3 women, missing for a decade, found alive in US

CHICAGO—Three women who had been missing for a decade — two of whom disappeared as teenagers — were found alive in a house in Cleveland, police in the US state of Ohio said Monday.

The dramatic discovery drew hundreds of cheering people to the usually quiet, residential street to celebrate that girls long feared dead were very much alive.

The details of the trauma they may have suffered in captivity were not yet known, but it appeared that at least one of the girls had borne a child during her captivity.

A neighbor spotted Amanda Berry screaming for help on Monday afternoon.

“I heard screaming… And I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside of the house,” Charles Ramsey told the local ABC affiliate.

“I go on the porch, and she said ‘Help me get out. I’ve been here a long time.’”

Ramsey said he tried to get her out through the door but could not pull it open, so he kicked out the bottom and she crawled through “carrying a little girl.”

Berry went into a neighboring home and called police, begging them to come as soon as they could “before he gets back.”

“I’m Amanda Berry. I’ve been kidnapped. I’ve been missing for 10 years. I’m free. I’m here now,” Berry said, according to the recording of her frantic call to 911.

She told the dispatcher that the man who had held her captive was called Ariel Castro. When police arrived she told them there were two other captives in the home.

“All three women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, seem to be in good health,” Cleveland police said in a statement.

“A 52-year-old Hispanic male has been placed under arrest regarding this incident.”

Berry was last seen at approximately 7:40 p.m. on April 21, 2003, after leaving work at a fast food restaurant that was just a few blocks from her home. She was 16 when she disappeared, according to the FBI.

Her mother, Louwanna Miller, passed away in March of 2006, WKYC news reported.

DeJesus was 14 when she disappeared while walking home from school on April 2, 2004.

She was last seen at a pay telephone booth, sometime between 2:45 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. that day, according to the FBI.

Knight, who was 21 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen at a cousin’s house on August 23, 2002, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Kayla Rogers, 23, attended school with DeJesus and joined the crowd gathered near the house on Seymore Avenue where her friend had been held captive.

“They don’t find people who go missing, you know,” Rogers, 23, told the Plain Dealer.

“I’m at a loss for words.”

Rogers said she only attended one vigil over the years, because it was too painful.

Neighbor Charlie Czorb said he was stunned by how long the women had lived at the house undetected.

“This is our own backyard,” Czorba told the paper. “These girls were locked up in our own backyard.”

Berry’s cousin, Tasheena Mitchell, 26, said she didn’t believe her brother at first when he called to tell her that her best friend had been found alive.

She’d had her hopes dashed by false reports before. But this time, it was true. So she rushed to the hospital in hopes of confirming it with her own eyes.

“She was my best friend,” Mitchell told the Plain Dealer.

A friend interrupted her, “She’s alive. She is your best friend.”

“You’re right,” Mitchell continued. “She is my best friend. I’m so nervous. I’m so excited. They won’t let me inside. But I will stay here all night if I have to.”

An emergency room doctor who treated the three women said they were in fair condition and were being evaluated.

“This isn’t the ending we usually hear to these stories so we’re very happy for them,” Gerald Maloney told reporters.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Ohio high schoolers head back to class after fatal shooting

Chardon, Ohio (CNN) -- The cafeteria table where the deadly Ohio high school shooting began became a somber memorial for grief-stricken students returning for Friday first full day of classes since the incident.

A boy at Chardon High opened fire on Monday and killed three classmates. Two other students were hospitalized and another was grazed by gunfire.

The shooting rocked the school and the community of 5,100 people located 30 miles east of Cleveland. Teens heading back to their daily routines noticed some changes designed to reassure and calm them.

Senior Garrett Szalay told CNN the lunchroom table where the shooting began hasn't been moved. Flowers and stuffed animals are sitting on top of it, he said.

The cafeteria was repainted and tables were rearranged to give the room a different look. The table, with its fake woodgrain top, chrome legs and bench seats, sits perpendicular in the cafeteria, a counterpoint to the way the other tables are arranged.

Grief counselors and police were on hand, and the principal led a moment of silence, Szalay said

"Everyone is here for each other," Szalay said. "But a lot of us are moving on."


The person who authorities say is responsible, 17-year-old T.J. Lane, was charged Thursday afternoon with three counts of aggravated murder, two of attempted aggravated murder and one of felonious assault, the latter related to the student who was "nicked in the ear" by a bullet, according to Geauga County Prosecuting Attorney David Joyce.

Friday marked the first full school day since the incident, a return that administrators and staff touted as key to helping people through the healing process.

School superintendent Joseph Bergant said that staff spent two days working on the transition, expressing confidence that they'll be ready to provide comfort and support to those still trying to make sense of this week's carnage.

Some students were with their parents in the school on Thursday and counseling has been made available at various locales since the shooting.

"I watched families walk through the school holding hands, I watched people helping each other come back into the school," said Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland of the scene inside the school Thursday. "It was an incredible spirit of Chardon. I'll never forget that. This is why we live here."

Frank Hall, an assistant football coach and study hall teacher who chased the gunman from the school, said Thursday it was important that students and staff return -- if for no other reason than to "show that terror and evil do not win out."

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/02/justice/ohio-school-shooting/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Third student dies after Ohio school shooting

CHARDON - The death toll from a shooting at an Ohio school rose to three Tuesday as family reported that another wounded student had died.

The 17-year old gunman, identified as TJ Lane, shot five fellow students Monday at Chardon High shortly after the start of the school day.

He is expected in court later Tuesday.

The third student was identified as Demetrius Hewlin, who died of his injuries Tuesday morning, MetroHealth hospital said.

"We are very saddened by the loss of our son and others in our Chardon community," his family said in a statement.

"Demetrius was a happy young man who loved life and his family and friends. We will miss him very much but we are proud that he will be able to help others through organ donation."

Police chief Tim McKenna announced the death of the second victim, Russell King, at a news conference earlier Tuesday.

"It's sad to say -- at this point I'm going to announce the second student Russell King has passed," McKenna told reporters.

"At 4:49 this morning, the medical examiner's office contacted me to advise me of that. And I feel sorry not only for that family, but all the families that are affected by this," he said.

The other victim, 16-year-old Daniel Parmertor, died in hospital shortly after the shooting.

The shooting has shocked residents and students of the small Ohio town, who have described Lane as an "outcast" who had been bullied and said he had posted warnings on Twitter and left disturbing messages on Facebook. — Agence France Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Actor who had role on 'Seinfeld' shoots self

CINCINNATI - Character actor Daniel von Bargen, who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows including "Seinfeld" and "Malcolm in the Middle," was hospitalized after shooting himself in the head at his Cincinnati-area condominium, authorities said Wednesday.

Von Bargen, 61, told a Cincinnati-area emergency dispatcher on Monday that he had shot himself in the temple with a .38-caliber pistol at his home and could not open his left eye.

"I shot myself in the head and I need help," von Bargen told the emergency dispatcher in a call from his home in Montgomery, Ohio, northeast of Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati-born actor told the dispatcher he was diabetic and had a scheduled hospital appointment later on Monday where at least a few toes could be amputated. He said he was lying on a bed with his head propped on a pillow.

"I was supposed to go to the hospital today and I didn't want to," von Bargen said.

The actor played Mr. Kruger in several episodes of the TV series "Seinfeld" and he appeared in "Malcolm in the Middle" more than a dozen times as commandant Spangler, according to IMDb.com.

Police officers responding to the emergency call could be heard telling von Bargen to keep his hands visible and asking him if there was another handgun in the apartment. Police described him later as very cooperative.

Von Bargen was taken to Bethesda North Hospital, part of TriHealth, where he was stabilized and transported by helicopter to University Hospital, TriHealth spokesman Joe Kelley said.

Von Bargen's condition on Wednesday night was not immediately clear. A University Hospital spokeswoman said they had no patient by that name.

Attempts to reach a representative of the actor or his relatives were unsuccessful on Wednesday. –Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

'Biological clock' is linked to heart attacks

Ventricular arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat, occurs most frequently after waking in the morning -- and also to a lesser degree in the evening hours -- and causes a high number of deaths.

Reporting in the journal Nature, researchers in the United States said they had uncovered the first molecular link between this risk and circadian rhythm, the term by which biological processes vary according to a 24-hour period.

The finger points at levels of a protein called Klf15, they said.

Previous research has found Klf15 to be a circadian controller -- and, startlingly, is also lacking among some patients with heart failure.

The team created mice that had been genetically engineered to either lack Klf15 or make the protein excessively.

In both cases, the rodents had a much higher risk of arrythmias compared to normal counterparts.

"It is the first example of a molecular mechanism for the circadian change in susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias," said Xander Wehrens of Baylor College School of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

"If there was too much Klf15 or none, the mice were at risk for developing the arrhythmia."

Klf15 is only one step in a complex molecular cascade, the researchers believe.

It controls another protein, KChIP2, which affects potassium-generated electrical current that flows though heart muscle cells called cardiac myocytes.

When levels of KChIP2 fluctuate, this causes electrical instability in the myocytes.

As a result, the heart muscle's action becomes impaired and it takes longer (or conversely, less time) to empty the ventricle -- the heart's pumping chamber. The heart loses the regularity of the beat and labours to pump blood efficiently.

Co-author Mukesh Jain of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio said that further work could well uncover other circadian-related causes.

The discovery opens up intriguing paths of research, in pinpointing individuals at risk of nocturnal death and devising drugs to shield them, Jain added. — Agence France Presse

source: gmanetwork.com