Bowraville murders

The Bowraville murders were a series of killings that took place over a period of five months from September 1990 to February 1991 in Bowraville, New South Wales, Australia. The murders: The three killings took place in the rural timber town of Bowraville on New South Wales' Mid North Coast region. There were several similarities between the disappearances that led police to believe that they were committed by the same killer: The murders all took place within the short time frame of five months. All three victims were Aboriginal. Autopsies of the two bodies that were found indicate both suffered blunt force trauma to the head. All three victims disappeared after parties in the Aboriginal community in Bowraville, in an area known as The Mission. There were three victims in the series of killings. The first person to disappear was 16-year-old Colleen Walker, who was reported missing on 13 September 1990. The second to disappear was Walker's cousin, Evelyn Greenup, on 4 October 1990. The third victim was 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux on 1 February 1991. Victim 1 – Colleen Walker: The first victim, Colleen Walker, was last seen alive at a party in The Mission, in the Aboriginal community, on 13 September 1990. The last positive sighting of Colleen was walking away from a group of people at the party. She was reported missing to the police the following day by her family. Despite the family being sure that something terrible had happened, the missing persons report was not taken seriously by police; no search parties were formed and no formal police action was taken. Walker's body has not been found, although her weighted down clothes were later found by a fisherman in the Nambucca River. Much media commentary assumed Walker was from Bowraville, but she was visiting family and friends and was from Sawtell. Victim 2 – Evelyn Greenup: Two-and-a-half weeks after the disappearance of Walker, 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup disappeared after a party at The Mission, on 4 October 1990. She was last seen by her mother as she was put to bed some time during the night. The next morning she was gone from her bed. Her grandmother later recalled hearing her cry out in the night, but did not think much of it at the time. Greenup's skeletal remains were found six months later in bushland near the side of the road, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Bowraville. An autopsy could not conclusively determine the cause of death, but noted that a skull injury was "consistent with a forceful penetration by a sharp instrument". Victim 3 – Clinton Speedy-Duroux: Approximately three months after the disappearance of Greenup, 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux went missing after a party at The Mission. He was last seen leaving the party on his way to a house to sleep. Speedy-Duroux's remains were found about two weeks later by farmers who were collecting wood. Investigation and prosecution: In spite of two trials and a coroner's inquest, no one has been successfully prosecuted for the murders. Arrest of Thomas Jay Hart: On 8 April 1991, a local Bowraville labourer, 25-year-old Thomas Jay Hart, was arrested for the murder of Clinton Speedy. Hart was well known in the Aboriginal community in Bowraville, and often attended the parties at The Mission. On 16 October 1991, while on bail awaiting trial, Hart was arrested and charged with the murder of Evelyn Greenup. Despite a strong circumstantial case, Hart was acquitted of Speedy's murder by a Supreme Court jury on 18 February 1994, the third anniversary of the discovery of his body. After the acquittal on the Speedy case, prosecutors did not proceed with the trial against Hart for the Evelyn Greenup murder. Evelyn Greenup trial: In 1997, the New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Ryan set up Task Force Ancud, to continue the investigation into the unsolved murders. In February 2004, an inquest was held into the murders, and as a result Thomas Jay Hart was charged again, this time for the murder of Evelyn Greenup. The trial was conducted in February 2006. The prosecution provided strong evidence including two supposed confessions made by Hart. Despite the evidence and confessions, Hart was acquitted on 3 March 2006. After-effects: The murders, and the fact that to date no one has been convicted of the crimes, is a source of pain and bitterness in the Aboriginal community in Bowraville. After the acquittal of Hart in 2006, the NSW Police Minister raised the reward to $250,000 for information leading to the conviction of the persons responsible for the murders. The previous reward was $100,000 and it was only for Colleen Walker. In November 2011 bones were found believed to be Colleen Walker-Craig but they were DNA tested and turned out to be animal remains. In 2006, changes were made to double jeopardy legislation in NSW opening the way for retrial of any person acquitted of a life-sentence offence if "fresh and compelling evidence" was uncovered. On 8 February 2013, the Attorney-General of New South Wales, Greg Smith, chose to re-try all three cases in separate trials. The families of the three children have called for a Royal Commission to enquire into the conduct of the police investigation. Facebook pages have been set up for victims families: Justice for Colleen Walker-Craig. Submission to Attorney-General: In May 2016 The Australian newspaper released a weekly podcast examining the murders of the 3 children. Narrated by crime reporter Dan Box, the podcast resulted in significant national attention being placed on the three unsolved murders. In May 2016, the detective-inspector leading the investigation made a submission to the Attorney-General calling for a retrial of the prime suspect based on new evidence. 9 February 2017 police laid a murder charge against a man previously tried and acquitted of the murders of Evelyn Greenup and Clinton Speedy-Duroux. A decision on whether the case can continue is reliant on the outcome of an application to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal by the Attorney-General regarding a re-trial.

Disappearance of Morgan Nick

Morgan Chauntel Nickis an American girl who was abducted at a Little League Baseball game. Her mother is known for creating the 'Morgan Nick Foundation', which helps people find their missing children. Disappearance: On June 9, 1995, Morgan Nick and her mother, Colleen Nick, went to a Little League baseball game in their town of Alma, Arkansas. At around 10:30 p.m., Morgan asked her mother if she could catch lightning bugs with her friends. At first, her mother was uncertain, but eventually let her go. She was last seen at 10:45 p.m. by her friends, emptying sand out of her shoes at her mother's car. Morgan was however not where her friends were located. Her friends were located at a car a little ways away emptying their shoes. Her friends said that there was a "creepy" man talking to Morgan around the last time she was seen. Later that evening, when the game was over, Morgan's friends returned without her. They told Colleen that Morgan was at her car, but when Colleen went to the car to look for Morgan, she was not there. She has not been seen or heard from since. Aftermath: Colleen Nick later started the Morgan Nick Foundation, which helps parents cope with the disappearances of children, and helps prevent children from going missing. Her case was shown on both Unsolved Mysteries and America's Most Wanted, while Morgan's family and the foundation was featured in 2005 on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition after the family's house was damaged in a water heater explosion. The AMBER Alert service is named the Morgan Nick Amber Alert in the state of Arkansas. In August 2012, Tonya Smith and James Monhart, two previously convicted felons, were arrested for computer fraud after attempting to assume the identity of Morgan Nick.

Disappearance of Ludovic Janvier

Ludovic Janvier is a six-year-old French boy who went missing on 17 March 1983 from Saint-Martin-d'Hères, a suburb of Grenoble, in the Isère département of south-eastern France. His disappearance has been linked to that of several other children in the area, collectively known as the Disparus de l'Isère (literally, the "Disappeared of the Isère"). Ludovic's whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Disappearance: Six-year-old Ludovic Janvier disappeared from Saint-Martin-d'Hères on Thursday 17 March 1983. He was last seen in Place de la République, on the way home with his two brothers, Jérôme (8) and Nicolas (2½). They had gone to buy cigarettes for their father sometime between 6:30 and 7:45 pm. Investigation: Several witnesses testified that a man wearing a construction-style hard hat, blue work overalls and black heavy-duty zip-up shoes approached the boys and said to them: "I've lost my wolf-dog. If you help me find him, I'll buy you sweets." The man allegedly asked them to separate in two different directions. Jérôme and Nicolas went one way, and the unknown man left in the other direction with Ludovic in hand. Jérôme and Nicolas returned home and told their father what had happened. Their father then informed the police. Later that year, the clerk of a court judge in Grenoble received a phone call informing her that the child had been adopted by a new family. The anonymous correspondent claimed to have read this in the newspaper L'Union de Reims. On 23 May 1985, police found the body of a child in the nearby Vercors Cave System. The body was never identified. Aftermath: Around 2010, Virginie – Ludovic's sister – received a phone call from a nurse at a hospital near Reims, a French city 600 km (370 miles) to the north. The nurse claimed to have seen someone resembling Jèrôme, Ludovic's older brother. She recognised the now adult Jérôme after seeing him in a news report about Ludovic's disappearance. In 2011, the Grenoble authorities announced that they were reopening Ludovic Janvier's case, as well as that of another girl in the "Disparus de l'Isère" investigation. Their disappearances were reclassified as "illegal confinement". In 2013, Ludovic's mother appealed to the authorities in an attempt to find out whether the body of the unidentified child found in 1985 was that of her son. In 2014, the Grenoble authorities announced that they were closing Ludovic Janvier's case. The family's lawyers, Didier Seban and Corinne Herrmann, hope to appeal this decision on the basis of witness statements which they believe have not been followed up. In 2015, the Court of Appeal reopened the case and ordered new investigations.

awesome

yesterday i had my 1st pumpkin spice latte of the season and met a new friend.

U.S. military response during the September 11 attacks

On the morning of September 11, 2001, four commercial airliners were hijacked and deliberately crashed by the radical Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda. American Airlines Flight 11, departing from Boston, was flown into the North Tower of World Trade Center at 08:46. United Airlines Flight 175, also departing from Boston, was flown into the South Tower 17 minutes later at 09:03. American Airlines Flight 77, departing from Washington Dulles International Airport, was flown into the Pentagon at 09:37. United Airlines Flight 93, departing from Newark Liberty International Airport, was crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 after the passengers onboard revolted. Standing orders on September 11 dictated that, upon receiving a request for assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) would normally order escort aircraft to approach and follow an aircraft that was confirmed to be hijacked in order to assure positive flight following, report unusual observances, and aid search and rescue in the event of an emergency. The 9/11 Commission determined that on the morning of September 11, the FAA deliberately did not adequately notify NORAD of the hijackings of Flights 11, 77, 93, or 175 in time for escort aircraft to reach the hijacked flights. Notification of the hijacking of Flight 11 prompted the scrambling of two fighter jets from Otis Air National Guard Base, but they were not in the air until after Flight 11 had hit the North Tower. An erroneous FAA report of a hijacked plane heading towards Washington ("phantom Flight 11") prompted the scrambling of three more fighters from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, which due to "poor communications", ended up flying eastward, out to sea, instead of heading toward Washington, significantly delaying their arrival on the scene. Radar tracking: The hijackers of the four planes switched off the transponders or changed their codes upon taking control, making it difficult to track them on radar. Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) /NORAD personnel stated they had difficulty identifying and tracking the aircraft, though they were at times able to locate them: -NEADS technicians spotted Flight 11 twenty miles north of Manhattan, just two or three minutes before it crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. -"Looking at the general capitol area, one of the NEADS tracker techs thinks he spots the plane on radar." -The 9/11 Commission Report: "Radar techs at NEADS/Rome are tracking Flight 77 near Washington, D.C." As the transponders in three of the four hijacked aircraft were switched off, and the remaining aircraft had changed its transponder code twice, the FAA had difficulty relaying the current aircraft positions to NORAD/NEADS by phone, so even though they had access to the same radar data, NEADS was unable to locate most of the flights. This intermittent data was of some use to the US Secret Service. Barbara Riggs, then Deputy Director of the Secret Service stated, "Through monitoring radar and activating an open line with the FAA, the Secret Service was able to receive real time information about other hijacked aircraft. We were tracking two hijacked aircraft as they approached Washington, D.C." Flight 11: At 08:13, the pilots of Flight 11 responded to an instruction to turn 20 degrees to the right issued from Boston Center. A few seconds later, Boston Center instructed the pilots to ascend in altitude to which there was no response. Multiple attempts to contact the flight went unanswered and as it became apparent that Flight 11 began to pose an air hazard, air traffic controllers began to reroute arriving aircraft for adequate separation.[6] Boston Center flight controller Tom Roberts said "We had pretty much moved all the airplanes from Albany, New York to Syracuse, New York out of the way because that’s the track he was going on.'" At 08:19, Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, called the American Airlines reservation desk to report that the flight as hijacked. At 08:21, Flight 11 stopped transmitting its transponder information concerning its altitude or identification. At 08:24, the controller heard what he believed was the voice of a hijacker (believed to be Mohamed Atta) in a radio transmission from Flight 11. Two minutes later, the plane veered off course and turned south near Albany, NY. The Boston Center called the FAA Command Center at Herndon at 08:28 to report the hijacking. At 08:32, Herndon called FAA Headquarters in Washington. At 08:34, Boston Center contacted Otis Air National Guard (ANG) base to notify them of the hijacking. The controller at Otis directed Boston to contact NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), and then informed the Otis Operations Center to expect a call from NEADS ordering a scramble. At this time two pilots began to suit up and drove to their waiting F-15 fighter jets. At 08:37, Boston Center contacted NEADS in Rome, New York. This was the first report of a hijacking that reached NORAD. Two F-15 alert aircraft at Otis Air National Guard Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts were ordered to battle stations (seated in their aircraft, engines not yet started). At 08:46, just as Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the two F-15s were ordered to scramble (an order that begins with engine start-up, a process that takes about five minutes), and radar confirmed they were airborne by 08:53. By that time, however, the World Trade Center's North Tower had already been hit. At that time, NEADS personnel were still trying to pinpoint the location of Flight 11, but since the plane had already struck the North Tower, they were unable to. Without having a specific target located, military commanders were uncertain where to send the fighters. Boston Center controllers were still tracking Flight 11 as a primary target but were unable to communicate its location to NEADS by phone. After news of an aircraft hitting the World Trade Center began spreading, no decision was made to alter the course of the F-15s of the 102nd Fighter Wing. A decision was made to send the Otis fighters south of Long Island rather than straight to New York City, as originally ordered by Maj. Nasypany of NEADS. One of the two pilots, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy, would later state he had already heard about the suspected hijacking (attributed to a phone call from the FAA's Boston Center) as he was supervising training exercises at Otis ANG base. Claiming to have a "bad feeling about the suspected hijacking", he and his wingman, Major Daniel Nash, decided to use their F-15s' afterburners. Flying supersonically, the F-15s were just south of Long Island when United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the World Trade Center's south tower. NEADS wanted to direct the fighters over Manhattan, but FAA air controllers, fearing collisions with civilian aircraft, told NEADS to hold off. According to the FAA, there is an average of 200 flights per 24 hours over the Hudson River in the vicinity of NYC. The fighters were then ordered in a holding pattern off the coast of Long Island (in military-controlled airspace), where they remained from 09:09 to 09:13. After the airspace was cleared, the Otis fighters were directed towards Manhattan, where they arrived at 09:25 and established a combat air patrol (CAP). The 9/11 Commission report stated the Boston center tried to contact a former alert site in New Jersey, but it had been phased out. The report stated there were only seven "alert" sites (sites which had a pair of aircraft armed and on hand) in the United States by 9/11 and just two in the Northeast Air Defense Sector--Otis Air National Guard base in Massachusetts and Langley air force base in Virginia. Flight 175: United Airlines Flight 175 departed Logan Airport at 08:14 also bound for Los Angeles just like Flight 11. At 08:42, when Flight 175's pilots sent their last radio transmission, the aircraft's transponder was at that time transmitting the assigned code. Five minutes later, the transponder code changed twice, the first indication that the plane had been hijacked, although air traffic controllers would not notice for several more minutes. As word began spreading about the hijacking of Flight 11, air traffic controller David Bottiglia and other controllers searched the radar, looking for Flight 11. At 08:51, he noticed that Flight 175 had changed its transponder. He asked another controller to take over all of his other planes. Bottiglia tried six times to contact Flight 175 between 08:51 and 08:55, with no response. The aircraft deviated from its assigned altitude at 08:51, and began its turn toward New York City at 08:52. At 08:55, Bottiglia told a manager at FAA New York Center that he thought Flight 175 had been hijacked. According to the 9/11 Commission report, this manager then "tried to contact regional managers but was told that they were discussing hijacked aircraft (presumably Flight 11) and refused to be disturbed." At around this time, Flight 175 flew within about 200 feet of Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, bound from Bradley to Tampa, Florida. In the final moments before impact, according to eyewitness and Newark air traffic controller Rick Tepper, Flight 175 executed ".. a hard right bank, diving very steeply and very fast. As he was coming up the Hudson River, he made another hard left turn..." One or two minutes before it crashed into the World Trade Center, Flight 175 narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Midwest Airlines Flight 7 (Midex 7). At 09:01, a New York Center manager called FAA Command Center at Herndon. NEADS was notified at 09:03, when the New York Center manager called them directly, at about the time that Flight 175 hit the South Tower. The F-15s were still 20 minutes away from Manhattan when United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the WTC's south tower. Although NORAD knew of no other hijacked aircraft, a precautionary measure was taken by ordering fighters at Langley Air Force Base to battle stations. Phantom Flight 11: At 09:21, NEADS received another call from Colin Scoggins, who reported erroneously that Flight 11 was not, in fact, the aircraft that hit the North Tower at 08:46, as had been previously believed, but that it was still in the air and heading towards Washington. NEADS responded to this report by giving a scramble order to three fighters from the 1st Fighter Wing on alert at Langley Air Force Base at 09:24, and by 9:30 they were in the air. According to the 9/11 commission, the Langley pilots were never briefed by anyone at their base about why they were being scrambled, so, despite Langley officials' having been given the order from NEADS to fly to Washington, the unbriefed pilots ended up following their normal training flight plan, due east, out to sea. The fighters then flew north-west towards Washington, arriving around 10:00. Flight 77: American Airlines Flight 77 took off from Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C. at 08:20. The last transmission from the flight took place at 08:50:51. The flight proceeded normally until 08:54, when the aircraft deviated from its assigned course by initiating a turn to the south. Two minutes later, at 08:56, the plane's transponder was switched off, and its primary radar track was lost. Later, after hearing about the hijacked planes hitting the World Trade Center, Indianapolis Center suspected that Flight 77 may also have been hijacked, and shared this information with FAA Command Center at Herndon, where staff contacted FAA Headquarters in Washington at 09:25. NEADS learned that the flight was lost at 9:34 during a phone call with the FAA Headquarters. Washington Center: "Now let me tell you this. I – I'll – we've been looking. We're – also lost American 77 ... They lost contact with him. They lost everything. And they don't have any idea where he is or what happened." The FAA did not contact NEADS to make this report. This phone call was initiated by NEADS in an attempt to locate Phantom Flight 11 (see previous). At 09:35, Colin Scoggins from the FAA's Boston Center again called NEADS to inform them that they had located an aircraft, which later turned out to be Flight 77, heading toward Washington D.C. at a high speed. Two minutes later, a NEADS radar technician spotted a target he believed to be Flight 77. This radar target was in fact Flight 77, but the target vanished as soon as it was discovered. NEADS officials urgently ordered the fighters from Langley to be sent to Washington immediately, but the plane struck the Pentagon at 09:37:46. The Langley fighters were still 150 miles away. Flight 93: At 09:28, FAA Cleveland Center controller John Werth heard "sounds of possible screaming" coming from Flight 93 and noticed that the plane had descended 700 feet. At the time, Werth knew that some passenger jets were missing and that one had hit the World Trade Center in New York. At 09:32, he heard a voice saying "We have a bomb on board" and told his supervisor who then notified FAA Headquarters. At 09:36, FAA Cleveland called FAA Command Center at Herndon to ask whether the military had been notified – FAA Command Center told Cleveland that "FAA personnel well above them in the chain of command had to make the decision to seek military assistance and were working on the issue". At 09:49, the decision about whether to call the military had still not been made, and no one from the FAA called NEADS until 10:07, four minutes after Flight 93 had crashed near Shanksville, PA. Werth later commented: Within three or four minutes, probably, of when it happened, I asked if the military was advised yet. Had anybody called the military? They said, "don't worry, that's been taken care of," which I think to them meant they had called the command center in Washington." Dennis Fritz, director of the municipal airport in Johnstown, Pa., said the FAA called him several times as the plane approached his city, and even warned him to evacuate the tower for fear the jet would crash into it. Had Flight 93 made it to Washington, D.C., Air National Guard pilots Lieutenant Colonel Marc H. Sasseville and Lieutenant Heather "Lucky" Penney were prepared to ram their unarmed F-16 fighters into it, perhaps giving their lives in the process. NORAD timeline: On September 18, 2001, NORAD issued a press release containing a timeline of the events of the September 11, including when they were contacted by the FAA. This page has been removed, but a copy can be found at archive.org. However, in 2004, the 9/11 Commission, after listening to tapes of communications, found that portions of this timeline were inaccurate. The NORAD timeline had served as the official account of the military response, and elements of that timeline appeared in the book Air War over America (notably information concerning United Flight 93, e.g., pages 59 and 63), and was given in testimony to the 9/11 Commission by NORAD's Major General Larry Arnold (retired), and Colonel Alan Scott (retired) in 2003. Concerning Col. Scott's statements to the Commission. From Vanity Fair, August, 2006, page 5 of 9: — In the chronology presented to the 9/11 commission, Colonel Scott put the time NORAD was first notified about United 93 at 9:16 a.m., from which time, he said, commanders tracked the flight closely. (It crashed at 10:03 a.m.) If it had indeed been necessary to "take lives in the air" with United 93, or any incoming flight to Washington, the two armed fighters from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia would have been the ones called upon to carry out the shootdown. In Colonel Scott's account, those jets were given the order to launch at 9:24, within seconds of NEADS's receiving the F.A.A.'s report of the possible hijacking of American 77, the plane that would ultimately hit the Pentagon. This time line suggests the system was starting to work: the F.A.A. reports a hijacking, and the military reacts instantaneously. Launching after the report of American 77 would, in theory, have put the fighters in the air and in position over Washington in plenty of time to react to United 93. Concerning Gen. Arnold's statements to the Commission. From Vanity Fair, August, 2006, page 5 of 9: — Major General Arnold explained to the commission that the military had been tracking United 93 and the fighters were in position if United 93 had threatened Washington. "It was our intent to intercept United Flight 93," Arnold testified. "I was personally anxious to see what 93 was going to do, and our intent was to intercept it." In testimony a few minutes following Col Scott's testimony, however, General Arnold added an unexpected twist: "We launched the aircraft out of Langley to put them over top of Washington, D.C., not in response to American Airlines 77, but really to put them in position in case United 93 were to head that way." Problems with the officers' statements to the Commission. From Vanity Fair, August, 2006, page 5 of 9: — As the tapes of F.A.A. and military communications on 9/11 reveal in stark detail, parts of Scott's and Arnold's testimony were misleading, and others simply false. At 9:16 a.m., when Arnold and NEADS commander Colonel Robert Marr had supposedly begun their tracking of United 93, the plane had not yet been hijacked. In fact, NEADS wouldn't get word about United 93 for another 51 minutes. And while NORAD commanders did, indeed, order the Langley fighters to scramble at 9:24, as Scott and Arnold testified, it was not in response to the hijacking of American 77 or United 93. Rather, they were chasing a ghost Flight 11. NEADS was entering the most chaotic period of the morning. The Washington Post reported in its August 3, 2006, edition that: "Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate. Suspicion of wrongdoing ran so deep that the 10-member commission, in a secret meeting at the end of its tenure in summer 2004, debated referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation, according to several commission sources. Staff members and some commissioners thought that e-mails and other evidence provided enough probable cause to believe that military and aviation officials violated the law by making false statements to Congress and to the commission, hoping to hide the bungled response to the hijackings, these sources said." In their 2007 book, Without Precedent, 9/11 Commission chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee H. Hamilton wrote that 9/11 conspiracy theories had grown primarily because of problems in the previous story about the planes: "If the military had had the amount of time they said they had ... and had scrambled their jets, it was hard to figure out how they had failed to shoot down at least one of the planes. ... In this way, the FAA's and NORAD's inaccurate reporting after 9/11 created the opportunity for people to construct a series of conspiracy theories that persist to this day." "The tapes recordings ... from the day were extremely important – they provided a real-time record of what was happening that enabled our staff to relive the day, instead of relying solely on people's memory or their hurried notes of what took place." The NORAD timeline showed that the FAA had notified NORAD earlier than the taped evidence indicated, and the 9/11 Commission Report faulted the FAA for not contacting NORAD quickly enough. The NORAD timeline showed notification of the hijacking of Flight 175 at 08:43, while the tapes show NORAD was notified at the same time Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 09:03. According to Scoggins, however, "With American Airlines, we could never confirm if Flight 11 was down or not, so that left doubt in our minds." According to the 9/11 Commission report, at approximately 08:32, the FAA's Herndon Command Center established a teleconference between Boston, New York, and Cleveland Centers so that Boston Center could help the others understand what was happening. Controllers at the Boston Center knew American Airlines Flight 11, which departed at 07:59 from Boston for its flight to Los Angeles, was hijacked 30 minutes before it crashed. They tracked it to New York on their radar scopes: 'I watched the target of American 11 the whole way down,' said Boston controller Mark Hodgkins. Several Boston controllers tracked American 11 for its entire flight. The FAA mistakenly thought Flight 11 was still possibly airborne, in part because American Airlines did not confirm that they had lost all contact with Flight 11 until some time after 10:00. The NORAD timeline showed that the fighters scrambled from Langley at 09:24 were in response to a 09:21 FAA report of the hijacking of Flight 77; NORAD never mentioned the phantom Flight 11. From Michael Bronner of Vanity Fair: The problem, Scoggins told me later, was that American Airlines refused to confirm for several hours that its plane had hit the tower. This lack of confirmation caused uncertainty that would be compounded in a very big way as the attack continued. (Though airlines have their own means of monitoring the location of their planes and communicating with their pilots, they routinely go into information lockdown in a crisis.) In October 2003, the 9/11 Commission issued a subpoena to the FAA to turn over documents after the Commission's investigators determined that material had been withheld.[39] A tape was made of oral statements of New York air traffic controllers, intended to be used as an aid in their making written statements, then destroyed. A quality assurance manager at the FAA's New York Center denied the staff access to the tape and later destroyed it. Its existence came to light in 2003 interviews with FAA staff. The Commission subpoenaed the tape and other records from the FAA on Oct. 16, 2003.[40] In November 2003, the Commission issued a subpoena to NORAD; its second subpoena issued to a federal agency for failure to turn over documents. In July 2004, the 9/11 commission made referrals to the Inspectors General of both the US Department of Transportation and the Defense Department to further investigate whether witnesses had lied. Commission staff believes there is sufficient evidence that the false statements made to the commission were deliberately false. -John Farmer, Jr., the commission’s senior counsel The DoD Inspector General's report was released to the New York Times in August 2006 under a FOIA request. According to the report, military officials were exonerated of intentionally misleading the 9/11 Commission in their testimony. A summary of the report called for more steps to improve the Defense Department's ability to investigate "a future significant air event," including more effective event logging methods. The US Transportation Department's Inspector General's investigation report was released on August 31, 2006. FAA personnel were also exonerated of knowingly misleading the 9/11 Commission. Air Sovereignty Alert (ASA) preparedness- Background: In January 1982, the FAA unveiled the National Airspace System (NAS) Plan. The plan called for more advanced systems for Air Traffic Control, and improvements in ground-to-air surveillance and communication with new Doppler Radars and better transponders. Better computers and software were developed, air route traffic control centers were consolidated, and the number of flight service stations reduced. There is no overlap of responsibility between DoD and FAA within the NAS: this is why within FAA-controlled airspace the FAA is in charge of controlling and vectoring hijack intercept aircraft. The radar systems at NEADS had been scheduled to be upgraded in a contract awarded in 1997, but the project cost had been revised upwards by 700% causing the Air Force to cancel the contract and begin plans to re-open the bidding process. Planning for terrorist use of hijacked airplanes as missiles had been considered for some military exercises prior to 9/11, though all but one of those exercises considered only aircraft originating from other countries. The US and Canadian militaries, particularly NORAD and the US Air National Guard, have been tasked with interception duties concerning hijacked aircraft. Their primary duty was assistance to law enforcement. Quoting Maj.Gen. Larry Arnold: "We always viewed an attack from within our borders as a law enforcement issue, ...". Military aircraft were to be used to assure positive flight following, report unusual observances, and aid search and rescue in the event of an emergency. Jamie Gorelick of the 9-11 Commission had taken part in those security measures as Deputy Attorney General, and described the measures in Commission hearings. In April 2001, NORAD considered an exercise in which an aircraft of foreign origin was hijacked by terrorists and flown into the Pentagon, like a missile, but rejected the scenario as implausible.[46] Five months later, a similar scenario occurred. However, in January 2002 Maj.Gen. Larry Arnold, stated "...we did not honestly think about hijacked airliners being used in suicide attacks." Efforts post-9/11: In April 2003, a contract was awarded to upgrade the Battle Control Systems, operational date by summer 2006. Later systems, such as the Joint-Based Expeditionary Connectivity Center (JBECC), merge civil and military radar data. Once deployed, the JBECC can fuse and correlate target data covering about 400 miles (640 km) of coastline from disparate airborne, land- and sea-based sensors creating fire-control-quality tracks that can guide interceptors to engagement. Major General Larry Arnold, USAF, ret. stated in May 2001, that JBECC will provide "... more time to scramble fighters and see any target, whether small, large, low or high." General Arnold also stated "In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we had to hook up to FAA radars throughout the country, install compatible radios for nationwide coverage between our command and control agencies and our airborne assets, and purchase a new command and control computer system to integrate radar and communications. The initial investment was for $75 million, and this number has grown to nearly $200 million." Organizations outside the FAA (e.g., the airlines, Department of Defense, NASA, and international sites) also have access to the FAA's Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) software and/or data for purposes of flight management and tracking. 2009 Government Accountability Office report on ASA: In January 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published "Homeland Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Management of Air Sovereignty Alert Operations to Protect U.S. Airspace" on the Air Force's Air Sovereignty Alert mission. According to the report: The Air Force has not implemented ASA operations in accordance with DOD, NORAD, and Air Force directives and guidance, which instruct the Air Force to establish ASA as a steady-state (ongoing and indefinite) mission. The Air Force has not implemented the 140 actions it identified to establish ASA as a steady-state mission, which included integrating ASA operations into the Air Force’s planning, programming, and funding cycle. The Air Force has instead been focused on other priorities, such as overseas military operations. While implementing ASA as a steady-state mission would not solve all of the challenges the units must address, it would help them mitigate some of the challenges associated with conducting both their ASA and warfighting missions. The report further stated: The GAO analysis also showed that none of the Air Force's key homeland defense documents—the Air Force homeland defense policy directive, the Air Force homeland operations doctrine, and the Air Force homeland defense concept of operations—fully defines the roles and responsibilities for, or accurately articulates the complexity of, Air Sovereignty Alert operations. The report made the following recommendations to improve ASA operations: We recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Commander of the U.S. command element of NORAD to routinely conduct risk assessments to determine ASA requirements, including the appropriate numbers of ASA sites, personnel, and aircraft to support ASA operations. We recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the military services with units that consistently conduct ASA operations to formally assign ASA duties to these units and then ensure that the readiness of these units is fully assessed, to include personnel, training, equipment, and ability to respond to an alert. We recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Secretary of the Air Force to take the following five actions: • Establish a timetable to implement ASA as a steady-state mission. • Implement ASA as a steady-state mission according to NORAD, DOD, and Air Force guidance by • updating and implementing the ASA program action directive; • updating the Air Force homeland defense policy, homeland operations doctrine, and concept of operations to incorporate and define the roles and responsibilities for ASA operations; and • incorporating the ASA mission within the Air Force submissions for the 6-year Future Years Defense Program. • Develop and implement a plan to address any projected capability gaps in ASA units due to the expected end of the useful service lives of their F-15s and F-16s. • Develop and implement a formal method to replace deploying units that still provides unit commanders flexibility to coordinate replacements.

Plain dress

Plain dress is a practice among some religious groups, primarily some Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show humility and preserve communal separateness from the rest of the world. Practicing groups: The practice is generally found among the following Anabaptist branches: Amish (Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Kauffman Amish Mennonites, Beachy Amish Mennonites), Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites, Conservative Mennonites, traditional "Russian" Mennonites), Hutterites, the Bruderhof Communities, Brethren (Old Order Brethren, Dunkard Brethren). Plain dress is also practiced by some Conservative Friends (Quakers), in which it is part of their testimony of simplicity, as well as fundamentalist Mormon subgroups. Among the Amish and other plain groups, plain dress is not considered to be a costume but instead is an expression of their religious philosophy. Plain, simple dress is governed by an unwritten code of conduct, called "ordnung" among Anabaptists, which is strictly adhered to by the Amish and Old Order Mennonites. Historically, Methodists were known for wearing plain dress, a tradition carried on by a few members in the conservative holiness movement, such as some communicants of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, as well as some Pentecostal denominations. Other groups adhering to a conservative dress code include Buddhist and Christian monks, Orthodox Jews, Muslim women, but these forms of dress normally are not called "plain dress". Practices of plain dress: Plain dress is attributed to reasons of theology and sociology. In general, plain dress involves the covering of much of the body (often including the head, forearms and calves), with minimal ornamentation, rejecting print fabrics, trims, fasteners, and jewelry. Non-essential elements of garments such as neckties, collars, and lapels may be minimized or omitted. Practical garments such as aprons and shawls may be layered over the basic ensemble. Plain dress garments are often handmade and may be produced by groups of women in the community for efficiency and to ensure uniformity of style. Plain dress practices can extend to the grooming of hair and beards and may vary somewhat to accommodate stages in the life cycle such as allowing children and older people more latitude. Within these general practices, distinctions abound. In some groups, for example, the women's preferred head covering is lacy or translucent; in others, it must be opaque. Anabaptist: The traditional plain dress worn by the Anabaptists and other religious groups has long sleeves with a set waist, long skirt, and no adornment. It denotes "utility, modesty, long wear and inconspicuousness", does not display any trademark, and is not dictated by fashion trends. Shawl, aprons, bonnets and cap are part of plain dress. Quaker: As a part of their testimony of simplicity, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) traditionally wore plain dress; "Ruffles and lace and other forms of ornamentation, as well as unnecessary cuffs and collars and lapels and buttons, were forbidden." George Fox implored fellow Quakers to wear plain dress: Friends, keep out of the vain fashions of the world; let not your eyes, minds, and spirits run after every fashion (in attire) of the nations; for that will lead you from the solid life into unity with that spirit that leads to follow the fashions of the nations, after every fashion of apparel that gets up: but mind that which is sober and modest, and keep to your plain fashions, that you may judge the world's vanity and spirit, in its vain fashions, and show a constant spirit in the truth and plainness. This classical Quaker belief practice continues to be maintained by Conservative Friends. Methodist: Early Methodists wore plain dress, with Methodist clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general". John Wesley, the founder the Methodist movement recommended that Methodists read his thoughts On Dress, in which he detailed acceptable types and colors of fabrics, in addition to "shapes and sizes of hats, coats, sleeves, and hairstyles"; in that sermon, John Wesley expressed his desire for Methodists: "Let me see, before I die, a Methodist congregation, full as plain dressed as a Quaker congregation." Those who tried to attend Methodist services in costly apparel were denied admittance. The 1858 Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection stated that "we would not only ejoin on all who fear God plain dress, but we would recommend to our preachers and people, according to Mr. Wesley's views expressed in his sermon on the inefficiency of Christianity, published but a few years before his death, and containing his matured judgment, distinguishing plainness—Plainness which will publicly comment them to the maintenance of their Christian profession wherever they may be." The 1859 novel Adam Bede portrayed the Methodist itinerant preacher, Dinah Morris, wearing plain dress, with the words "I saw she was a Methodist, or Quaker, or something of that sort, by her dress". Peter Cartwright, a Methodist revivalist, lamented the decline of wearing plain dress among Methodists, stating: The Methodists in that early day dressed plain; attended their meetings faithfully, especially preaching, prayer and class meetings; they wore no jewelry, no ruffles; they would frequently walk three or four miles to class-meetings and home again, on Sundays; they would go thirty or forty miles to their quarterly meetings, and think it a glorious priviledge to meet their presiding elder, and the rest of the preachers. They could, nearly every soul of them, sing our hymns and spiritual songs. They religiously kept the Sabbath day: many of them abstained from dram-drinking, not because the temperance reformation was ever heard of in that day, but because it was interdicted in the General Rules of our Discipline. The Methodists of that day stood up and faced their preacher when they sung; they kneedled down in the public congregation as well as elsewhere, when the preacher said, "Let us pray." There was no standing among the members in time of prayer, especially the abominable practice of sitting down during that exercise was unknown among early Methodists. Parents did not allow their children to go to balls or plays; tey did not send them to dancing schools; they generally fasted once a week, and almost universally on Friday before each quarterly meeting. If the Methodists had dressed in the same "superfluity of naughtiness" then as they do now, there were very few even out of the Church that would have had any confidence in their religion. But O, how have things changed for the worse in this educational age of the world! While little, if not none, wear plain dress in mainline Methodism today, a few members of the conservative holiness movement, such as the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, continue to dress plainly, also avoiding the wearing of jewelry (inclusive of wedding rings). Moravian- Historically, members of the Moravian Church, wore plain dress: Their strait, unlapelled, dark brown coat, the broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, the knee-buckled small clothes, the broad, round-toed shoe, were consistent characteristics of a Moravian brother; whilst the plain drab or black silk bonnet, the three-corned white kerchief, the plain silk gown (Sunday dress), the comfortable hood-finished cloack, the "stuff" shoe, for comfort and convenience, were the sitsers' concession to St. Peter's advice, "whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel." Theological bases for plain dress: Plain dressing Christians cite Paul's advice to the Romans, "Be not conformed to this world," as one Biblical basis for their distinctive dress. Other scripture passages counsel women to wear head coverings while praying (1 Corinthians 11:5), not to cut their hair (1 Corinthians 11:14-15), and for men not to shave or cut their beards (Leviticus 19:27). The rejection of extravagant clothing is further established in 1 Timothy 2:9-10: That women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Social effects of plain dress: Plain dress may establish a sense of belonging within the community while also marking the group's members as different in the wider society. Some practitioners describe their dress as a protection from unwanted attention. Quaker minister Elizabeth Fry considered her plain dress to serve as "a hedge against the world", and "a sort of protector". Marketing through the internet has these sites which propagate plain dress: "Quaker Jane", "Plain and Simple Headcoverings", "Rachel’s Seamstress Services" and "Mennonite Maidens". Simple dress, considered "sensible and useful" and necessary, is sometimes hard to find as the clothing market is dictated by fashion conscious people who consider plain dress dull. Plain dress in literature: Dressing heroines in Victorian literature in plain dress is often assumed to be a way of making characters appear classless and sexless. Others argue that authors like Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Anthony Trollope use plain dress to highlight the marriageability of the character, sexualizing her by emphasizing the female body within. Additionally, plain dress may signify a character's rejection of societal norms and willingness to leave the household to act on her desires.

Disappearance of April Pitzer

April Beth Pitzer was an American former model who disappeared in 2004 under unusual circumstances in Newberry Springs, California, a small community in the Mojave Desert. Her case has been profiled on the series Disappeared, and was one of the most high-profile cold cases in California. Background: At the time of her disappearance, Pitzer had relocated from Longview, Texas to California after losing custody of her two daughters. Pitzer, a former model, suffered from bipolar disorder, and had claimed to her mother that she was working as a waitress in California during the spring of 2004; however, she had stopped taking her bipolar medication and was living in homeless shelters and on the streets. Disappearance: Pitzer was last seen in Newberry Springs on June 28, 2004 by Chuck Hollister, a man in his sixties with whom Pitzer had been residing at the time. According to Hollister, he dropped Pitzer off at a bus stop in Newberry Springs after helping her pack her belongings; Pitzer had been planning to return to Arkansas to live with her mother, Gloria Denton, who later confirmed this. Pitzer never arrived in Arkansas, and has not been seen or heard from since. Investigation: On September 9, 2004, an anonymous transit employee in Barstow, California notified police that they had been told by a woman riding their bus that she knew Pitzer, and that she was "in a hole." The same week, a message written inside a rest stop on Interstate 5 in Oregon was discovered; the message read: "Want to find missing girl from Arkansas? I-15 freeway, 3 miles east of Barstow." According to Pitzer's mother, she suspected her daughter may have been targeted as a result of her past as a drug informant in Texas. Additionally, a cafe proprietor in Newberry Springs stated she had hired Pitzer as a waitress several days before her disappearance; she claimed that on her second day of work, Pitzer arrived with what appeared to be a blackened eye. Law enforcement examined Hollister as a potential suspect as he was the last person to see Pitzer. Hollister, however, denied any involvement, claiming that after dropping Pitzer off at the bus stop, he had helped a friend move to Oregon and was out of the state; when he returned, she was gone. Mine searches: The message discovered in the rest stop led law enforcement to home in on mine shafts in San Bernardino County outside Newberry Springs in their search for Pitzer. In 2005, it was discovered that Chuck Hollister's close friend, Dan Dansbury, who went by the name "Dan Dan," owned the Red Dog Mine, a mine that was abandoned in 1979. During a December 2005 search in and around the Red Dog mine, police recovered a white suitcase and scattered clothing that Denton claimed was Pitzer's, which was scattered across a 3 mi (4.8 km) radius. Hanging in an abandoned shack approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Red Dog Mine, near Ludlow, police discovered a nightgown belonging to Pitzer tied in a hangman's noose. Also found in the shack were strips of gauze and a bottle of iodine. Additional clothing was discovered buried under a deck attached to another shack near the Indian Queen, a separate mine in the vicinity. Multiple articles of clothing discovered were identified by Pitzer's mother as clothes that she had sent her daughter in care packages. Numerous searches were undertaken at the Red Dog Mine; inside, searchers discovered additional belongings of Pitzer's, including boots and undergarments, as well as a mattress and a sheet stained with blood and bodily fluids. Hollister died of cancer in September 2006, and denied any involvement in Pitzer's disappearance. In November 2009, Pitzer's mother was contacted by Hollister's friend, Dan Dansbury, while organizing a search for her daughter in California. Denton met with Dansbury, who was on his deathbed; he claimed to have known Pitzer, but denied any involvement in her disappearance. However, after their meeting, Dansbury reportedly told a friend that the previous searches for Pitzer at the Red Dog Mine were "in the right place," but he added that they "hadn't gone far enough." Samples of dirt and other debris from the mine were collected for potential forensic evidence. Pitzer was declared legally dead on August 27, 2012. In 2016, after years of searches, Pitzer's mother stated that she was confident her daughter's remains were not in the mine, although they may have been at one time before being relocated. Later developments: A local methamphetamine manufacturer in Newberry Springs, Steve Wilkinson, was considered a suspect in Pitzer's disappearance, possibly related to her past as a drug informant. It was reported that Wilkinson had been seen in the area of the Red Dog Mine on September 4, 2015, one day prior to a planned trip to Amarillo, Texas. En route to Amarillo on September 5, Wilkinson was killed when the Cessna 310 airplane in which he was a passenger crashed into a mountain near Silverton, Colorado.

creme filled wafer

i LOVE those things. I've gotta watch how many i ate since i'm a diabetic, have a slight sugar sensitivity and i'm trying to watch my weight. dunk 1 of those things in a cup of coffee and whew.

Ready

I'm almost all ready for school tomorrow. I'll be ready shortly. Anyways who cares? It's quick

Curry

I made more curries. I love curries. Especially since I can make them vegetarian

Walker County Jane Doe

Walker County Jane Doe is an unidentified murder victim discovered on November 1, 1980, in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas. After the investigation of her murder and identity went cold, she was buried in a donated casket in Oakwood Cemetery in the same town where she was found. To this day, she has yet to be identified, even though her face has been reconstructed several times. Sightings: Multiple people, all of whom are now dead, reported seeing a teenage girl, matching the victim's description. These include the manager of the South End Gulf station and two employees at the Hitch 'n' Post truck stop, who described her as wearing jeans, a dirty yellow pullover, and a white knit sweater that had noticeably large pockets that went past her waist, carrying red sandals. The witness at the second location said the victim asked for directions to the Ellis Prison Farm, which is located about 14 miles (23 km) from where her body was later found. She was reportedly dropped off at the first location at around 6:30 PM by a man driving a blue 1973 or 1974 Chevrolet Caprice with a lighter-colored top. After getting directions, the girl left on foot. A waitress from the truck stop also believed that she had spoken to the victim. The girl had arrived at the location and requested directions to the prison, claiming a "friend" was there and the witness drew a map to the location. The waitress said that she suspected the girl was a possible runaway, and that she said she was from Rockport or Aransas Pass, Texas. The victim claimed to be 19 years old; when the waitress expressed doubts and asked if the victim's parents knew where she was, the girl replied, "Who cares?" Discovery: The body of a girl, estimated to be between the ages of 14 and 20, was found lying face-down and nude by a passing driver on November 1, 1980, in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas on Interstate Highway 45. The motorist, who was a truck driver, called police at 9:20 AM at the location, where officers later arrived. The victim had been dead for around six hours, placing the time of death at about 3:00 AM; the cause of death was ligature strangulation with pantyhose, fragments of which had been lodged in the vaginal cavity, along with her underwear. The presence of the pantyhose and underwear that had been forced into the victim's body was likely done in order to prevent the body from bleeding while it was being transported. She had also been severely beaten, had a visible bite mark on her right shoulder, and had been sexually assaulted with a large blunt instrument in both lower body cavities. It is unknown if she had been raped, as there was no biological evidence at the scene. The beating that the girl had suffered was severe, as many bruises were noted across her body and her lips and right eyelids were swollen. She was between five feet and five feet five inches in height, and weighed between about 105 and 115 pounds. Her eyes were a hazel color and her hair was a light brown color, described to be having a reddish tint with about a ten-inch length. She had the distinct feature of a scar above her right eyebrow and her right nipple was inverted. No other features, such as birthmarks, were stated to be significant "markers" for identification. She appeared to have been from a middle-class household, as she was at a healthy weight and her teeth had been well cared for and had evidence of dental work. Her ears were pierced, but contained no earrings at the time of discovery. Her toenails had been painted pink, but there was no polish on her fingernails. High-heeled red leather sandals with light brown straps, which the girl seen alive was carrying, were recovered from the scene, but the rest of her clothing was missing. A rectangular brown pendant containing a smoky blue or brown glass stone on a thin gold chain necklace was found around her neck. The employees from both locations at which the girl was seen identified the body as the subject asking them for directions. Investigation: Inmates, along with staff members, at the Ellis Prison Farm were shown photos of the victim, but none could identify her. At the time, no missing person reports could be matched to the victim as well. Police later searched through schools for possible identities of the girl but were unsuccessful in finding a suitable match. It is believed that the victim was from the region the subject seen alive had stated, which was the southeast part of the state, despite that nobody in the towns of Aransas Pass or Rockport identified the body. On January 16, 1981, the body was buried at Oakwood Cemetery, located in the town she was found, under a donated tombstone. There is a possibility that she may have been killed by the same person as another unidentified victim, known as "Orange Socks", who was murdered exactly a year before and found in Georgetown, Texas. Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas has also been named as a possible suspect in this case. However, the bite marks on the girl's shoulder could not be matched to Lucas' dental charts. No prime suspects have been named, although police have considered the possibility that the victim was killed by a serial killer. Some have theorized that the girl may have actually been murdered by a female. Journalist Michael Hargraves suggested such a theory, due to the fact that no semen was found and that the sexual assault was performed by forcing an object into the victim's body. He elaborated to say that most men who commit sexual-related crimes are known to bite the victims on sensitive areas instead of on the back, in this case. The common act of male murderers collecting souvenirs was also noted to be inconsistent with the case, as the necklace the girl had worn was still present on the body. However, the fact that most of her clothing was missing disproves this portion of the theory. Many different forensic facial reconstructions were created to illustrate estimations of how the girl may have looked in life. In recent years, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released two images, one in 2012 and another after the thirty-fifth anniversary of her death, by studying morgue photographs taken of the victim. Artist Karen T. Taylor created a sketch of the victim in 1990, incorporating an estimation of the girl's necklace and an investigator at the Walker County Sheriff's office also created a rendering. Taylor included the case in her book Forensic Art and Illustration, and wrote about having difficulties with creating her sketch, as the only frontal photograph made available to her at the time was of one taken after the victim had been treated at a funeral home, which had made adjustments to the face in order for it to be suitable to be viewed in an open-casket funeral. She also explained that a scaled photograph of the girl's necklace was not available, and she was forced to guess at its size for her rendering. The remains were exhumed in 1999, in order to obtain more information of the victim's height and age, as well as a DNA sample. Further into the investigation, DNA testing, with undisclosed results, was performed on the sandals found with the body. Local police departments have also monitored other missing person reports for potential matches. Investigators have also reached out to the public through various news and television reports in hopes to generate leads, all of which, to date, have been unsuccessful in solving the case. In November 2015, the case was officially reopened by the sheriff's office. 2015 developments: On December 12, 2015, a photograph taken in 1980 surfaced of a 14-year-old white female, 5'4" in height, a possible runaway named "Cathleen" or "Kathleen" from Corpus Cristi, Texas. The photograph of Cathleen came from a collection of a brother and sister who were 12 and 10 at the time and who met her in a motel in Beeville, Texas in summer 1980. They recall she had lived with a couple, and wished to meet a friend from Sugarland Prison in the summer of 1980. They genuinely believe that "Cathleen" or "Kathleen" could be the victim and there is now a photo of her, with appeals to the public to help provide her full name. The Facebook page, "Who Was Walker County Jane Doe?," has the photo, details, and is asking the public for her full name, appealing primarily to anyone who attended elementary or middle school in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1960s and 1970s who recognize the name and photo. "Kathleen" most likely was born in 1966.

papers

i'm writing more papers than ever. this 1 i'm doing for communication class is a self concept paper. it's about how i see myself and how that got to be.

study

how do you study for a dance class other than dancing?

long hair

my hair is long. like almost elbow length. i got it cut short a year ago and got it trimmed back in the spring. it's long enough you'd believe it if i cut it a few months ago but my hair grows fast. when i was in high school i had to have my hair grow out a lot. also i was allowed to grow my hair out like crazy as a kid. when i was baptized and did baptisms for the dead i had it long so my hair had to be tied back.

Murder of Margaret Martin

Margaret Martin was a resident of Kingston, Pennsylvania, United States, who went missing on December 17, 1938, and was found dead in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, several days later. Martin was a recent graduate of the Wilkes-Barre Business College. On December 17, 1938, she met an unknown man who claimed to be offering her a secretarial job, and was never seen alive again. Her body was discovered in the wilderness 25 miles (40 km) away by a hunter four days later. Martin's death resulted in a lengthy manhunt. Numerous suspects were examined, but no one was ever convicted of the crime. As of 2017, it remains an unsolved case and it is unlikely that the perpetrator will ever be discovered. Victim: Margaret Martin was a resident of Kingston, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Kingston High School in 1937. She took classes at the Wilkes-Barre Business College to gain secretarial skills and graduated with honors at the beginning of December 1938. She was 19 years old at the time of her death. According to Betty Hopkins, a former classmate, Martin was "a shy, studious, friendly girl who had many friends". Her parents described her as "a living saint". She was also a devout Catholic. Martin's father was John Martin, a local foreman and minor politician. Margaret Martin was the eldest of four children. Disappearance: On December 17, 1938, a man contacted Martin, claiming that he was setting up an insurance company and needed a secretary, adding that he had heard of her through the Wilkes-Barre Business College. The two agreed to meet in Kingston Corners, not far from Martin's home. Martin was first noted to be missing that evening, after she had failed to return home from the alleged job interview. Several witnesses said they had seen her getting into a brown Plymouth or black sedan with a man after a brief conversation. This was the last time she was seen alive. The witnesses were only able to give vague descriptions of the man, described as a "suave, neat, sandy-haired young man", and did not identify the car's license plate. The man was between 25 and 30 years of age and slightly overweight. Martin's friends and family called the police and started a search, but her disappearance was difficult to publicize since the local newspapers were on strike. Death and discovery of the body: According to a 1999 article in The Times Leader, Martin was tortured and murdered in a sawmill in the mountains about 15 miles (24 km) from the creek where her body was found. According to theories by the police, the killer had attempted to dismember her body and destroy it in the mill's firebox, but had been scared off by the mill's owner, James Kedd. Kedd had assumed that the killer was a mere trespasser and had fired a warning shot in the killer's direction. The killer then drove to a point close to the creek and carried Martin's body the final 75 yards to the creek, where he abandoned it. Initially, it was suspected that Martin's disappearance was linked to a sex slavery ring. However, her body was discovered in the forested wilderness of Northmoreland Township, Wyoming County, on December 21, 1938, about 25 miles (40 km) from her home. The discoverer was 19-year-old Anthony Rezykowski, who was trapping muskrats in the area. Rezykowski noticed a large burlap bag partially submerged in 2 feet (0.61 m) of water in a creek. Upon further investigation, he found the bag to contain the mutilated body of a young woman with no clothing. The body was soon identified as Margaret Martin's. At the time of her body's discovery, she had been dead for at least 24 hours. If not for Rezykowski's discovery of her body, it may have gone unnoticed for several years. Martin's body showed signs of having been beaten—perhaps with a rock—and strangled. She had bruises on her throat and body, as well as knife wounds on her stomach and thigh. Her autopsy found the cause of death to be strangulation and stated that she had "suffered the molestation of a degenerate". Initial investigations: After the discovery of Martin's body, approximately 75 state troopers combed the area in search of clues. However, no tire tracks were seen near the site where her body was found, and the burlap bag proved to be of no use in identifying any suspects. According to The Citizens' Voice, burned cloth matching the clothing Martin was wearing when she was last seen was discovered at an abandoned sawmill near Forkston. However, an article in The Kane Republican stated that this was not the origin of the cloth. An incident involving a bundle of clothing being thrown from a car near Orwigsburg proved to be unrelated to Martin's killing. On December 22, the Scranton Tribune predicted that Martin's killer would be arrested within 24 hours. Many hundreds of people attended Martin's funeral at St. Ignatius Church in Kingston on December 24. Plainclothes police officers also attended her funeral in the hopes of noticing anyone suspicious attending. Several theories about the identity of Martin's murderer were suggested by locals. These included a mortician from Wyoming County, a businessman's son who left the area soon after the murder, a local assistant pastor, a teacher at the Wilkes-Barre Business College, and a local teenager who had a crush on Martin. Two men who had attempted to attack a 16-year-old girl from Hanover Township, Luzerne County, were also investigated. Some investigators believed that due to the killer's familiarity with the area's terrain, the killer must have been a local. More recently, it has been suggested that the killer was actually a non-local serial killer. Impact and aftermath: On December 28, 1938, Pennsylvania state senator Leo C. Mundy stated that at the next state legislature, he would introduce a bill making sex crimes punishable by execution and requiring registration for all sex offenders. Mundy had resolved to introduce the bill due to Martin's murder. Physicians and welfare and social service workers would also be required to report anyone with tendencies towards such offenses. By the beginning of 1939, most clues pertaining to Martin's murder had proven to be useless. The manhunt for the killer was still ongoing in February of that year, but the police had not turned up any more information. In June 1939, further clues were discovered, but the killer was not identified. Although a very large number of suspects were investigated after Martin's death, no perpetrator was ever identified. In September 1942, Orban Taylor of New York City confessed to Martin's murder. However, his confession was proven to be false after ten hours of investigation. Taylor was not charged with that crime although he did confess to several other crimes. In 1948, a decade after Martin's murder, the case was one of the few major unsolved murders in Pennsylvania. In 1999, Peter Paul Olszewski, Jr., who was at the time the Luzerne County District Attorney, stated that even with modern criminal investigation methods and forensic techniques, it is unlikely that the identity of Martin's killer will be discovered. It is presumed that the killer is now long-deceased.

Death of Tiahleigh Palmer

Tiahleigh Alyssa Rose Palmer (sometimes known as Tia or Tiah) was an Australian girl who lived in Logan City, Queensland, She disappeared on 30 October 2015, her remains were found six days later and her foster father, Rick Thorburn, was charged on 20 September 2016 with her murder. Disappearance and death: Palmer's foster father says he drove her to Marsden State High School on 30 October 2015, dropping her off at about 8:10am. She did not attend any classes and was not seen for the rest of the day. On 5 November, police released photos and appealed to the public for information on Palmer's whereabouts in a press conference. Later that day, the remains of a female aged 12–18 were found on the bank of the Pimpama River and, on 6 November, they were officially identified as Palmer's. Police then began a search for Palmer's backpack and school uniform. On 7 November, a vigil was held in Logan for Palmer and, on 14 November, her funeral was held and attended by more than 600 people. Investigation: On 4 December 2015, a shoe believed to be Palmer's was found near where her body was discovered. Police conducted many interviews, searched the area around the Pimpama River and forensically examined a number of houses and vehicles. The investigation failed to find her missing backpack and school uniform. Palmer's foster father, Rick Thorburn, was a person of interest to police from the earliest days of the investigation. The Thorburns fostered no more children after Palmer's disappearance, but continued to run a daycare service from their home until April 2016 when the state's education and child safety departments were advised by police that Rick Thorburn was facing nine serious charges unrelated to Palmer, and the family's daycare approval was revoked and their foster care approval was suspended. In September 2016 a car formerly owned by Rick Thorburn was seized by police for forensic examination, and on 20 September 2016, Palmer's foster parents and their two sons were taken into police custody for questioning. Rick Thorburn, was charged with her murder and with interfering with a corpse. He collapsed shortly after his arrest and was subsequently placed in an induced coma for several days, missing a scheduled court appearance the next day. Police are looking into whether he took pills just before or after his arrest, in a suicide attempt. Palmer's 19-year-old foster brother, Trent, was charged with two counts of perjury and one count each of attempting to pervert the course of justice and incest, and was denied bail. Palmer's foster mother, Julene, and older foster brother, Joshua, were both charged with perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice and released on bail. Arrests: Palmer's grandmother has told reporters that, months before she died, Palmer had declined an option to move in with her mother because she had a crush on Trent, and because she loved the horses on the Thorburn property. In a court hearing on 21 September 2016 prosecutors said that two days before Palmer's death, Trent confessed to a cousin that he had had sex with Palmer on the previous Monday, and that Palmer had told his mother about it. The court also heard that, shortly before her disappearance, Palmer had told a friend that Trent would have sex with her when Mrs Thorburn went out, and she had told her foster mother about the abuse. Prosecutors say that Trent now admits he was lying when he had earlier repeatedly denied the abuse to his parents and police. Charges: On 23 September investigators began excavating the Thorburns' rural property in a search for evidence. Rick Thorburn said nothing to investigators, but Julene and Joshua made statements to police. On 10 October 2016, Julene and Joshua Thorburn's lawyer told a court they would plead guilty to all charges and had agreed to be witnesses for the prosecution.

lol

today was an epic fail when it came to grabbing me and my brother as we were at different places. luckily we did what we needed to do.

Pumpkin spice

I think the pumpkin spice latte is out now so I'll try getting 1. If I can.

Pumpkin breath

My mom got me pumpkin spice granola bars. Yay. Let the pumpkin breath begin

Disappearance of Cheryl Grimmer

Cheryl Grimmer was a three-year-old toddler who went missing on 12 January 1970 from a Wollongong beach, in Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia. She had been in the shower block at the beach when witnesses claim a man took her and ran off. Grimmer's disappearance has been without explanation for over 45 years. A suspect was arrested and charged in March 2017. Life: The family emigrated from Knowle, a suburb of Bristol, England to Australia in 1969 when Cheryl was two years old and they were living in a hostel near to the beach where she disappeared. The family was mother Carole (26), father John (24) and sons Ricki (7), Stephen (5) and Paul (4). Cheryl was the Grimmers' only daughter. Disappearance: On the morning of 12 January 1970, the Grimmer family went to the beach at Fairy Meadow in Illawarra except for John Grimmer who was away working as a sapper for the Australian Army. When the weather turned at 1:30 pm, Carole Grimmer decided it was time to go home. The children all went to the shower block together whilst Carole Grimmer packed up their belongings. Ricki went back to Carole Grimmer ten minutes later saying that Cheryl was refusing to come out of the shower block. She followed Ricki back to the shower block moments later only to find that Cheryl had disappeared. There has been no trace of her since. Theories: At the time, witnesses claimed that a man was seen holding Cheryl up to drink from a water fountain and then ran off with her wrapped up in a towel. She was also spotted being driven off in a white car. New South Wales Police Minister Michael Gallagher said that it is entirely possible that both Cheryl and her kidnapper were dead but that someone may know the truth. He also alluded to the possibility of someone being alive today suspecting that they may be Cheryl. One reason for this is that Cheryl had a medical condition that made her belly button protrude outwards by 10 millimetres (0.39 in) and this would be easily identifiable if that person were alive today or had had surgery to correct this. In 2012 a woman thought that she might be Cheryl. She submitted a DNA swab taken from her inside cheek, but this proved to not be a match for Cheryl Grimmer's DNA. Investigation: Her disappearance sparked a massive manhunt and three days later, police received a note demanding $10,000 and saying that the child was unharmed. The police staged a drop for the money in Bulli, but the kidnapper never showed despite police earnestly believing the note was credible. The police disguised themselves as council workers for the ransom drop, but they fear this led to the kidnapper being spooked and that the large police operation may have also deterred the kidnapper from coming forward to claim their ransom. The case became famous in Australia and the family relocated back to England for ten years afterwards to escape the notoriety. A local man confessed to killing Cheryl, but police investigations revealed that his confession was false. Aftermath: Police announced in December 2016 that they had a credible lead on a man who was seen carrying a fair-haired child at the time of Cheryl's disappearance from the beach. Police said that he was a teenager at the time, so would be in his 60s now, and appealed for him to come forward. In May 2011, a coroner ruled that Cheryl had died sometime after going missing due to an undetermined cause, but Carole Grimmer stated that she believed her daughter was still alive. Both Carole and John Grimmer have since died without knowing what happened to Cheryl. Despite the coroner's ruling, police posted a $100,000 reward for information regarding Cheryl's disappearance. In 2016, a review of the evidence was carried out and all of the evidence and witness statements were computerised for the first time. The review threw up many leads and information that was not pursued thoroughly enough in 1970. Wollongong detectives and the Homicide Squad's Unsolved Homicide Team combined efforts into a new task force called 'Strike Force Wessell'. On 23 March 2017, it was announced that a man had been arrested and charged with Grimmer's abduction and murder. Police stated that it is unlikely that Cheryl's body will ever be found as there has been substantial development of the once-rural area in the 47 years since the abduction. In April 2017, NSW police stated that they were trying to trace a family who gave a witness statement on the day of the abduction. The family moved soon after to Papua New Guinea and then back to their native Nottinghamshire in England. Interpol helped to trace the witness, now 80-years old, whose testimony is expected to be crucial in the upcoming court case. In May 2017, it was revealed that the suspect who was arrested in March 2017 had confessed to Cheryl's abduction and murder back in 1970. However, police at the time did not believe him. The accused is a 63-year-old man who was born in Britain and has been in Australia since the late 1960s. He has not been named, as he was 16-years-old at the time of the alleged offence and therefore a minor.

Mary Agnes Moroney

Mary Agnes Moroney (disappeared May 15, 1930) is a kidnapped American child. She had just turned two when she was kidnapped from her Chicago, Illinois home on May 15, 1930. Her kidnapping was heavily covered by both local and national media, but her whereabouts were never discovered. Her kidnapping is the oldest unsolved case of this nature in the files of the Chicago Missing Persons Bureau. Disappearance: Catherine Moroney had married Michael Moroney very young, at the age of thirteen and, by the age of seventeen, had two daughters, Mary Agnes, 2, and Anastasia, 11 months. They lived at 5200 Wentworth Avenue. They were very poor, as Michael only made US$15 per week, passing out handbills. A relative of Catherine's wrote to the needy-family service and a paragraph on the family's plight was printed. The service did not normally disclose addresses, but, through a slip, the Moroneys' address was learned by a woman. On May 14, 1930, while Catherine was scrubbing the floor, there was a knock at the door. When Catherine opened the door, she was greeted by a woman who stated she had been sent by a social worker to deal with the Moroneys' case. She was described as well-dressed, about 22 years of age, with protruding teeth and a "cultured" voice and she identified herself as "Julia Otis". After listening to the Moroneys' problems, she asked Catherine if she could take Mary Agnes to California with her, just for a little while, adding that she would be unrecognisable and "fat as a butterball". Catherine refused. After promising to return, the stranger handed Catherine $2 and left. The next day, May 15, she came back, this time not with money, but baby clothes, as Catherine was pregnant. She stated that she had arranged for her husband to get a better job and then she offered to take Mary Agnes to a nearby store and buy her some clothes and shoes. Eventually, Catherine gave her consent. Later, Catherine commented that Mary Agnes sobbed and refused to go with the woman, but she was taken anyway. She was never returned. Letters- First letter: The Moroney family received a letter from "Otis" the day after she took Mary Agnes. It read: “Please don't be alarmed, I have taken your little girl to California with me. I have hired a special nurse to care for her. We'll be back in two months. By that time you will be on your feet again and will be able to care for her. She didn't even cry a bit. She is outfitted like a princess. In the meantime, I'll help all I can to get you on your feet. Don't worry about her or anything else. When you get this letter we'll be on our way already. As ever, Julia Otis” This was the last the Moroneys ever heard from Julia Otis. Second letter: Two weeks after the kidnapping, a woman who identified herself as "Alice Henderson" sent the Moroneys a letter in which she stated that "Otis" was her cousin and that she was "love hungry" because her own husband and baby had died the year before. Henderson never wrote again and authorities state that the letter from "Otis" is written in the same handwriting as the one written by "Henderson". Alleged findings- Indian woman: In July 1931, an elder Indian woman named Martha Thompson was found pushing a cart to join a circus. The cart contained a blond-haired, blue-eyed three-year-old girl that matched Mary Agnes's description. Thompson maintained that the girl was abandoned by her mother, Florence Fuller, and begged to be allowed to keep her. The Moroneys did not identify the girl as Mary Agnes and the girl was not identified. Mary McClelland: A 24-year-old housewife called Mary McClelland (née Beck) came forward in 1952, claiming that, by looking at photos of Mary Agnes's siblings (six more were born after her kidnapping), she suspected she was Mary Agnes. She had been adopted within a year of Mary Agnes's disappearance by Charles and Nora Beck. Dr. Kraus, after studying and comparing her dental casts, named her as one of the family. Her skull and blood showed she was a Moroney and her mother claimed to recognize her. However, an ageing physician named Dr. E. W. Merrithew stated that he delivered McClelland to an unknown mother on November 17, 1927 and McClelland's mother provided a baby picture of her daughter dating from 1928, which proved she had been adopted two years before the Moroney abduction. What is more, Mary Agnes underwent an operation for a ruptured navel, but McClelland did not have the scar Mary Agnes had at the time of her disappearance. Further DNA testing proved she was not Mary Agnes and she died in 2005. The Moroney kidnapping remains unsolved.

Disappearance of Peter Wilson

Peter Wilson was a man from Northern Ireland who was abducted and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The IRA never gave any explanation for his abduction and murder. His body was not found for 37 years, and he was listed as one of the Disappeared by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains. Disappearance: Wilson, a native of West Belfast, with five siblings, was described as "a vulnerable man with learning difficulties". He was abducted by the IRA in the summer of 1973, somewhere in the St. James area of Belfast, and killed. Only in 2009 was he added to the list of Northern Ireland's 'Disappeared'. His body was located at the beach in Waterfoot, County Antrim, on 2 November 2010, the day after excavations began following the receipt of "reliable and high quality" information. His family had often walked on the beach, unaware that he was buried there. Wilson was the ninth of the known "Disappeared" to be located since 1999.

Murder of Danielle van Dam

Danielle Nicole van Dam was an American girl from the Sabre Springs neighborhood of San Diego, California, who disappeared from her bedroom during the night of February 1–2, 2002. Her body was found by searchers on February 27 in a remote area. Police suspected a neighbor, David Alan Westerfield, of the killing. He was arrested, tried, and convicted of kidnapping and first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death and is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. The crime: On the evening of Friday, February 1, 2002, Danielle van Dam's mother Brenda and two girlfriends went out to a bar, Dad's, in Poway. Danielle's father Damon stayed at home to look after Danielle and her two brothers. Damon put Danielle to bed around 10:30 p.m., and she fell asleep. Damon also slept until his wife returned home at around 2:00 a.m. with four of her friends. Brenda noticed a light on the home’s security alarm system was flashing, and discovered that the side door to the garage was open. The six chatted for approximately half an hour then Brenda's friends went home. Damon and Brenda went to sleep believing that their daughter was sleeping in her room. About an hour later, Damon awoke and noticed that an alarm light was flashing. He found the sliding glass door leading to the back yard open, so he closed it. The next morning, Danielle was missing. The couple frantically searched their home, but could not find her. They called the police at 9:39 a.m. Danielle became the subject of one of the largest search efforts in state history, with hundreds of volunteers searching deserts, highways and remote areas for weeks. The Laura Recovery Center assisted in organizing the search, and a Danielle Recovery Center was set up in a real estate office in Poway to coordinate the searching. Finally, on February 27, two searchers found her nude, partially decomposed body near a trail in Dehesa, California, an unincorporated town east of San Diego. Some searchers had decided to search the Dehesa Road area, near the trail, after detectives discovered traces of Danielle's blood in David Westerfield's motor home, because Dehesa Road was a possible route Westerfield could have taken to get to the desert. Because of the condition of the body, the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death or whether she was sexually assaulted, and had to use dental records to confirm her identity. David Westerfield: Law enforcement officials interviewed the van Dams' neighbors the Saturday morning of Danielle's disappearance, and discovered that one neighbor, David Westerfield, was not at home. Westerfield was self-employed as an engineer, 49 years old at the time, and held several patents for medical devices. He had no criminal record at the time, and was a divorced father of two college students. He lived two houses away from the van Dams, and owned a luxury motor home. About three days before Danielle's disappearance, Danielle and Brenda had sold Girl Scout cookies to Westerfield, who invited them into his home. Brenda asked to see his kitchen because she had noticed it was being remodeled when they had sold cookies to him the year before. On Saturday morning, Westerfield fetched his motor home from another part of town, stocked it with supplies, and left home at 9:50, minutes after Brenda called 911 to report Danielle missing. Westerfield later told police that he had driven around the desert and the beach in his motor home, and had stayed at a beach campground: this was later confirmed by witnesses, cell phone records, gas receipts and credit card records. Westerfield said he had intended to go to the desert, but realized he had forgotten his wallet, so he drove instead to the campground at Silver Strand State Beach. He paid in advance for a two-night stay. However, he decided the weather was too cold, so he returned home to look for his wallet, after which he went to the desert. A witness at Silver Strand later testified that he saw Westerfield pull out his wallet while at the campground. He drove to the desert, where he got stuck in the sand on Sunday morning about a quarter mile off the road and needed help from a tow truck to get free. On his way home on Monday morning, a sleepy-looking and bare-footed Westerfield stopped at his regular dry cleaners and dropped off two comforters, two pillow covers, and a jacket that would later yield traces of Danielle's blood. When law enforcement first interviewed Westerfield, he did not mention going to the dry cleaners, although he detailed almost every other stop on his outing. From Monday morning on, Westerfield became the prime suspect. Law enforcement placed him under 24-hour surveillance on February 4, noting that he had given his RV a cleaning when he returned from his trip, although he maintained it was normal for him to do so. His motorhome, SUV, and other property was impounded for testing on February 5. Westerfield stated that he did not know where Danielle was, but said he had been at the same bar that Brenda had been to that Friday night, which Brenda confirmed. Arrest and trial: On February 22, police arrested Westerfield for Danielle's kidnapping after two small stains of her blood were found on his clothing and in his motor home. Danielle's partially decomposed body was found February 27. Westerfield pleaded not guilty, and went on trial on June 4, 2002. In pre-trial motions, Westerfield's lawyers moved to have his statements to police excluded, charging that he was unfairly interrogated for more than nine hours by detectives who ignored his repeated requests to call a lawyer, take a shower, eat, and sleep. In the end, the two officers against whom the defense directed their complaint did not testify. The forensic evidence presented by the prosecution included Danielle's blood stains on Westerfield's jacket and on the floor of his motor home, Danielle's fingerprints in the motor home, hairs from the van Dam family dog on Westerfield's motor home bed comforter, hairs consistent with Danielle's on the sheet of his bed, and matching acrylic fibers found on Danielle's body and in Westerfield's home, among other evidence. One witness testified that she had left a side door in the garage unlocked, and prosecutor Jeff Dusek theorized that Westerfield might have entered this way; he emphasized, however, that the prosecution did not have the burden to demonstrate how the kidnapping was done, only that it was done. During the trial, Westerfield's lawyers suggested that the police were in a rush to solve the case and declined to consider other suspects. They suggested that the child pornography found on Westerfield's computer was downloaded by Westerfield's son, Neal, who was 18 at the time of the murder. In testimony, Neal denied this. Part of Westerfield's defense focused on the lifestyle of Danielle van Dam's parents, who they argued had an open marriage, were swingers, and smoked marijuana in their garage regularly. The defense suggested that because of this lifestyle, there might have been other people in the home that night. To establish an alibi for Westerfield, the defense called three entomologists who testified that insects first colonized Danielle's body sometime in mid-February, long after Westerfield had been under police surveillance. The prosecution's entomologist testified that Danielle's body could have been colonized as early as February 2. In closing arguments, Feldman argued that no evidence of Westerfield was found in the van Dam residence or at the body dump site, and that a foreign hair found under Danielle’s body was not his. In rebuttal, Dusek argued that it is plausible for an intruder to enter a home without leaving trace evidence, especially if he is taking appropriate precautions. Conversely, Dusek argued, the nature and volume of Danielle's trace evidence in Westerfield's home and motor home, and on his jacket, allows no reasonable explanation other than guilt. The trial lasted two months and concluded on August 8. On August 21, the jury found Westerfield guilty of first degree murder, kidnapping, and possession of child pornography. During the penalty phase of the trial, Westerfield's 19-year-old niece testified that, when she was 7 years old, her uncle entered his daughter's bedroom, where the niece was spending the night with her parents while attending a party, and woke up to find him rubbing her teeth. She said she bit his finger as hard as she could, then went downstairs to tell her mother. Westerfield was questioned about the incident at the time by his sister-in-law, where he explained that he had entered the bedroom to check on the children, and was trying to comfort her. The incident was then forgotten. The penalty phase ended on September 16 when the jury rendered a verdict of death against Westerfield. In January 2003, Judge William Mudd sentenced Westerfield to death. Aftermath: Westerfield is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison while his appeal is pending. Because of the continuing 2006 moratorium on executions in California, and the July 2014 ruling on the unconstitutionality of the death penalty in California, it is not known when or if Westerfield will face execution. The van Dams sued Westerfield, but the case was settled out of court. The van Dams were awarded $416,000 from several insurance companies who insured Westerfield's home, SUV, and motor home. The settlement also prevents Westerfield from ever profiting from his crime. When the trial was over, the media, quoting unnamed police sources, reported that Westerfield's lawyers were just minutes away from negotiating a plea bargain when a group of private citizen searchers organized by the Laura Recovery Center found Danielle's body. According to these reports, under the deal Westerfield would have taken police to the site where her body was located, in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. Both the prosecution and the defense declined to comment on these reports. Many people, including Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, expressed outrage at the revelation, claiming that Westerfield's attorneys misled the jury by proposing an "unknown kidnapper scenario" even though their client said he knew the location of the body; however, legal specialists pointed out that defense attorneys are obligated to mount a vigorous defense regardless of their own opinion of the client's guilt or innocence. In the months following the end of the trial, audio tapes of Westerfield being interviewed were released to the media. During his first interview, he is heard to ask an officer to "leave your gun here for a few minutes" in a seeming suggestion that he would like to commit suicide. In one police interview he tells investigators that he doesn't feel emotionally stable. In one interview he is told that he failed a polygraph test; Westerfield says he wants a retest and that he was not involved in Danielle's disappearance. In late 2003, San Diego police received a letter from an outside party confessing to Danielle's murder. The author claimed to be James Selby, a man accused of various sex-related crimes in five states, including in the San Diego area. Both police and Dusek read the letter, and deemed it not credible; however, Dusek forwarded the letter to the office of Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, who declined to comment. Selby, who also claimed responsibility for the slaying of JonBenét Ramsey, committed suicide while awaiting sentencing in Arizona on November 22, 2004. An episode from an animal forensic show on the US TV network Animal Planet was based on the belief that hairs consistent with Danielle’s dog, which were found in Westerfield’s laundry, in his RV, and on his comforter at the dry-cleaners, first got onto her pajamas when she cuddled with the dog, and then were carried on the pajamas to his house and RV in accordance with Locard's exchange principle. Legacy: -An overpass on Interstate 8 in El Cajon has been named the Danielle van Dam Memorial Overpass. It is near the place where her body was found. -The local elementary school that Danielle attended dedicated a portion of its park and open public area to her memory. -The years after the murder have led to increased levels of crime awareness in San Diego's neighborhoods as well as the institution of funds and benefits made in her honor. Her family still lives in Southern California. They have formed a Danielle Legacy Foundation which works to "promote volunteerism that will initiate positive changes that will put our children's safety first."

out of ideas

i once said i "ran out of ideas for my blog" but my mom told me to "be like winnie the pooh" and "think think think."

Salish Sea human foot discoveries

Since August 20, 2007, several detached human feet have been discovered on the coasts of the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA. The feet belonged to five men, one woman and three other people of unknown sex. Of the 16 feet found, only two have been left feet; both of those were matched with right feet. As of February 2012, only five feet of four people have been identified; it is not known to whom the rest of the feet belong. In addition, several hoax feet have been planted in the area. Discoveries: As of February 11, 2016, sixteen feet have been found in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and four in the US state of Washington. In July 2008 it was announced that one foot had been identified by Vancouver police, using DNA, as belonging to a man who was depressed and probably committed suicide. His identity was withheld on request of his family. These foot discoveries are not the first ones on British Columbia's coast. One was found in Vancouver in 1887, leading to the place of discovery being called Leg-In-Boot Square. On July 30, 1914, the Vancouver Sun reported that recent arrivals from Kimsquit reported a human leg encased in a high boot was found on a beach near the mouth of the Salmon River (a previous name for the Dean River near Kimsquit, near the headwater of Dean Channel). It was thought the remains were from a man who had drowned on the river the previous summer. Hoaxes: Another "human" foot, discovered on June 18, 2008, on Tyee Spit near Campbell River on Vancouver Island, was a hoax. The hoax was a "skeletonized animal paw" which was put in a sock and shoe and then stuffed with dried seaweed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have begun an investigation into the hoax, and an arrest could result in charges of public mischief. After the eleventh foot was found on August 31, 2011, several running shoes containing what police suspected was raw meat were found washed up on Oak Beach, British Columbia. Proposed explanations: The series of discoveries has been called "astounding" and "almost beyond explanation", as no other body parts have turned up. The discoveries have caused speculation that the feet may be those of people who died in a boating accident or a plane crash in the ocean. One explanation is that some of the feet are those of four men who died in a plane crash near Quadra Island in 2005 and whose bodies have not been recovered, though one of the feet has been determined to be from a female. Foul play has also been suggested, although none of the first four feet showed tool marks. This does not rule out foul play, however; it is possible that the bodies could have been weighted down and disposed of, and the feet were separated due to natural decay. Determining the origin of the feet is complicated because ocean currents may carry floating items long distances, and because currents in the Strait of Georgia are unpredictable. A foot may float as far as 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Also, human feet have a tendency to produce adipocere (a soap-like substance formed from body fat), which makes it hard for forensic scientists to find clues. Under optimal conditions, a human body may remain intact in water for as long as three decades, meaning that the feet may have been floating around for years. Another theory is that the feet belonged to people who died in the Asian tsunami on December 26, 2004. Richmond-based writer Shane Lambert has advocated this position, pointing to the fact that many of the shoes found were manufactured and sold in 2004 or earlier. Lambert acknowledges that there could be other sources for the shoes or multiple sources. However, besides the dates when the shoes were manufactured, Lambert cites ocean currents and their ultimate northward tendencies up the Pacific Ocean from part of the region that was hit by the 2004 tsunami. One foot has been identified as belonging to a man who was depressed and was believed to have committed suicide. Another two feet were identified as belonging to a woman who committed suicide by jumping from the Pattullo Bridge (49.207575°N 122.894654°W) in New Westminster, B.C., in 2004. This suggests the feet could belong to other people who have jumped from the bridge. Level of rarity: Decomposition may separate the foot from the body because the ankle is relatively weak, and the buoyancy caused by air either inside or trapped within a shoe would allow it to float away. According to Simon Fraser University entomologist Gail Anderson, extremities such as the hands, feet, and head often detach as a body decomposes in the water, although they rarely float. However, finding feet and not the rest of the bodies has been deemed unusual. Finding two feet has been given a "million to one odds" and has thus been described as "an anomaly". The finding of the third foot made it the first time three such discoveries had been made so close to each other. The fourth discovery caused speculation about human interference and, statistically, was called "curious". Media reaction: After the fifth foot was discovered the story had begun to receive increased international media attention. With major headlines from newspapers such as the Melbourne Herald Sun, The Guardian, and the Cape Times in South Africa, the story elicited much speculation about the cause of the mystery, originating from "morbid fascination" with this type of subject, as stated by one scientist who identifies remains of victims. David Letterman also questioned two of his audience members who were Canadian about the mystery during one of his shows. Jørn Lier Horst, a Norwegian police officer, wrote a novel inspired by the events, called Dregs (Sandstone Press 2011), in which an experienced investigator gives a new explanation for the findings. Simon Beckett uses the discovery of the feet as a back story in his novel The Restless Dead. It is mentioned when the main character, Dr David Hunter, a forensic anthropologist, discovers a severed foot in a river.

blind

i'm nearly blind without my glasses. everything goes super blurry and i can barely see without my glasses.

pumpkin spice season

it's September 1st. happy pumpkin spice season. why is it pumpkin spice season now? we have a few weeks left of summer.

ow

well i know why my back hurts: i started my period. yay i'm not pregnant but ow my back.

more knit things

my mom said she's gonna try getting me more things for knitting and stuff so i can do that.

friends

my dad asked me back in the spring if i've made friends from class. i usually do. i had of course. i'm horrible with seeing them as most have moved on

too many gifts

there's 1 family who loves giving me gifts. usually macadamia nut cookies and something else. it's nice if it's only a few a year (Christmas and my birthday and maybe one other) but they wanted to give me going back to school presents.