Lost In Lima Ohio - A true crime blog

I could ramble the list of "male" crimes off in my head without a second thought. I imagine most people could. There are just certain crimes that seem to have committed themselves to being considered a "mans" crime. If I start talking about a rapist- how many people imagine a man? If I start talking about serial killers- do you envision a male or a female? And, if I told you that someone kidnapped a killed a child they weren't related to- who would you picture the suspect being- a woman or a man? It's strange, yet these seem to be crimes we associate with men. Don't get me wrong- women have earned their own set of crimes that we've resigned to associating with a female perp rather than a male. The case of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu seems to have caught a good deal of people off guard. As horrible as a missing child is- we've slowly grown use to the flash of cute pictures and the stories of towns banning together to hang missing persons fliers every...

By now, most people know about the missing 6 year old boy Cole Puffinburger who was kidnapped from his home in Nevada, and some of the details behind the kidnapping. For those interested in getting more information- I'm personally hooked on Steve Huff's continuing coverage of the case. Steve's has been on to stay a little ahead of the MSN on certain cases and it seems that this time is no exception.

Richard "Ric Ric" Henyard is going to die, unless someone quickly steps in and saves him. I'm crossing my fingers that no one does. Unless a court intervenes, Richard "Ric Ric" Henyard, 34, will be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the murders of 7-year-old Jamilya Lewis and her 3-year-old sister, Jasmine. Henyard and a younger accomplice carjacked Dorothy Lewis and her daughters outside a grocery store in the central Florida town of Eustis on the night of Jan. 30, 1993. Henyard, then 18, raped Lewis and then shot her multiple times at close range, but she survived. He then participated in the shootings of her daughters after they cried out for their mother. Mark Gruber, one of Henyard's state-paid attorneys, filed two appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court last week and filed a final brief Tuesday morning, hoping to postpone the execution. A handwritten civil rights appeal filed by Henyard in federal court in Jacksonville...

After years of waiting, Mark Dean Schwab can go home. Perhaps not the home he'd hoped for- he was after all condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison- with a chance that his death sentence would be forever halted and he's spend the remander of his time in a general population cell block, or the chance that Florida would actually get around to granting the family of his victim the closure of knowing that he'd been excuted. Schwab, after losing his case in which he claimed that Florida's new method of carrying out the death penatly  "could also cause pain and suffering", died 12 short minutes after the procedure was started. Schwab was given a stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court in November as it considered the constitutionality of Kentucky's lethal injection procedure. When it ruled Kentucky's protocol was acceptable, it opened the door for Florida and other states with similar laws to resume executions. He'd been convicted and ...

Police allege that a 12 year old girl was kidnapped and sexually abused by Billy Potts, although she managed to walk away from him at some point and get help. After an amber alert was canceled for the California girl, police began searching Potts and for a van which matched the description of the one used in the crime. A highway patrol officer spotted the vehicle, and approached it to question the driver, who informed the officer that he was a registered sexual offender gave his name to the officer. As the officer was turning to walk away, Potts evidently shot himself, which resulted in his death. Source. If Potts did indeed sexually abuse the child after kidnapping her- then it's a shame he waited until after doing so to end his pathetic life...

Eighteen year old Timothy Christian Schlafer has landed himself in a bit of trouble after attempting to kidnap an 11 year old girl from her bed as she slept in her home in Florida. According to police, Schlafer broke into a home in the 8700 block of Northwest 40th Street early Wednesday morning. Police said Schlafer was carrying the girl down the stairs toward the front door when the victim's grandmother woke up and yelled at him to put her down. Perhaps he should consider changing his MySpace status from mischievous to 'locked up'.

There has been an Amber Alert set for a 14 year old NC boy. Police say the boy was able to contact someone via his cell phone after two while men assaulted him at a community center and then abducted him. Derrick Taylor. is a 14-year-old American Indian male, 5' 5", 124 pounds. He has sandy hair, and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a green hat, green shoes, green shirt and blue jeans. The suspects are two white males who beat him up and threw him in the back of a gold-colored vehicle. FoxNews (TV, sorry no link) just reported that he indicated that although he was unaware of the location where he was, he believed he was in a shed or storage building. If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Cherokee Tribal Police Department immediately at (828) 554-6168 or dial 911. NBC 17 is reporting that the Amber Alert has been canceled, although no information is coming out from police as to his whereabouts, or condition.

I'm not all that old. Oldish, almost. But not old. Still young enough that while growing up, my father had a cell phone. But old enough that it was really called a car phone, and not a cell phone- and it was almost as big as the car itself. Still, that's not OLD. It's not been that long since I was a kid myself. And yet, every day I find myself in this odd position of wondering just when it was that parents generally became stupid. Not "too lazy to interact with their children", not "too involved in work to spend time teaching their kids"- but literally- stupid, horrible parents. I know it started sometime prior to my time as a kid- although it wasn't on the grand scale that it is now. Just look at some of the quality parents we seem to be producing: Mother Bought Guns for Pennsylvania Boy Charged With School Plot Seriously, buying a troubled teen guns? And, as if we needed more contestants for stupid/bad parent of the year, we have Nicholas and Lola...

(new updates at bottom of post) UPDATE: As I was preparing to post this, an alert came in on "christopher michael barrios". It seems that police have found the little boy, and it's not good news. The body of Christopher Michael Barrios was discovered after police arrested four suspects -- included a registered sex offender living nearby -- who told a confusing and contradictory welter of stories that suggested Christopher was abducted, killed and buried, authorities said. Updates: n the week since 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios vanished while playing near his trailer-park home, police have arrested four suspects who have told a confusing and contradictory welter of stories that suggest the boy was abducted, killed and buried. But investigators have yet to find the youngster, and are not sure what to believe. "It's frustrating when you have someone that tells you something and they're reasonably certain of it and you check it and it turns out not to be...

Jury selection in Miami has begun for John Couey - the man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing nine year old Jessica Lunsford. I know, a jury should be unbiased. It should consist of people willing to hear all of the evidence, able to listen intently to both sides of the case, and then come to a reasonable, and legally binding decision of guilt or innocence based upon the facts presented, and the evidence shown. I know this, I expect this, I want this... And yet- all I really care about is the ability of these 12 jurors to quickly agree upon giving him a sentence of death, the speediness of the courts to hear all of his appeals, and finally- I hope his last few moments on earth are painfully unforgiving.

(photo AP) I was eating supper, with the news on but volume turned down when a familar face flashed upon the TV- Shawn Hornbeck Many will recall the speculation about the 4 year old disappearnce of 11 year old Shawn Hornbeck, who was last seen riding his bicycle in a rural area in Richwoods, Missouri on October 6, 2002. From CBS: CIRCUMSTANCES: Shawn Hornbeck left his home in Richwoods, Missouri at approximately 1 pm on October 6, 2002 to ride his bicycle to a friend?s house, with the understanding that he would return home by 5 pm. He never arrived at the friend?s home, and didn?t return home. Hornbeck was last seen riding his bicycle approximately ? mile from his home at about 4:30 pm. REMARKS: Shawn Hornbeck was last seen wearing an orange Astros t-shirt (from his little league baseball team), blue jeans and Nike athletic shoes. His left ear is pierced. The news tonight brought a rare and wonderful end to not only Shawn's disappearence, but also Ben Ownby's. William (Ben) O...

UPDATE- BOYS FOUND! A white pick up, banged up with missing hubcaps and a matching cab on the back seems to be the only clue surrounding the disappearance of 13 year old William " Ben" Ownby. As the FBI has begun to investigate, and a profiler has been called into to present possible leads to what steps investigators might consider taking; Ben's father issued a heartfelt plea to whoever is responsible for his disappearance : During a news conference held Thursday afternoon, Ben's father, Don Ownby, issued a plea to anyone who thinks or suspects they know something to come forward. "It could be something to break this thing open for us," said Ownby. Ownby said his son wants to go to college for computer programming and has already taken his first ACT test. He said Ben's the "perfect student and the perfect son. [...] "He has his whole life ahead of him ... let his family have him back ." For the latest news: Profile of abductor will take ti...

UPDATE- BOYS FOUND! A 13 year old boy in Missouri is currently missing , and feared kidnapped. Please kep your eyes open: Ben was feared abducted Monday after getting off a school bus near his rural eastern Missouri home. He was last seen around 4:15 p.m. Monday near Missouri Route 50 in Beaufort, an unincorporated town about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis. An Amber alert was issued Tuesday as the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI were joined by dozens of volunteers in the search. Ben and a friend got off the bus after attending middle school in nearby Union, then separated. Ben's friend told authorities he looked back minutes later to see a white pickup truck with a camper shell in an apparent hurry, backing into a ditch briefly before speeding away. Categories: missing , kidnappings ,

As much as I love the idea of magical reindeer and Santa, there is a reason why I tell my kids that the Santa's they see in public are just actors, and to be just as cautious about them, as they would any stranger. COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A Batesburg-Leesville man dressed as Santa has been charged with kidnapping an 8-year-old girl, who was released unharmed. Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says 55-year-old John Michael Barton was arrested Sunday night. Continue reading news article ... UPDATE: Found an even better news clip on it , complete with the photo of the Santa Perv seen above. Categories: predators , kidnappings ,

Two current Amber Alerts, please keep an eye out: ALBERTVILLE, Ala . — State troopers issued a missing child alert Monday after a man stole a car in which a 5-year-old boy was seated. Troopers issued the Ambert Alert for Geontae Glass, who was in a light blue 1994 Nissan Altima with no tag when it was stolen Monday morning in front of a store. The car was last seen traveling south on Alabama 206. Trooper said the child is believed to be in extreme danger and urged anyone with information to call local police or the state Department of Public Safety at 334-242-4128. Other details were not immediately available. From the Amber Alert website: Geontae Glass , 5 years of age. He's a black male, last seen Monday morning at 601 Baltimore Avenue in Albertville, Ala. Glass is 3 feet tall and weighs 65 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He is considered to be in extreme danger. The suspect is unknown black male who was described as approximately 5'9" - 5'11", 200 - ...

There is a current Amber Alert for two young boys around Cincinnati Ohio- A Child Abduction Alert has been issued for two boys believed taken by their father from a Middletown home. Police say 32-year-old Julius Crossty took 9-year-old Julius and 8-year-old Julian from 816 Yankee Road at about 8 o'clock on Tuesday night. Police say he could be having suicidal thoughts. The mother was found at the home with cuts to her legs. The father is described as standing 6'0", weighing 160 lbs. with black hair. Julius is 5'2", 90 lbs. with brown hair. Julian is 4'0", 80 lbs. with black hair. Crossty could be driving a gold 1999 Ford Taurus with the license plate DQM 6260. If you have any information, contact your local police or call 1-877-AMBER-OH. Hopefully more information will come soon, and as always we hope that information includes the news that they have been found safe, and returned to their mother. Thanks to fellow Lima blogger over at Right Moment for hav...

Joseph Duncan was to get his jury today, in the case of the murders of three people: Slade Groene, Brenda Matthews Groene, and Mark McKenzie from back in May of 2005. I say was, because the jury selection was oddly canceled. And then a hearing was held today. The Cellar- a blog started by Mickey Rat soon after learning the identity of Duncan in the murders and kiddnappings, and then left in the care of Jules- has had ongoing coverage of these recent events. Prosecutor Bill Douglas has accepted Joseph Duncan's plea offer. Melissa Luck at KXLY reports that the plea accepted is essentially the same offer which was previously rejected by Douglas on October 6th . Crimeblog.us , ran by Steve Huff also has ongoing coverage you may want to keep an eye on. While many of us longed to see the death penalty in this case- the crimes were more heinous than we could even begin to imagine- the deal saves the lone survivor Shasta Groene from having to testify, and will likely bring comfort to the ...

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y- An 10 year old girl was riding her bike yesterday when a man approached her, snatched her off of her bike and proceeded to put her in his vehical. The girl was then bound with tape, drove around for a few blocks and then released. Reports say that she is not believed to have been sexually assaulted. But, police are searching for the suspect. More Coverage at MSNBC . In other news, Louisville Metro Police Department are also seeking a suspect in the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old girl, which also happened on Thursday. Authorities said the 15-year-old girl, a student at Eastern High School, was walking through the Hurstbourne Grand Apartments when a man ran at her and tried to drag her off the sidewalk. The girl screamed and dropped to the ground, and the assailant ran away, police said. This is the third incident within recent weeks, and police seem to believe that the suspect is the same in all cases. Readers in Lousiville are asked to keep a good eye on their chi...

"Having someone harm your child is one of the worst nightmares you can face."- George Bush. The idea that those who would harm children are allowed to serve a faction of time in comparison to the lifetime of pain they leave behind for their victims and the families of victims is disgusting. It's the one of the most saddening parts of our justice system, that child predators are not treated as the dangers they really are. Justice is barely ever served, and never really served when plea deals allow them to walk out into society without ever having served any time for their offenses. "The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" will be signed into law today on the 25th anniversary of the abduction of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of NCMEC co-founders John and Reve Walsh. The law is named for Adam, who was kidnapped from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Fla., and found murdered 16 days later. Sadly, no one was ever charged in Adam's murder. His abducti...

A question has been on my mind, and although I feel as if I already have the correct answer to it, I thought I would put it in your heads, and see what you come up with. For those that are willing to humor me, all I ask is that you be honest in your reply. Explain your answer as much or as little as you like. Last year the media was swarming around stories like Joseph Duncan and the Groene murders. Anyone who watched more than 30 seconds of a news story was quickly made aware to the fact that he had been previously convicted and had recently been arrested (and released on bond) for sexual offenses. There was an increase in attention to cases that seemed to highlight today's routine of "catch and release, and catch again" when it comes to sexual offenders. Early in March, the nation watched in shock and horror as Jessica Marie ``Jessie'' Lunsford was reported missing, only to be found days later- sexually assaulted and murdered at the hands of another previously ...