The Inquisitr » florida

Mobile Home Fire Kills 5 In Central Florida

AHN — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:17:10 +0000

Ocala, FL (AHN) – Authorities are investigating the cause of a mobile home fire in Ocala, Florida that has left five people dead.

Local authorities responded to a blaze at the Ocala Estates in Marion County. The fire occurred before sunrise on Saturday and fire rescue discovered the bodies after they put out the flames.

According to local reports, a woman and her four children, ages 3 months, and 2, 4 and 6 years, were killed.

Pic: “Normandy Nessie,” Florida’s Loch Ness Monster?

Kim LaCapria — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:05:19 +0000

A retiree in Florida is reporting a Loch Ness style creature in a local canal- at first thought by the man to be a snake before he says he spotted a caudal fin.

Pictures of the creature are, as always, from a large distance and it’s almost difficult to spot the water, much less a water dwelling creature. But Russ Sittloh insists the creature is huge and potentially dangerous- and he’s concerned for small children and kayakers in the vicinity. (Pythons are a known invasive species in the South, and in July a toddler in Florida was strangled to death by a household pet python. )

Sittloh says when he last saw the beast, it did a double roll and came back toward Sittloh with a “mouthful of fish.” Whether the creature Sittloh is capturing on film is a python is up for some debate:

“I don’t know if we have a mutated species here or what,” Sittloh said. “Whatever he is, my God, is he big. He is some kind of big.”

Sittloh said he has warned his neighbors and called the city, but did not report the creature to the Sheriff’s Office.

“From the video, it appears most likely it is a manatee,” said Carli Segelson, media relations coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said no one else in Madeira Beach has reported seeing Nessie.

“It sounds like there is something out there, but we don’t know what it is,” she said.

Sittloh has invested nearly $400 in equipment to record the elusive creature, so perhaps better pictures will surface soon. The pic above was captured on November 8th, and allegedly shows the animal frolicking in Sittloh’s Madeira Beach canal,

Missing 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick found alive under sitter’s bed

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:42:40 +0000

The case of a missing 7-month-old baby girl took a strange twist yesterday when the child was found unharmed beneath a sitter’s bed, and her mother was arrested along with the sitter and the sitter’s husband in the girl’s disappearance.

Shannon Dedrick was reported missing by her parents Saturday, and the case quickly focused in on Shannon’s sitter, Susan Baker. (Baker is related to the child’s father.) The case is full of odd turns, as it was revealed that Baker not only wrote a letter to the Governor of Florida begging him to remove the child from her parents’ custody, but also that Baker was involved in a similar child abduction twenty years ago. The boy in that case, Paul Baker, has never been located.

A summary of the case provided to the News Herald by The Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows that Paul’s stepmother was named Susan Baker, the wife of his father James.

The couple were arrested in connection with the boy’s disappearance and were later charged with aggravated assault and battery for allegedly severely beating him before he vanished March 5, 1987, according to the documents.

“Susan Baker told police she put him down for a nap that day and returned to find him missing,” the synopsis says. “The Deputies and police searched the area around their home for several days but found no trace of the little boy.

Susan Baker’s daughter was removed from her custody after the disappearance of Paul Baker, when it was revealed in the course of the investigation that Baker’s daughter exhibited strong signs of chronic abuse. Shannon’s parents, Chrystina Lynn Mercer and James Russell Dedrick Jr., have been under intermittent investigation since Shannon was two weeks old but no hard evidence had surfaced previously to warrant removing Shannon from her parents’ custody. Although Mercer is believed to be involved in her daughter’s odd abduction, Dedrick is not thought to have been aware of his daughter’s whereabouts.

Investigators found Shannon in a box under a bed during a voluntary search on Wednesday night, deliberately concealed amongst household items. She was deemed healthy and placed into protective custody. Charges are pending for Mercer, Baker and Baker’s husband.

Casino denies man $166m jackpot after slot malfunction

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:37 +0000

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa has settled with a guest for an undisclosed sum after an erroneous slot machine result lead the man to believe he’d won $166 million on Sunday.

Bill Seebeck was playing $4 slots at the Seminole Hard Rock and after spending about $80 on a Bally Ultimate Party Spin, Seebeck won what he thought was a massive jackpot. But after an hour of casino brouhaha and planning how he’d spend his massive win, casino officials told him that the win was faulty and he wouldn’t receive any money. They even tried to get him to agree in writing that he’d not be receiving anything for the false win.

While Seebeck originally indicated that he was seeking a lawyer to represent him regarding the incident, the Seminole Hard Rock Casino released a statement indicating that they’d offered Seebeck a “good faith” settlement and that he’d accepted:

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa has made an offer to William Seebeck, and he has accepted, recognizing that the slot machine he was playing on Sunday malfunctioned, in what can be best described to the layman as a “computer glitch.” The maximum payout on the Ultimate Party Spin machine played by Seebeck is $99,000, although his bet of $1.50 at the time of the malfunction could have generated a maximum payout of only $2,500, with the right combination. Determination of a malfunction was made by representatives of the machine’s manufacturer and software provider, according to established gaming industry standards, with confirmation from an independent third-party laboratory analysis. The casino has opted to settle this matter for an undisclosed amount as a good faith gesture, and we look forward to welcoming Mr. Seebeck on future visits.

[Miami New Times]

Largest Solar Panel Plant In U.S. Gets Ready To Go Live

James Allen Johnson — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:42:49 +0000

The Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center is about to go live with 25 megawatts of power at a cost of nearly $150 million. The plant, for the time being will be the largest Solar Power producing facility in the states. Although it is only one of three solar plant projects developed by Florida Power & Light.

The plant, located in Florida may look huge in the photograph on this page, but it’s only a fraction of the under construction neighboring plant also being built by Florida Power & Light in neighboring Arcadia which will offer three times the size at 75 mega watts when completed.

When the plant goes live on Tuesday President Barack Obama is expected to be in attendance and take a tour of the new plant which will provide power to a fraction of the regions nearly 4 million customers.

While the Florida projects are large, new plants soon to be announced by Texas and California are expected to eclipse the size of Florida projects.

Missing 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten found dead

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:10:38 +0000

Just two days after the tragic discovery of the body of missing Florida 7-year-old Somer Thompson in a Georgia landfill, police in Missouri have made another sad discovery.

The body of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, missing since Wednesday, has been located in a wooded area west of Jefferson City. Elizabeth disappeared Wednesday night on the walk home from a friend’s house after a conversation with her parents on the phone. Elizabeth’s parents told her to “leave and get home,” and Elizabeth subsequently vanished. Cole County Sheriff Greg White confirmed to Fox News that there was “no contact” from Elizabeth after that interaction.

Police say that an “older juvenile” lead them to Elizabeth’s body and the same juvenile is being detained as a “person of interest” in Elizabeth’s death. Cause of death and other details of the case have not been disclosed to press.

Body found in Somer Thompson disappearance

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:39:03 +0000

A sad resolution has likely come to distraught family members in the disappearance of Somer Thompson.

Somer, 7, was ostensibly snatched on while walking home from school with her siblings. Police have not confirmed that the body is definitely Somer’s, but it sounds as if they’re almost positive the body found is that of the missing girl. The body is reported to have been located in a landfill just over the state line in Georgia, in a search instigated by following sanitation trucks from the area in which Somer disappeared. The landfill, in Flokston, GA, is the end of the route for trucks collecting trash in Somer’s hometown of Orange Park, FL.

As law enforcement officers indicated that the case will now switch gears to a homicide investigation, Florida Governor Charlie Crist commented on the sad discovery:

It is “not conclusive yet this is Somer, but all indications sort of point in that direction.”

“We all need to say a prayer for Somer’s family,” Crist said.

There is currently a $30,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to Somer’s killer.

Florida community wants to evict 6-year-old

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:24:16 +0000

No really, Kimberly Broffman, get off of their lawns.

Kimberly, a 6-year-old in the custody of her grandparents, is facing eviction by local law enforcement because her grandparents live in a retirement community. The child has lived in the house her whole life, as her mother is unable to care for her due to unspecified drug problems. Now authorities plan to remove the girl from the only home she’s ever known and place her in foster care with strangers due to a homeowners association policy.

Kimberly’s grandparents, Jimmy and Judie Stottler, have been unable to sell their home and move elsewhere due to the housing market crash. The Stottlers have even lowered the price from $225,000 to $129,000, willing to get completely hosed on the move just to keep their family intact, but no one is buying. The battle has been going on for several years, the better portion of Kimberly’s life, but the Stottlers are of limited resources to fight the situation.

Check out the MSNBC video below, where neighbors of the Stottman’s advocate for tearing the family apart. One woman, who looks like she’s about to start talking boot-straps, cruelly states that Kimberly should be ejected from her home. And the president of the homeowners association looks positively gleeful as he discusses the prospect of getting sheriffs to forcibly remove the small girl. He says in response to a question about who will take Kimberly:

“No, the sheriff will. I will merely be the President of the Board who is trying to enforce the policies of our association that she agreed to when she moved in.”

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Three days in, no leads in Somer Thompson disappearance

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:55:11 +0000

7-year-old Somer Thompson has “disappeared off the face of the earth,” Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler has admitted in a case that has “baffled” investigators.

Somer’s mom Diena tearfully plead for the girl’s return, telling viewers that Somer’s twin brother was “lost” without her, but investigators have so far found no clues in the girl’s disappearance. Somer was walking home from her school near Jacksonville, FL, with her twin brother and 10-year-old sister when the children had a disagreement. Somer ran ahead of her siblings, disappearing from view, and has not been seen since. As no one witnessed an abduction, an Amber Alert was not issued until the following morning.

Authorities report having interviewed around 60 of the 94 sex offenders living in a three mile radius, and that they plan to expand their scope after turning up no leads in Somer’s disappearance. Beseler urged anyone with information to come forward in hopes of turning up information about Somer’s whereabouts:

“This case is very troubling in that we just don’t have a lot of information,” Beseler said, asking the public for tips. “We really believe that … Somer has been removed from the area.”

Beseler also said:

“We desperately need someone to give us a call,” he said. “All we need is one phone call, one phone call to bring Somer home.”

One of the sadder aspects of this case, in contrast with last week’s “balloon boy” waste of time, is Somer’s mother’s words to her daughter at a press conference. Diena Thompson, whose child is genuinely missing and endangered, tearfully told Somer through reporters that if she is afraid or apprehensive, that’s she’s not in trouble and to please come home. It’s heartbreaking, and really puts the Heene’s actions into a more callous light, driving home the human impact of diverting law enforcement resources and media coverage.

[ABC]

Florida Woman Dies After Being Thrown From Golf Cart

AHN — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:44:20 +0000

Miami, FL (AHN) – A woman in Ormond Beach, Fla. died from injuries sustained after being thrown from her golf cart on Friday.

The woman was identified as Carol Hollingworth, 58. She was thrown from the vehicle while driving it in the Plantation Bay Golf Club, the Florida Highway Patrol said. It is not clear how she lost control of the cart.

She was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy is pending to determine whether the accident was alcohol related, the Daytona Beach News Journal reported.

Ormond Beach is located in the state’s Volusia County.

Orlando Doctor Wins $189 Million Powerball Jackpot

AHN — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:26:21 +0000

Tallahassee, FL (AHN) – A doctor from Orlando became Florida’s largest-single lottery winner Thursday by claiming the $189 million Powerball jackpot prize.

Dr. William A. Steele, 56, chose a lump-sum payment of more than $101 million when he claimed the prize at the lottery office accompanied by his wife and a friend. The jackpot numbers are 12 – 24 – 48 – 50 – 57 with 22 as Powerball. The PowerPlay is 3x.

Steele bought the winning ticket, which was drawn on Oct. 3, at a Chevron station at Sand Lake and Turkey Lake roads. The ticket vendor received $80,000 as bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Steele plans to use the prize money to support charity groups and put up a foundation. But he will keep his job.

Florida Family Dies From Electrocution

AHN — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:00:11 +0000

Palm Bay, FL (AHN) – A father, mother and their son were killed Monday when the pole of a ham radio antenna they were holding and installing at their home in Palm Bay touched an overhead power line and electrocuted them.

The 50-year-old mother died on the spot from the 13,000 volts of electricity that zapped her. Her 50-year-old husband and 15-year-old son were brought to a hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival.

The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. on Alaska Avenue south of Brevard County. The three apparently lost control of the antenna pole they were holding and it struck the live wire.

Male Body Washes Ashore On Fort Lauderdale Beach

AHN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:50:07 +0000

Fort Lauderdale police are investigating a case involving a deceased man’s body on the beach. The discovery was made early Monday morning by beach crews.

Reportedly at 5:50 a.m. Crews made the grisly discovery by the water’s edge in the 300 block of North Atlantic Boulevard, just South of Bayshore Drive.

Investigators believed the man washed ashore but no very little else. Officials are trying to ascertain who he is and where he came from. The medical examiner’s office is now tasked with determining the cause of death.

Florida Keys Men Plead Guilty To Poaching Spiny Lobster From Artificial Habitat

AHN — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:30:40 +0000

Two men from Baypoint, Florida Keys have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and illegal harvest of 8,500 pounds of spiny lobsters from an artificial habitat at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS).

John Buckheim, 23, and Nick Demauro, 23, entered their guilty plea before a federal District Court in Key West on Wednesday. Under the plea bargain, each faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison followed by a term of supervised release and fines.

Buckheim and Demauro were required to surrender the navigation equipment and location data for all the artificial habitat sites at the FKNMS and forfeiture of the vessel they used to poach at the said marine reserve.

The illegal harvest took place for six month starting the summer of 2008. Buckheim received $45,000 checks as payment by a Key West fish house for the lobsters.

The FKNMS is a 2,800 square nautical mile area that surrounds the entire archipelago of the Florida Keys.

Convicted killer of Jessica Lunsford dies on death row

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:19:03 +0000

John Evander Couey, 51, died in prison today, reportedly of anal cancer.

Couey was convicted in 2007 of the 2005 abduction, captivity, rape and murder of nine year old Jessica Lunsford. Couey confessed to keeping the girl alive for three days before binding her wrists with wire and burying her alive, suffocating her. Lunsford’s body was located under Couey’s porch in March of 2007, and two years later, Couey was convicted of first degree murder, kidnapping, burglary, and sexual battery. A jury recommended a sentence of death.

While Couey’s body is currently unclaimed, Lunsford’s family is pleased that their daughter and grandaughter’s killer has died. Her father Mark didn’t comment on the death, but his mother Ruthie had this to say:

“Everybody from the family is calling, here and in North Carolina,” she said. “God done this in his own time.”

Mark Lunsford, she said, “is ecstatic, just like his mother.”

Though the family knew Couey had cancer, they did not know he would die so soon, said Ruthie.

“We was looking for him to be injected and die,” she said.

“This won’t bring Jessie back, but Couey had to suffer. He suffered greatly. Anal cancer is very painful. I don’t feel sorry for him. I am glad he had to suffer. He let my granddaughter suffer.”

[Source: TBO]

Florida’s Miracle Park offers safe haven for sex offenders

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:35:10 +0000

A minister in Florida has been reaching out via leaflets at prisons and inmate sermons to build a new post-incarceration community. For sex offenders.

It’s an interesting idea, as sex offenders notoriously find it difficult to integrate with society after being released from prison. Former inmates convicted of sex crimes are barred from residing near schools and daycares, and find gainful employment difficult, making them more likely to re-offend. Richard Witherow, the minister behind the initiative, hopes to improve that statistic with his sex offender safe haven.

But not everyone is so hopeful about Miracle Park. Residents in nearby Pahokee are scared and angry about the huge number of sex offenders now living peacefully just a few miles from their town. Pahokee Mayor Wayne Whitaker calls the presence of the community “very, very risky” and fears the number of predators located in one concentrated place. The park has even come under fire for discriminatory housing practices, as families with children (somewhat understandably) have been driven out for safety reasons.

However, the men who are saved from living under a bridge in Miami are grateful for the opportunity to get their lives back on track:

“Society sees us as lepers, like rejects,” said Louis Aponte, who moved into Miracle Park three months ago from the nearby Glades Correctional Institution after serving almost nine years for attempted sexual battery on a young female family member.

“I don’t know where I’d be without it, probably living with my family, but that would be tough,” he said.

Coral Gables, Florida High School Student Stabbed, Killed; Another Student In Custody

AHN — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:25:12 +0000

A male student was stabbed and killed at Coral Gables High School on Tuesday morning and police have another male student in custody, according to reports.

According to reports, the two students were fighting when one allegedly pulled out a switchblade, stabbed the other and fled. Four other students witnessed the event that occurred during the break between first and second periods at the school.

The school initially locked down in response to the incident.

Miami-Dade authorities are investigating. Coral Gables is about 12 miles south-west of Miami.

A male student was stabbed and killed at Coral Gables High School on Tuesday morning and police have another male student in custody, according to reports.

The school initially locked down in response to the incident.

Miami-Dade authorities are investigating. Coral Gables is about 12 miles south-west of Miami.

UPDATE: The victim has been identified as Juan Carlos Rivera.

Florida man sacked for marrying a porn star

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:11:51 +0000

Scott Janke, a town manager in South Florida, got the sack at work after an emergency meeting regarding his marriage to an adult film star.

Janke recently wed Anabela Mota Janke, who is known in adult entertainment circles as Jazella Moore. At the emergency meeting, a vote was held in which Janke was voted out 5-0. Fort Myers mayor Larry Kiker pointed to a clause in Janke’s contract allowing his employment to be terminated after a majority vote and stated:

“At no time did we make a judgment call on the activities of Mr. Janke or his wife. It’s a matter of how effective he becomes after this situation. How much disruption there is.”

Janke has worked in local governments since 1989 and Kiker contends that there was no wrongdoing on Janke’s part. Kiker stood by the council’s questionable decision but indicated that Janke had “violated no rules or laws” and that he had done a good job before the sudden termination. A severence package of six-months salary ($50,000) and health benefits was granted to Janke, but as he points out, finding a job after a termination is never an ideal situation.

[Source: Local News]

Job Opening: Wanted python hunters – no experience required

Steven Hodson — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:10:00 +0000

I have never understood the sanity of people who think that having a snake that can grow to the size of 20 feet or more is a brilliant idea. Especially considering that these reptiles can quite comfortably chow down on anything from a deer to a toddler without even a burp. That doesn’t stop the constant buying of non native reptiles, or other animal types, only to find that they are too much to handle. At which point they either get dumped down the nearest sewer drain or closest section of Florida’s Everglades.

Because of this stupidity it is believed that there are currently some 100,000 Burmese pythons living in the Everglades where that have now become the top dog of the food chain. It has gotten so bad that the Governor of Florida has announced a plan to hire expertly trained bounty hunters whose only job will be to hunt down the pythons.

The program, which Barreto said he expected the governor to sign off on Wednesday, would be the first of what could turn into a two-fanged assault on a serpent that routinely grows longer than a Hummer. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson on Tuesday also called for organizing a controlled hunt in the federal lands of Everglades National Park.

”There’s one way to do this: kill the snakes,” Nelson said in an e-mail.

While the FWC is still considering placing a bounty on the constrictors, the state’s initial program will be similar to its handling of wayward alligators.

The dangerous business of capturing a snake that crushes and swallows its prey whole will be left to professionals — perhaps 20 trappers at first who could be cleared to begin taking out pythons within a week.

”This is not the wild, wild West. These people will be licensed, trained and managed by us,” said Barreto, who has been pushing for a python eradication program for two years as the snakes began showing up in increasing numbers in the state-owned water conservation areas north of the national park’s Tamiami Trail boundary.

Source: Miami Herald – Florida hopes to start hunting pythons

And the countdown to PETA nut jobs throwing themselves in front of the bounty hunters begins in 3 … 2… 1….

Scary: Toddler strangled to death by pet python

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:53:21 +0000

A Florida toddler was killed this morning when she was strangled by the family’s pet python.

The deadly accident occurred in Oxford, about 50 miles NW of Orlando, at around 9:30 am. Details surrounding the incident are scarce, but Lt. Steve Binegar of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the incident to the press. He refused to answer further questions regarding the tragic death of the two-year-old girl.

Although pythons are not native to Florida, they have increasingly been spotted in the wild in recent years. Burmese pythons are particularly popular, and oftentimes pet owners will release the snakes into areas such as the Everglades when they become too large to manage at home or lose their novelty. They are known to be an invasive species in Florida and have reproduced prolifically after their artificial introduction to the area.

Burmese pythons can weigh up to 150 lbs and measure more than 15 feet in length. The animals are known to use constriction as a means of catching and killing prey, including humans.