the good, he decided to resign in a way that would send his message loud and clear to management…

A Loyal Employee

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

For more than a year and a half, one teenager from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada has been an employee at the city’s local Walmart. According to 17-year-old Jackson Racicot, he always made sure to be a dependable and hardworking employee.

The Company Culture

Jackson Racicot Story
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Soon after he got a job at the Walmart, however, Racicot started to realize the company culture wasn’t as great as he was lead to believe while interviewing for the position. He had been told by managers at the store that employees are always valued and respected.

Unfair Treatment

Jackson Racicot Story
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Racicot soon realized that the way his managers at the store treated him and other fellow employees was anything but fair and respectful. Instead, he and other store employees were regularly treated poorly and written up for ridiculous offenses.

Sticking It Out

Jackson Racicot Story
  QualityHD / Shutterstock.com

Racicot always imagined that if he quit one day, he would find a way to make his exit dramatic to make a point to management. However, Racicot explained that he never felt pushed to the point of quitting. While there was a lot Racicot didn’t enjoy about his job, he had always put up with it without much complaint.

Staying For The Money

Jackson Racicot Story
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The main reason Racicot had stayed so long at Walmart was that he was getting a steady paycheck. However, after working there for a year and a half, the loyal and dependable employee was finally pushed to his limit and decided it was finally time to leave.

An Unnecessary Challenge

Jackson Racicot Story
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According to Racicot, management had been moving him around the store making him work in different departments every single day. Racicot believed he would be able to do his job better if he could focus on one department instead of jumping around each day.

A ‘Waste Of Time’

Jackson Racicot Story
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On several occasions, Racicot made requests to his manager to be assigned to one department, which he believed was a fair and logical request. Racicot’s assistant manager didn’t agree and called the teenager a ‘waste of time.’ While frustrating and insulting, Racicot tried to let it go.

Punished For Being A Hardworker

Jackson Racicot Story
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Unfortunately, another incident occurred not long after. According to the 17-year-old, he was written up for working on his day off, which he was doing to try and make up hours. After he was punished for being a dedicated and hardworking employee, Racicot knew it was finally time to leave.

The Last Straw

Jackson Racicot Story
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“It was a little shove because my toes were already hanging off the edge,” Racicot recently told The Star about the reason he decided to stop working at Walmart. At that point, Racicot started planning his exit strategy and committed to making it as dramatic as possible.

The Resignation Letter

Jackson Racicot Story
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On December 6, 2018, Racicot finally went through with his plan. That day, Racicot went to work with his resignation letter, which he had handwritten on a copy of his resume. Sometime after showing up for his shift, the 17-year-old handed his letter to his assistant manager.

The Rant

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

After officially resigning, Racicot walked over to the intercom system and typed in a number combination that would allow him to broadcast his message to the entire store. “Attention all shoppers, associates, and management,” Racicot said to get everyone’s attention.

Airing His Grievances

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

With both the attention of his former coworkers and every customer in the store, Racicot then proceeded to air all of his grievances, which he explained were the cause for his dramatic resignation. At that point, Racicot was also filming the scene on his iPhone.

A Bold Warning

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

“I would like to say to all of you today that nobody should work here. Ever,” Racicot warned over the loudspeaker. “Our managers will make promises and never keep them and not only that, they will preach to us about how they care about their employees.”

No Help

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

“But about a month ago, my boss, assistant manager Cora, called me a waste of time and management did nothing to help,” Racicot explained during his expletive-filled rant. “Management will also try to save money every step of the way,” he added.

The Employees Lose Out

Jackson Racicot Story
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During his store-wide announcement, Racicot explained that during his time working at the store, he saw how management would save money at the expense of their employees. According to Racicot, they did that by cutting benefits of full-time employees to a part-time employee.

A Breaking Point

Jackson Racicot Story
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Racicot, who worked typically worked more than 40 hours a week, was just one of several full-time employees who had their benefits unfairly cut. “I’ve been a loyal employee here for over a year and a half, and I’m sick of all the bull—-, bogus write-ups, and my job,” he said.

Uploading The Footage

Jackson Racicot Story
  RAY-BON / Shutterstock.com

As if his message wasn’t already clear, Racicot finished off his cathartic speech by saying “F— management. F— this job. F— Walmart.” According to Racicot, he then immediately left the store and went home. Once at home, Racicot uploaded the footage of his resignation to his Facebook page.

A Viral Sensation

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

“I was expecting a couple hundred views and a few shares,” Racicot said. Yet the video quickly went viral and has been viewed over 600,000 times.  “I got fed up,” Racicot told the Edmonton Journal after his rant went viral. “I don’t regret what I did, I went into this knowing what will happen,” said Racicot, who also added that he had already secured another job before his Walmart resignation.

Walmart’s Reaction

Jackson Racicot Story
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“We are aware of the video circulating online and are disappointed by this incident,” Walmart said in a statement reported by the Edmonton Journal. “Respect for all individuals including our associates and customers is a core value at Walmart. We are looking into this matter and will address it internally as required.”

Taking A Stand

Jackson Racicot Story
  Jackson Racicot / Facebook

“I want people to start boycotting it,” said Racicot, who has since been contacted by other Walmart employees who are fed up with the way management treats them. “It’s not just our f—ing Walmart. It’s nationwide. It’s a corporate thing. It’s how the managers are trained,” Racicot said. “Don’t be treating your employees as if you own them, [as] if they are your property. Don’t think to throw them around.”

17-Year-Old Walmart Employee’s Dramatic Resignation Goes Viral is an article from: LifeDaily


Russian Real Estate Scheme Ends In Tragedy For Nearly A Dozen Senior Victims

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Roman Shugaibov Story

Real estate schemes seem to be a dime-a-dozen these days. Ever since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, many people, especially in the United States, have been wary of buying new real estate, specifically when a deal looks too good to be true.

Recently, a real estate scheme in Moscow, Russia, gained worldwide notoriety. Not because of its poor payouts or cheap and easy money making potential, but because the end result for all those involved was the same, dreadful end…

An Offer

Roman Shugaibov Story
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The man who came to the door was charming, though in a rough sort of way. He wasn’t clean shaven, wasn’t wearing the perfect, crisp suit of a businessman, but he was charming all the same. He had come to extend an offer to the elderly woman. She could sell him her apartment at a profit and buy her some new property.

Persuasion

Roman Shugaibov Story
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It was a great offer, one that seemed almost too good to be true. This was because it was in fact too good to be true. Though the elderly victim didn’t know it yet, the whole offer was a scam. The reason that the man offering it was so charming was all part of the scam, his associates knew that his power of persuasion had few equals.

Accomplices

Roman Shugaibov Story
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The man’s name was Roman Shugaibov. The 34-year-old Russian con artist had been at it for a while. He and his accomplices had successfully persuaded many elderly victims to sell their apartments with the promise of using the proceeds to buy some property for them. This woman was no different and sadly, her fate would be the same.

Chance of a Lifetime

Roman Shugaibov Story
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In the victims’ minds, it made sense. If they sold their flats in Moscow, they could buy a smaller place outside the city. The pocket money they saved would help to boost what meager salaries they had. Many of them were also running exceptionally low on their pensions as well. This was the chance of a lifetime.

Bleak Night

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Before he had crept upon this poor woman’s door, Shugaibov had run the scheme on other people as well. One of them, an elderly man who’d agreed to hand over the lease to his flat, had opened the door some days later to a most unwelcome sight; a murderous Shugaibov, holding a bag in his hands.

Strangled

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Shugaibov then convinced the poor, confused man to come out to his car, at which point he placed a bag over the man’s head and strangled him to death. Once the deed was done, Shugaibov and his partners dug a shallow grave and buried the man’s remains. Then they pocketed the money.

A Bloody End

Roman Shugaibov Story
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The scheme was elegant in its simplicity. It was the best kind of plan, brutal and efficient. The people they targeted were vulnerable, many of them elderly and some prone to alcohol abuse. The gang had been careful to case them beforehand, to prevent their looking for any outside counsel before the deal was done.

Posing

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Over a series of lucrative months, Shugaibov and his gang of unscrupulous “salesmen” managed to parlay their murderous exploits into a number of new homes and quite a bit of stolen money. They would pose as buyers and then others would come back as sellers, legitimizing the whole enterprise in their victim’s minds.

Proceeds

Roman Shugaibov Story
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From the very first moment they began the scheme, the gang knew it was ironclad. How could it not be? There were no witnesses, many of the victims’ families were too concerned with their own lives to worry about their now missing elderly relatives. The proceeds from the first murders also allowed them to purchase a bit more legitimacy towards future cons.

Cash Advance

Roman Shugaibov Story
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The victims were paid in cash for their trouble, which was usually stolen right back as the new “realtors” showed up and turned that money into profit for the elderly victims. The money, of course, was just being funneled back and forth between gang members and so cash made the transaction more secretive.

Huge Gang

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Shugaibov’s gang, which was allegedly founded in 2013, consisted of seven other men and eight women. Together, the lot of them ended up stealing roughly $430,000 in proceeds. They weren’t found out right away, however, and ended up working their brutal scheme on at least nine different victims.

Arrested and Confessing

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Eventually, Roman Shugaibov was arrested and taken into custody. Despite his cool outward exterior, he sang like a bird when questioned. Not only did he confess to the whole scheme and name every single one of his accomplices, he even admitted to how he managed to hide all the bodies in the end.

Masked Graves

Roman Shugaibov Story
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When he and his fellows had finished the bloody business of buying, the faux real estate agents ended up taking the deceased victims to the local cemetery and burying them in unmarked graves. Which they then masked by taking crosses and flowers off other nearby graves. That way, no one would even bother to ask questions.

Many Victims

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Though Shugaibov admitted that they’d killed at least nine, the Moscow police believe that many others might actually have been casualties of the large-scale scheme. Some of them may have been more patsies, and others may have been professionals in the real estate industry they needed to glean information from.

Wealthy Enterprise

Roman Shugaibov Story
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By all accounts, the enterprise was a lucrative one, even split sixteen ways. Shugaibov was more than happy to relay the information to detectives about the money and the scheme as a whole. He was so morbidly candid about the affair that the detectives were slightly shocked when he told them about some of the other victims.

Cruel Endings

Roman Shugaibov Story
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The detectives videotaped the confession. In one of the videos, Shugaibov explained to detectives how he dragged a homeowner out into the street and held him face down in water for about 10 minutes. With that one, he left the body and drove away, but the last revelations of his victims proved the most unsettling.

Worse than Death

Roman Shugaibov Story
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In some rare cases, members of the criminal enterprise actually went so far as to bury the victims alive. They wouldn’t even bother killing them first, just tied and gagged them, before tossing them into open graves in official cemeteries. The poor souls would never be found amidst the actual dead.

The Charges

Roman Shugaibov Story
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In the end, the charges against Shugaibov amounted to violations of part 1 and part 2 of Article 210, which refers to creating a criminal community. The others include murder and part 4 of Article 159 referring to large-scale swindling. These articles are documented in the Criminal Code of Russia, which is the prime source of law in the Russian Federation. But Shugaibov’s arrest wouldn’t be the end of the story.

Ignominious End

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Shugaibov’s so-called “black estate agents,” became a media sensation almost immediately. As for the mastermind himself, he didn’t make it to his day in court. In November of 2018, Shugaibov committed suicide while in prison. It seemed his confident confessions were just more obfuscation of the coward beneath.

No Way Out

Roman Shugaibov Story
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Today, the rest of Shugaibov’s accomplices are currently awaiting their own charges. As for Shugaibov, he clearly felt that life in prison was no way to live and chose to take the only other way out available to him. One can’t blame him. After all, as his victims found out, there are some fates worse than death.

Russian Real Estate Scheme Ends In Tragedy For Nearly A Dozen Senior Victims is an article from: LifeDaily

Student’s Quick Thinking Saves Lives At Penn State

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Penn State Shooting Story

It seems like so many things in life, good and bad, are determined by being in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. Call it luck, fate, or random chance, it plays a huge part in what happens in our lives.

On an autumn day in Pennsylvania, a number of people were walking along, minding there own business. Some would quickly learn that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, while for one of them, the opposite would be true.

Cloudy Day

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.chronicle.com

It was a typical Wednesday in mid-September. Grey clouds lazily crossed the sky over the green hills of the Pennsylvania State University campus. At around 9:30 in the morning, students were milling about, going to and from their classes.

Shortcut

Penn State Shooting Story
  states.aarp.org

Brendon Malovrh was one of those students, casually going about his business. The 21-year-old senior was walking through the grass by the HUB-Robeson Center, taking a shortcut after his morning class to grab a bite to eat…

Chatting After Class

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.collegian.psu.edu

Another of those students was Melanie Spalla. She was also a 21-year-old senior. After her Spanish class, she spent a little time chatting with a classmate before making her way down the sidewalk, still wet from a bit of early morning rain.

About to Change

Penn State Shooting Story
  personal.psu.edu

At the same time, Nicholas Mensah, a 22-year-old sophomore, walked by the Health and Human Behavior Building. None of them had any idea how much their hum-drum day would change in just the next few moments…

Pop Pop Pop

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.hearing-care.org

As he was walking along, Brendon heard an unusual sound ring out through the air. “I heard these very loud noises, like cannon fire, but at a higher pitch,” he said. Thinking the “pop pop pop” sounds were fireworks, Brendon started walking toward the sounds.

Taking a Closer Look

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As he walked along, Brendon noticed a bit of smoke coming out of the bushes. It looked like he found the spot where someone was setting off fireworks. Because he was “pretty much curious about all things,” went to investigate.

Unexpected Sight

Penn State Shooting Story
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When Brendon walked the 25 or so feet from the northwest to the southwest side of the lawn, he saw something he didn’t expect. He saw a young woman kneeling in the bushes with a tarp beneath her. In her hands was a high powered 7mm Mauser rifle.

Setting Up Her Shot

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.collegian.psu.edu

Just a few minutes earlier, the young woman named Jillian Robbins spread out the tarp beneath her and set up her rifle. The 19-year-old had grown up close to the school but was not a student. The “pop pop pop” Brendon heard earlier was Robbins firing shots at passersby.

Bullets’ Paths

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.collegian.psu.edu

Two of her shots hit passing students. One hit Melanie Spalla in the back and exited her neck, killing her instantly. The second passed through the left side of Nicholas Mensah’s abdomen, knocking him to the ground. He was bleeding profusely as a student who had been walking right in front of him dragged him into a nearby bush.

Brush With Death

Penn State Shooting Story
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Two other shots came close to hitting two more students, William Mocker and Kerry Butler. Both students had their backpacks grazed by shots as they ran from the sound of gunfire. Neither of them realized they’d come so close to death until after they returned to their dorm rooms…

Awkward Encounter

Penn State Shooting Story
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It was after Robbins had fired those shots that Brendon came across her. The two locked eyes and gave each other an instinctual nod. Brendon didn’t realize that Robbins had a gun in her hands until she turned and pointed it at his chest as she was reloading.

Instinct

Penn State Shooting Story
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Without thinking, Brendon charged across the 20 feet that separated him from Robbins. Just as she finished reloading, Brendon grabbed the barrel of her gun. Pulling with all his might, he yanked it out of Robbins’ hands…

Knife fight

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.morethanjustsurviving.com

Unfortunately for Brendon, Robbins didn’t have just one weapon. After he’d disarmed her of her rifle, Robbins pulled out a hunting knife and took “a couple quick stabs at me,” Brendon said. In an instant, Brendon had gone from strolling along to disarming a shooter to being in a lopsided knife fight.

Once In A Lifetime

Penn State Shooting Story
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“I jumped backward. I have trained in martial arts,” Brendon said, “but I [didn’t] know the exact defense if someone’s stabbing in a downward, overhead motion with a knife. I was thinking, ‘Wow. This is the first time, and probably last time, I’m ever going to use this.’”

Oops

Penn State Shooting Story
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Once Brendon successfully evaded Robbins’ first couple of stabs, she got “annoyed,” he said. In moving forward and making another stab at Brendon, Robbins missed once more and accidentally stabbed herself instead. The knife had sunk about three inches into her upper leg.

Totally Disarmed

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.collegian.psu.edu

As Robbins was momentarily distracted by the pain and shock of having stabbed herself, Brendon managed to grab the knife away from her. He took it and the rifle and threw them far away from her and began yelling to people on the sidewalk to call for the police. Then, he turned his attention back to Robbins…

Using His Belt

Penn State Shooting Story
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Brendon took the belt from his trench coat and moved toward Robbins. Rather than further attacking her or binding her hands, Brendon took the belt and tied it around Robbins’ leg above her knife wound in order to stop the bleeding. Robbins was stunned and had apparently gone into shock.

Quick Reaction

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.slate.com

In no time after the shooting began, university police and the entire nursing department on duty that day showed up on the scene. They couldn’t do anything to help Melanie, who’d died instantly when she was shot, but they were able to rush Nicholas, the young man shot in the abdomen, to the nearby hospital.

Cuff Her

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.centredaily.com

Two university police officers were less than a minute away when they got the call about the shooting and they put handcuffs on Robbins, just a couple of minutes after the first shot was fired. The spot Robbins had chosen had a 40-foot area of concealment on a hill where she could see everything down towards College Ave. and no one could see her.

Decades in Prison

Penn State Shooting Story
  www.collegian.psu.edu

If Nicholas hadn’t been walking where he was, it would have likely taken much longer to find and stop Robbins. She was charged with third-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder. After pleading guilty to all charges, Robbins was sentenced to 30-60 years in prison and will be up for parole in 2028.

Student’s Quick Thinking Saves Lives At Penn State is an article from: LifeDaily

Homicide Victim In Cold Case Identified After 33 Years

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Elizabeth Lamotte Story

In 1984, a teenager from New Hampshire disappeared without a trace. Then, for three decades, her body went unidentified.

But after a tip about her disappearance came in 2017, her body was recovered one year later. Yet, still, mysteries about her disappearance remain…

Missing Teen

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
  www.wmur.com

According to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, 17-year-old Elizabeth “Liz” Lamotte went missing in November 1984. Lamotte had left a Youth Development Center to head to Gill Stadium and never returned.

Disappearance

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At the time of her disappearance, Lamotte was described as being 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighing between 110 and 125 pounds. According to WMUR, officials said she had brown hair and hazel eyes the last time anyone saw her. Anyone with tips was asked to call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Green County, Tennessee

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Then, less than one year later, on April 14, 1985, the partially decomposed body of a young female was found along Interstate 81 in Green County, Tennessee. “That would have been about six months after she was last seen in Manchester, New Hampshire,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said.

18th Birthday

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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One year later, on what would have been her 18th birthday, Lamotte’s case was discharged from the Youth Development Center, even though she had not returned to the facility. Despite finding a body, they couldn’t determine if it was Lamotte’s.

Autopsy

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Investigators said the death of the body was ruled as a homicide and that an autopsy revealed that she died of blunt force trauma to the head about two to three weeks before her body decomposed. Since Tennessee officials were unable to determine the identity of the victim, she was listed as Jane Doe.

Second Barrel

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Fifteen years later, a state police sergeant newly assigned to the case discovered a second barrel, contained the remains of two more girls, believed to be three and four years old. Authorities believed that the girls were killed between the late 1970s and early 1980s.

DNA Test

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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DNA tests also revealed that the woman and two of the girls were related. “I’m sure the family has had questions all these years about what they could’ve done, what could be done to help find her, and now they know it wasn’t long after she went missing that she was killed,” said Morrell.

Sample

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Then, in 2006, investigators submitted a sample of the victim’s remains to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. This allowed the center to develop a DNA profile for the victim, which was entered into the Combined Data DNA Index System. But it wasn’t until November 2018 that investigators confirmed that Lamotte was a match to the homicide victim’s DNA profile.

Unidentified Persons Case

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Lamotte was not reported as missing to Manchester police until 2017, after a January 2017 press conference held by the Attorney General’s Office. During the press conference, the New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit and the Manchester Police Department spoke out regarding the Allenstown unidentified persons cases.

Suspect

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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During that press conference, officials released the name of Bob Evans, who was a suspect in the murders. They also mentioned the name of a woman who was thought to be his wife, Elizabeth Evans. Both were living in Manchester in the early 1980s, according to the attorney general’s statement, obtained by the Boston Globe.

Identification

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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When authorities asked the public’s help in identifying Elizabeth Evans, one tipster told investigators that Lamotte could be the Elizabeth Evans that police were trying to identify. Manchester police detectives then spoke with Youth Development Center personnel, along with Lamotte’s family and friends, who all confirmed her disappearance.

DNA Samples

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Police obtained DNA samples from two of her brothers, which were submitted to NamUS, a national information clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified and unclaimed person cases across the United States.

Mitochondrial DNA

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Those DNA samples resulted in the match to the remains found in Tennessee. The DNA was tested using mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited, according to New Hampshire officials. The likelihood of a match was determined to be 194.4 million times more likely than the unidentified remains, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.

Open Investigation

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Although officials determined that Lamotte and Elizabeth Evans were, in fact, not the same person, the investigations into both Lamotte’s disappearance and the death and the identity of Elizabeth Evans are ongoing. Lamotte’s family has been notified that their daughter’s remains were positively identified.

Identification

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
  shutterstock.com

“I think they ’re overwhelmed,” Morrell said. “I think they’re a bit in shock because nobody really expects to get those answers.” Regarding the Allenstown unidentified persons cases, authorities completed DNA testing in July 2017 confirming the man known as Robert “Bob” Evans is actually Terry Peder Rasmussen.

Rasmussen

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Rasmussen was a serial killer who was born in Colorado and resided in Phoenix. He was enlisted in the US Navy only to be discharged. He then moved to Hawaii. There he worked at his parents’ shoe shop and married his wife.

Separation

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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In 1972, his daughter was born and Rasmussen and his wife separated temporarily. One year later, Rasmussen’s wife and children left him. Then in 1974, he arrived unexpectedly to visit his wife and children in Arizona. That was the last time his family ever saw him.

Kidnapping

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Four years later, his whereabouts continued to be unknown while Rasmussen worked at Waumbec Mills as a head electrician, “Bob Evans.” In 1980, Evans was arrested for issuing a bad check and also for theft of services. Then, in 1981, a woman named Denise Beaudin went missing along with her 6-month-old daughter and her boyfriend Bob Evans.

DUI

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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Rasmussen moved to California and was arrested for a DUI, and that same year, in November 1985, the first barrel containing a body was found in Allenstown, New Hampshire. He continued to go by other names, like Gordon Jenson and Curtis Kimball.

Prison

Elizabeth Lamotte Story
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A string of events continued with Rasmussen dying in prison in December 2010. The investigation on him continued after his death, and in 2016, DNA confirmed he was the biological father of the unidentified little girl found dead in Allenstown in 2000. He was also responsible for the disappearance of Denise Beaudin.

Homicide Victim In Cold Case Identified After 33 Years is an article from: LifeDaily

Mother With Cancer Left Devastated After 3-Year-Old Son Is Given Same Diagnosis

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Vici Rigby Story

The thought of not being around to raise your children is terrifying for parents who have just been diagnosed with a deadly disease. The only thing worse for a parent is finding out that their child is the one who is gravely ill.

In 2016, a mother of two found out she had a rare disease and that she would have to fight to stay alive if she wanted to be there to see her kids grow up. She thought that moment was the worst moment of her life until everything changed…

A Time Of Change

Vici Rigby Story
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Pregnancy and the postpartum period is a time of great change for a mother’s body. During those months, many women experience changes in their bodies that they have never experienced before, and those changes become the new normal for a while.

An Expecting Couple

Vici Rigby Story
  shutterstock.com

After becoming pregnant for the first time in her life, Vici Rigby was thrilled that she and her husband Jamie were about to become parents and start a new chapter in their lives together. The pregnancy brought on countless changes to Rigby’s body and not all of them were pleasant.

An Unpleasant Problem

Vici Rigby Story
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Around the same time as the pregnancy, Rigby noticed she started having bowel issues. She had never experienced those issues before and heard that it can be fairly common for pregnant women to experience issues going to the bathroom. For those reasons, Rigby just assumed the bowel problems she started to experience were because of her pregnancy. After giving birth to her first son, George, Rigby explained that the bowel issues persisted. However, they never did. In fact, over the years, they only got worse.

The Second Pregnancy

Vici Rigby Story
  shutterstock.com

I’d had bowel problems for years,” Rigby told The Sun about her unpleasant pregnancy side-effect. Less than two years later, Rigby became pregnant for the second time and gave birth to another son, Jack. During that pregnancy, she continued to have trouble going to the bathroom and passing bowel movements.

A Pregnancy Symptom

Vici Rigby Story
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“I’d bleed when I went to the loo but I didn’t think much of it,” said Rigby, who believed she had developed ‘piles’ or hemorrhoids. “Jack had been a big baby – 9lb 4oz – so when I started to bleed I wondered if it was piles a result of my pregnancies.”

The Symptoms Worsen

Vici Rigby Story
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After that second pregnancy and birth, Rigby’s bowel problems progressively worsened. She also started feeling extremely exhausted more often than not, and tired way more quickly than she did in the past. In general, Rigby explained she just didn’t feel great.

‘Normal’ Postpartum Symptoms

Vici Rigby Story
  Vici Rigby / Twitter

At the time, Rigby thought it was all because of the pregnancies and raising two young boys. She figured all new moms felt the way she did and that it was normal. “I had a 14-month-old, Jack, and a three-year-old, George, so I thought I was just run down and exhausted,” Rigby explained.

A New Symptom

Vici Rigby Story
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Then Rigby started experiencing a new symptom. The mother of two from England started losing weight, which she was happy about and thought it meant she was getting healthier. I was doing Slimming World, so I was delighted to be losing a pound or two a week,” Rigby said.

A Welcomed Change

Vici Rigby Story
  Vici Rigby / Facebook

“I thought it must be because of that and the fact that I was so busy with the children and working part-time,” the mom said. “I remember saying to my husband, Jamie (now 41), ‘It’s working!’” But over time, Rigby started to worry that something wasn’t right.

Too Painful To Ignore

Vici Rigby Story
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As all of the symptoms continued to get worse, Rigby began thinking that what she was experiencing wasn’t normal postpartum changes. The bowel issues were worse than ever and she felt more run down than she ever had. “I couldn’t avoid the symptoms anymore,” she said.

The Initial Tests

Vici Rigby Story
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“So I visited my GP who, suspecting I had polyps which are abnormal tissue growths referred me to hospital in Worcestershire,” Rigby explained. “There I had scans and an examination.” Doctors were worried when they heard Rigby explain her symptoms and ordered a biopsy.

The Truth Is Revealed

Vici Rigby Story
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That test revealed the real reason why Rigby had felt so unwell over the previous years. After the results came back, doctors told Rigby that she had rectal cancer, which they told her was extremely rare for anyone under the age of 60 years old.

A Shocking Diagnosis

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Rigby was completely shocked. She knew she hadn’t been feeling her best, but she never thought at any moment that it was because she had cancer. “When the doctors sat me down and said to me, ‘You have cancer’, I was shell-shocked. I didn’t actually cry or get emotional. I just went into shock – pure shock,” Rigby said.

‘Anything But Cancer’

Vici Rigby Story
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“I thought it was anything but cancer,” Rigby said. “Even when I was losing weight, which I now know is a symptom of cancer, I wasn’t concerned – on the contrary, I was pleased!” Because of how long Rigby had been experiencing her symptoms, doctors decided to run some more tests.

The Treatment Begins

Vici Rigby Story
  Vici Rigby

They wanted to check if the cancer had spread to other areas of the body. Unfortunately, their fears were confirmed when the results came back. According to Rigby, her doctors explained that the cancer cells had spread to her liver and that they wanted to start treatment right away.

Fighting For Her Life

Vici Rigby Story
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During the fall of 2016, Rigby started six rounds of chemotherapy and then had surgery on both her liver and her bowel. After that, doctors started her on a course of radiotherapy and 12 more rounds of chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells. “It was grueling. During the chemotherapy, I was exhausted. My hair thinned so much I opted to shave it,” Rigby said.

Five Months Later

Vici Rigby Story
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Rigby and her husband tried to keep everything cancer-related a secret from their kids. Yet at the beginning of 2017, just five months after Rigby was diagnosed, their 3-year-old son George started feeling sick. When she and Jamie noticed a rash on George’s stomach, they brought him straight to the doctor. “We took him to the GP again who immediately referred him to hospital for blood tests. From there things moved very quickly,” Rigby said.

Groundhog Day

Vici Rigby Story
  Vici Rigby

At the Worcester Royal Hospital, the couple found out that George had acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  “It was like Groundhog Day. Five months earlier I had been sat in a virtually identical room hearing the same devastating news – ‘It’s cancer.’ All I could think was, ‘Not again, not again.'”

Fighting Cancer Together

Vici Rigby Story
  Vici Rigby

Because of how aggressive the type of cancer is, George started chemotherapy immediately. “George had six months of quite intensive chemotherapy at hospital and home, while I underwent radiotherapy. We were actually treated in the same hospital in Worcester at points.”

The Fight Continues

Vici Rigby Story
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“He dealt with it all so bravely but it was still heartbreaking to see him go through it,” Rigby said. Now, Rigby has finished treatment and is officially cancer-free. George is in remission but will continue with treatment until 2020 to make sure the disease doesn’t return. “It’s amazing that we’ve both got through this,” she added. “I thought it was the worst news ever when I had cancer. But actually, the worst was yet to come and hearing my baby had the disease was so much worse.”

Mother With Cancer Left Devastated After 3-Year-Old Son Is Given Same Diagnosis is an article from: LifeDaily

Homosexual Asylum Rejects And Discriminates Against Young Afghan Boy

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Oppression, for centuries, has been an infamous weapon used to inflict nothing but harm wherever it strikes. In today’s society where information can be shared with the world within an instant, people have found more ways to abuse this weapon even further.

A young refugee has found himself at a dead end when he was forced to start a new life alone, just because he lived in a society that oppressed one of his most fundamental traits.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/world/europe/gay-afghanistan-man-asylum-austria.html

The Graveyard Of Empires

Afghanistan is an extremely rough place to live in, since it has been in war for over 40 years. This already life threatening fact, along with its own extremely corrupt government, makes it a place where there is no room for peace. However, it became even rougher for a 12 year old boy when he realized his true identity.

Gay Prejudice

The boy, addressed as Hassan for privacy, realized at a very young age that he actually had an attraction towards other men rather than women. Being homosexual is assumed to be a terrible crime in Afghanistan, to the point where it could be punishable by death, so when the boy found out his true sexual orientation, he knew he was in grave danger.

Fearsome Land

The reason for homosexuals being so despised in Afghanistan is that they are viewed as being on the same level as pedophiles, prostitutes, and rapists. The law views it as a taboo, rather than a cultural identity. The society in Afghanistan oppresses many cultural aspects like this, so this boy knew he couldn’t live as a gay man in this country without the risk of being arrested, or killed.

Amplified Danger

This extra sense of danger put an equally disturbing sense of stress on Hassan. The only options for him would be to either live the rest of his life hiding his true identity and go against his own spirit, or escape from Afghanistan and live his life somewhere else. Of course, he decided to choose the latter.

Confession

He trusted his parents for who they were, because they also wanted to leave Afghanistan to live a peaceful life elsewhere. And so, he decided to confess his sexual orientation to them, and told them that he would be willing to support the family in moving to a different country. The response he got was a merciless beating

Child Abuse

Unfortunately, Hassan’s parents also fell for the inclinations of society, putting the law of the corrupt government over their own son. His father didn’t hold back when beating him with his cane, and his mother didn’t refrain from shouting at him as if he killed somebody. He learned the hard way that the only person he can trust is himself and nobody else.

Not His Home

On the night after the beating, Hassan knew he couldn’t live in this home, nor in this country. He decided to gather his clothes, food, and money, and set off to live somewhere else. He had neighbors that knew him and his family, so he had to make sure that nobody saw him. On that night, he set off on the journey for a new life of freedom.

Foreign Land

After trying vainly to live freely in other countries and walking for miles upon miles, Hassan at 18 years finally arrived at Austria. He quickly found that life was significantly tougher than the other countries he lived in, especially because of Austria’s high standard lifestyle. His first goal was to find an apartment to live in, and a roommate to help with his staggering financial burden…

Homeless And Oppressed

Unfortunately, the three potential roommates he tried contacting all rejected him and spat at him once he brought up his identity. For a few days, Hassan didn’t have a home to live in. He was a young adult who had a long life ahead of him, yet he couldn’t live this life just because he was gay. Then, he finally found a place to live in that could accept him: a homosexual asylum.

Asylum Testimony

Queer Base, the name of the organization, was quick to have a worker meet with him for a testimony at an asylum hearing. Hassan was more than nervous about this; if he failed to get his story across in the right words, he would lose his chance of finally having a home to live in again after six years…

Hassan’s Story

He spilled out everything he remembered, from the terror he felt in his childhood, to the psychological trauma of being beaten by his own parents for a trivial reason. He emphasized the stress he felt when entering and leaving countries that he thought were the right place for him, until they showed him the same ferocity on their faces that his parents had on that day. He hoped that this would be enough for the organization to accept him…

Unbearable Suspense

The worker left the room, telling Hassan that he will return soon with their decision. Hassan sat quietly in his chair, glancing at the clock every few seconds. One minute passed. Two, then three. Ten more minutes passed, and he was more than unnerved at this point. He wasn’t sure if them taking long was a good or bad thing, and this only added to his nervousness.

Decision

Hassan was startled when he heard the doorknob turn. He sat back up in the most professional position possible, before the man returned to his seat. “We’ve made our decision,” he uttered. While he continued talking to him, Hassan realized that the worker’s voice was more monotone than before. When it was too late, the reality of the situation slowly dawned upon the poor 18 year old.

Rejection

Hassan was yet again rejected by a place he hoped to call home. The worst part to this is that the place was made for the purpose of housing oppressed homosexuals just like him, yet the world refused to let him live there, too. He had to know why this was happening.

The Worst Resolution Possible

The decision, which was at least a hundred pages long, said “Neither your walk, nor your behavior nor your clothing give the slightest indication that you could be gay.” This offensive generalization has boiled the blood of Hassan and many other homosexuals and activists across the world.

Generalizations Uncalled For

Queer Base had many other inappropriate claims in their decision. They also said they rejected Hassan because he wasn’t sociable nor peaceful, compared to the general image of the gay man. Austria is generally L.G.B.T.Q. friendly, so many people were surprised by the asylum’s blatant discrimination.

No Place To Call Home

During that time, Hassan was convinced that there is no place in the world where he can live and be himself at the same time. He was once again forced to make the same choice: live as somebody else, or try and fail to live somewhere else. Those were the only two choices given to him every time. This led him into an unavoidable, gaping pit of depression.

Protests

When this experience hit the public, they were not hesitant with their response. Hundreds of people started protesting at the headquarters of Queer Base, arguing that they have no right to have that name if they can’t live up to it. Even though many people took time from their schedule to do this, it didn’t get Hassan any closer to finding a new home…

A House That Isn’t Home

Hassan still currently lives in Austria, but nobody knows if he remains homeless or if he found a place to live in. Even if he did find a house or apartment to live in, his depression will still linger with him until he finds a place that he can be truly accepted and liked in. The embarrassment he suffered through his lifetime caused him to hide himself from the public to this day.

Oppression Lives In Human Blood

Even though homosexuality appears to be accepted by the public in other places in the world, Hassan’s terrible experience is even more proof that the world is still full of societies where a home for a homosexual is too much to ask for. The sad truth is that having a unified world of equality is a distant dream that is impossible to reach, for now, and likely forever.

Homosexual Asylum Rejects And Discriminates Against Young Afghan Boy is an article from: LifeDaily

Man Guilty Of Kidnapping Went By Alias ‘Rockefeller’ During Multi-State Crime Spree

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Christian Gerhartsreiter Story

Sandra Boss and Clark Rockefeller had been very much in love when they first met. But their rushed marriage, hastily-conceived daughter, and Carl’s general unpleasantness ensured that the inevitable divorce was a messy one.

It was during a supervised visitation of Clark’s daughter one July morning that the squabbling and sniping between the two parties came to a head. Clark, his seven-year-old daughter, and a social worker were walking through the neighborhood when an SUV pulled up abruptly, Clark pushed the social worker, grabbed up his daughter, and jumped into the car…

Holding on Tight

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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The brave social worker did everything she could to stop the kidnapping, even going so far as to grab hold of the vehicle. She was dragged a short distance but eventually lost her grip and fell roughly to the road. Later that night, the police issued a warrant for the arrest of Clark Rockefeller and began the week-long search for both him and his daughter.

One Week

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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A week later, police discovered Clark Rockefeller in Baltimore living under the name Charles “Chip” Smith. He had purchased a $450,000 apartment and even kept a catamaran in the local marina. The police actually lured him out of his apartment by having the marina owner call and say his boat was taking on water. As soon as he stepped out the door, they cuffed him.

Caught Him

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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The police found the seven-year-old girl inside the apartment, safe and sound. The kidnapper was charged with kidnapping, assault, and battery. It was only when they began the process of booking Rockefeller that the police noticed something peculiar. Their initial fingerprint analysis had come up with some rather interesting results.

Fingerprinting

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Before he could be transferred back to Boston, Rockafeller’s fingerprints were taken by FBI agents. The Feds compared the impressions to a number of latent prints from various sources, including one from a wine glass they’d examined early in their search for the kidnapper. Both the prints were inconclusive but led the investigators to a startling revelation.

Fake Identity

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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As it turned out, the man who called himself James Frederick Mills Clark Rockefeller was not that person, nor was he even the slightest bit Rockefeller. He’d been living under the assumed identity for years, hoping it would gain him notoriety. It did a fair bit more than that. As to who he actually was, however, that would take police some time to suss out.

The Early Years

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  www.cbsnews.com

His real name was Christian Gerhartsreiter, son of Simon and Irmgard Gerhartsreiter, of Bavaria, Germany. Born in 1960, Gerhartsreiter moved to the United States after meeting an American couple in his native Germany. Once he learned their names, he was able to obtain permission to enter the US as the couple’s “guest.” This first trip to California set the tone for his whole deceitful life.

Traveling Abroad

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Gerhartsreiter arrived in New York and from there, headed to Berlin, Connecticut, where he met a friendly family willing to take him in. Of course, when the Savios agreed to let him live with them, it was because they believed him to be a foreign exchange student. Things were good for a while, but something about the young man unnerved the Savio family.

Liar Liar

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Gerhartsreiter liked to embellish certain aspects of his life. He told the Savios that he had come from a wealthy German family. Charming as he was, his lies were usually enough to ingratiate him into most people’s good graces; at least at first anyway. Eventually, the Savios got tired of his smugness and lying and cut him loose. Undaunted, Gerhartsreiter headed west.

Acting Dreams

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  Ingus Kruklitis / shutterstock.com

Following his unceremonious exit from the Savio household, Gerhartsreiter decided to pursue the reason he’d come to the US in the first place. He wanted to make it big in Hollywood but knew that California was a long way off. On the way there, he settled in Milwaukee, changed his name to Christopher Kenneth Gerhart, and enrolled in a class at the University of Wisconsin.

Love and Lies

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  Vincent Grebenicek / shutterstock.com

He was getting comfortable in his new country but knew that if he wanted to stay indefinitely, he needed a green card. He managed to persuade 22-year-old Amy Jersild Duhnke to marry him by explaining that if he was forced to go back to Germany, he’d be sent to fight in the Cold War on the Russian front line. A day after they were married, Gerhartsreiter left his wife and continued on to California.

New Name

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  www.cbsnews.com

Gerhartsreiter soon found himself in San Marino and decided to start the newest stage of his life with another new name. The newly-named Christopher Chichester moved into the guesthouse of a woman named Didi. Soon after moving in though, Didi’s son Jonathan Sohus went missing, and so did his wife.

Strange Questions

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Didi’s new tenant was a person of interest right from the start. Despite this, he seemed to offer a reasonable explanation for the family’s disappearance. Gerhartsreiter told police that Jon and Linda had traveled to Europe and their family even got a postcard from France soon after the story began circulating. Still, something about the situation sat poorly with police.

Headed East

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Gerhartsreiter had worn out his welcome in the west. Suspected of murder and coming off a sham marriage, he decided to relocate to the East Coast. Eventually, police picked him up in Greenwich, Connecticut. He had been driving a pickup that had previously belonged to Jonathan Sohus. Still, there was no proof that either of the Sohuses were dead, so they let him go.

Buried Bones

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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Years later, police discovered what they believed to be the buried bones of Jonathan Sohus in his mother’s backyard. A cursory DNA test and forensic examination revealed that they were indeed Jon’s remains. He had been struck in the head by a blunt object, stabbed twice, and his body cut into three parts. His wife’s bones were not found. By that point though, Gerhartsreiter was long gone.

Christopher Crowe

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  www.cbsnews.com

Gerhartsreiter settled in Greenwich and took on a new identity. Christopher C. Crowe, as he was now called, apparently worked as a television producer from Los Angeles who had worked on the 1980s remake of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Because Christopher Crowe was the name of one of the actual producers of the series, the lie was fairly ironclad.

Fired and Fleeing

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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“Mr. Crowe” soon found himself a job at the brokerage firm S.N. Phelps and Company. His job was to work with the firm’s computers but he was fired when the HR department discovered the social security number he had used actually belonged to serial killer David Berkowitz. Realizing the police were still looking for him in regards to the Sohuses, he fled further north.

Love Blossoms

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  www.cbsnews.com

In Boston, Gerhartsreiter became James Frederick Mills Clark Rockefeller. It was risky to use the name of such a wealthy, influential American family, but the gambit worked. Before long, he and Sandra Boss became involved. She was a successful businesswoman and he was a charming Rockefeller heir. It seemed like the perfect match.

Emotionally Abusive

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
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The honeymoon period didn’t last long. Gerhartsreiter was emotionally abusive and very angry. He was paranoid, for obvious reasons, and it made him very guarded, especially when it came to their shared finances. At his constant urging, Boss eventually ceded control of their finances to her husband. He had to ensure she never learned his true identity.

Careful Scheming

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  shutterstock.com

He even went so far as to hire an “accountant” to do their taxes for them so that she could file single tax returns. Boss wasn’t a fool. She knew that something wasn’t right and eventually hired a private investigator to track down who Gerhartsreiter actually was. Once she’d discovered the truth, the two divorced and Boss got sole custody of their daughter.

Many Roles

Christian Gerhartsreiter Story
  shutterstock.com

Gerhartsreiter was convicted of kidnapping and while in prison, was also convicted of the murder of Jonathan Sohus. Over the years, he had lived under multiple aliases. He’d been an actor, director, art collector, physicist, a ship’s captain, and an English aristocrat. In the end, though, the only true thing he was, was a criminal.

Man Guilty Of Kidnapping Went By Alias ‘Rockefeller’ During Multi-State Crime Spree is an article from: LifeDaily

After Bear Breaks Into Family’s Home, Mother’s Defense Leaves Community Outraged

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Julie Strauja Story

Living in a remote area has a certain appeal. Far from the hustle and bustle of cities, there’s also a lot more nature and wildlife than you’ll find in the suburbs.

But while nature can be beautiful, it also comes with certain risks. Especially when you live in the woods, you have to take certain precautions about how you interact with the wildlife.

Small Forest Town

Julie Strauja Story
  Niceley / Wikipedia

When Julie decided to move into the San Bernardino Mountains, a big part of the appeal was living amongst wildlife. Her family chose to move into a little A-frame cabin in the small town of Forest Falls, California, a wooded community of about 1,100 people, 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

Wildlife

Julie Strauja Story
  Julie Strauja / Facebook

Unfortunately, as it happens in so many communities are built on the edge of where human society meets with nature, Julie was having some problems with the local wildlife. Squirrels on the roof or racoons in the garbage wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but this problem was much, much worse…

Enter the Bear

Julie Strauja Story
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It all began on a Friday night when a 400-pound male bear broke into her garage. The wild animal had apparently smelled something in her garbage worth investigating. Fortunately, Julie was able to chase the bear off with mace before any harm came to her or her family.

Additional Precaution

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Julie decided to move her garbage containers to the inside of the home, removing the incentive for the bear to come around. She’d hoped that that would be all the action necessary to protect herself and her family…

Goldilocks

Julie Strauja Story
  Julie Strauja / Facebook

A couple of weeks later, Julie came home with her 3 children, ages 5, 6 and 9, to a sort of reverse-goldilocks situation. There in her kitchen was the same bear, standing there as plain as day, after gravely injuring Julie’s dog.

Back in the Car

Julie Strauja Story
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Julie rushed her children back out of the house and into the car. After she had moved her children to safety, she called 911 and explained the situation. By the time a game warden arrived at her home, the bear was still nearby, outside the home. The warden used bean bag rounds from her shotgun to drive him back into the woods…

Likely to Return

Julie Strauja Story
  shutterstock.com

More than just a nuisance, this bear had injured her pet and threatened her children. The game warden believed that it was likely the bear would return again and so, issued a permit to Julie, allowing her to kill the dangerous animal. Ideally, Julie would never have a reason or opportunity to use it.

Back Again

Julie Strauja Story
  shutterstock.com

But the bear had other ideas in mind. Later that very same night, the bear came back and broke into Julie’s home again, this time coming in through the bathroom window. Julie was again able to chase the bear off but after this last encounter, she’d had enough…

Calling In Some Help

Julie Strauja Story
  Julie Strauja / Facebook

The next day Julie called a friend who is a hunter and asked him to keep a watch out for the bear. Just a few days later, the bear popped up again at around 2 a.m., this time charging toward the house. Julie’s friend took aim at the bear, fired, and killed him.

It’s Over

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Finally, Julie’s pets and family were safe. She thought she could put the whole bear scenario behind her. But shortly after the bear had been killed, Julie found herself in the middle of a brand new ordeal…

Beloved

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

It turns out a number of the residents were shocked to find out that Julie, who had just moved to Forest Fells a couple of months ago, had killed the woodland creature. “My heart sunk,” one neighbor named Alycia said. “They are beloved to us up here.”

Intense Backlash

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Julie suddenly found herself the subject of a lot of anger and contempt from some of the other members of the small town. “I’ve had death threats and my address posted all over social media,” she said.

Her Mistake

Julie Strauja Story
  Julie Strauja / Facebook

Many people believed that it hadn’t been necessary for Julie to kill the bear. “I have lived here for seven years and never had a problem with a bear going in [my] house,” said one neighbor named Pennie. She believed that if Julie had better secured her garbage in the first place, there never would have been a dangerous situation.

Other Ways

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Further, Pennie believed that Julie could have used a less lethal method of getting rid of the bear or even simply used avoidance.“Go to a neighbor. Get in a car. They don’t hurt you as long as you leave them alone,” Pennie said. “My son walks home at 2 o’clock in morning. No problem.”…

Food and Fear

Julie Strauja Story
  shutterstock.com

The problem with that thinking is Julie had already employed several non-lethal strategies and the bear kept returning to her home.The bear seemed to have lost its natural fear of humans, which may have been caused by the fact that some people in the community feeding wild animals. “It’s not legal and it’s dangerous if something happens,” said Andrew Hughan, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman.

Animal Lover

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Julie would actually characterize herself as an animal lover, citing the fact that she’s foster 15 dogs over the past year. In her eyes, it was just a matter of safety. “[The bear] had already come into my house Friday night and then again broke into my kitchen early Saturday morning and attacked my dog,” she said. “I have my three babies in the house.”…

Safety First

Julie Strauja Story
  shutterstock.com

Hughan agreed with Julie’s belief that she’d done the right thing. “I understand that people are upset,” said Andrew Hughan, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman. “We don’t want to destroy animals unless we have to. The fact is this bear was inside the residence and had been inside the house several times.”

People Problem

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

“At the end of the day this is not a bear problem, it’s a people problem,” Hughan said. When you live on the border of nature and civilization, you have to be considerate of how your actions may affect wildlife. “Going forward it’s everyone’s responsibility to maintain their trash cans and keep their property cleaned up.”

She’s Got Supporters

Julie Strauja Story
  www.abc7.com

Not all of Forest Fells was upset with Julie. Some of the residents thought the backlash against her was uncalled for. “I’ve had people come by and have real conversations with me and that gave me a little encouragement and hope for the future,” Julie said.

Come Together

Julie Strauja Story
  shutterstock.com

The incident pushed community leaders to hold a special meeting at the Forest Falls Community Center. There, they wanted to discuss how to live safely with wildlife and what precautions to take. Julie planned to attend.“I know this community, and when tragedies happen they usually pull together,” she said. “I hope this will happen here.”

After Bear Breaks Into Family’s Home, Mother’s Defense Leaves Community Outraged is an article from: LifeDaily


Boyfriend Shows No Remorse After Killing Girlfriend’s Abusive Father

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Jace Crehan Story

It seems that no matter where we come from, no matter which road of life we find ourselves on, crime is something that we cannot avoid. Whether it’s the petty crimes we commit in our teenage years in order to test our own limits, or the violent, often reprehensible ones that we see on the news every day.

People have many reasons for committing crimes. Violent crime is often the result of a surge of emotion prompted by something like anger, or jealousy, or revenge. Odd as it may seem, some crimes are the result of unexpectedly altruistic intentions. Yet no matter how noble the reasoning, a crime is still a crime; but that doesn’t mean it isn’t justified.

Falling in Love

Jace Crehan Story
  Brittany Monk / Facebook

Jace Crehan met Brittany Monk in early 2014. Jace, a volunteer firefighter, was an older boy and Brittany was barely 16. Nevertheless, the two soon began to cultivate a relationship together. It was an immediate attraction, an innate and powerful connection they hadn’t felt with anyone else in their young lives.

Rough Childhood

Jace Crehan Story
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They flirted over social media, spoke to one another daily, and in time, started dating in earnest. The young lovers shared stories about their lives. They spoke about their home lives and the struggles that they faced because of their parents, though Brittany was never overt about the details. Jace knew one thing, whatever happened must have been rough.

Opening Up

Jace Crehan Story
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Eventually, Brittany felt comfortable enough to open up to her new boyfriend. She explained how her parents were almost always at the bar. On the rare occasion that they were home, they were drunk and surely beyond comprehension. As if that weren’t enough, her drunk parents would also invite dozens of strange drunk men over to party with them. Because of this, Brittany never felt safe.

Living Situation

Jace Crehan Story
  InnaPoka / Shutterstock.com

By the time she’d met Jace, Brittany was living with her mother in Walker, though she only did s begrudgingly and because she had no choice. A few years earlier, when she was a minor, Brittany’s mother had moved out of her father’s trailer, leaving her and her younger sister in the care of their “loving” father.

Hidden Memories

Jace Crehan Story
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Though the memories were hazy, Brittany remembered what life was like before she had hit her teens. The drunken parties, her blacked out mother, and her abusive, rapist of a father. There were times when she would wake in the night, crying at the memory of being forcibly sedated and raped by her alcoholic father, Robert Noce.

Nightmares

Jace Crehan Story
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The nightmares had followed her into high school but seemed to subside when she was with Jace. It got to the point where Brittany couldn’t get through the night without him sleeping next to her. It got to the point where he had to be there all the time. Jace wondered why nothing had ever been done to curb Noce’s abuse.

Mild Sentence

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As it happened, something would eventually be done, though it had come to little in the end. Plauche had been arrested and pleaded no contest to carnal knowledge of a juvenile a few years prior to Jace and Brittany’s meeting. Unfortunately, the terms of that plea meant that he could essentially plead guilty but be able to maintain his innocence.

How Could They?

Jace Crehan Story
  www.theadvocate.com

Because of the plea deal, Noce served no jail time at all. Instead, he was sentenced to five years active supervised probation. Despite months of court proceedings, Noce had gotten away with a slap on the wrist. Brittany was still plagued by her memories of the abuse. After the plea deal, the nightmares increased, eventually becoming full-on night terrors.

Night Terrors

Jace Crehan Story
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Brittany was suffering increasingly violent night terrors. She worried that Noce would seek revenge on her or Jace, or seek to punish her sister or her mother. Though he kept his feelings to himself, Jace worried about the same thing. Jace decided that something had to be done. He had to keep them all safe.

A Body

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Robert Noce disappeared a few weeks later. Eventually, police searched his trailer in Zachary, Louisiana and discovered where he had been hiding. Or rather, where someone had hidden him. It was evident from even a cursory examination that someone had stabbed him, then placed his dead body in a plastic bin outside the trailer. But had that person been Jace Crehan?

Suspected Parties

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All signs pointed to Jace and to a lesser extent to Brittany. After all, they had both made it abundantly clear that they weren’t happy with Noce’s paltry sentence. Before they could point fingers, however, the police had to make sure all their ducks were in a row. Forensic experts examined the body and discovered a rather telling piece of evidence.

DNA Links

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Brittany Monk’s DNA was found on the plastic drum that had housed Noce’s corpse. Considering that the girl hadn’t lived in the trailer for many years, it made sense that she had at least something to do with the murder. Both she and Jace were placed under arrest and taken into custody. Before any lawyer could be called, however, Jace made a startling confession.

She’s Innocent

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Once he was in custody, Jace Crehan openly admitted that he was the only one responsible for the crime. He even wrote as much in a letter to the Advocate following the arrest. “I’ll say this, I Jace Crehan, killed Robert Noce and he admitted in his final moments his rape against Brittany,” he said. And that wasn’t all he had to say.

Her Protector

Jace Crehan Story
  www.theadvocate.com

“This love is beyond what one would feel for their wife or child or family member,” Jace continued in his letters. “It was something that overcame me. I couldn’t control this enormous amount of obligation. I felt indebted to her. I was more than just her boyfriend, fiance, lover. I was her guardian, her protector, her hope.”

Missing Details

Jace Crehan Story
  www.theadvocate.com

According to Jace, he and Brittany had gone to Noce’s trailer on the day it occurred to confront him. They allegedly entered the trailer without Noce’s permission to do so. When they got there, the argument devolved and Noce reached out angrily to attack his daughter. Jace added that he’s not a violent person and that it was never his intention to do what he did.

Making Comparisons

Jace Crehan Story
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Jace’s actions are not unusual, even when compared to other incidents in Louisiana. In 1984, Gary Plauche avoided prison time even after he killed his son’s accused molester, Karate teacher Jeff Doucet. Unlike this muddled mystery, Doucet’s murder had actually been caught on tape and while he was in police custody.

Disguised

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Doucet had been found in a California hotel room with Gary Plauche’s missing 11-year-old son. He was on his way back to Louisiana when Plauche showed up in disguise at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport. Despite the police presence, Plauche’s single gunshot struck true, completing his revenge.

Vigilantism

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Plauche, like Noce, pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was ultimately sentenced to five years probation. He was also given hundreds of hours in community service but served no prison time. It seemed that State was perfectly fine with the idea of vigilantism when the culprit deserved death. Only, would the same hold true for Jace Crehan?

I’d Do It Again

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At 21 years old, Jace will likely never see the light of day again, though he believes that his fate will ultimately be the same as Plauche. To him, the important thing is that Brittany and their families are safe from Noce’s perceived retribution. Time will tell whether or not he or his fiancé will face the full consequences of their actions.

Wasted Potential

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Regardless of his admission, Brittany Monk remains in jail for the time being. She is allegedly pregnant with Jace’s child. The fact that she is facing a potential murder charge is a sad thing for the formerly straight-A student but also for her younger siblings as well. Many of whom she was responsible for prior to her arrest.

Boyfriend Shows No Remorse After Killing Girlfriend’s Abusive Father is an article from: LifeDaily

New Yorkers Left In Disbelief When $1.5 Million In Medical Debt Is Mysteriously Paid Off In Full

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Medical Debt Story

When someone’s life is in jeopardy because of a medical condition, they will do whatever it takes in order to beat their illness and stay alive. Unfortunately, those lifesaving treatments don’t come cheap and survivors are often left with crippling debt upon recovering.

Instead of enjoying their new lease on life, people with medical debt are being forced to work to the bone trying to keep up with their bills. In late 2018, however, hundreds of New Yorkers were stunned to find out their debt had mysteriously been paid off just in time for the holiday season.

The Cost Of Living

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When faced with a life-threatening or debilitating medical emergency, most people choose to fight for their lives and do whatever their doctors tell them is their best chance of regaining their health and quality of life. However, that usually requires countless costly tests, lab work, procedures, and medications.

A Mountain Of Bills

Medical Debt Story
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Even with insurance, the bills can still pile up at an alarmingly fast pace. By the time people do manage to overcome their conditions and regain their health, they are left with a mountain of medical bills. Instead of enjoying their second chance at life, those people now have to scramble to try and find a way to pay their debts.

Uncontrollable Debt

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For millions of Americans with past-due medical bills left from their time getting treatment, those bills eventually get passed on through several collection agencies. Over the following months and years, those debts start to severely damage debtors’ credit.

A Hopeless Situation

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As a result, people across the country with medical debt are left feeling hopeless. While they continue to get hounded by debt collectors, their debts are also ruining their credit and ruining their chance of being able to buy or rent a home, get a loan, or even get a job to help them pay their debts back.

A Common Problem

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“As medical costs rise to unspeakable levels, so does un-payable medical debt,” RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys and clears medical debt for people explained on its website. According to troubling statistics, more than one in three Americans struggle to pay for medical care.

Vulnerable Targets

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“Medical debt has destroyed the financial stability of large segments of America’s most vulnerable communities: the sick, the elderly, the poor, and veterans. It also particularly targets the middle class, driving many families who are barely getting along into poverty,” RIP Medical Debt explained.

A Widespread Problem

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Today, there are now 43 million people in the United States who owe a combined $75 billion. Those people are forced to take on second jobs, work longer hours, or even beg for help from charities or fundraisers like GoFundMe in order to stay afloat.

Desperate For Help

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Because of medical debt, millions struggle to pay for basic needs like food, rent, and utilities every year. According to GoFundMe’s CEO, Rob Solomon, one out of every three GoFundMe campaign is to help people struggle with medical bills and debt.

Medical Bankruptcy

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Those who can’t come up with money to pay back their debts are forced to go into medical bankruptcy. Shockingly, a majority of those people actually had health insurance. According to RIP Medical Debt, three out of every four people who declare bankruptcy from medical debt had insurance.

An Eye-Opening Issue

Medical Debt Story
  www.ripmedicaldebt.org

In 2018, two Ithaca, New York women, 80-year-old Judith Jones and 70-year-old Carolyn Kenyon, started to realize how debilitating medical debt really is after hearing about RIP Medical Debt. “The further we got into it, the more we realized what a serious issue medical debt is,” said Jones, a retired chemist.

Inspired To Help

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“One thing that really struck me in my research was the medical debt incurred by women who had metastatic breast cancer,” Jones told the Times Union. “When you start to learn how bad the problem is, it makes you want to do more,” Jones added.

Universal Healthcare Advocates

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Before finding out about RIP Medical Debt, both Jones and Kenyon, a psychoanalyst, were members of the Finger Lakes chapter of the Campaign for New York Health. The campaign advocates for universal healthcare and fights for the New York Health Act.

Making A Statement

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However, when the two women realized just how much people are suffering now because of the cost of medical care, they were inspired to do something with a more immediate impact. Not only did they want to help people, but they also wanted to make a political statement at the same time.

Executives With A Heart

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Jones and Kenyon learned how RIP Medical Debt was founded in 2014 by Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton, two former executives from the debt collection industry. Even though they knew there was a bigger underlying problem with the high medical costs in the United States, the two men didn’t like the way debtors were being treated.

Looking For Debt

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So the pair came together and started their non-profit, which works by buying up medical debt by working with third-party credit data providers. With the date providers’ help, RIP Medical Debt searches for bundled debt portfolios that meet their criteria for financial relief.

Debt Forgiveness

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They then negotiate to buy those portfolios for discounted prices. Typically, they pay about a penny on the dollar for the debt portfolios and then forgive the debt. “I like doing this much more than I liked doing collecting,” Antico told The New York Times.

The Fundraising Campaign

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Jones and Kenyon were inspired by what the nonprofit was doing to relieve medical debt and decided to raise money with the intention of helping people trapped under medical debt in New York. “The way sort of opened,” Jones told The New York Times. Over the summer of 2018, the pair raised $12,500.

Saving Thousands From Debt

Medical Debt Story
  www.ripmedicaldebt.org

After finishing up their fundraising campaign, Jones and Kenyon sent the money off to RIP Medical Debt. With that money, the nonprofit was able to purchase $1.5 million worth of debt. According to RIP Medical Debt, that debt had belonged to 1,284 people throughout Upstate New York.

Relieving Some Stress

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The holiday season can be incredibly stressful for everyone. But for people in debt, the holiday season is a particularly difficult period. For that reason, RIP Medical Debt decided to let debtors from New York know the exciting news in the winter of 2018 by sending out notices in small yellow envelopes.

‘Too Good To Be True’

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“A lot of people get our letters and think they’re too good to be true and throw them out,” Daniel Lempert, a spokesman for RIP Medical Debt, told the Times Union. “That’s why we try to get the word out. We really just want people to be aware of what a terrible problem medical debt is. And we want recipients of these letters to know this debt is finally off their credit report.”

New Yorkers Left In Disbelief When $1.5 Million In Medical Debt Is Mysteriously Paid Off In Full is an article from: LifeDaily

Mysteries Abound After Woman’s Head Is Found Without A Body

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Pennsylvania Trafficking Story

When a teenage boy named Charles got off the school bus one day and decided to walk the rest of the way home via the scenic route through the woods, he thought he spotted a dying animal in the undergrowth near his house.

As Charles approached for a closer look one cold day in December near to Mason Road in Economy, Pennsylvania, he was shocked when he realized he was looking at…

Bizarre Find

Pennsylvania Trafficking Story
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As if finding a severed head in undergrowth in a deserted area wasn’t strange enough, what made the find even more bizarre was the fact that the skin on the woman’s head was still smooth and there were few signs of degradation. Her grey hair was perfectly curled, and two moles could be seen on her cheek. This human head defied logic and was meticulously preserved yet thoughtlessly discarded.

Embalmed Head

Pennsylvania Trafficking Story
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As Economy Borough Police Chief Michael O’Brien said, according to a Daily Beast report, “What’s bizarre is not that we’ve found a head,” he said. “It’s that we’ve found a head that’s embalmed.” Now the police were faced with a double whammy; who was this woman and where was her body?

Puzzle Pieces

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Experts from different fields spent a year trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and find out who this woman was before she was decapitated. She appeared to be in her late 60s and had waxy white skin, but the most curious thing about the head was that the woman’s eyes had been removed and replaced with small red rubber balls.

Professionally Embalmed

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One thing the cops found interesting was that the dead woman had been professionally embalmed, most likely at a funeral home or a mortuary which meant she likely wasn’t murdered. Investigators assumed that an illegal intervention had taken place with her body on its way to the cemetery, but this couldn’t be proved.

Dead Ends

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Investigators initially checked to see whether any local graves had been desecrated. That came up empty, so detectives turned their attention to the eye sockets in the head. Some of the most highly-skilled forensic labs in the states tried to identify this woman’s DNA but to no avail as it had been compromised by the extensive embalming process.

Medical Schools

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Having come up with no answers, investigators approached medical schools who work with medical tissues to see if the head could be traced back to them. This also turned up nothing, and detectives found themselves back at square one. Now the police approached Michelle Vitali, a sculptor who was tasked with drawing an accurate picture of the dead woman.

Forensic Artist

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During the day, Vitali was an art professor at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. In her spare time, Vitali was an expert forensic artist who helped police departments around the world to solve mysteries like these. But even this expert was unable to find out the name or identity of the woman whose head was found.

Feeling Attached

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While Vitali also hit a dead end, she explained that this case had become almost an obsession for her. “I feel like I have an attachment to this one,” she told the Beaver County Times. “I really want to see it resolved. … I just really want to know her name,” she said.

Public Assistance

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Police chief O’Brien spoke about the sketch Vitali drew of the dead woman for the press to get help from the public. “Even though she’s rather recognizable, you can’t put her visage on the television,” he said. “So we have to find a more palatable way to present it to the public.”

Several Leads

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Vitali drew some sketches, some of which attempted to paint the victim in her younger years, and they threw up some leads. But all of them were dead ends too, so Vitali went ahead and spent 40 hours molding 10 pounds of clay into a 3-D model of what she thinks the woman looked like.

Information Needed

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Having produced a life-size clay model of the victim, Vitali told reporters: “I think it’s a pretty good likeness. … What they need now is for people to call with information. If she looks remotely like anyone you knew who passed away, call them.” However, no one called, and the victim remained unidentified.

Feeling Haunted

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Vitali said she feels haunted by this case as she tries desperately to do what she can to help identify this Jane Doe. “It’s something to have somebody, to look her right in the face, to hold her head in your hands and say, “I really hope we’re able to resolve this for you, to find out what happened,'” Vitali said. “She has a lot of good people working on her case. A resolution, I think it will be found.”

Fresh Information

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The first break in the case came when tests conducted by Salt Lake City-based IsoForensics found isotopes in the woman’s head proving she had spent her last seven months living between Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York. Accordingly, forensic experts concluded that the victim most likely grew up in western Pennsylvania.

Cardiac Arrest

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Another piece of the puzzle that was put in place when toxicology tests showed trace amounts of Lidocaine and Atropine suggesting the victim suffered a cardiac arrest at some point close to death. “It looks like she had medical treatment at some point in time,” O’Brien said.

Body Parts

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According to Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh, the severed head could be something to do with the booming black market on body parts. “There’s a black market on body parts, and that market is pretty extensive,” he said, according to Reuters. “It didn’t roll off a truck,” Berosh said. “It just didn’t happen that way.”

Closure Needed

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Many of the people involved with the case have been left dumbfounded by the lack of leads and solid information. As O’Brien said to reporters, “She’s on my mind 24 hours a day, just the fact that I’m not able to identify her,” he said. “There’s nobody that deserves to be found that way. “She needs to be identified so she can have her name put to her face.”

Nursing Homes

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In the meantime, a local prosecutor speculated on how this Jane Doe died. He alleged that she might have had health problems and been in and out of nursing homes in the area, which would explain the various minerals in her system from across the states. But that still doesn’t answer how this poor woman ended up being decapitated.

Possible Match

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One lead that investigators were excited about was a missing person named Tamara “Tammy” Porrin. Porrin went missing from central Pennsylvania in 1986, and the photos of her on a national missing-persons database bear a remarkable similarity to Jane Doe. Even Porrin’s brother Ernest agreed that the head looks very much like his sister. However, the connection between the skull and the Porrin family was never solidly established.

Red Balls

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Another confounding factor for cops was the red rubber balls which had been used to replace the woman’s eyes. No one at the funeral homes nor the medical examiners had ever seen or heard of this method of embalming. This led many to conclude that the women may have been killed and then used as some part of a sick experiment at the hands of a very twisted person.

Partial Funeral

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Even though investigators claimed they hadn’t given up on the case, the woman’s head was buried a year after it was discovered. The partial funeral took place at the Beaver Cemetery, overlooking the Ohio River. The woman was buried without a headstone for now, and if the mystery of her identity isn’t solved her epitaph will simply read: “Jane Doe. Found Dec. 12, 2014.”

Mysteries Abound After Woman’s Head Is Found Without A Body is an article from: LifeDaily

Nurse’s Family Demands Answers After EMTs Waste Precious Time Getting Him Help

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Quam Ahmodu Story

Police officers, EMTs, and firefighters often go above and beyond in order to save the lives of people they don’t even know. At times, they even put their own lives in danger to help people during emergencies.

According to a family from Brooklyn, New York, however, that’s not what happened when they called for help one day in late October of 2018. Instead of helping a nurse in distress, the family claims the first responders actually wasted precious time and ended up costing him…

A New Home

Quam Ahmodu Story
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After leaving their home in Lagos, Nigeria, the family made their new home in Flatlands, Brooklyn. It was there that Quam Ahmodu, who was just three years old at the time his parents moved to New York, was raised and grew up.

A Bright Child

Quam Ahmodu Story
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According to the Ahmodu family, Quam had always been kind, bright, and responsible. Quam was always smart and driven in school and managed to graduate high school at just 16 years old after skipping the fourth grade. After that, Quam enrolled in the nursing program at the New York City College of Technology.

A Passionate Student

Quam Ahmodu Story
  Quam Ahmodu / Facebook

For Quam, nursing was the perfect career. “I believe that nursing is a profession that is achieved; not given,” Quam once wrote on the school’s website. “I believe that nursing is not just my ‘job’, it’s my character. I believe that the true meaning of nursing should manifest in all that I do.”

A Dream Job

Quam Ahmodu Story
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After graduating and getting his nursing license, Quam got a job working as a nurse at a Brooklyn hospital. After that, he got a job working as a school nurse at a local charter elementary school. For Quam, who loved children, it was a dream job.

Happy To Help

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“He said, ‘I would sit in my office and the kids would come and play with me, the kids love me,’” Wasiu Ahmodu, Quam’s father, told BuzzFeed News. According to Quam’s family and neighbors, he was always happy to help people out and would sometimes watch the neighbors’ kids if they were desperate.

The Hospital Visit

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However, things started to change for the 24-year-old in the fall of 2018. On Saturday, October 20, Quam checked himself into the hospital. He explained to both doctors and his family that he believed his girlfriend was cheating on him. As a result, he was feeling depressed.

Taking A Personal Day

Quam Ahmodu Story
  Quam Ahmodu / Facebook

Quam was discharged from the hospital the next day, and the doctors told him it would be best to go home and get some rest. By the following Monday, however, things hadn’t improved. Quam decided to take the day off from work and called in sick.

A Sign Of Improvement

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According to Wasiu, he also took the day off to spend time with his son, who spent the entire day in his bed. That day, Wasiu decided to make another appointment for the next morning. However, by Monday night, Quam seemed to be doing better.

Erratic Behavior

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Wasiu was relieved and figured Quam wouldn’t need the appointment anymore. However, things took a turn for the worse after the family went to bed for the night. In the early hours of Tuesday, October 23, Quam woke up and started acting erratically.

Quam’s Plan

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After waking his parents up, Quam told them that he was going out to the gas station near their home. According to Wasiu, Quam said that he needed to go out and play the lottery. Wasiu begged his son to wait as it was too early in the morning.

The First 911 Call

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As time passed, Quam became increasingly angry and irritated with his family. At one point just before 6 am, the 24-year-old called 911. He told the emergency dispatcher that his family wouldn’t let him leave the house and then hung up on the dispatcher.

An EDP Call

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Just a few minutes later, Zainab Ahmodu, Quam’s sister, called 911. This time, she explained that her brother was acting crazy and that something was wrong. She told the dispatcher that Quam needed to be hospitalized. At that point, first responders were notified about an “EDP call.”

The First Responders

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An EDP call is a call for an emotionally disturbed person, and both officers from the 63rd Precinct and FDNY EMTs responded to it. When they arrived at the Brooklyn home about five minutes later, they found Quam being held down by both his father and cousin.

Calling In A Second Ambulance

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According to officers, Quam was acting aggressively at that point and was still trying to escape the house. As a result, the officers handcuffed him and left him sitting on a couch in the home. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take him straight to the hospital because they only had an ambulance with basic life support equipment.

A Safety Precaution

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Since Quam was in distress and being aggressive, officers called for another ambulance that had sedatives. In order to safely transport him to the hospital, they decided he would need to be sedated. About two minutes after they started waiting for the second ambulance, however, Quam started frantically complaining.

Begging For Help

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According to his family, Quam started complaining that he couldn’t breathe and begged for them to give him oxygen. “He was telling the ambulance guy, ‘I can’t breathe, I’m not faking it,’” Wasiu explained. “‘I’m a registered nurse’ – he was saying it loudly. ‘I can’t breathe. I’m not faking it.’”

Refusing To Help

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According to the official report, EMTs tried to give Quam an oxygen mask but he tried to bite them. His family, on the other hand, denied that happening. A few minutes later, Quam passed out and urinated on himself. His family begged first responders to take him to the hospital, but they refused to do anything.

Quam’s Condition Worsens

Quam Ahmodu Story
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First responders claimed they still needed to wait for the second ambulance with the sedatives as Quam could wake up at any moment. At one point, Quam stopped breathing and officers couldn’t find a pulse. Paramedics began CPR until the other ambulance arrived less than 20 minutes after they first arrived at the home.

Tragic News

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Quam was then taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, but it was tragically too late. He was pronounced dead when he arrived. Now, the Ahmodu family are considering civil action. “The system failed me. That’s what I said to the detective that spoke with me at the hospital: that the system failed me,” Wasiu said.

Disputing The Accusation

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“When somebody is passed out, I don’t understand why you couldn’t put him in the ambulance? Somebody doesn’t pass out for no reason,” Dr. Diana Falkenbach, a forensic psychologist and associate professor at John Jay College College of Criminal Justice, told BuzzFeed News. “How, as EMTs, could you not do something?” Authorities, on the other hand, claim the first responders did nothing wrong.

Nurse’s Family Demands Answers After EMTs Waste Precious Time Getting Him Help is an article from: LifeDaily

Police Continue Search For Killer Who Used Magazine Clippings In Confession Letter

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Kay Wenal Story

Even couples who have spent a lifetime together have secrets from one another. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, even those of us who have chosen to share our lives with another need to remain individuals. Often, a good way to do that, is to keep a few things for ourselves.

The problems only arise when those secrets threaten not only our relationships, but our lives as well…

Home Sick

Kay Wenal Story
  www.cbsnews.com

Kay was the type of person that if you knew her, you loved her forever. She was kind to a fault and despite having lived a rather glamorous life in the early days of her marriage, was settling into old age rather nicely. Except for the cold that she couldn’t seem to kick. She decided to stay home sick to try and knock it out once and for all.

 

Disturbing Homecoming

Kay Wenal Story
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It was May 1, 2008, and 72-year-old Hal was on his way home for the day. Hal had made millions in real estate and lived in a rather spacious home in Lawrenceville, Georgia with his wife. Kay, who was 60 years old at the time, had been home alone that day, and Hal expected to find her curled up on the couch with a blanket when he walked in…

No Sign

Kay Wenal Story
  www.cbsnews.com

Hal looked over at the couch but didn’t see her. Thinking she might be up in bed, he moved into the kitchen and there she was, splayed out and bleeding profusely. He rushed to her side, hoping beyond hope that the river of blood beneath her wasn’t as bad as it looked. Unfortunately, it was…

Slashed

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Eva Kay Wenal was dead. She had been punched in the face and her throat had been slashed. It didn’t make any sense, Hal had unlocked the door in order to enter their home. As far as he could tell, no one had broken into their home. Had Kay let a potential murderer into the house?

The Chase

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First responders arrived on the scene almost immediately. Sadly, the EMTs only had bad news for Hal. His wife had been dead for some time. Meanwhile, police began searching the immediate area for any clue as to what might have happened. Kay was still in her pajamas, but her glasses had evidently been flung to the other side of the room. It appeared as though she had been chased.

 

Insurance

Kay Wenal Story
  Gwinnett County Police Department

To make matters worse, it was clear that the killer had slashed her throat not once, but twice. Whoever they were, they wanted to make sure she would die from her wounds. Yet, no weapon could be found anywhere. Police assumed the killer took whatever fishing knife or hunting knife with him when he left. In fact, he only left one clue behind…

The Clue

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The only piece of physical evidence that the police could find was a small piece off a mysterious latex glove. It was of a different make than the ones used by the EMTs, so it couldn’t have been carelessness. What’s more, the killer hadn’t stolen anything. Kay’s wallet and jewelry were out in the open in the bedroom but hadn’t been taken.

Suspects

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

Her husband, Hal Wenal, was immediately cleared as a suspect. After all, he had made the initial call. Still, the investigators were certain that whomever had killed Kay Wenal was a man. The strength it took to push her down, punch her, and cut her throat the way he did, made that much clear. But who was this faceless killer?

Reward

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

Before the police could even begin their initial investigation, Hal Wenal decided to take matters into his own hands. He hired his own team of private investigators to work on the case and even offered a public reward of $250,000 to anyone who came forward with information about Kay’s murder.

Strange Man

Kay Wenal Story
  www.cbsnews.com

As it happened, one of the Wenal’s neighbors had some idea of who might be responsible. He’d seen a strange man near the house on the day of the murder. He’d also been there the day before as well. With the help of the neighbor and a police sketch artist, the Gwinnett County Police Department finally had a lead…

Seen Him

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

Yet, despite wide circulation of a sketch of the stranger, investigators received no new leads. No one in the area or even in the country seemed to be able to put a name to the face in the sketch. Then, nearly three months after here death, a new development arose in the case. The offices of the Atlanta Journal Constitution received a strange envelope.

Strange Envelope

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

The envelope was from Augusta, Georgia, and contained a rather interesting letter. It had been constructed like the letters one is used to seeing in movies about hostage kidnappers. The message written on the page was made up of words cut out from newspapers and magazines and the words they spelt out were quite revealing…

Content

Kay Wenal Story
  Gwinnett County Police Department

The letter had been postmarked July 21, 2008 and began with the line: “I bet Kay Wenal never told anyone what she really was. It turns out she was just a $ grubbing [expletive]. She said we could be together. She told me she hated her house and that fat miserable lying [expletive] husband.” But that wasn’t all…

 

Message

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

“I loved her. She said she loved me but that was a lie too. I told her this would happen if she didn’t keep her [expletive] promises to me. Her [expletive] family screwed everything up. Those white trash [expletive]. His money was more important than our love. We could have been so happy together but they [expletive] everything up.” The writer did not sign their name…

Genuine Confession

Kay Wenal Story
  www.cbsnews.com

Investigators of course believed that the letter constituted a genuine confession. Unfortunately, not a single trace of DNA was upon it. The other problem was that Hal and the rest of Kay’s family and friends seemed completely unaware of this “affair” alleged by the sender. They had no idea what the person was talking about.

The Killer’s Words?

Kay Wenal Story
  www.foxnews.com

As such, neither the killer nor the sender were ever found. It wasn’t until some years later that investigators learned the letter may not have been from the direct killer at all, but someone else entirely. FBI profiler, Mary Ellen O’Toole was allowed to view the letter and her insights proved quite useful…

Her Helping Hand

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

O’Toole’s theory is that the letter was not written by some obsessed and murderous stalker at all. She explained that most “cut and paste” letters are the work of women. As such, she believes that the letter was created by a woman, possibly one who was trying to aid the killer by throwing investigators off the trail. If she’s right, then that meant two or more people were involved with Kay Wenal’s death.

 

Dead Leads

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

Two years after Kay’s death, Hal Wenal died of a heart attack. And while this would normally be a simply innocuous, though sorrowful end to the story, it ended up being a revelation of sorts. His family was going through his personal possessions when they found a box containing old photographs, several of which were of a man who bore a striking resemblance to the unidentified suspect seen in the police sketch…

No Idea

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

The man in the photos, standing next to Kay and Hal, was a white, brown-haired male wearing wire rimmed glasses. It appeared that whoever he was, the Wenals had known him since 1987. And yet, it seemed that no family member, friend, or colleague had any idea who the man was. The photos were eventually released to the media, but the police are no closer to finding out who he is today than they were a decade ago.

Still Searching

Kay Wenal Story
  shutterstock.com

Kay’s story was run on famous TV show 48 Hours, and the police are still out there looking for any lead that will lead to the suspect’s capture. But many questions remain, chief among them, why would anyone go through so much trouble to kill a wonderful elderly woman like Kay Wenal, a woman with no enemies? Hopefully, one day, we’ll find out.

Police Continue Search For Killer Who Used Magazine Clippings In Confession Letter is an article from: LifeDaily

Reporter Joins Inventor On Homemade Submarine And Winds Up Part Of Mysterious Disappearance

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Kim Wall Story

Kim Wall was not your run-of-the-mill junior reporter. She was an established, freelance journalist who had reported from far-flung places like North Korea, the South Pacific, Uganda, and Haiti. The Swedish-born journalist had written articles for The New York Times, the Guardian, Vice, and the South China Morning Post.

So when Kim managed to secure a rare interview with a famous Danish inventor, she was overcome with joy. Little did she know that her journey into Peter Madsen’s twisted lifestyle would turn her scoop into a mystery all it’s own…

Chasing a Scoop

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Kim had been chasing the interview for a few months. Ever since she’d gotten in contact with famous Danish inventor Peter Madsen, she’d been intent on sitting down with him to speak about some of his more recent inventions. So when Madsen invited her to take a trip in his homemade submarine, she jumped at the chance.

Ambitious Man

Kim Wall Story
  JoeNomi 1961 / Wikipedia

Peter Madsen wasn’t “world famous” by any means, but in his native Denmark, he was a bit of a celebrity. Madsen was self-made and ingenious. He’d already built a working submarine by hand and was aiming to build a rocket to launch into space. It was this ambition that most intrigued Kim.

Self-Made

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Madsen had built the craft in 2008 on a whim. He named the 40-ton submarine the UC3 Nautilus, obviously inspired by Captain Nemo’s famous craft in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” After much trial and error, the man-made vessel made a successful sojourn beneath the water. It gained him much renown in his native Denmark.

Submarine Ride

Kim Wall Story
  jonas senhadji / YouTube

The only caveat to Kim’s interview was that she take a spin in Madsen’s submarine, something that she was more than happy to oblige him in. She met him at his dock in Copenhagen on a breezy summer day. It was about 7 pm when Kim stepped onto the UC3 Nautilus. She took a picture aboard the deck. It would be one of the last images her.

Final Story

Kim Wall Story
  Miss Franzen / www.dailymail.co.uk

Prior to the fateful interview, Kim had been planning to move to Beijing, China. She and her Danish partner, Ole, had been involved for a number of years and had seen much of the world together. China was just the next step in their adventure together. The Madsen interview was meant to be her final story before she left. It was an easy, straightforward piece; or so she believed.

Going Away Party

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Unfortunately, Madsen ended up setting the interview for the evening that Kim and Ole’s friends had planned a going away party. Still, it would be worth it in the end. And she’d have plenty of time to spend with Ole when they got to China. Kim kept in touch while she was aboard the sub, texting Ole repeatedly to let him know she was OK.

Final Message

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Kim’s last text to her partner was sent right before the vessel submerged. “I’m still alive btw,” she told him. “But I’m going down now. I love you! He brought coffee and cookies tho.” Ole tried to text back a number of times but received no answer. By midnight, he was worried sick and decided to contact the coast guard.

Missing Sub

Kim Wall Story
  Stig Alenas / Shutterstock.com

Around the same time that Ole was making his call, the UC3 Nautilus had was sighted by a merchant ship. The crew had seen the vessel on the north-west side of the Oresund bridge, but without any satellite tracking on the amateur sub, there was no way to find it after that. They would have to wait until the morning to try and contact Madsen.

Pulled to Safety

Kim Wall Story
  Steve Allen / Shutterstock.com

The submarine was finally spotted a day or so later by a lighthouse worker. A rescue helicopter was dispatched and radioed Madsen from their location above the obviously sinking sub. Within 30 seconds, the sub was gone. A group of nearby fisherman managed to pull Madsen to safety, but Kim Wall never re-emerged from the water.

Missing girl

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

On the dock in Dragor, a group of reporters questioned the shivering inventor about what had happened. He told them that the sub’s ballast tank had accidentally filled with water, forcing the metal tube to sink like a stone. Though they searched the area, there was no sign of Kim’s body. Two weeks later, officials confirmed that the journalist was deceased. Still, questions about the whole situation lingered in the public’s mind.

Found Her

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

On August 21st, ten days after she’d disappeared, a passing cyclist discovered Kim Wall’s mutilated remains on the beach. Or rather, they found part of her torso. Police divers then searched the waters in the immediate area and found her head, legs, and some of her clothing. A cursory examination of the dismembered remains revealed the disturbing truth.

Bagged Remains

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Forensic experts could tell almost immediately that Kim’s arms, legs, and head had been deliberately removed. She hadn’t been dismembered by some submarine accident, but because someone cut her to pieces. Then that same person had bagged those parts and weighed the bags down with car pipes and other bits of heavy metal. All signs pointed to Madsen.

Three Versions

Kim Wall Story
  www.bbc.com

Considering he was the last person to see Kim alive, Madsen became suspect number one. What followed was the first of three unconvincing explanations Madsen offered during the course of the investigation. According to the inventor, he’d dropped Kim off near the Halvandet restaurant at around 10:30 pm the night they’d gone out in the sub.

Terrible Accident

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

Thanks to the cooperation of the restaurant owner and the CCTV around the establishment, this version of the night was proven to be a lie. Undaunted, Madsen offered up another explanation. This was more in line with what he’d told reporters on the day the sub sank. There had allegedly been a terrible accident on board which resulted in Kim sustaining a deadly head wound. Panicked, he dumped the body and scuttled the sub.

Air Pressure

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

A few months later, Madsen changed his story yet again. In this new scenario, Kim had died of carbon monoxide poisoning while he had been up on deck. The air pressure onboard had plummeted while Kim was in the engine room and the exhaust fumes had done her in before he could open the hatch.

Strange Admission

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

When Madsen finally got in, he tried his best to revive her, but she was gone. As in the previous account, Madsen admitted to dismembering her body and dumping the remains at sea. In his mind, this gruesome ritual was a means of “respecting” the victim and her family. As the prosecution built the case against him, they learned some disturbing facts about the erstwhile inventor.

Sick Person

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

According to the prosecution, Madsen’s workshop computer had hundreds of videos of women being killed and tortured. He’d even watched a beheading video right before he and Kim went out on the sub. Madsen’s unsavory sexual appetites notwithstanding, he continued to deny that he had either murdered and sexually assaulted Kim.

Premeditated

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

The “smoking gun,” if indeed there was one, appeared in the form of the tools Madsen had taken aboard his sub before Kim had arrived. The theory was that Madsen had allegedly brought a screwdriver, saw, and metal piping on board with the clear intention to use them on his soon-to-be victim.

Exhausting Explanation

Kim Wall Story
  astudio / Shutterstock.com

During the trial, a scientist from the Danish Technological Institute was brought in to testify. Though he admitted that Kim Wall could have died of exhaust fumes while locked in the sub, this would only be possible if the temperature rose to extremely high levels. It also didn’t explain why Madsen had seen fit to dismember her remains.

Many Questions, One Conviction

Kim Wall Story
  shutterstock.com

The incident became an international sensation. People all over the region were hungry for justice and they watched intently while awaiting the judge’s verdict. Peter Madsen was eventually convicted of premeditated murder and aggravated sexual assault. He will serve life in prison. As to why he did what he’d done? That we may never know.

Reporter Joins Inventor On Homemade Submarine And Winds Up Part Of Mysterious Disappearance is an article from: LifeDaily

DNA Test Reveals Adopted Girl’s Real Mother 69 Years Later

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Connie Moultroup Story

Expecting mothers spend nine months waiting for the day they finally get to meet their son or daughter for the first time. When that day finally happens, new mothers typically describe it as the best moment of their life.

For an Indiana native, the day she gave birth to her daughter ended up being the worst day of her life as she was told her baby girl had died during birth. It wasn’t until more than six decades later, however, that the woman discovered the truth…

Put Up For Adoption

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

In 1949, Connie Moultroup was born in a small Catholic hospital in Gary, Indiana. After her birth, Moultroup was put up for adoption and taken to an orphanage. At some point, a couple from Southern California adopted her and brought her back to the West Coast.

The Birth Mother

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

According to Moultroup, who is now 69 years old, she always knew she had been adopted when she was a child and had been told that she had been put up for adoption after her birth. Moultroup’s adoptive parents only ever told her the name of her birth mother, Genevieve Purinton, who they claimed was a ‘friend of a friend’.

Her Adoption Story

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

When she was old enough to ask about her adoption, Moultroup’s adoptive parents explained that they “walked up and down the aisles of the hospital until they found me and they just had to take me home,” Moultroup explained to NBC News about her adoption story.

A Happy Childhood

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“My favorite bedtime story was how my parents walked up and down the halls of the hospital looking at all the babies until they found me and then they stopped. It was sweet,” Moultroup said. While her early childhood in Santa Barbara was happy, things changed drastically when she was just five years old.

The Evil Stepmother

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

According to Moultroup, her adoptive mother passed away from cancer when she was five years old. Her adoptive father then remarried a woman, who Moultroup claimed was abusive to her. Sometime later, Moultroup’s adoptive father passed away after he was diagnosed with a heart condition.

Childhood Trauma

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“Her adoptive mother died of cancer, and shortly after, her adoptive father was diagnosed with a heart condition,” Bonnie Chase, Moultroup’s daughter, told CNN. As a small child, Moultroup wished her biological mother would come and save her from her abusive step-mother.

A Lifelong Dream

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“So the whole time, she just wanted to find her actual mother to rescue her from that horrible situation,” Chase, 50, said. “She would fantasize about her mother rescuing her since she was 5-years-old. It’s truly her lifelong dream.” As Moultroup got older, she never stopped wondering about her mother and would wish to find her mother every year for her birthday.

Starting The Search

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

As an adult, Moultroup moved away from California and started her career as a nurse. In her thirties, she started actively searching for her birth mother. However, when Moultroup failed to find any information about her mother or any leads, she eventually gave up hope.

Reigniting The Search

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

However, that search was reignited when Chase got her mother a DNA ancestry kit for Christmas in 2017. Chase hoped it would finally be the key to finding out more about her past and potentially connect her to family members that she never knew about.

A Perfect Christmas Gift

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“It was just a cool Christmas present and it has completely changed our lives,” Chase told NBC News. Moultroup, who now works in Virginia as a massage therapist, provided a sample of her DNA, and then impatiently waited for her results to be sent to her.

A Massive Family

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

When they came back several weeks later, Moultroup started sorting through the information. She was stunned to learn she had almost 1,600 blood relatives. “It took me a while to use it, but when I finally got the results I went from having only three known relatives (a daughter and two grandchildren), to 1,600 relatives. I was floored,” Moultroup told CNN.

Miraculous News

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

One of those relatives was a first cousin, who sent a message to Moultroup. “She reached out to me. I told her my mother’s name was Genevieve Mitch and she said, ‘Oh, that’s my aunt, and oh, by the way, she is still alive,’” Moultroup told Inside Edition.

Passing On The Information

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“It was awesome, but I didn’t know quite what to do with that,” Moultroup added. The cousin offered to send her aunt a card and explain that she found Moultroup online. In the letter, Genevieve Purinton’s niece also included her daughter’s contact details.

The First Phone Call

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“I couldn’t believe it. I was going to meet my mother,” Moultroup said. Then on September 8, 2018, Purinton called her daughter and they spoke for the first time in 69 years. “I was at church that day, and I never want to leave early, but that day I did. Literally, 20 minutes after getting home, my mother calls,” Moultroup explained.

Reconnecting After 69 Years

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

“I think I’m your mother,” Puriton said when Moultroup answered the phone. “You could’ve heard a pin drop,” Moultroup explained. “I said, ‘Oh my God.’ She wanted to remember if I knew my original name, Margaret Ann Mitch.” She told her mother that she did remember. The pair talked for hours that day, and now regularly speak over the phone.

Learning The Truth

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

During those phone calls, Moultroup learned that her mother never wanted to give her up. In fact, Puriton planned on keeping her baby but doctors told her that the baby had died. “I asked to see the baby and they said she died, that’s all I remember,” said Purinton, now 88. At the time, Puriton was just 18 years old and left high school when her belly started to show. According to Puriton, she discovered the father was actually married and planned to raise her baby alone.

Fraudulently Separated

Connie Moultroup Story
  shutterstock.com

At the time, however, hundreds of unmarried mothers were told their babies died or had their infants taken away from them because of their controversial marital status. Puriton didn’t realize it at the time, but nurses at St. Mary’s Mercy Hospital, which is now closed, tricked her into signing adoption papers giving up her rights as Moultroup’s mother. “I was told it was a girl, but she died,” Puriton told The New York Times.

The First Meeting

Connie Moultroup Story
  Connie Moultroup

“I had no idea what I signed,” she said. According to Puritan, she never thought to ask to see the death certificate. “Who at 18 would think about something like that?” she said. After that, Puritan, who never had any more children, moved to Florida, where she has lived ever since. On December 3, 2018, Moultroup flew to Florida to finally meet her mother at the elderly home she lives in.

An Emotional Reunion

Connie Moultroup Story
  Connie Moultroup

“I walked into her retirement home and I knew it was her because she walked with a walker. And [there] was only one woman there with a walker. She turned around and it was like looking in the mirror. I look just like her. We just walked over to one another and both of us started crying,” Moultroup said.

A Life-changing Experience

Connie Moultroup Story
  Connie Moultroup

“It was just a crying fest,” Moultroup said. Now Moultroup has plans to meet two half-sisters from her biological father’s side of the family. “Not everybody has this kind of outcome when looking for their parents, but I recommend you give it a try, you don’t know what will happen.”

DNA Test Reveals Adopted Girl’s Real Mother 69 Years Later is an article from: LifeDaily


The Tragic Life Of ‘Goonies’ Actor John Matuszak Revealed

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John Matuszak Story

If you were a kid in the 80’s you probably loved The Goonies. The 1985 movie about a group of kids searching for a hidden pirate treasure to save their homes from foreclosure while also trying to evade the bad guys became a cult classic, partly because it had such memorable characters.

None of those characters was more iconic than Sloth, the hulking, deformed, and mistreated little brother of the bad guys. But the story behind the actor who played Sloth is almost as unbelievable as the plot of The Goonies.

First Pick

John Matuszak Story
  www.nasljerseys.com

Before he made his way to the silver screen as Sloth, John Matuszak was a professional football player. Known by the nickname “The Tooz,” the 6’8, 280 pound athlete was initially a hot prospect and was the first overall draft pick of the year in 1973. But along with his Herculean proportions came a similarly epic drug and alcohol problem.

The Astronaut

John Matuszak Story
  uk.movies.yahoo.com

Fresh out of college, Matuszak’s drug use was so outrageous that his teammates called him “John Glenn,” like the famous astronaut because he was often “flying high.” So despite his massive frame and incredible talent on the field, his football career was extremely rocky…

Nomad

John Matuszak Story
  www.amazon.com

In the first four years of his professional career, Matuszak played for four different teams. He was booted from the Houston Oilers after he tried to sign a contract to also play for the World Football League’s Houston Texans at the same time.

Living Dangerously

John Matuszak Story
  www.ebay.com

Matuszak was then picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs, only to be dropped after head coach Paul Wiggin found him unconscious and not breathing one day. He was in the middle of an overdose of whiskey and pills. After Wiggin personally pounded on Matuszak’s chest until he started breathing again, he booted him as quickly as possible…

Breakfast of Champions

John Matuszak Story
  www.grunge.com

Next, Matuszak was picked up by the Washington Redskins. Matuszak apparently hadn’t learned his lesson about drugs and alcohol because he was dropped from that team as well when coach George Allen expressed concerns over is diet of “Vodka and Valium, the breakfast of champions.”

Team of Misfits

John Matuszak Story
  Pinterest

Finally, Matuszak ended up playing for the Oakland Raiders under the famous coach John Madden. The joke at the time was that “you didn’t have to be a convicted felon to play for the Raiders, but it helped.” Maybe because Matuszak fit in with this team full of screw-ups and misfits, he finally buckled down and began to perform up to his potential…

Finding Success

John Matuszak Story
  www.raiders.com

With the Raiders, Matuszak played a key role in securing a couple of Super Bowl wins in 1977 and 1981. But just because he was performing well on the field, it didn’t mean that he’d given up shenanigans all together.

Wild Man

John Matuszak Story
  www.nydailynews.com

Matuszak was notorious for sneaking women into his room at training camp and even somehow onto the team plane. On a particularly rowdy night, he was arrested for driving drunk and firing a gun at street signs. When his roommate came to pick him up from jail, he was wearing handcuffs, his Super Bowl Ring, a pair of powder blue cowboy boots and not a single shred of fabric…

Another Side

John Matuszak Story
  www.looper.com

But there was more to Matuszak than just a boisterous wild man. He regularly visited his sister in the hospital where she would receive treatment for her cystic fibrosis. He coached football at a Christian summer camp and spent the evenings reading Bible verses with them. He even liked to dress up as Santa Claus and entertain children around Christmas time.

Lingering Pain

John Matuszak Story
  www.nydailynews.com

Still, what people mostly paid attention to were his wild antics and his being a maniac on the football field. After he retired, most of the wild antics came to an end. But because of the many injuries he’d sustained during his career, his heavy use of painkillers continued…

A New Path

John Matuszak Story
  www.cineplex.com

Once he retired, Matuszak tried to start a new chapter of his life, this time as an actor. Without any training in acting, you’d probably expect him to be a bit of a novelty in one or two bad productions before people realized he had no talent. Surprisingly he turned out to be a pretty good actor.

Cult Classics

John Matuszak Story
  Movieclips @ Youtube

Of course, he played Sloth in the Goonies, but Matuszak was also involved in a number of other acclaimed films. He starred in North Dallas Forty, which is regarded by many as one of the best football movies ever made. He also appeared in a number of cult classics including Caveman, One Crazy Summer, Ice Pirates, and as mentioned, The Goonies…

Gentle Giant

John Matuszak Story
  www.imdb.com

One thing most of the actors who worked with Matuszak had to say about him was that he was a genuine pleasure to work with. In fact, the director of The Goonies Richard Donner said one of the hardest parts of making the movie was getting the child actors to not play around too much with their “gentle giant” co-star. They loved playing with Matuszak so much that they would sometimes mess up his makeup, which took hours to re-apply.

Still Struggling

John Matuszak Story
  www.therecoveryvillage.com

But even with the success Matuszak found in this new chapter of his life, some aspects of his troubled past remained. He was still struggling with the drug habit he’d picked up early in life and from time to time was involved in wild, violent incidents reminiscent of his time on the football field…

Man of Violence

John Matuszak Story
  www.pointemout.com

One such incident happened when he got into a fender bender in 1987. Matuszak got into an argument with the driver of the other car, then knocked him out cold before fleeing the scene. At the time, Manuszak had just appeared on an episode of Miami Vice and was filming an action movie called One Man Force.

Backsliding

John Matuszak Story
  www.bmfcast.com

You could argue that portraying an emotionally complex killer biker gang member on Miami Vice and a cop who goes on a vengeful murderous spree in One Man Force somehow resulted in Matuszak backsliding into some of his old, reckless ways, even when he was finally being recognized as a talented, sensitive man…

Just Say No

John Matuszak Story
  www.amazon.com

Nevertheless, it seemed as if Matuszak was finally getting his life under control. He even seemed to have kicked his drug habit, according to his 1987 autobiography Cruisin’ With the Tooz. In it he writes: “I abstain from cocaine, and any other foreign substance, entirely now. I take nothing, not even sleeping pills.”

Redemption

John Matuszak Story
  www.imdb.com

“I’ve hit damn near bottom. I don’t ever want to go back,” he added. It sounded like Matuszak had finally gotten the stability in his life and the redemption he needed. Unfortunately, the story didn’t end there…

Rock Bottom

John Matuszak Story
  www.findagrave.com

In June of 1989, it appeared that John Matuszak did “go back.” He died as a result of “acute propoxyphene intoxication,” a painkiller known by the trade name of Darvon, at the untimely age of 38. There was also cocaine in his system but the amount was so small it was “not considered to have contributed to his death.”

Larger Than Life

John Matuszak Story
  www.playbuzz.com

One other complication that was a factor in his death was that he had an enlarged heart, too big even for his massive frame. Just as in life, Matuszak was defined by potential only barely realized, his struggle with addiction and, something you couldn’t see at first glance: a big heart.

The Tragic Life Of ‘Goonies’ Actor John Matuszak Revealed is an article from: LifeDaily

Slaying Of American Family Reveals Possible Link To Georgian Conspiracy

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Lora Smith Story

In the Age of the Internet, it’s not unusual to find a tale of true crime that makes one’s skin crawl. These tails usually involve some sort of dismemberment, long-term abuse, or gruesome killing. Such stories can make us question ourselves as a civilized culture, but not every one of these tales are as cut-and-dry as they seem.

Take for instance the story of the 19-year-old who allegedly killed an entire family in his native Georgia. Many facets of the investigation point to his guilt, but one note of doubt in his tale could point to a completely different, though wholly unbelievable, scenario…

The Gorge

Lora Smith Story
  shutterstock.com

It was a hot July day when a Georgian emergency response group began the arduous task of lifting the body out of the Khada gorge. The group had come looking for a missing family, two American expats who had moved to the area nearly ten years prior. Their Georgian neighbors had reported them missing and feared the worst.

Two Bodies

Lora Smith Story
  shutterstock.com

The body beneath the waterfall was that of Lora Joy Smith, a 42-year-old former teacher and it was clear from her condition that she had been sexually assaulted prior to falling to her death. The next day, the investigators discovered her husband Ryan’s body as well. He had been shot. Their son was still missing though and might be alive out there somewhere.

Contact the Authorities

Lora Smith Story
  shutterstock.com

The emergency response group continued searching the area for 4-year-old Caleb. The next day, a 19-year-old local boy named Malkhaz Kobauri contacted them, claiming he had information about the boy. Kobauri was a shepherd and though he had few dealings with the Smiths in the past, he seemed to know more than he let on.

Three Days

Lora Smith Story
  www.rustavi2.ge

Three days after Lora was found, Kobauri led the investigators to the place where he had allegedly buried Caleb’s lifeless body. He was immediately taken into custody and the rest of the team began the arduous process of examining the forensic evidence. They weren’t sure what Kobauri’s part in all this was, but something about the boy certainly seemed off.

Questions from the Start

Lora Smith Story
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The authorities had dozens of questions. How had Kobauri come to know the Smiths? Had he been the culprit that ended their lives or an innocent bystander who had seen the grisly crime occur? If he was the culprit, why had he chosen to kill them? To understand his motives, they first had to understand the victims.

Seeing the World

Lora Smith Story
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Ryan Smith left the United States in 2002 because he wanted to live his passion for travel. Ryan loved other cultures and was determined to experience them firsthand. So he made his way to Azerbaijan, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Azerbaijan sits at what is essentially the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It was the perfect starting point.

Inspiration

Lora Smith Story
  www.gofundme.com/ryan-lora-amp-caleb-fund

At first, Ryan settled in Baku, the capital of the country. He got a job working in the rug market and soon found himself Inspired by the unbelievable work of the rug makers there. He loved the intricacy of the weaving, the unique patterns, and the vibrant colors. He was so inspired, in fact, that he decided to start his own rug weaving business.

U.S. Citizens Abroad

Lora Smith Story
  www.gofundme.com/ryan-lora-amp-caleb-fund

In December of 2005, Ryan returned to the U.S., to his hometown of San Diego, California. While he was there, he met Lora, the woman who would end up becoming his wife. The two bonded in their love of travel and soon moved back to the Eurasian region, this time settling in Georgia’s eastern Marneuli city. It was there they had their first and only child, Caleb.

English Teacher

Lora Smith Story
  www.gofundme.com/ryan-lora-amp-caleb-fund

Together, Ryan and Lora ran ReWoven, the rug-making business that Ryan had dreamed of. ReWoven uses proven, traditional methods to create unique, handcrafted Azerbaijani woven carpets which they sell all over the world for upwards of $1,000 each. At the same time, Lora worked for the Georgian government as an English teacher.

Respected Members

Lora Smith Story
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The Smiths became well-respected members of the community, both among other expats and locals as well. It was because of this that their disappearance did not go unnoticed. They met Kobauri when they hired the shepherd to take them on a tour to a scenic waterfall in the country. They had no idea the type of person that the unassuming shepherd truly was.

The Shepherd Himself

Lora Smith Story
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Malkhaz Kobauri hailed from the Akhalgori district in the Tskhinvali or South Ossetia region, of Georgia. Since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, this area is controlled by a combination of Russian forces and South Ossetian militia. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant place to grow up, but by all appearances, the 19-year-old seemed like a nice young man.

One Final Tour

Lora Smith Story
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As far as the authorities could figure out, the tour came to a head when Ryan told Kobauri to be careful with the hunting rifle he was carrying. Apparently, the shepherd hadn’t been cautious enough with the weapon while in the presence of their 4-year-old son. An argument ensued and Kobauri turned the gun on Ryan, shooting him in the face.

Take Care

Lora Smith Story
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The irritated shepherd then proceeded to shoot the child at point blank range as well. Lora stood there, frozen in fear, unsure what she could possibly do to save herself from the same fate. She backed up towards the waterfall, caught between a proverbial rock and a hard place. Before she could make a move to escape, Kobauri allegedly forced himself upon her.

Incapable

Lora Smith Story
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After that, Kobauri threw Lora down the cliff to her death. When he was first arrested, Kobauri’s lawyer claimed that his client was incapable of having sex. He alleged that the 19-year-old was a virgin and simply wouldn’t have raped Lora. Unfortunately for him, a look into Kobauri’s Internet history proved that to be a gross exaggeration.

Pervert

Lora Smith Story
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As it happens, Kobauri, like many 19-year-olds, was a bit of a pervert. He’d been to plenty of pornographic websites and was almost certainly sexually active. The next revelation proved to cement that assertion as well, as investigators soon found photos on his phone of Lora Smith’s body after her fall into the ravine. Clearly, he had more than a passing interest in the woman.

DNA Evidence

Lora Smith Story
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DNA tests soon found evidence of Kobauri’s semen on Lora’s body, as well as on her underwear. As soon as the DNA results were announced, the shepherd’s lawyer David Girgvliani quit the case. He never gave a specific reason, but those who knew him understood that he was a man of integrity and he could no longer prove his client was innocent beyond a reasonable doubt.

New Claims

Lora Smith Story
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Luckily for Kobauri, a new lawyer stepped up to help defend his innocence. Lekso Kobaidze insists that his client is innocent and has made a motion to retract Kobauri’s earlier confession. The new story was that it wasn’t Kobauri’s fault at all and that “two mysterious foreigners” had killed the Smiths and then had browbeaten him into not telling a soul.

Threats

Lora Smith Story
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Kobauri claimed the men were from North Caucasus and arrived in the gorge in a black car. They shot the family dead and forced him to stay quiet about the thing under threat of killing his own family. This, of course, didn’t account for the DNA evidence or the fact that Lora Smith was thrown into the gorge. Nor did it account for the fact that no one actually saw the car besides the accused.

Coercion

Lora Smith Story
  shutterstock.com

Kobauri’s mother, Mariam Martiashvili, also came out in support of her son. She and her son’s lawyer both agree that Kobauri was, at the very least, forced to confess by police under threat of incarceration. But is this new tale an indication of a secret conspiracy against two wealthy American rug merchants, or the work of a sexually frustrated, murderous youth?

Life Sentence

Lora Smith Story
  www.georgiatoday.ge

If he is convicted in the trial, he faces a life sentence for the sexual assault and murders. That is pending that he is mentally healthy enough to stand trial. Currently, psychologists and psychiatrists have evaluated Kobauri and assure the courts that he is indeed well enough to proceed. Time will tell what the jury ultimately decides.

Slaying Of American Family Reveals Possible Link To Georgian Conspiracy is an article from: LifeDaily

Only Woman On Death Row In Oklahoma Shows No Remorse For Killing Husband

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Brenda and Rob Andrew Story

Even the holiest of people are capable of pure evil. While they kneel for prayer, their thoughts may not be as innocent and divine, but more sadistic than the devil himself.

When Rob married his high school sweetheart Brenda, a devout churchgoer, he thought he was marrying an angel in disguise and was thrilled to spend the rest of his life with her. Years later, their relationship changed, and his sweet angel’s intentions exposed a cruelty and darkness he had never known before.

Wholesome Childhood

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  shutterstock.com

Rob and Brenda both grew up in the tight knit community in the small town of Enid, Oklahoma. Brenda’s classmates described her as a quiet girl that loved to read and donated most her time to the local church and helping others.

An Instant Connection

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Rob was a student at Oklahoma State University when he first laid eyes on Brenda. A beautiful and charming high school senior, Rob couldn’t stop thinking about Brenda and pursued her to go on a date with him.

Perfect Pair

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  Forensic Files / TruTV

She agreed and soon enough, they shared an instant connection and started dating each other exclusively. People who knew the young couple described them as being inseparable and the perfect pair. Rob and Brenda’s relationship blossomed into true love and were happily married in 1984.

Change Of Heart

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  www.murderpedia.org

But after a few years, Rob noticed that Brenda’s sweet demeanor was not the same. She snapped at the simplest things, and found every opportunity to berate Ron. He could do no right in her eyes. Naive Rob would find out soon enough that a blissful marriage can turn sour as quick as a blink of an eye….

First Sign Of Trouble

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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No one really knows what was going on in the twisted mind of Brenda. But, something snapped. Rob made countless attempts to rekindle the relationship, yet he failed again and again. Brenda decided she wanted to live apart from Rob, but he begged her to come back to him, which she reluctantly did. But, the once sweet, loving, and attentive Brenda now resembled a narcissistic and self-absorbed individual.

One-Way Relationship

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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Close friends of the couple noticed the sudden change in Brenda and described their relationship as only a one way street. They portrayed Rob as overly attentive, affectionate, and loving towards Brenda. The Brenda they once knew as shy, quiet, and wholesome, had become verbally abusive towards Rob, repeatedly telling him that she wishes she never married him or that she simply hated him. Rob was completely clueless of the dark evil living under the same roof…..

Stay At Home Mom

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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In the following years, Brenda and Rob had two beautiful girls. Rob was hoping that a mother’s love for her children would encourage Brenda to find happiness. But, Brenda was harboring deep resentment towards Rob for having to stay home and raise their children, which meant quitting her job and leaving her work pals behind. Brenda refused to let her motherly role tie her down to the house and she would do whatever it took to get it….

Conservative to Provocative

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  www.murderpedia.org

Brenda Andrew seemed to have gone through a complete transformation. Rob began confiding to his friends and pastor about his failing marriage. The once conservative and shy woman, who rooted her life on worship and prayer, had now abandoned decency in exchange for a highly provocative look, consisting of only revealing clothes that showed off her tiny figure.  

An Admirer

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  Forensic Files / TruTV

Brenda became the Sunday school teacher at the North Point Baptist Church and developed a friendship with James Pavatt, a married man who was also a Sunday school teacher. Brenda and James’ relationship grew uncomfortably closer, spending countless hours together at the church, and around town. Rob, trusting his wife wholeheartedly, also befriended Pavatt, and welcomed him into his home, unaware of an affair brewing right before his eyes…

An Open Affair

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  Forensic Files / TruTV

Brenda and Pavatt’s relationship grew so intense, they would openly flirt with one another regardless of who was watching. They were told by church members they both were no longer needed as teachers at the church. Brenda and Pavatt continued their secret rendezvous, careless of the irreparable repercussions that it would lead too.

Divorce

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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Gossip of their illicit relationship shook the small, tight knit community to its core, eventually leading to Rob questioning the nature of their relationship. Brenda furiously denied the accusations, but by the following summer, both Brenda and Pavatt filed for divorce from their spouses.

Brake Line

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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A few months after their divorce, someone had severed the brake lines on Rob’s car. The following morning, Pavatt and Brenda fabricated a false “emergency,” apparently in hopes that Rob would have a traffic accident. Fortunately, the plan failed. Rob had already discovered that his brake lines had been cut before receiving the calls. If their divorce was finalized, why would Brenda and Pavatt want to kill Rob?

Insurance Policy

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  shutterstock.com

Before Rob and Brenda’s affair was out in the open, Rob considered Pavatt a close friend, and trusted him with opening a $800,000 life insurance policy on his behalf. Pavatt, a Prudential Life Insurance Agent, suggested to Rob to name Brenda as his sole beneficiary. After their divorce, Rob attempted to change his beneficiary to his brother, instead of Brenda. However, Brenda and Pavatt were already scheming a plan to avoid this from happening…

They Want Me Dead

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  Forensic Files / TruTV

After the incident with his brakes, Rob knew his ex wife and Pavatt were conjuring up schemes to have him killed. Rob confided in Pavatt’s supervisor, telling him that he thought Pavatt and his ex-wife were trying to kill him. It was later discovered that Brenda and Pavatt had attempted to transfer ownership of the insurance policy to Brenda, without Rob’s knowledge, by forging his signature and backdating it to the previous year.

Thanksgiving Tragedy

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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On the day of November 20, 2001, Rob drove to the house he and Brenda shared for nearly a decade to pick up his girls for the Thanksgiving holiday. Rob was overcome with sadness knowing it would be the first Thanksgiving without his family as one. He firmly believed that Brenda loathed him and actually wanted him dead, but it still hurt. When he got to Brenda’s driveway, she asked him to come inside to help her start the light on the furnace, and Rob obliged, not knowing that this last act of kindness would be his last act alive….

Ambushed

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  shutterstock.com

When Rob entered the home, he was ambushed and shot multiple times. Brenda Andrew, who suffered a superficial wound, called 911 and reported her husband was shot. The police rushed to the scene to find Rob on the floor, lying on his back with gunshot wounds in his torso and near his neck. His lifeless body was sprawled on the floor.

Two Masked Men

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
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She told authorities the couple had been attacked by intruders wearing black masks. Their children were found in a bedroom watching television with the volume turned up very high. They had no idea that their father was a few rooms away, laying in a pile of blood. But, why would two unknown men, with no apparent motive, want to kill a gentle soul like Rob?

On The Run: A Manhunt

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  shutterstock.com

Police had enough evidence discrediting Brenda’s concocted version of events. Brenda and Pavatt knew they were in hot water so instead of attending Rob’s funeral, the couple, her two children and Pavatt fled to Mexico. In late February 2002, having run out of money, Pavatt and Brenda re-entered the United States and were promptly placed under arrest in Hidalgo, Texas. The following month the pair were extradited to Oklahoma City.

What Really Happened

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  www.murderpedia.org

Prosecutors believed that when Rob bent down to light the furnace, Pavatt, a ruthless coward, shot Rob when his back was against him, then handed Brenda the shotgun. She took the second shot which ended 39-year-old Rob Andrew’s life. Pavatt then shot Brenda in the arm with a .22-caliber handgun in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Only Woman On Death Row

Brenda and Rob Andrew Story
  www.murderpedia.org

Pavatt and Andrew were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In separate trials, they were both found guilty and received death sentences. Brenda is the only woman on death row in the state of Oklahoma. Brenda Andrew has never shown remorse for her part in murdering her husband. She has always claimed her innocence…

Only Woman On Death Row In Oklahoma Shows No Remorse For Killing Husband is an article from: LifeDaily

National Guardsman Goes Above And Beyond For Sick Baby Stranded In Snowstorm

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Donovan McPherson Story

When a child is sick or in pain, a parent will do anything to make them feel better. But sometimes, a parent is faced with the terrifying situation of not being able to do anything to help them.

When a snowstorm left a North Carolina family stranded without power for days, the terrified mother started to fear for the worst. She knew her baby, who had recently been sick, was in danger in the freezing temperatures but was powerless to get somewhere warm and safe. Thankfully, however, a National Guardsman came to their rescue just in time…

A Massive Snowstorm

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

In early December of 2018, areas throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia were hit with a severe and sudden snow storm. The storm unloaded several inches of heavy snow and ice in the southeast of the United States, which normally doesn’t get such big storms.

Early In The Season

Donovan McPherson Story
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For many cities throughout the states, it was one of the earliest storms on record to bring so much snow. According to AccuWeather, some areas in western North Carolina and southwest Virginia were completely blanketed in well over 20 inches of snow.

The Hardest Hit City

Donovan McPherson Story
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Out of every city, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was hit the hardest and received the most amount of snow. By the end of the storm, 34 inches of snow covered everything. While other places weren’t hit quite so hard, the storm still brought as much snow as they normally receive during an entire winter season.

Just Getting Started

Donovan McPherson Story
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“We’ve had our entire winter average in one day,” ABC11 meteorologist Don Schwenneker said. “This is typically a snow that we’d see in January and February,” he added. “We’re just getting this one early this year. But I don’t think we’re done by any means. I still think we have winter to go through.”

Chaos Erupts

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

Many of those areas weren’t used to receiving so much snow in one storm, and as a result, chaos erupted. Throughout the entire region, the snow brought widespread disruptions, travel shutdowns, and power outages. In total, 380,000 homes were left without power.

Outages And Damage

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

For many areas, the power outages were due to tree limbs sagging and snapping under the weight of the heavy snow. The weight of the snow also caused property damage to homes throughout the region as many roofs started collapsing under the immense weight.

Getting To Work

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

In the wake of the storm, first responders had their hands full responding to thousands of accidents and calls for help from people without power. In North Carolina alone, highway patrol officers responded to 2,300 accidents because of the storm.

A Deadly Storm

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

Even several days later on December 10, 2018, people throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia were still without any power in their homes. Tragically, several people actually lost their lives during or after the storm.

The Governor Speaks Out

Donovan McPherson Story
  Michelle_C / Shutterstock.com

“Unfortunately, the snow has turned into a nightmare and a tragedy for some, claiming three lives. We mourn them and offer our deepest sympathies to their loved ones,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said in a statement while also warning residents to “stay vigilant.”

A New Danger

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

After the storm, warmer temperatures helped melt some of the snow, however, that presented new problems for everyone. When the temperature dipped back down overnight, all of the slush froze again and covered roads and sidewalks with dangerous ice.

A Warning To The Public

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

Governor Cooper urged everyone in North Carolina to stay off the roads if possible as they were now covered in dangerous ice. “Frigid temperatures descended on North Carolina last night, transforming slushy roads into treacherous ice,” Cooper warned in a statement to the public.

Don’t Risk It

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

“My message is simple: If conditions in your area are still dangerous, don’t take the risk,” Cooper added. “Sit tight and wait for the sunshine and safety.” Meanwhile, first responders throughout North Carolina were still hard at work trying to rescue stranded people or anyone trapped without power that needed help.

The National Guardsman

Donovan McPherson Story
  Donovan McPherson / Facebook

27-year-old Sgt. Donovan McPherson from the National Guard was one of those men and women volunteering their time to help any way they could after the storm. According to McPherson, who had been a member of the National Guard for 11 years, he had just finished up taking finals at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

The Emergency Call

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

When the storm hit, he suited up and went out with to help escort emergency responders as they drove around Lenoir, North Carolina, which received about 18 inches of snow. According to McPherson, during his first day volunteering, emergency workers received a call from a local family in trouble.

Desperate For Help

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

The baby’s mother explained that her baby was sick and that they desperately needed to get somewhere warm and with power. She went on to explain that a tree fell during the storm and her home was cut off from power. As a result, she had been left stranded in the home without any power for three days.

No Time To Wait

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

The mother was hoping to just wait until power was restored to the house, but the baby had recently been sick and she didn’t want to wait any longer and risk her baby becoming ill again. “The baby was recently sick,” McPherson told WRAL. “They were worried the baby would get sick again.”

Impossible To Drive

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

McPherson decided to respond to the call and when he got to the home, he found the mother frantically trying to carry the baby and several other items out of the house. Unfortunately, the roads were too bad to drive on, but McPherson found another solution.

An Incredible Solution

Donovan McPherson Story
  NCNationalGuard / Facebook

Instead of getting to safety by car, McPherson offered to carry the baby in a car seat the entire way. “She just thanked us,” McPherson said after his good deed, which made national news. McPherson and the state’s emergency management hazard team then transported the family to Hudson, North Carolina where relatives live.  

Thanking Their Rescuers

Donovan McPherson Story
  shutterstock.com

“Thank you all for working so hard & helping my granddaughter get to a warm area to help maintain her body temperature,” Stephanie Sides Gilbert, the baby’s grandmother, wrote in a post on social media thanking the heroes. Without their help, the baby may have been in serious danger.

A Humble Hero

Donovan McPherson Story
  Donovan McPherson / Facebook

“She would have been out too long to make it to my house,” Gilbert wrote in her note. “And also a big thank you to responding Caldwell County rescue. All the people were extremely nice and helpful.” According to McPherson, however, he was only doing his job.

National Guardsman Goes Above And Beyond For Sick Baby Stranded In Snowstorm is an article from: LifeDaily

Grieving Mom Shares Inspiring Message After Innocent Kids Targeted In Revenge Attack

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Michelle Pearson Story

From the moment someone becomes a parent, their world revolves around their children entirely. So when a parent experiences the devastating loss of a child, their entire world is shattered into a million pieces.

In 2017, a family from Manchester, England became the victims of a disturbing and heinous crime. In the months that followed, the surviving mother was devastated to learn that almost all of her children perished in the attack. Now, a year later, she has spoken out for the first time since her world was turned upside down.

Sound Asleep

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

On December 11, 2017, a family of six were asleep in their home in Walkden, which is in Manchester. They had no idea that while they slept, two local young men and a young woman were plotting to attack the Pearson family as revenge.

Former Friends

Michelle Pearson Story
  www.dailymail.co.uk

According to officials, 17-year-old Kyle Pearson had gotten caught up in a feud with 23-year-old Zak Bolland. The two had been friends until Bolland’s car had been set on fire and the windows of his home were broken. Bolland accused Kyle of the attack and vowed to get revenge.

The Threats

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

In the weeks before December 11, Bolland sent numerous threatening messages to both Kyle and his mother, Michelle Pearson. On a number of occasions, Bolland even followed through with his threats. Bolland smashed several windows at the Pearson’s home and set a fire in a garbage can outside the house.

The Attacks

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

On the night of December 10, 2017, Bolland and his friend, 26-year-old David Worrall, attacked their front door with a metal pole. Michelle called the police and gave a statement. Then several hours later, in the early hours of December 11, the pair came back to the home.

Gathering Supplies

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

The pair went out to a gas station to buy gasoline, got bottles from Bolland’s home, and went to the Pearson home with 21-year-old Courtney Brierley, Bolland’s then-girlfriend. At that point, Bolland and Worrall ripped off a fence panel from the front yard of Michelle’s house.

The Fire Bombs

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

The young men used the fence panel to break the kitchen windows of the home. Bolland and Worrall then tossed in the lit bottles full of gasoline. One of the bombs exploded near the staircase in the house, which blocked the only exit to the first floor of the home.

Trapped Inside

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

Bolland, Worrall, and Brierley fled the scene. Within minutes, everyone in the home woke up to smoke filling up inside the rooms. The children frantically tried to escape, however, they discovered they were completely trapped on the second level of the home.

Calling For Help

Michelle Pearson Story
  Arisha Ray Singh / Shutterstock.com

Meanwhile, neighbors were woken up by the explosions and rushed over to help. Because of the size of the fire, however, all they could do was call for help. Firefighters rushed to the scene of the fire, and desperately tried to save the family of young children.

The Survivors

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

By the time rescuers arrived, Kyle and friend Bobby Harris, who had been staying the night at the house, managed to escape by jumping out of a second-story window. Michelle, who had been asleep in the same room as her 3-year-old daughter, Lia, also managed to pull her young daughter from the house.

The Victims

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

Kyle and Michelle screamed trying to get the other kids to jump. According to neighbors, they heard Michelle frantically screaming for her children. “I could hear Michelle shouting, ‘Not the children. Not the kids,’” neighbor Karen Kormoss said during the later trial.

A Mother’s Anguish

Michelle Pearson Story
  Pearson Family

“I could hear her voice, ‘Not my kids. It happened in two minutes. The windows blown out and the flames coming out of both the upstairs and downstairs. It was gone. Just smoke,” Kormoss said. Tragically, 15-year-old Demi, 8-year-old Brandon, and 7-year-old Lacie were all killed in the fire.

Two Days Later

Michelle Pearson Story
  www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Two days later, Lia also tragically died from injuries sustained in the blaze. Michelle had been severely injured in the fire, so doctors decided to put her in an induced coma to try and keep her alive. Meanwhile, Bolland, Worrall, and Brierley were all arrested and charged.

The Trial

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

During their trials, each was found guilty for the heinous crime. Bolland was convicted of murdering the four children and was found guilty of attempted murder of the survivors. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years. Worrall was found guilty of the four murders and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent against the survivors.

The Other Sentences

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

Worrall was also sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 37 years. Brierly was found guilty of manslaughter for her involvement in the crime. She was sentenced to 21 years in a young offenders’ institution. “This is one of the most heartbreaking cases I have ever dealt with,” Detective Chief Inspector Lewis Hughes said in a statement after the trial.

Justice Is Served

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

“I am glad that the sentences these three have received today reflect their atrocious acts, but nothing can change what has happened and nothing can bring back the children,” Hughes added. “I would like to commend the bravery of the children’s family. I can’t even begin to imagine what they have been through. My thoughts will always be with their mother Michelle, along with their father, brothers and wider family and friends.”

Breaking The News

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

Four months after the devastating attack, Michelle finally woke up from the coma and learned that all but one of her children perished in the fire. Unfortunately, the medications she was taking affected her memory. As a result, she had to be reminded that her children were dead almost every day…

The Grieving Process

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

“She still gets upset,” Michelle’s mom, Sandra, told the Manchester Evening News. “12 months she’s been in here, but she wasn’t awake for half of it, so she has only just begun the grieving process. It took a long time for her to get her head around what happened. We’d have to remind her every day because of all the medication.”

Michelle Speaks Out

Michelle Pearson Story
  www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

“She has now accepted it and has started to grieve,” Sandra said. About a year after the attack, Michelle finally spoke out for the first time about what happened. “First of all, I’d like to thank all the firefighters for what they have done,” Michelle said in the emotional statement, which was reported by the Manchester Evening News.

The Candle-Lit Vigil

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

“Second, I would like to thank the community for all their generous donations. And last I would like to thank everybody for coming tonight,” Michelle told over 100 members of the community who gathered on the anniversary of the attack at a candle-lit vigil.

Grateful For The Support

Michelle Pearson Story
  shutterstock.com

“Lacie’s birthday was on Saturday. We spent the day with Michelle and then went back to the house and let off balloons with family and friends,” Sandra said. “Everyone has been so amazing. You don’t realize how many people have got together to help you – the fundraising, donations, and it’s all still coming in. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Grieving Mom Shares Inspiring Message After Innocent Kids Targeted In Revenge Attack is an article from: LifeDaily

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