News
May 6-14
6 May
Search for
missing RAN sailor winding down
The air search
for a missing Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sailor in the Indian Ocean near
Christmas Island is winding down. However, the guided missile frigate HMAS
Darwin will continue looking for the sailor throughout the night using
radar and visual watches. The sailor, aged in his 20s, was last seen aboard
the frigate on Friday night and was noticed missing early on Saturday morning.
The ship has been working north-east of Christmas Island on maritime border
protection patrols. The ship's seahawk helicopter and an air force patrol
plane have searched for the missing sailor from the air, but they cannot
operate after dark. The Navy says it still holds out hope for the sailor.
Gyrocopter
search, Gayndah
ThPolice and
search and rescue workers were searching for a 50-year-old man who went
missing in his gyrocopter north east of Gayndah, near Maryborough, on May
4th. The search resumed this morning after two days of exploring the area.
Last night police were contacted by a property owner who heard someone
call out while she was riding on her property between 8pm and 10pm. A search
was conducted using infra-red equipment, and a concentrated ground search
will continue this morning on foot, horseback and in the air. The search
includes up to 20 local horsemen, a helicopter and a dozen SES volunteers.
Search organisers plan to include another eight helicopters and a fixed-wing
plane later this morning.
Source: Police
Media Release May May 06, 2002
Gyrocopter
Debris Located
A search helicopter
located the helmet of a missing gyrocopter pilot in the Burnett River,
north of Gayndah. The helmet was located downstream from an oil slick,
near a railway bridge, ten kms north-east of Gayndah. Debris from the aircraft,
including a seat, has also been located near the bridge. Police divers
will attend the scene to continue the search at first light tomorrow.
Source: Police
Media Release May 06
Stolen Baby
rescued in dark and rain.
NewsHC
A baby boy was stolen from his cot and carried up to 14km in the rain.
The kidnapping sparked a frantic 5 hour search. The man who took the child
was an acquaintance of the mother believed spiritual harm would come to
the child. The child was returned to his parents. The man faced court on
child stealing and break-and-enter charges. Source:
Green G: The Courier-Mail, May 6, 2002 p3
7
May - Dory Found.
NewsHC
The dory of a fisherman missing in rough seas for two days, was found overturned
off the Northern tip of Cape York Peninsula. There was no trace of the
49-year-old fisherman. Source:
The Courier-Mail, May 7, 2002 p3
10
May - Cameron Gurr, said search for sailor called off.
ABC Newsmail
23:56 5/10/02
11
May - No more threat to war graves
By Peter Wilson,
Europe correspondent
THE new French
Government has frozen plans for a third Paris airport, which may have been
built over Australian and other war graves, vowing to reconsider whether
such an airport is even needed.
The turnaround
was not triggered by the opposition of the Australian, British and Canadian
governments but by the appointment of a new Government that included as
Transport Minister a conservative politician who had long campaigned against
the impact of the proposed airport on local residents.
The French
political system often involves politicians holding several positions at
once, and the new Transport Minister, Gilles de Robien, happens to be the
long-time Mayor of Amiens, the closest city to the proposed site near the
village of Chaulnes, 125km north of Paris.
Mr de Robien,
whose support base in the region was made up of conservative voters, including
farmers, opposed the airport because it would have involved the forced
purchase of local farms and the bulldozing of several villages.
When the proposal
was announced in November, Mr de Robien said it was an undemocratic decision
because it was opposed by most local residents, many of whom would have
been faced with eviction.
"Chaulnes
is worst of the choices," he said then. "It is far from Paris, the (nearby)
A1 motorway is saturated, as is the TGV (high-speed train). As for viability,
I doubt it would succeed."
As Transport
Minister, Mr de Robien's first announcement was that he would go back to
square one on the project, meaning there might not be a third airport and
if there was, it would probably not be in that region.
"The first
question we must ask is whether we need a third airport," he said.
He did not
fully rule out the Chaulnes site being used but it was considered unlikely
if the conservatives stayed in power.
The turnaround
may be reversed again if the new Government does not survive elections
due next month, but yesterday's decision will be welcomed by veterans'
groups.
The key to
the change was the re-election of President Jacques Chirac last weekend,
and his appointment of a conservative team to govern until elections on
June 9 and 16.
The previous
Transport Minister, Jean-Claude Gaysott, of the Communist Party, had been
urged to put the airport in the Chaulnes region by a Communist MP from
Amiens who felt the project would bring badly needed jobs to the city.
Mr Gaysott
lost his job this week when Mr Chirac replaced the Left-leaning Coalition
of Lionel Jospin with a conservative Government.
More than
30,000 Commonwealth, French and German troops are buried in the area, in
the blood-soaked fields of the Somme.
Source: The
Australian 11 May 2002
13
May - Body of British climber found in New Zealand
Emergency
services in New Zealand have found the body of a British climber who went
missing near the country's highest peak, Mount Cook.
The body of
the 26-year-old West Yorkshire man has been recovered by helicopter and
taken to the nearby city of Timaru on the South Island for a coroner's
inquest.
Local police
Constable Brett Simon says Interpol and the British High Commission are
attempting to contact the family before releasing the dead climber's name.
Source: Daily
Record
14
May
One missing
US sailor returns
One of two
missing US sailors has handed himself into Tasmanian authorities.
The sailor,
from the US aircraft carrier John C Stennis, spent last night housed by
the Australian Navy and this morning will be flown out of the state.
The US Embassy
is making arrangements for the man, believed to be around 20-years old,
to be re-united with his ship or with another US ship in the area.
One man is
still absent and the Australian Navy is asking for him to come forward.
Source: ABC
News
Stranger takes
toddler from home.
Police were
looking into the abduction of a four-year-old girl from her home in Sunnybank
Hills on May 13. Police were told the girl was approached by a man driving
a yellow Ford utility about 3.30pm near her home in Morden Road. The man,
described as Caucasian in his mid to late 30s with a dark moustache and
shoulder-length hair, took the girl by the hand and put her into the utility.
She was returned to her neighbourhood soon after. The little girl has told
police that a man took her to McDonalds and bought her food before returning
her home unharmed. The girl’s mother had been at a neighbour’s house and
her father had left the house, telling the young girl to go to her mother,
when the incident occurred. The man was wearing a light-coloured shirt
and dark pants. He drove a yellow Ford utility, possibly a 1979 to 1981
model. Anyone with information that may help police should contact Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or
Source: Police
Media Release May 14, 3.30pm.
Media
coverage of the Wales King murders excessive
Victorian
detectives are complaining that media coverage of the Wales King murders
has held back their investigation. They have told the State Coroner that
lifting a suppression order on some of the items found at the couple's
shallow grave is not in the public interest.
Has the long
relationship between police and journalists been damaged?
The transcript
is not available. Listen
to the story here.
Source: The
World Today - ABC
News
International
News:
8 May 2002
Baby missing
in stolen caravan
Police have
made an urgent appeal for the return of a four-week-old baby, after thieves
stole the caravan where the infant was sleeping.
The child
was on his own in the caravan, which was parked in a travellers' site on
the A611 near Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. The parents of the baby boy,
named John, contacted Nottinghamshire Police at 4.30am to inform them that
the caravan had been towed away.
The caravan
is described as a 19 foot-long 'Wyke' model. It is white with a blue stripe
down the side and blue windows. The caravan was bought just two days ago
and did not had registration plates fitted. Anyone with information about
the baby's disappearance is asked to call
Nottinghamshire
Police on 0115 967 0111.
Source: ITV
News UK
20
May - Papeete, Missing Plane.
NewsHC
A plane carrying four local politicians was missing in French Polynesia.
A search and rescue effort was underway last night. Source:
The Courier-Mail, 20th May 02, p3.
23
May - US Public records on sale online
Companies
are selling databases of public records that include bankruptcies, divorces,
civil lawsuits and, most recently, criminal files. While these records
are all available to the public by law, some worry that easy Web-based
access to the information will lead to misuse. Such services are
mostly used for employee or tenant screenings, but a new company called
<http://www.rapsheets.com> RapSheets.com targets average netizens.
"Our service is a tool not only for corporate users but also for people
who want to check out the background of their babysitters or neighbors,"
said Peter Schutt, president of RapSheets.com. "If your daughter was going
out on a date with someone for the first time, there is no reason you can't
check the guy out." Source:
Washington
Post Online
24
May - New York; Dog finds remains of missing intern.
NewsHC
Skeletal remains of intern Chandra Levy were found in an overgrown park
387 days after she dissapeared. Source:
Johnston, D: The Courier-Mail, 24th May 02, p12.
25
May - Internet helps find missing kids
On the eve
of (US) National Missing Children’s Day, the Internet is being lauded as
efficient and dependable tool for finding children. The National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children credited the Internet directly for locating
48 children since 2000, a figure that exceeds those found by other methods
- 44 through Wal-Mart posters and 19 through postcards sent with bulk mailings.
Despite success, critics have pointed out that Web Sites need to be visited
for the pictures to be seen and that links to www.missingkids.org, the
FBI or the U.S. Postal Service are not always easy to find. On the
whole, however, the Internet is being hailed as positive resource.
"In one-way or another we use the Internet in every case, it's just too
valuable a tool to not use whenever possible," said Mike Gibson, president
of Operation Lookout. Source:
Yahoo North American General News
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