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Archives > Volume 7 Issue 31 - May 6, 2009 New York teen missing in Myrtle Beach...
New York teen Brittanee Drexel had "her mind set" on spring break in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Her mom didn't want her to go, but the strong-willed 17-year-old from Rochester, New York went anyway. Now she's missing, and her mom fears the worst. FoxNews story here
Brittanee's mom, Dawn Drexel, said her daughter made it to her South Carolina hotel and kept in touch until last Saturday night. That's when the messages suddenly stopped and the high school junior vanished, seemingly without a trace, she said. "It's a parent's worst nightmare," said Drexel. "There's a lot of things that don't add up, and I'm scared that there's the possibility that she's not alive." Drexel is worried because her daughter suffers from depression, and she's losing hope that she will be found safe. She said Brittanee may have been upset because her mother and stepfather are getting divorced. Brittanee had asked for permission to travel to Myrtle Beach, but Drexel said she wouldn't let her go. "I just said no, you're not going," Drexel told The Associated Press. "But when she gets her mind set on something, she just wants to do it, and that's it. I'm pretty positive she had left Wednesday night." The teen's hotel room at the Bar Harbor Hotel was abandoned, and she left all her belongings behind. Her cell phone, which has been tracked, was the only item missing, according to Myrtle Beach police spokesman Captain David Knipes. Brittanee left the Bar Harbor Hotel Saturday night about 8 p.m. and went to visit a friend named Peter Broswick, who was with a group of male friends at the nearby Blue Water Resort. Detectives believe Broswick may have been the last one to see the missing teen alive. Broswick is also from Rochester and left the beach town for home about 1 a.m. the night Brittanee was last seen, according to News Channel 15's CarolinaLive.com. Police released footage of the girl entering and leaving the lobby of the Blue Water about 8:25 p.m. Saturday. McCanns still searching for missing Maddie... 
Two years after a 3-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from a Portuguese resort town, her parents have released a new "age progression" photograph of her. ABC News story here
The picture, produced by the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, shows Madeleine as she would look now, a few days shy of what would be her sixth birthday. Kate and Gerry McCann launched the picture with a fresh appeal for information about her whereabouts on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today. In an exclusive interview with Winfrey about their continuing effort to find their daughter, the McCanns shared their grief over her disappearance. Kate McCann told Winfrey, "Not a day goes by when I don't think about her. I feel Madeleine is still close to me and alive." She told the talk show host that she visits Madeleine's bedroom twice a day, "usually I tend to open and close the curtains, just to say hello really, tell [her] we're still going to do everything we can to find her." It's been nine months since Portuguese authorities closed the case and cleared Kate and Gerry McCann of any involvement in her disappearance. But criticism of the couple - and their decision to leave Madeleine unattended in the hotel room - persists in some quarters. In her interview with Winfrey, Kate McCann acknowledged the criticism and said, "I can persecute myself every day about that. I feel awful that we weren't there, at that minute, somebody took an opportunity to take Madeleine." But she also expressed her suspicion that someone was watching the family over a period of days leading up to Madeleine's disappearance, saying, "It makes you feel sick when you think about it." For more on this story see Today Show video coverage at Today Show video here and vol5_iss34, vol6_iss23, and vol6_iss49. In other news... 
California authorities trying to find a 3-year-old kidnap victim say they're investigating several theories, including that the Spanish-speaking kidnappers were from Mexico and may have had ties to organized crime there. AP News story here Authorities along the Mexican border were on alert and FBI agents were helping in the investigation into the disappearance of Briant Rodriguez. "Every minute, every second that passes, is critical," investigating Sergeant Doug Hubbard said Tuesday at a news conference. Two gunmen burst through the family's front door Sunday and tied up Briant, four of his siblings and their mother, Maria Rosalina Millan, then ransacked the house, stealing money and other property, the Sheriff's Department has said. There have been no ransom demands and no motive has been established as to why Briant was taken. Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said investigators were considering all possibilities but had no substantial leads. The home invasion lasted about 20 minutes, after which the men left with Briant, ordering his mother and the other children not to call police, officials said. One of the children was able to loosen himself from his ties and freed the rest of the family, authorities said. The family lives in a modest, single-story home in a lower-income area abutting the city of San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
An eight-year-old Saudi girl who was sold into marriage by her father has been given a divorce after an international outcry over the case, Saudi media reports. News.com.au story here The marriage of the girl to a man reportedly in his 50s was annulled on Wednesday in out-of-court settlement overseen by a new judge in the city of Onaiza, after the original judge in the case refused to bend to pressure to grant the divorce, several newspapers reported. Riyadh newspaper said the settlement was reached after the intervention in the case by an unidentified "important personality". The girl's father had sold her last year to the man in exchange for a dowry. When her mother found out, she petitioned the court for a divorce for the girl. The judge twice rejected her case - though he stipulated that the marriage could only be consummated after the girl attained puberty. An appeals court sent the case back to the judge suggesting he reconsider, but he ruled again last week against divorce. The case garnered strong criticism from international rights groups and foreign diplomats raised the issue quietly with the Saudi government, according to AFP sources. 
The attorney for Florida mother Casey Anthony, who is charged with killing her young daughter, plans to ask a judge to move the trial outside of Orlando. Fox News story here Jose Baez said he will file a change of venue motion because of the pretrial publicity the case has generated. Anthony is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, who disappeared last summer. Caylee's remains were not found until last December in woods near the house she lived with her mother and grandparents. See more at vol6_iss78, and vol7_iss2. She has pleaded not guilty and claims Caylee was kidnapped by a baby sitter. Last month Florida prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Anthony if she is convicted of first-degree murder.
Children who are constantly bullied may be more likely to develop psychotic symptoms like hallucinations or delusions years later as adolescents. WebMD story here A new study shows that children who were consistently victimized by their peers at ages 8 or 10 were twice as likely to have psychotic symptoms by the time they hit adolescence. That risk was even greater if the bullying was particularly chronic or severe. Researcher Andrea Schreier, PhD, of Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick in England, and colleagues say the results highlight the consequences of childhood bullying and why it should not be tolerated. The findings also support previous research that suggests childhood bullying may increase the risk of mental disorders in adults who are victimized as children. The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, followed more than 6,400 children in Bristol, England, who were evaluated annually from ages 7 to about 13. Bullied children were approximately twice as likely to have psychotic symptoms in adolescence, regardless of other risk factors, such as other mental illnesses, family circumstances, or the child's IQ. The risk of psychotic symptoms was stronger when the childhood bullying was chronic or severe. For more on bullying see eGuide/bullying.
A deputy assistant secretary of the Navy under President Bill Clinton has been sentenced in San Diego to more than three years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. AP story here Wade Sanders was senior adviser for veterans and military affairs to California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi when he was arrested last year. The 68-year-old San Diego man pleaded guilty in December. U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan sentenced the decorated Vietnam War veteran Monday to three years and one month in prison. Prosecutors sought more than five years. The maximum was 10 years. Court records state there were more than 600 images of child pornography on his computers. Meanwhile, a former high-level aide to Senator Barbara Boxer has been sentenced to five years in prison on child pornography charges. AP story here Court documents say 32-year-old Jeff P. Rosato was sentenced Friday outside Washington in a hearing before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. He received the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines and will have to register as a sex offender. Rosato was fired from Boxer's office in November after the California Democrat learned of the charges. *for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org" |
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