Louisiana
Missing teachers car found; decomposed body inside
NEW ORLEANS Authorities pulled a missing teachers car from a New Orleans bayou Saturday and police said there was a decomposed body inside.
Authorities couldnt immediately say whether the body was Terrilyn Monette, who was last seen leaving a New Orleans bar not far from the bayou in the early morning hours of March 2. She would have had to cross the waterway to get home.
Monette was a Long Beach, Calif., native who moved to Louisiana to teach. Her family has been flying back and forth from California to look for her. They attended a prayer vigil Friday and appealed for FBI intervention, accusing the New Orleans Police Department of mishandling the case. The department has denied the accusations.
Monettes mother, Toni Enclade, was among the family members who came to the scene Saturday.
I dont understand why it took them so long to find her car, Enclade told The Times-Picayune. This is supposedly one of the first places they would have checked. Im just overwhelmed. It doesnt make sense.
Illinois
Man who fled US in 1979 after murder charge arrested
CHICAGO A former Chicago store owner who fled the U.S. in 1979 after being accused of killing a shoplifter was arrested at OHare International Airport while trying to return to the country to attend a graduation ceremony, authorities said Saturday.
Ata Yousef El Ammouri, 65, was taken into custody Friday after arriving on a flight from Jordan, where he has been living, the Cook County sheriffs office said in a statement.
In his visa request from a couple weeks ago, El Ammouri stated that the reason for the visit was to attend a grandchilds graduation, said sheriffs spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis.
El Ammouri is accused of shooting 31-year-old Joe Harris on the morning of July 22, 1979, after Harris walked out of El Ammouris store on Chicagos South Side without paying for a can of beer.
Pennsylvania
Operator in fatal building collapse turns himself in
PHILADELPHIA The lawyer for the heavy equipment operator accused of being high on marijuana when a downtown building collapsed onto a thrift store, killing six people, says his client is not responsible.
Attorney Daine Grey says 42-year-old Sean Benschop and his family are extremely sympathetic and remorseful. But, he says, in time, the facts will show that Benschop is not responsible.
Benschop surrendered Saturday to face charges in the deaths.
Authorities believe Benschop had been using an excavator Wednesday when the remains of the four-story building gave way and toppled onto an attached Salvation Army thrift store, killing two employees and four customers and injuring 13 others.
Oklahoma
Looters have traveled far to Okla. after tornado
MOORE, Okla. Authorities say looters have come from as far away as New York and Virginia to steal from victims of last months tornado in Moore, Okla.The Oklahoman reports that police arrested one man from Elmhurst, N.Y., and two from Virginia on misdemeanor complaints of stealing copper wire, scrap metal and other items from homes destroyed by the May 20 tornado. Twenty-four people were killed.
Several Moore residents were also arrested on similar misdemeanor complaints.
Residents have filed theft reports for items such as a $50,000 watch, a $13,000 watch and a $2,000 fountain pen.
Associated Press
