LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It will be a historic moment and another step toward full Afghan sovereignty.”
President Barack Obama, announcing plans for American forces to move this spring into a largely training and advisory role in Afghanistan Article, 1A
1994 abductee found in Minnesota
CLARISSA, Minn. - In 2006, an 18-year-old Minnesota man legally changed his name to Michael Jeff Landers. Six years later, authorities said Landers was really the Indiana child who had been abducted by his paternal grandparents in 1994.
Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was reportedly abducted when he was 5 years old. The 24-year-old Michael Landers now lives in the small central Minnesota town of Browerville, the Todd County sheriff’s office said Friday.
Sheriff Peter Mikkelson said the investigation is ongoing and the case will be forwarded to federal authorities for possible charges.
It’s unclear what Landers knew about his history, but authorities said he had lived with his grandparents since birth.
A posting from his Facebook account appeared Friday night on the Minneapolis television station KARE’s Facebook page, saying: “For you people who jump to conclusions you should find out the whole story I was where I needed to be.
My ‘grandparents’ were in the right I dont care what anyone else thinks.”
His grandparents fled during a custody dispute with Landers’ mother in July 1994 from Wolcottville, Ind., about 50 miles southeast of South Bend.
The mother and stepfather were unemployed and lived in a car, recalled John Russell, who spent several months investigating the disappearance with the LaGrange County sheriff’s office in Indiana.
Package explodes, hurts 3 in family
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Police said Friday that three people were seriously injured when a package they opened inside their south Texas home exploded.
Brownsville police spokesman J.J. Trevino said the family found the package outside the home and opened it early Friday morning.
All three victims - a mother, father and their 5-year-old daughter - received extensive burns. Police are not releasing their names. Additional explosive devices in the package that did not explode were later detonated by the bomb squad.
Trevino said the motive or whether the family had received earlier threats is unknown. He said there was extensive damage inside the home.
The Brownsville Herald reported that the girl was airlifted to Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, while her parents were airlifted to the Brooke Army Medical Center burn unit in San Antonio.
Pardoned felon tied to fatal shooting
JACKSON, Miss. - A former prisoner who received a full pardon last year from then-Gov. Haley Barbour was involved in an exchange of gunfire that killed another man Thursday night, a northern Mississippi sheriff said.
Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan said Wayne Thurman Harris of Slate Springs and Chris McGonagill of Calhoun City got into an argument at a cookout, and both of them fired guns. McGonagill was killed. Harris was wounded.
“We’re trying to put it all together. It’s like a puzzle,” Pollan said. “We know Harris was hit once in the leg and McGonagill about six times.”
Pollan said no charges have been filed because he has not had a chance to interview Harris.
McGonagill died about 1 a.m. Friday at Baptist Hospital in Oxford. Harris was being treated at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
Harris received a full and unconditional pardon from Barbour on Jan. 10, 2012. Pollan said - and state documents show - Harris had completed his sentence for sale of marijuana when the pardon was issued.
Felons typically are not allowed to possess firearms, but Pollan said that does not apply in Harris’ case because of the full pardon he received.
Claim teen had hit list part of inquiry
TAFT, Calif. - California authorities said Friday that they are investigating allegations that a 16-year-old boy accused of shooting a classmate had been suspended from school last year for having a hit list.
Kern County sheriff’s office spokesman Ray Pruitt said the reports of the hit list are being looked into as part of the investigation into Thursday’s shooting at Taft Union High School in the city of Taft.
The sheriff’s spokesman said the teen was booked into juvenile hall on investigation of two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.
Investigators plan to submit their case to the district attorney’s office Monday.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/12/2013