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What happened to CaroLynn Weeks? NY woman missing for one week

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Authorities in Tompkins County, New York are looking for 54-year-old CaroLynn Weeks. The missing woman was reportedly last seen on Feb. 9th, and hasn't been accounted for since -- to the dismay of her loved ones. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System shares the details of this woman's mysterious disappearance.

Authorities claim that the woman was reportedly leaving her place of employment when she last spoke to members of her family. However, she never arrived home and neither her or her car have been sighted since she disappeared.

She was driving a blue 2014 Kia Optima hybrid car with red lights and a hummingbird charm hanging from the rear-view mirror. CaroLynn Weeksd is 54-years-old, standing at approximately 5'6" tall and around 160 lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes. If you see this woman or if you know anything about her disappearance which may be helpful to authorities, please do not hesitate to call in the information. You can also share the flyer included in this post to get the word out about her disappearance.

Crazy mom sexually tortured son for a bizarre reason

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A Texas mom has been arrested -- along with her boyfriend -- after authorities in Kemp say they sexually tortured the woman's son. The Dreamin' Demon reports that the reason for this horrifying act of sexual violence is downright bizarre. One of the most infuriating points in this disturbing case is the fact that 40-year-old Christi Howell can be smiling in her mugshot with no apparent care in the world, just moments after being arrested for a series of unthinkably cruel acts against her own son.

Kemp authorities were notified of a possible abuse situation, when officials at the school attended by the young teen victim noticed possible signs of mistreatment. Upon being interviewed, the child opened up to authorities and accused his mother and her boyfriend of torturing him after he did something inappropriate with the family dog. The child, who is not being named in any media reports, is reportedly "special needs" and is under the age of 14-years-old.

The unnamed victim told authorities that he had inserted his finger into the anus of the family dog. After doing so, he felt guilty, so he told his mother's boyfriend to "do the right thing." However, 45-year-old Casey Shackleford decided that he and 40-year-old Christi Howell were going to punish the special needs child, brutally. He reportedly grabbed the boy by his hair and held a towel over his face. He also allegedly made Howell pour cold water over the towel -- waterboarding the child.

Police also say that Howell tied a rope around the child's penis and testicles before tying it around his neck. She allegedly pushed him onto a couch, causing the rope to tighten around his genitals. She also supposedly admitted to doing this to her son, but she said that it was all her boyfriend's idea.

After admitting to this horrific crime against her son, Christi Howell has only been charged with injury to a child.


My thoughts on the Katelin Akens disappearance

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Katelin Akens disappeared approximately two months ago, and it seems that law enforcement are simply spinning their wheels and going nowhere in the investigation behind what happened to her. Over the course of the past two months, authorities have prevented volunteers from conducting searches for the missing 19-year-old, to the frustration of folks who are wanting to help find her.

So what happened to Katelin? What's known so far doesn't paint a very positive picture of what the outcome to this case may be. She was scheduled to fly from the Spotsylvania, Virginia area -- back to Arizona where she resided and attended college. However, she never made it to her destination. To made the case more suspicious, all of her belongings (her luggage) was found strewn in a ditch near the airport. The belongings included her identification and other possessions that would normally be kept on her person.

With her still being missing, I can't help but suspect that this woman is the victim of foul play. Still, it's important to keep an open mind, as with any case. There are multiple reasons for why Katelin Akens' belongings were discarded in the manner that they were, even though the most glaring suspicion is that someone forcefully abducted the 19-year-old before she could board her flight to Arizona. Without being too wordy, I'm going to organize my thoughts on this case in a bullet list:

  • Authorities don't want people searching for Katelin Akens: This tells me, flat out, that authorities suspect that this missing woman was the victim of foul play. To clarify, they don't think she's going to be found alive. Either that, or they don't believe she will be found in the area from where she vanished (Virginia). 

  • Luggage found in ditch -- but what does that mean? This discover could mean one of two things -- Either Katelin Akens was abducted (and her belongings discarded by the attacker), or she dumped her own stuff while disappearing voluntarily, not wanting to be found.

  • Possible love triangle -- or worse? It's probably a coincidence that Katelin's ex-boyfriend happens to live in the area from where she vanished. But it should be noted that she has been in a same-sex relationship for a handful of years since her apparent relationship with this Virginia man ended. She's engaged to a young woman, who lives where she was scheduled to fly on the day she vanished. This is all just speculation, but I would hope that authorities have thoroughly interviewed both Katelin's current lover and her old flame who lives in Fredericksburg. I'm not naming names, but the information can be gleaned from Katelin's Facebook page, which hasn't been publicly active since November 2015. I should repeat that this is all speculation (which is why I will not publicly name the ex lover of the missing woman), but it wouldn't be completely uncommon for there to be some bitterness or other feelings, residual from an old relationship. It's also not at all uncommon for former lovers to be involved with crimes of passion.

  • Suspicious stepfather? A lot of people appear to be very suspicious of Katelin Akens' stepfather -- the person who was technically the last to see her before she vanished. However, authorities in Virginia have stated more than once that his story checks out with them. That doesn't mean that authorities are necessarily being honest with the public. After all, if they have a suspect in the stepfather, they would most likely want to keep him comfortable while they build a case against him. However, they could be honest in these statements, indicating that Katelin's stepfather may not be a suspicious character at all. I admit, that it's always fish when someone is the last to see a missing person, but sometimes something is what it is.

Overall, I'm really thinking Katelin Akens was victimized in some fashion -- but under what circumstances, and by whom? This is the true mystery, especially with such little information available in her case. Hopefully investigators in Virginia uncover some kind of clues in this case so it doesn't end up going completely cold (if it hasn't already). 

Crybabies hate free speech -- Publisher yanks serial killer's book

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A publisher has yanked a book supposedly written by serial killer Robert Pickton, and this couldn't be a more terrible decision. In case you're not familiar with Pickton, he's a Canadian killer convicted of slaying at least six prostitutes over a course of several years. It's believed that he may have gotten away with countless murders before he was caught, however -- as the story frequently goes with most other serial killers. Whether or not he killed an astounding number of people means little, though, considering that this man is indeed a serial murderer who is sitting behind the bars of a Canadian prison. He'll likely never again see freedom outside those prison walls, which is a relief to those who are loved ones of the women he killed. With all the free time he's had in prison, he managed to pen a sort of memoir, which was published by Outskirts Press (based in Colorado).

The book had only been published for a short time (just a few hours on Amazon, actually), before Outskirts Press yanked it under the pressure of angry readers and people who tend to get their collective panties in a wad in the name of the victims and their families. They cited that it violated their own policy of not publishing the works of incarcerated persons. However, this doesn't explain how the manuscript, supposedly written by serial killer Robert Pickton, was published in the first place. The only real explanation, in my opinion, of this incident is that this so-called publishing house caved to the negative backlash that they may not have fully anticipated by publishing the killer's book. If that's the case, then shame on them! Of course, they say that someone tricked them into publishing it, but how could that have been allowed to happen unless they never actually read the damned thing?

Look, in the realm of True Crime, controversy is as bountiful as oxygen. This is a genre that attracts people for a multitude of reasons, from having a genuine interest in the study of crime to just simple curiosity. There are also readers who may be attracted to this genre because they might be local to a high profile case about which a writer pens a book, or maybe they knew a victim that a writer mentions in their work. Because of the nature of True Crime, people's passions run high -- and because of that, writers and publishers in this genre do indeed get a lot of negativity (and of course positive comments as well!). This is a package deal. You have to take the bad with the good and not let it slow you down. It just really doesn't seem that Outskirts Press took this inevitability into consideration when they published Pickton's book.

In the True Crime genre, nothing is more prized and sought-after than the actual written or spoken words of the killers, the villains. This may come as a debatable statement to some, and that is totally fine (in fact, I expect as much), but the fact of the matter is that so many, many people are drawn to this genre to see what makes serial killers and violent criminals tick. The written and verifiable spoken words of these individuals serve as windows into their psyches.

Since this publisher has ended their involvement with Robert Pickton's book, I really hope that the person(s) responsible for it end up publishing it elsewhere. Anybody can self-publish, and this book has already gotten a little bit of publicity, thanks to reports about it being pulled from Amazon. This is a book that begs to be read.

Is man who murdered Jessica Chambers a serial killer?

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Is Jessica Chambers finally going to get justice? It's been more than a year since the Mississippi teen was brutally murdered, but it looks like someone is finally going to answer for her death. The man who has been arrested, charged and indicted is 27-year-old Quinton Tellis -- a man whom authorities say "worked alone" in the horrifying murder.

Tellis has been indicted on a charge of capital murder -- meaning he may very well face the death penalty if he is convicted of the crime. This probably comes as a delight to the thousands of people who have hoped for justice in the slaying of the Mississippi teenager. Jessica Chambers suffered a horrifyingly gruesome death.

She was dowsed with gasoline and burned alive.

Her still-burning body was found in her gar in the middle of a road just south of the town of Courtland. When firefighters and rescuers arrived on the scene she supposedly tried to say something, but she was so badly burned she could not be understood clearly. Over the course of this case, many things have been speculated about what she said, along with what may have happened to her. There has also been a lot of racist sentiment expressed in speculation about what happened to her. Of course, bigots who seemingly hoped that the killer was black are probably delighted at this recent information in her case. Nonetheless, this arrest was the result of hard investigative work by authorities who were tireless in their search for justice.

What kind of evidence exists against 27-year-old Quinton Tellis? Authorities haven't released much information regarding what led to indicting this man in the death of Jessica Chambers. However, disturbing information is being shared regarding the circumstances surrounding the actual arrest of the man. Authorities confirm that Tellis was initially arrested on three counts of unauthorized use of an access card -- a card which reportedly belongs to a homicide victim out of the state of Louisiana.

The homicide victim was 34-year-old Meing-Chen Hsiao, a foreign exchange student who had been attending the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Tellis reportedly had recorded access to her card at least a day before her body was found. This is extremely indicative of the idea that the man killed Meing-Chen Hsiao.

If Quentin Tellis killed both Hsiao and Chambers, could he also have other victims throughout the states in which he has lived? If this man is responsible for only the deaths of these two young women, he could still be considered a serial killer. Surely the FBI is investigating the possibilities, right? I sure hope so.

The Justina Pelletier farce continues

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Photo via Fox News Boston
Here we go again. Justina Pelletier is back in the news after some high profile exposure involving the Children's Hospital of Boston, and accusations of medical child abuse against her own mother. Ever since her parents regained custody of her, she has been back in the hospital at least once, but now her family is back in front of news cameras for a totally different reason.

They plan to sue Boston Children's Hospital.

Apparently it wasn't enough for the Pelletier family to regain custody of their chronically ill daughter -- against the diagnoses and resistance of several medical experts. Now it seems that they are after the cold hard cash, and maybe another 15 minutes of fame.



This family bothers me, and do you want to know why? Because they exhibit all of the same characteristics and behaviors as some other families who were ultimately guilty of medical child abuse. They also made no qualms about politicizing the hell out of their ailing daughter and the experiences they were enduring. From the beginning, their efforts to win back custody of Justina seemed to be powered by the need for attention and sympathy. And there is no question as to why so many conservative talking-heads and politicians jumped to their defense.

Jennifer Bush (8) and her mother Kathleen
As I wrote above, the Pelletier story is a lot like other cases -- in particular, the notorious Kathleen Bush case. In fact, the similarities are downright eerie. Back in the 1990s, Kathleen Bush's daughter Jennifer became a sort of poster child for victims of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. By the age of eight-years-old, Jennifer Bush had gone through more than 40 surgeries and over 200 different stays in various hospitals. The first eight years of this child's life were filled with little more than being poked and prodded by doctors as they tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with her. Meanwhile, Kathleen went on a highly public campaign against high medical care costs -- which even attracted the support of Hillary Clinton, who made at least one high profile visit with the ailing child while she was battling a host of unknown, phantom illnesses.

It took eight years for medical experts to figure out the culprit behind the numerous symptoms suffered by Jennifer Bush. She wasn't battling some mystery illness that kept doctors baffled. She was being poisoned with various medications, which were being administered by her own mother Kathleen Bush. Her mother habitually dosed her daughter with powerful seizure medication -- medication that doctors had long stopped prescribing the child during their search for a diagnosis to her symptoms. Not only had Kathy Bush been illegally overdosing Jennifer with non-prescribed meds, she was accused of putting feces in the child's feeding tubes -- which also kept her gravely ill.

When Jennifer was taken from Kathleen's custody and the woman was formally accused of medical child abuse, this only seemed to embolden the woman's need for public sympathy and attention (the very same benefits she got from keeping her daughter perpetually ill). This further powered her politically-hungry campaign focused on parents' rights as she desperately struggled to maintain the facade of being a "supermom" who was being unfairly targeted.

Here it is approximately 20 years later, and Jennifer Bush (a grown woman now) has reunited with her family, and she foolishly believes that her mother is innocent. Kathy's husband and other children have also stood by her side all these years, passionately defending her as a wonderful mom who'd never do anything to hurt any of them.

Do any of these details ring a bell? They should.

I'm eager to watch this new drama with the Pelletier family play out publicly, as we all know that it will. Just like with the Kathy Bush story, the Pelletiers have been given a taste of publicity from the beginning of the ordeal with Justina. They're thirsty for more of that attention, which is the very same "benefit" that has likely fueled most of Justina's experiences. This girl is a pawn, and I've said for years that she will remain in danger for as long as she's under the care and influence of her mother and father.



A staggering number of men are missing in the United States

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Just how many men are missing in the United States? According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, nearly 7,000 men and boys are missing in the U.S., and none of these disappearances have ever been solved. The very same missing person database reveals that there are nearly 2,000 more men missing in this country than there are women, with a total of more than 12,000 people (men, women and children) that have disappeared over numerous years.

The Brooke Bridges disappearance: My thoughts

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Authorities in Alabama haven't been able to locate Brooke Bridges over the course of the past month, which troubles me. The 16-year-old girl was last seen on Feb. 7 in the home she shares with her family, but seemed to vanish from the residence sometime in the middle of that night.

When her parents found that she was missing from their home, they also found that the front door of the residence had been left opened. This detail has added further distress to Brooke's parents, who don't know what to think about her disappearance. She has no reported history of running away, which is another detail of interest. However, it should be noted that there is always a first time in any case of a teenager running away. While no prior history of running off is indeed something to worry about in a disappearance like this, it's important to keep in mind that there are still very few details in this case -- not enough on which to draw a conclusion.

A disturbing detail that should be given a lot of attention, however, is the fact that the FBI is involved in the search for Brooke Bridges. The FBI rarely gets involved in disappearances unless they have reason to believe that a kidnapping is possible. Meanwhile, news reports have indicated that social media is being examined in the search for the missing Alabama teenager. Could Brooke had been lured away from her home by an internet predator? It's not an improbable scenario, which should indeed give her parents reason to fear.

With it being approximately a month since Brooke was last seen, it's getting harder and harder to believe that she is voluntarily missing. With no history of running away from home, Brooke doesn't possess the experience to care for herself while on her own without the support of her parents -- on whom she has relied throughout her entire life. This would mean that somebody would have to be harboring her, creating a dangerously illegal situation as Brooke's case gets more and more media attention. It wouldn't take very long for Brooke to show back up at her family home under these typical circumstances if she had indeed vanished on her own free will.

If somebody did indeed lure Brooke Bridges away from her home last month, where could she possibly be? Is she even alive? While statistics are stacked against the missing teenager under this kind of scenario, it's important to keep in mind that many people have survived after being held captive for months -- and even years. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were each missing for around a decade before they were rescued from the captivity of Ariel Castro. Another teenager who recently made media headlines is also the alleged survivor of a kidnapping. Abigail Hernandez was 15-years-old when she vanished while walking home from school in 2014. Nine months later she showed up at her family's home after allegedly enduring sexual assaults and imprisonment at the hands of a local man.

What I think happened to Brooke Bridges
I can't honestly form a solid opinion on this suspicious disappearance. On one hand I want to believe that she voluntarily took off -- for the first time -- as a runaway. But even under this scenario, the 16-year-old Alabama teen faces a myriad of dangers, many of which could end in her demise. Even as a runaway, this young girl is in danger and needs to be located for her own safety and well-being.

On the other hand, I am worried about the circumstances that do exist in her disappearance. The fact that her family's front door was left opened disturbs me. If this teenager had in fact left her residence voluntarily, why would she leave the front door open? Perhaps so as not to make much noise to alert her parents of her actions, but opening it would present the same problem. Sneaking out of her bedroom window would be the more logical -- and common -- mode of escape for any teenager sneaking out of their home after the parents have gone to sleep. So the opened door has me wondering what happened to Brooke.

The TLDR version:
I suspect that Brooke did not intend on leaving her home the night (or early morning) that she vanished. Whether that means she was snatched by an intruder or lured out by a predator that she met online is a mystery at this point.

Please feel free to share the flyer below, to help spread the word about the strange disappearance of Brooke Bridges.


Just how big is Donald Trump's penis?

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This election cycle has been the absolute most bizarre spectacle I've ever witnessed in my 32 years on this earth -- and I've lived through Ross Perot's attempts at running for POTUS. What makes this 2016 race for the White House most bizarre is the presence of none other than Donald Trump -- The Donald, icon of 1980's Reaganomics, former hubby of Ivana Trump, former host of a ridiculously popular reality show on NBC, etc., etc., etc., and so forth. He's become one of the most widely watched (both loved and hated) candidates over the past few months, and with every inch of publicity he gets while running for President of the United States, his comments get more and more outrageous. Most recently, he publicly insinuated that he has a large penis during a live Republican presidential debate.


To be specific, Donald Trump appeared to defend the size of his penis in response to comments made by fellow presidential hopeful Marco Rubio -- who made a comment about Trump having small hands. Rubio made a low-blow at Trump, referring to the age-old saying: You know what they say about men with small hands...

During the live presidential debate, Trump directly addressed Rubio's jab:

"I have to say this: He hit my hands. No one has ever hit my hands. Look at those hands, are those small hands? And he referred to my hands as if they're small, something else may be small. I guarantee to you there's no problem, I guarantee!" 

So basically the current Republican battle to become 2016's presidential nominee has devolved (as if it could any further) to pretty much a dick-showing contest. This isn't the first time Donald has referred to the size of his junk. Back in 2012 he made a comment toward famed attorney Gloria Allred insinuating that he would "impress" her with the size of his penis. So that's at least twice in the past four to five years that the man has bragged about his size. What gives?

 Anyway, now everyone is fixated on Donald Trump's penis. Is it big? Is it small? Does it curve to the right and have a bad comb-over? Since nobody has any photographic proof of its existence, I decided to take a stab at guessing the size using good old-fashioned research.

The average penis size, globally, is approximately 5.5 inches. In the United States, the average junk size is around 5.1 inches. In the United Kingdom, the average penis size is 5.5 inches (matching the global average size). In Germany, however, the average size of a man's dick runs around 5.7 inches. Donald Trump was born in the United States. However, his mother was from Scotland, and his father's side of the family came to the U.S. from Germany. So, if Donald Trump shared the same attributes as the average man from either the UK or Germany, his penis could probably be somewhere in the range of 5.5 to 5.7 inches. However, he could be a bit larger than this, if gauging on an "average" man's anatomy. In Scotland, the average penis size is approximately 5.8 inches -- just a bit larger than the average German man. In fact, a report by The Daily Record in 2012 shares that Scottish men tend to be quite well-endowed. Doctors from Western General Hospital in (of course) Scotland conducted a study and determined that Scottish men are among the most well-endowed on average, globally. It's also been indicated that people from New York tend to have smaller penises in general, compared to people from other U.S. states. Of course, there are conflicting studies, which can only really seem to indicate that there is not really such a thing as "average" when it comes to dicks.

The above-cited "averages" only seem to address the length of the penis, and for all we know, Donald Trump could be referring to the girth of his member while defending its size. This report claims that the average girth-size of a penis is approximately four to five inches in circumference while erect. However, Live Science reports that the average measurement lands somewhere around 4.8 inches when erect. To add to these statistics, in case anyone is interested, the largest penis on record was about 13.5 inches and belongs to Jonah Cardeli Falcon. The world's smallest penis has measured in at under an inch with an erection.

So we know that Trump's penis is probably between 1 and 13 inches -- around 5.7-6 inches if he's an average man of Scottish and German heritage. With his narcissistic personality, we can probably safely say that we'd all know by know, with possible photos, if his penis was a world record breaker. So let's scratch that off the list of possibilities.

Donald Trump definitely doesn't have a 13.5+ inch penis. Moving on.

Donald Trump has been married a number of times -- every time to beautiful, younger women from foreign countries, except for one (Marla Maples). He's also been divorced from these women, for various reasons. With him being such an economic success story, one cannot gauge his marital issues on whether or not he has a large penis. He could have the smallest penis on the planet and still get babes from all over the world because he's richer than shit. The divorces, on the other hand...

One could take into consideration that Donald Trump's notorious display of bravado could be a form of overcompensation. He's brash, he's outspoken (to a fault) and he carries himself with an air of ultimate superiority -- as if he's packing a nine-incher -- but that nine-incher could all be in his head, a phantom phallus to compensate for his actual penis size -- whatever it may be. Maybe it's short and fat, which isn't always a bad thing. I imagine it's chubby, with a patch of graying red hair. The skin, I imagine, is pink and squishy. But is it short and stubby, or long and as impressive as he's repeatedly claimed?

Hustler Magazine's Larry Flynt wants Donald Trump to prove to us all that he has an impressive penis. With Trump being a showman, a narcissist and someone with virtually no filter whatsoever, it doesn't seem completely out of the realm of possibility that he could take Flynt up on that challenge. However, this may turn out to be the one line that Trump won't cross after making an ass of himself in the public arena so many numerous times. I for one hope that he does take Larry Flynt up on his challenge so this mystery can be solved once and for all.

How big do you think Donald Trump's dong is? Sound off in the comments section!

Texas mom tried to roast toddler in oven

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A Texas mom has been arrested on accusations that she put her own two-year-old daughter in an oven. Fox News 25 reports that the child was fortunate to survive the incident, but now 35-year-old Tasha Hatcher could face serious punishment. This case is absolutely bizarre, but this is not the first time a child has been cooked by a caregiver.

Hatcher was arrested on Thursday after she reportedly notified the police of her actions. She confessed that she had put the two-year-old girl in the oven and turned it on, which caused the child to suffer second and third-degree burns on her body. Authorities say that the child is recovering at the Parkland Hospital in Dallas. She has been removed from the custody of her mother, and placed in to the care of Child Protective Services -- and for damned good reason. Tasha Hatcher and other members of her family have been barred from having contact with the injured toddler. This detail creates more questions in a case that is already confusing as it is.

Those who are acquainted with the Texas mom say that she seems to be a "loving parent." Her friends have reacted with shock at the allegations she has admitted to committing. So what drove her to putting her child in the oven? Was she under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol? Or was she under some kind of delusional breakdown?

Was Katy Roe Abducted?

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Authorities in Oregon are looking for Katy Roe. The 22-year-old woman vanished around April 17, and over the course of the past week there have been developments that have the missing woman's loved ones concerned. The News Guard reports that an article of clothing belonging to the missing woman has been located -- but what could this mean in the search for her?

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Katharine "Katy" Roe went missing on April 17 at around 2:00 a.m., while walking home by herself from the Wing Wa restaurant. She has not been seen since, nor has she made any contact with her loved ones since that night. This is leading people to imagine the worst in her disappearance, especially in response to the latest developments in the search for the 22-year-old missing woman.

Authorities in Depoe Bay aren't commenting specifically on the item of clothing that was found, such as what it was. However, it's been reported that the garment was located near the bay's shoreline.

Katy Roe is a petite young woman standing at only 4'9" and approximately 90 lbs. She has long brown hair and has a light complexion. If you know anything about this young woman's disappearance, or if you think you may have seen her or something related to her disappearance, please do not hesitate to contact the authorities in Depoe Bay, Oregon.

So what happened to Katharine "Katy" Roe? With this woman's incredibly petite size, it's easy to imagine that she'd be easy to overpower by a predator with foul play on his or her mind. A fear of possible foul play could also explain the quick response time by authorities, who set off a search for the woman as soon as she was reported missing by her grandmother. On the other hand, clothing found near the shoreline could also indicate that this missing woman somehow ended up in the water. There are far too many possibilities in this case due to the lack of information being released to the public.

Texas man posted selfie with girlfriend's corpse after brutally murdering her

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A Texas man has been arrested after he reportedly killed his girlfriend and then posted bodies of her murdered corpse to Facebook. CBS News reports that 43-year-old Jennifer Streit-Spears was violently stabbed to death, and her body mutilated, by Kennethy Amyx.


Friends and family of the Texas woman say they notified authorities in Plano after her 45-year-old boyfriend posted the gruesome photographs to her Facebook page. One of the graphic photos was of her bloodied, dead body. Another photo appeared to be a selfie of Amyx and Streit-Spears. Her throat was slashed in the selfie photo. The Dreamin' Demon reports that another one of the photos was a shot of her lifeless and blood-covered face. A caption to this particular pic read "Please pray for us."

Texas man Ken Amyx tried to take the coward's way out, but authorities were able to arrive at the scene of the murder before he was able to finish the job. When police arrived at the man's apartment, they found him with self-inflicted stab wounds. Jennifer's body was found inside of the apartment, as was suspected from the horrifying photos he had just posted to Facebook. One of the saddest parts of this gruesome display, which traumatized the Texas woman's loved ones, is that it took at least 36 hours for Facebook to actually remove the photo. Meanwhile, I can post a medical photo of a "micropenis" on my own Facebook page and get a 30-day-ban in less than an hour. Trust me. It's happened.
Come to find out, Amyx has a lengthy criminal history, with offenses spanning across at least two other countries. He is wanted on at least two charges associated with sex crimes against children in these other countries. Also, he was wanted for sex abuse against a child in Rockwall County, Texas.

Even though the Texas man has a history of crimes against others, and is known to be a fugitive from other countries, authorities in Collin County are only jailing him on bond in the amount of $500k. However, he doesn't look like he'll be able to post that pitiful amount.

This is not the first time someone has attracted attention for using social media to display the fruits of their violence. In 2013 a Florida man shot his wife to death and then posted a photo of her dead body on Facebook to show what he had done. Just this year, Derek Medina was convicted of second-degree murder in association with this shocking case.

As for this latest case out of Texas, this blog normally posts the crime scene, autopsy and/or active-homicide photos associated with the cases it covers. However, the photos associated with this case have seemed to vanish. Once I am able to find them, they will be posted at the bottom of this article.

Parrot may be witness to murder

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No, this isn't satire. A parrot may be the only living witness to a murder that took place in May of this year. KMOV News reports that the mother of 45-year-old victim Martin Duram claims that the man's pet bird has been saying some interesting things since the horrifying incident that ended in his demise.

Lillian Duram says that Martin's pet Parrot, named Bud, was in the home and may have "witnessed" her son's murder, which is unsolved. The family parrot has been repeating a single phrase, which appears to be a mimicry of Martin Duram's last words.

"Don't fucking shoot!"

Lillian believes that this is what the bird heard her son saying before he was fatally shot in his home in May. However, Robert Springstead (Newaygo County Prosecutor) doesn't believe that the bird's "testimony" is going to be of any use in the court of law. The prosecutor has been quoted as showing disbelief in a parrot's testimony being useful.

It should be noted, however, that pets have helped in solving mysteries in the past. Last year, a parrot in India helped solve the murder of its owner when family members noticed that he would become distressed any time one of their relatives came around. The family parrot would shriek and show signs of stress toward the individual, which inspired suspicion among the victim's family members. When they notified police of their suspicions, and they questioned the young man, he confessed to murdering his aunt (and her dog). It seems that this parrot did indeed provide "testimony," which helped in solving a murder.

Perhaps with the addition of solid evidence and hard investigative work, the words of the murder victim's parrot (in this latest case) may help in finding out who killed him. It's something for which Martin Duram's mother has hope -- and it's certainly better than nothing at all.

About the podcast...

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I regret to inform everyone (or those of you who are interested) of this, but I must completely retire the Case to Case podcast series. I simply no longer have the time to dedicate to weekly live episodes, especially now that summer is here and things will be busier at home.

However, that does not mean that there won't be special occasions. Even though the weekly series (which has been on hiatus for the past year) is over, I still intend on broadcasting interviews and other media on a play-by-ear basis. I will try to schedule these special broadcasts long enough ahead of time so those of you who like listening can tune in.

Again, I do apologize to the few fans of the podcast who have reached out to me recently asking for more episodes. I do like to please you all, but I just can't seem to fit anymore hours in a day. I really wish I could. Hopefully in the future things will change and the series will return, but until then, it's done-zo!

What happened to Gracie Toelle?

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It's been approximately three months since missing teenager Gracie Toelle has been seen by her loved ones, but they are holding on to hope that they will find her safe and alive. Whenever I hear about cases like this one, I can't help but feel a bit divided within myself. On one hand, I too want to hold on to hope that a missing person is reunited with his or her family. However, the reality is that this just doesn't get to be the outcome in many cases that I cover. Does that mean this missing 14-year-old girl is the victim of foul play? Not necessarily, but it's always a possibility whenever a person (child or otherwise) goes missing without a trace. I haven't covered this case from the beginning, but I have been paying attention to it, and allowing myself to have time to form an opinion on what I think may have happened to the girl. The following post is a collection of my thoughts on the disappearance of this missing teen.

Gracie Toelle vanished on March 16 of this year, from her family home in North Platte, Nebraska. According to the North Platte Telegraph, the 14-year-old girl disappeared at around 3:30 in the afternoon, while taking out the household's trash. Her family says that she seemed to "just disappear," and hasn't made any contact with them since she walked out of the home that day. To make matters worse, a blizzard had hit the area not long after her disappearance, which has served as another source of worry for the distressed Nebraska family.

It should be noted that Gracie Toelle was homeschooled at the time of her disappearance, so it's hard to say if anybody had actually seen the teen (outside of her immediate family) before she was reported missing. Her family believes that she may have found herself in some kind of trouble (possibly due to her use of social media) but authorities in Northe Platte believe that there is evidence that she could have run away from home. Nonetheless, Gracie has not reached out to her family since the last day she was seen, nor has she appeared to display any online activity -- and she is known to be a frequent user of social media.

Is it possible that this naive homeschooled teenager's use of social media could have landed her in the hands of a predator? Of course it is. In fact, it's safe to say that anybody (with foul intentions or not) would be foolish to help this 14-year-old girl run away from home. If she is a runaway, and she is safe and alive, then that would mean that someone is harboring her, possibly aware that she is being sought by police and her worried parents. At the absolute very least, the person(s) helping this missing teen stay under the radar is committing a crime. However, its hard not to consider the possibility that she is being held against her will, or even worse: She could no longer be alive.

Teenagers run away from home all the time, and just because one has never done it before doesn't mean there isn't going to be a first time. However, most 14-year-old girls are absolutely unable to survive on their own for at least three months without coming home and giving up on the whole "running away from home" fantasy. Gracie Toelle is a homeschooled teenager from Nebraska. She is an avid user of social media. The elements surrounding this case make it easy to see why there are fears that she was lured away from home by an internet sex predator.

Hopefully authorities in North Platte take this case more seriously than they appear to be doing, judging by their own comments in news articles. Even though this young girl could be a runaway, she could also be in grave danger, if it isn't already too late.

Megan Ferranti missing under suspicious circumstances

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Authorities in Macomb County, Michigan are looking for Megan Ferranti. The 27-year-old woman vanished around February 25 of this year, and has not since made any contact with her loved ones. The circumstances surrounding this missing woman's disappearance are also a little troubling, although there are very few details at all. Was this woman kidnapped, and possibly a victim of foul play? Or is there some other reason for her to have vanished without a trace?

Authorities in Macomb County say that Megan Ferranti was last seen getting into a green Chevy Cavalier on February 25. Other circumstances surrounding when she was last seen have not been clarified in any media reports. In fact, there has been absolutely no media coverage over this missing woman's disappearance. This troubling fact has resulted in Ferranti's case getting little to no attention. Social media is also not paying any attention to the Michigan woman's disappearance.

So what happened to Megan Ferranti? Was she kidnapped? Did she meet some kind of foul play after she was last seen? It's impossible to even begin speculating on what may have happened to her, but the fact that she was last seen getting in to a vehicle is troubling, especially when there is no information about this vehicle or the person driving it.

Hopefully more information comes out about this missing woman's disappearance. In the meantime, please spread the word about her case in hopes of getting more attention to it.


Lindie Stewart tried to eat her friend's face during drug frenzy

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A New York woman has been arrested after authorities say that she tried to gnaw off one of her friends' faces during a drug-fueled rampage. The Daily Mail reports that 37-year-old Lindie Stewart is facing charges of third-degree assault, and is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluations while she is jailed. The May incident has also earned her the nickname of "cannibal mother" in media reports.

It's another bizarre case involving drug use -- or rather, the actions of someone who certainly should not be doing any drugs. Authorities say that 37-year-old Lindie Stewart may have been under the influence of cocaine, crystal meth and bath salts when she totally lost her shit on her male friend and her boyfriend.

Police in Newark were called to a residence where they discovered the irate woman being held down by the alleged victim of the attack. Michael Maricle allegedly had injuries to his face and neck, and police have claimed that he was bleeding. Also at the scene of the incident was Stewart's boyfriend, Rocky Rouse. Rouse told police that he was called by his mother to check on the Newark woman, who had been acting erratically.

Rouse offered a statement to authorities, telling them that she violently attacked Maricle in an attempt to literally eat his face and chin. He also told authorities that the woman was making  bizarre and nonsensical comments.

"She said she is taking Alice to the Moon and that she would kill. She also kept saying lol lol lol."

When Rouse attempted to subdue his girlfriend, she also attacked him. She bit the man in his chest and armpit during the attack.

Lindie Stewart is currently being held on bond in the amount of $2k. It's not known at this time if she has an attorney.


Woman bites store employee while stealing deodorant and cheese

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A Texas woman is in jail on charges associated with a violent shoplifting incident that took place earlier this month. Times Record News reports that 39-year-old Tesha Brooke Bernal took things too far when she was confronted by a Cash Saver clerk on shoplifting accusations. Now she's facing stiff legal penalties, including at least one felony.

The incident began when a clerk at a Cash Saver store noticed the 39-year-old woman sneaking a bar of deodorant into her handbag. Her alleged shoplifting didn't end there, however, because the clerk also alleges that Bernal stole a bag of cheese after taking the deodorant.

When the Texas woman exited the store, the male clerk decided to follow her to her car. It was there that he confronted her and asked her to come back inside of the store to discuss the items she had allegedly shoplifted. This sparked anger in the Texas woman, who reportedly reacted with resistance. The clerk reportedly tried to take the woman's keys from her, and she lashed out at him and bit him in the shoulder.

When the employee searched the woman's bag, he found that she had stolen two packs of breakfast sausage, a stick of deodorant and a bag of cheese. The total value of the items she allegedly stole was under $12.00. Meanwhile, she's being held in jail on bond in the amount of $30,000. She has been charged with robbery, but no reports have shared whether or not she is being charged with assault stemming from the attack on the store clerk. If convicted, she can find herself in prison along with a pile of fines that total far more than the worth of the items she is accused of stealing.

Where is Sarah Ross? Woman missing from French Quarter

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Authorities in New Orleans are looking for Sarah Ross. The 23-year-old missing woman was last seen at around 3:00 p.m., in the area near the Natchez Steamboat. WGNO reports that she has not made any contact with her loved ones since her mysterious disappearance.

Ross has reportedly been living in a van with one of her friends, which is where she was last seen. According to reports, Sarah was walking away from the van when her friend last saw her. She was reached by phone the following day and promised that she was walking back to the van. However, she has since fallen out of contact, and her loved ones are worried.

It should be noted that this missing woman is a recovering drug addict. Authorities say that they do not believe she has any medical conditions that can render her in any present danger. Nonetheless, it's hard not to speculate that Sarah Ross may have gone voluntarily missing due to her current struggles with heroin addiction. Hopefully more information comes out soon.

If you've seen the woman pictured above, please do not hesitate to contact Eight District Detectives at 658-6080.

Cold Case: Who is the East Area Rapist?

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The FBI is offering a reward to help track down, identify and arrest a cold case serial killer and rapist. The East Area Rapist, also known as the Golden State Killer, has been referred to as the original Night Stalker, with crimes predating that of notorious serial murderer Richard Ramirez.

Four decades have passed since the East Area Rapist operated between Sacramento and Orange County, California. With hundreds of miles covered, this prolific criminal was able to rape numerous women and claim the lives of several. Authorities believe he committed at least a dozen homicides and approximately 50 rapes while active. It's because of this high count that FBI officials are offering a reward in the amount of $50k for any information that could lead to his arrest.
The Golden State Killer (East Area Rapist), operated actively between the years 1976 and 1978, racking up an impressive body count in just a span of two years. However, if this man has relocated from California to other regions with similar unsolved crimes, it wouldn't be far fetched to speculate that this prolific killer and rapist may not have ever stopped committing the crimes he became known for in California.

FBI agents predict that the East Area Rapist, if alive, would be around 60 to 75-years-old right now.

Agents with the FBI are asking anyone with any potentially useful information to please come forward to help bring the victims of this prolific serial criminal the justice they deserve.


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