News
May 15-31
16 May - Alan
Bridgehouse – Alive and Well
Water Police
and SES workers found Alan Bridgehouse, the 67-year-old Mitchelton man
reported missing on May 13. Police said they were searching in an area
not far from St Helens Road, Mitchelton when the missing man "popped his
head up from under thick lantana bushes". Mr Bridgehouse told searchers
he had just finished a smoke. He was reported to be in good spirits and,
despite his apparent good health, was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital.
Early reports indicate that he had been at the bottom of a steep embankment,
having toppled over the edge and into the lantana on Monday night.
Source: Police
Media Release May 16, 4.15pm
17
May
Missing Mitchelton
Man found
Water Police
and SES volunteers yesterday afternoon found a man who had been missing
in Mitchelton. He was found conscious in thick bushland at the bottom of
a steep embankment of a creek. It would appear that he had toppled over
the edge on Monday night. Source:
Police
Media Release May 17, 6.55am
Police Search
for Fisherman Missing in Lake Eucumbene
Police and
other rescuers will resume their search for a 62-year-old Sydney fisherman
missing in Lake Eucumbene, in the Snowy Mountains, early this morning.
The man went missing about 9.30am yesterday when it is believed his boat
filled with water and overturned in the choppy waters of the lake. A 39-year-old
Bathurst man in the boat swam to a nearby tree but was unable to reach
the shore and remained stranded for about three hours. Friends of the men
who were on shore became concerned about the pair and went searching a
short time later, locating the 39-year-old man in the tree. The three went
back to shore and contacted police about 1.00pm yesterday. The man went
missing in the northwest corner of the lake in an area known as Anglers
Reach. It is believed that the man was not wearing a lifejacket but was
wearing heavy clothing for protection against the cold and windy weather
conditions on the lake. Several police and private boats, and the South
Care rescue helicopter searched the lake for the man during the afternoon
without success. Source:
Police
Media Release 17/05/02
Body found
believed to be missing fisherman
Divers have
found a man's body believed to be that of a fisherman missing after his
boat over turned in the Snowy Mountains yesterday. Two men were fishing
in a small boat in Lake Eucumbene south of the ACT when the accident happened.
The other man clung to a partly submerged tree for three hours before being
rescued. The search for the 62-year-old was called off last night because
of bad light. Source:
ABC
News
19
May
The lipstick
bandit
NewsHC
(pics coming) Cross-dresser escapes on a bike after robbing Brisbane
banks.
Source: Dibben
K: The Sunday Mail, 19th May 02.
Missing Brisbane
10-year-old found safe.
A 10-year-old
boy reported missing at 10am on May 18 from Tingalpa was found 12 hours
later safe with relatives. Christopher Rice-Levit was last seen when he
left the family home after an argument with his mother. However, after
an extensive search by police and SES personnel, the youngster turned up
at a relative’s home. He was reunited with his relieved parents shortly
thereafter. Source: Police
Media Release May 19, 7.45am.
Missing rowers
found
An air search
has located two British rowers who were believed to be in trouble during
an attempt to set a record for crossing the Indian Ocean. Australian Search
and Rescue's Ben Mitchell says the two men were spotted mid-morning (AEST)
and appear to be safe. An alarm was raised last night when a distress signal
was received from an emergency beacon, positioned 60 nautical miles north-west
of Kalbarri north of Perth. Search authorities say the signal would have
been activated if the beacon fell overboard. Arrangements are now underway
to rescue the pair. It is believed a helicopter has been called in and
a cargo vessel has been diverted to the area where the men were sighted.
Source:
ABC - NewsMail Saturday May 18, 2002
20
May
Greek custody
laws thwart mother of abducted child.
NewsHC
A legal black hole has left a boy trapped in Greece and separated from
his mother.
Source: Papps,N:
The Courier-Mail, 20th May 02, p3.
Abducted boy
in legal black hole
A legal black
hole has left a five year-old boy trapped in Greece and separated from
his Victorian mum. Theo Kavouklis is stuck on the tiny Greek island of
Kalymnos after being abducted from Australia by his father. Theo's desperate
mother Diane Livingstone yesterday told the Herald Sun Greek authorities
have been unable to help her son come home, despite a Greek court ordering
he be returned to his mother in Australia. Ms Livingstone said her heart
has been ripped out by the loss of her only son and a Greek law that stops
police from enforcing court custody decisions.
"I just want
my five-year-old little boy home," the Sale mother said. "My heart's broken.
My heart was ripped out but I will never give up."
Ms Livingstone
said Theo was taken on an overseas holiday by her former husband, Nick,
last July and never returned. She found out she'd lost her son only when
her lawyer received a fax from Greece, and called her with the terrible
news.
"I collapsed,"
Ms Livingstone said. "I was screaming like a wounded animal in my office.
"It was my
worst nightmare."
Late last
year Ms Livingstone mounted a legal challenge to get her son back, successfully
applying under an international treaty known as the Hague Convention for
her case to be heard in Greece. In December, when she was seven months
pregnant, she travelled to the Greek island of Kos for a court custody
hearing and, against the odds, won an order for her son to come home. But
in the eight days between the court hearing and the decision, Theo and
his father disappeared. Police were powerless to help. Under Greek law
they have no power to seize a child if the abducting parent refuses to
co-operate with an order. Heartbroken, Ms Livingstone had to return to
Australia because of her pregnancy.
"I don't know
how I got on the plane without my son," she said.
"Theo's been
ordered home and I'm still waiting. There's never a minute that ticks by
that I don't think about him.
"If feels
like a slow death sometimes it's so hard; if Theo had died you can grieve
for your child.
"He's Australian-born
and he has an Australian passport. The Hague Convention is useless if they're
not going to enforce the orders."
Ms Livingstone
said she had written to the Greek consulate requesting help to bring Theo
home and wanted the Australian Government to do everything it could to
get Theo home. Figures seen by the Herald Sun reveal that, since 1995,
14 Australian applications for custody have been sent to Greek authorities
and only two have resulted in the return of the abducted child. Yesterday
a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Daryl Williams said that enforcing Greek
court orders was a matter for the Greek authorities. Use of the Hague Convention
is being reviewed by a Greek legal expert after the issue was raised by
the Attorney-General's office late last year. A spokeswoman for the Greek
Consul-General said yesterday a meeting would be set up this week with
Ms Livingstone to see what could be done to help.
Source: Papps,N:
The
Herald Sun, 20th May 02
21
May
Inquest told
of gran threat.
NewsHC
Bruce Burrell allegedly told his boss he threatened missing woman Dorothy
Davis a month before she disappeared on May 30, 1995. Burrell had previously
been charged with the murder of Kerry Whelan, the wife of former boss Bernie
Whelan, who disappeared after parking her car in Parrammatta in May 1997.
Source:
The Courier-Mail, 21st May 02, p4.
Five-year
old Theo never returned from Greece.
Five-year
old Theo never returned from holidays. A photo on the wall is one of the
reminders Dianne Livingstone has of her son Theo who was taken by her former
husband Nick during a holiday to Greece. It was a holiday from which he
never returned.
"We just miss
him desperately - he's just been ripped out of our lives", Mrs Livingstone
said. "My worst nightmare came true and I just collapsed with the shock
of it all." Dianne's nightmare began nine months ago and while she pushes
on with life with new husband Peter and baby daughter Remi, the pain of
being without her five-year-old Theo is constant. "He's in your life one
minute and next minute he's gone and you just can't come to terms with
it," she said.
"Every day,
all of his things are a reminder of the child who was in the house, laughing,
and is not there any more." Theo's stepfather Peter Johnston shares Dianne's
pain. "He's a lovely little boy. We did everything as a family and I miss
his company," Mr Johnston said. The Greek Legal system has stopped this
young couple in their tracks. They won a court battle in Greece to have
Dianne's former husband return Theo, but there is no enforcement of that
order. "Even though we have won a court order, I think it has been put
in the too hard basket," Mrs Livingstone said. "It's just taking too long
to bring him home. I should have brought him home in December when I had
the order, but now it's five months later and I still don't have him home."
Source:
Beaman, N: Today
Tonight May 21, 2002
24
May - Accusations of murder rock inquest.
NewsHC
Mrs Davis, 74 had not been seen since leaving her home about 1.30pm on
May 30, 1995. Bank records showed she wrote a cheque for Burrell in July
1994. The inquests of both Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan are being held
jointly. Source: Rowlands,
L: The Courier-Mail, 24th May 02, p3.
25
May - Jailed Kidnapper claimed baby was never in danger.
NewsHC
Terence Ward Traynor 54, was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. Source:
Randall, S: The Courier-Mail 25th May, p23.
28
May - Inquest told of kidnap 'greed'
BRUCE Burrell
was driven by greed and a desperate need for money when he kidnapped and
murdered missing Sydney woman Kerry Whelan, an inquest was told yesterday.
Chief Inspector Dennis Bray said Burrell, who was unemployed at the time,
needed money to enjoy the lifestyle he had become accustomed to as he had
portrayed himself as a successful advertising executive. He said Burrell
had no intention of returning Mrs Whelan to her family after kidnapping
her, despite demanding $1.25 million in ransom.
"I believe
that Mrs Whelan met with Mr Burrell . . . and was taken by him to a location
known only to himself," Insp Bray said. "Mr Burrell has acted alone and
it was his intention to murder Mrs Whelan in any event as he could be identified.
"Mrs Whelan's kidnapping and murder was committed out of greed and the
desperate need for financial gain." Insp Bray was giving evidence on the
first day of the inquest into the death of Mrs Whelan, 39, who has not
been seen since leaving the carpark of the Park Royal Hotel, Parramatta,
Sydney, about 9.30am on May 6, 1997. Surveillance footage shows a Mitsubishi
Pajero identical to one owned by Burrell pulling away from outside the
hotel less than a minute after Mrs Whelan is seen leaving the carpark.
The court has been told Mr Whelan, who previously had employed Burrell,
received a ransom note at the family's Kurrajong home the following day.
The typed
note demanded $1.25 million in ransom and warned him not to go to the police
or media. "There will be no second chances. Follow all instructions or
your wife will die," the note read. The court has been told of Mrs Whelan's
distress after being visited by Burrell at the family's home about three
weeks before her disappearance. Insp Bray told the court he believed Burrell
thought Mrs Whelan would be alone when he visited and intended to kidnap
her on that day. Police claim Burrell instead organised the meeting at
Parramatta on May 6. Burrell was previously charged with Mrs Whelan's abduction
and murder but the charges were last year withdrawn by the Director of
Public Prosecutions. The Whelan inquest follows the inquest into the death
of widow Dorothy Davis, and continues today.
Source: Rowlands,
L: The
Daily Telegraph, 28th May 2002
29
May - Search Resumes For Missing 86-Year-Old near Kempsey
Kempsey police
resumed the search for an 86-year-old woman suffering from dementia, missing
on a property about 25 km south of Kempsey. The woman went missing on May
28 on a property while taking her two dogs for a walk. The property adjoins
a state forest near Piper Creek Road at Dondingalong. A search was conducted
late on May 28 for the woman, without success. Police have failed to locate
the two dogs. Source:
Police
Media Release May 29
International
News:
17 May 2002
World Trade
Center Recovery Work to End on May 30
According
to city officials, more than 1,000 victims have been identified, many through
DNA testing of body parts. More than 2,800 people were killed in the attacks.
Ceremony to
mark end of cleanup at World Trade Center site - Nando Times 05-17-2002
May 30 to
mark end of WTC cleanup. - Atlanta Journal Constitution
World Trade
Center Recovery Work to End on May 30 - Voice of America
WTC Search
Effort, Cleanup to End Soon - Salt Lake Tribune
N.Y. Plans
to Mark End Of Trade Center Cleanup - Washington Post
22 May
On the run
for 32 years
A convicted
murderer has been captured almost 32 years after she escaped from a Tennessee
prison and assumed a new identity and life, authorities said.
The woman's
lawyer, however, called it a case of mistaken identity and said yesterday
that she would fight extradition. Authorities said Margo Freshwater, 53,
was arrested in her hometown Columbus, on Sunday. She had been using the
name Tonya McCartor, and had been working in Columbus with her husband
as a truck driver, said Brooks Wilkins, a special agent in charge with
the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. While a fugitive, Freshwater married
several times and had three children. "We don't believe her current husband
or the son who was with her at the time of her arrest knew anything about
her past," said Larry Wallace, director of the TBI. But lawyer Richard
Piatt said yesterday his client "denies being Margo Freshwater. She will
challenge the circumstances under which she allegedly admitted she was
Margo Freshwater". Freshwater escaped from the Tennessee Prison for Women
on October 4, 1970. She had served 1½ years of a 99-year sentence
for the first-degree murder of a Memphis liquor store clerk. Source:
The
Courier-Mail 22 May 02
Friends Reunited
user in libel payout
A man who
made malicious remarks about a former teacher on the Friends Reunited Web
site was ordered by a U.K. court to pay £1,250 ($1,821) damages and
£150 ($218) costs, The Register reported. Retired teacher Jim Murray
had taken former pupil Jonathan Spencer to court after Spencer posted comments
claiming Murray had been dismissed after "making rude remarks about girls"
and "strangling" a pupil. The court's assessment follows a February decision
in favor of Murray -- a rare win, according to The Register, because normally
publishers, not individuals are sued for libel. Murray said the award was
"peanuts" and criticized Friends Reunited, saying the site was a forum
that allowed false and defamatory messages to be posted. Friends
Reunited suspended its bulletin boards last year, after teachers complained
that former pupils used them to post malicious comments. Source:
Legal News, The
UK Register May 22,
|
