Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Woman tied up, assaulted for days...
This story is still sinking in with me...did anyone miss this young lady for 3 days? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered...sad!
Calif. sheriff: Woman tied up, assaulted for days 2/15/2010 6:01:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Sheriff's deputies rescued a woman who had been kidnapped, then beaten and raped for three days in a mobile home, authorities said.
John Gomez, 58, was arrested Friday on suspicion of various kidnapping, sexual assault and drug charges. He was being held on $2.1 million bail.
Deputies went to the Western Mobile Home Park in south Santa Rosa after hearing from someone who received an urgent call for help from the victim. Inside Gomez's rented trailer they found the 40-year-old woman with her ankle tethered to a bolt on his bedroom floor and suffering various injuries, Sgt. Cecile Focha said.
"The female was injured and pleaded with deputies to rescue her. She had been tied up for three days, beaten with instruments and sexually assaulted," Focha said.
Deputies also found evidence of a drug sales operation in the mobile home.
Authorities also detained Gomez's female roommate and released her pending criminal charges.
Sheriff's officials declined to release any other details Monday, saying the investigation was ongoing.
Neighbors said Gomez, who had lived in the park for 10 years and owned a tiling company, was not known for causing problems.
"He always paid his rent on time - usually early in fact," said park manager Sandy Cassidy. "I'm shocked. This is just terrible, if it's true."
---
Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemocrat.com
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Calif. sheriff: Woman tied up, assaulted for days 2/15/2010 6:01:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Sheriff's deputies rescued a woman who had been kidnapped, then beaten and raped for three days in a mobile home, authorities said.
John Gomez, 58, was arrested Friday on suspicion of various kidnapping, sexual assault and drug charges. He was being held on $2.1 million bail.
Deputies went to the Western Mobile Home Park in south Santa Rosa after hearing from someone who received an urgent call for help from the victim. Inside Gomez's rented trailer they found the 40-year-old woman with her ankle tethered to a bolt on his bedroom floor and suffering various injuries, Sgt. Cecile Focha said.
"The female was injured and pleaded with deputies to rescue her. She had been tied up for three days, beaten with instruments and sexually assaulted," Focha said.
Deputies also found evidence of a drug sales operation in the mobile home.
Authorities also detained Gomez's female roommate and released her pending criminal charges.
Sheriff's officials declined to release any other details Monday, saying the investigation was ongoing.
Neighbors said Gomez, who had lived in the park for 10 years and owned a tiling company, was not known for causing problems.
"He always paid his rent on time - usually early in fact," said park manager Sandy Cassidy. "I'm shocked. This is just terrible, if it's true."
---
Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemocrat.com
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Friday, February 12, 2010
"Friends" Torture, Kill Disabled Woman
Now this...this disturbs me! Sad enough that the disabled have to suffer with their disabilites but to callsomeone friend and they do these horrible things to them...their is no excuse.
Pa. family: 'Friends' torture, kill disabled woman 2/12/2010 12:50:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
By DAN NEPHIN
GREENSBURG, Pa. - A mentally disabled woman was fed vegetable oil, spices, detergent, urine and medications, then forced to write a suicide note, stabbed to death, wrapped in plastic, put in a garbage can and dumped in a school parking lot, police and relatives said Friday as six people were charged.
The head of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty had been shaved, and she had been bound with Christmas decorations and clothing; she also was hit with a towel rack, vacuum cleaner hose and a crutch, according to an affidavit.
Six people were charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of Daugherty, who was missing since Monday and whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Charged were Robert Loren Masters Jr., 36, Ricky Smyrnes, 23, Melvin Knight, 20, Amber Meidinger, 20, all of Greensburg; a 17-year-old girl from Greensburg; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 27, of Mount Pleasant Township. All were being held without bond in the Westmoreland County prison. It was not clear whether they had attorneys.
Stepfather Bobby Murphy, 62, of Mount Pleasant, told The Associated Press that the victim had the mental abilities of a 12- to 14-year-old.
Murphy said he was the last family member to see Daugherty alive, on Monday, when he took her to get on a bus to Greensburg. She had both a dentist and a counselor there who helped her with a mental disability, he said.
Murphy said he's not sure which one Daugherty had an appointment with, but later that day, she called home and asked permission to spend the night at "Peggy's" house. Murphy said his stepdaughter planned to return home Tuesday.
Daugherty had become involved in a community center in Greensburg where she met several people whose names she mentioned as friends, Murphy said - including several whose first names share those of some of the suspects.
"I don't know 'em personally, but Jennifer mentioned some of their names as being her friends - but evidently not," he said.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Knight admitted stabbing Daugherty in the chest, side and neck, and he and Smyrnes carried her body to the parking lot. All six defendants admitted their involvement and implicated others, according to police.
A neighbor in a first-floor apartment reported hearing a "tussle upstairs and a 'heavy bam'" as though a body fell, causing the ceiling to shake before it went quiet on Wednesday night, the affidavit said.
Another resident of that apartment said Smyrnes and two women came to their apartment afterward, and the man asked them to turn their television down, saying his girlfriend was lying down with a headache, the affidavit said.
A man found Daugherty's body Thursday morning when he saw the plastic garbage can partially beneath his truck.
The victim's family moved to Mount Pleasant from Mesquite, Texas, about two years ago to be closer to Murphy's mother-in-law, who is ill, Murphy said.
"One thing I can tell you is there is no reason for them to do what they did to Jennifer," Murphy said. "Jennifer was just a gentle, laid-back person.
"There wasn't a mean bone in her body."
---
Pa. family: 'Friends' torture, kill disabled woman 2/12/2010 12:50:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
By DAN NEPHIN
GREENSBURG, Pa. - A mentally disabled woman was fed vegetable oil, spices, detergent, urine and medications, then forced to write a suicide note, stabbed to death, wrapped in plastic, put in a garbage can and dumped in a school parking lot, police and relatives said Friday as six people were charged.
The head of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty had been shaved, and she had been bound with Christmas decorations and clothing; she also was hit with a towel rack, vacuum cleaner hose and a crutch, according to an affidavit.
Six people were charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of Daugherty, who was missing since Monday and whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Charged were Robert Loren Masters Jr., 36, Ricky Smyrnes, 23, Melvin Knight, 20, Amber Meidinger, 20, all of Greensburg; a 17-year-old girl from Greensburg; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 27, of Mount Pleasant Township. All were being held without bond in the Westmoreland County prison. It was not clear whether they had attorneys.
Stepfather Bobby Murphy, 62, of Mount Pleasant, told The Associated Press that the victim had the mental abilities of a 12- to 14-year-old.
Murphy said he was the last family member to see Daugherty alive, on Monday, when he took her to get on a bus to Greensburg. She had both a dentist and a counselor there who helped her with a mental disability, he said.
Murphy said he's not sure which one Daugherty had an appointment with, but later that day, she called home and asked permission to spend the night at "Peggy's" house. Murphy said his stepdaughter planned to return home Tuesday.
Daugherty had become involved in a community center in Greensburg where she met several people whose names she mentioned as friends, Murphy said - including several whose first names share those of some of the suspects.
"I don't know 'em personally, but Jennifer mentioned some of their names as being her friends - but evidently not," he said.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Knight admitted stabbing Daugherty in the chest, side and neck, and he and Smyrnes carried her body to the parking lot. All six defendants admitted their involvement and implicated others, according to police.
A neighbor in a first-floor apartment reported hearing a "tussle upstairs and a 'heavy bam'" as though a body fell, causing the ceiling to shake before it went quiet on Wednesday night, the affidavit said.
Another resident of that apartment said Smyrnes and two women came to their apartment afterward, and the man asked them to turn their television down, saying his girlfriend was lying down with a headache, the affidavit said.
A man found Daugherty's body Thursday morning when he saw the plastic garbage can partially beneath his truck.
The victim's family moved to Mount Pleasant from Mesquite, Texas, about two years ago to be closer to Murphy's mother-in-law, who is ill, Murphy said.
"One thing I can tell you is there is no reason for them to do what they did to Jennifer," Murphy said. "Jennifer was just a gentle, laid-back person.
"There wasn't a mean bone in her body."
---
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Woman Hid Pregnancy..died in birth
When I saw this article today it sent chills up my spine....why in the world did this woman not let her family know she was pregnant? Now there is not only 1 life gone but 4?!?! How did her spouse not be aware... and her mother? Mom always knows when something is wrong with her children...right? They say the triplets were full term and she always used the excuse that she was gaining weight...come on family...pay more attention to warning signs.
She obviously needed help and I know some of you are saying how can you help someone unless they ask for it. Hmmm...my answer is this...sometimes we have to offer it before they ask for it because like in this instance...some never will.
What if she suffered some sort of mental breakdown or what if there was abuse involved or she knew something that caused her fear to be so great that it paralyzed her...something was wrong and for 9 months her own family did not see it! I know this does not relate to sexual abuse or assault but in an indirect way it does....this is how we as a society treat victims on a day to day basis...we ignore the warning signs and fail to get them the help they need before it is everlasting to late.
Wake up people and start paying more attention to your families, loved ones and others...someone is crying out for help right now and my question to you is....are you listening?
Police: Woman hid triplet pregnancy, died in birth 2/3/2010 1:13:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
SHELTON, Conn. - A Connecticut woman hid from her husband and other family members that she was carrying triplets, then bled to death while delivering the full-term but stillborn babies in her home, officials said Wednesday.
Shelton police detective Ben Trabka said he believes 26-year-old Victoria Hope denied being pregnant and instead gave medical reasons "why she had put on weight."
Hope did not disclose her pregnancy to anyone police spoke to, including the father of her children, Trabka said. The father suspected she was pregnant but she denied it, and police do not know why she hid her condition.
It wasn't clear whether the woman knew she was carrying triplets before giving birth Tuesday. Her father, William Hope, acknowledged Wednesday that his daughter was "big" and said he doesn't know why she hid her pregnancy.
"That's going to be the question we'll never have an answer for," he said.
The cause of death was loss of blood during unattended childbirth, the chief medical examiner's office said Wednesday. The three babies were stillborn.
The woman's mother found her daughter and the triplets and called police, authorities said. The woman and babies were dead when police arrived; police said it appeared the triplets were carried to full term.
Frances Hope, who with her husband lived with their daughter and her family, said she suspected her daughter was pregnant but did not know for sure. She said she did not know how far along her daughter was in her pregnancy.
Foul play is not suspected, Trabka said. Victoria Hope and her husband also have a 6-year-old son, as well as a 2-year-old daughter, who was at home in a crib when the woman died, he said.
"It's sad," Trabka said. It's a real tragedy."
----
Associated Press writer Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this
She obviously needed help and I know some of you are saying how can you help someone unless they ask for it. Hmmm...my answer is this...sometimes we have to offer it before they ask for it because like in this instance...some never will.
What if she suffered some sort of mental breakdown or what if there was abuse involved or she knew something that caused her fear to be so great that it paralyzed her...something was wrong and for 9 months her own family did not see it! I know this does not relate to sexual abuse or assault but in an indirect way it does....this is how we as a society treat victims on a day to day basis...we ignore the warning signs and fail to get them the help they need before it is everlasting to late.
Wake up people and start paying more attention to your families, loved ones and others...someone is crying out for help right now and my question to you is....are you listening?
Police: Woman hid triplet pregnancy, died in birth 2/3/2010 1:13:00 PM
Associated Press/AP Online
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
SHELTON, Conn. - A Connecticut woman hid from her husband and other family members that she was carrying triplets, then bled to death while delivering the full-term but stillborn babies in her home, officials said Wednesday.
Shelton police detective Ben Trabka said he believes 26-year-old Victoria Hope denied being pregnant and instead gave medical reasons "why she had put on weight."
Hope did not disclose her pregnancy to anyone police spoke to, including the father of her children, Trabka said. The father suspected she was pregnant but she denied it, and police do not know why she hid her condition.
It wasn't clear whether the woman knew she was carrying triplets before giving birth Tuesday. Her father, William Hope, acknowledged Wednesday that his daughter was "big" and said he doesn't know why she hid her pregnancy.
"That's going to be the question we'll never have an answer for," he said.
The cause of death was loss of blood during unattended childbirth, the chief medical examiner's office said Wednesday. The three babies were stillborn.
The woman's mother found her daughter and the triplets and called police, authorities said. The woman and babies were dead when police arrived; police said it appeared the triplets were carried to full term.
Frances Hope, who with her husband lived with their daughter and her family, said she suspected her daughter was pregnant but did not know for sure. She said she did not know how far along her daughter was in her pregnancy.
Foul play is not suspected, Trabka said. Victoria Hope and her husband also have a 6-year-old son, as well as a 2-year-old daughter, who was at home in a crib when the woman died, he said.
"It's sad," Trabka said. It's a real tragedy."
----
Associated Press writer Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)