The Boy in the Claw Machine

     A 3-year-old boy who went missing from his home was found inside a toy claw machine in a bowling alley across the street. The boy's mother called the Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department on April 15, 2014 to report her son had gotten out of their apartment while she was in the bathroom. Police canvassed the area and were notified by a man that a boy was inside the claw machine.

     The boy could only have gotten into the machine through the prize hole."You have to weave your way in and out, so he had to work pretty hard to get in there," said Jim Lakey, the owner of the machine. The boy was not paying any attention to anyone outside of the machine "because he was just picking up stuffed animals and putting them down," Rachell Hildreth, a bartender at Madsen's Bowling Alley and Billiards, said.

     So did they have to use quarters to get him out? No, Lakey came to the rescue with a key to the machine. The boy was uninjured and allowed to keep one of the stuffed toys from the machine.

Jolie Lee, "Missing Nebraska Boy, 3, Found in Toy Claw Machine," USA Today, April 16, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Trooper and His Dog Find Missing Girl in Woods

     A 2-year-old girl was found Thursday November 6, 2014 in the woods wrapped in a blanket. She had wandered away from her home 22 hours earlier. Brooklyn Lynn Lilly wandered off while playing outside her Tawas City, Michigan home in the eastern part of the state near Lake Huron. Her neighbors and family had feared the worst. "We worried that maybe somebody came and grabbed her, family friend Patrick McDonald said…

     State Trooper Denis McGuckin and his dog Jax found Brooklyn…"She lifted her head up off the ground and looked back toward me and my dog and smiled," McGuckin said. "She said, 'I love the woods.' "

"Toddler Who Spent 22 Hours Alone in the Woods Found Safe," ABC News, November 7, 2014

Criminal Justice Quote: University of Virginia Student Missing

     Virginia police focused their search Tuesday September 16, 2014 for a missing University of Virginia student. Investigators are interested in a text message she sent to friends saying that she'd gotten lost walking home early Sunday morning from a party.

     Hannah Elizabeth Graham, 18, a second-year student, was reportedly last seen inside an off-campus apartment complex in Charlottesville, just before midnight. About an hour after she left the party, she sent the message…She was not heard from again.

     Graham's friends alerted police Sunday September 14 after they realized the northern Virginia native did not return home. She is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a trim build. She was last seen wearing a black crop top…

     Police released surveillance photographs of Graham in the hallway to her apartment building on the night she vanished.

"University of Virginia Student Vanishes Walking Home From Party," Fox News, September 16, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Missing NYC Model Found

     A 22-year-old Sudanese model who had been missing for nearly two weeks was found in a New York City hospital on Monday, August 18, 2014. Detective Kelly Ort had no details about the condition of Ataui-Deng Hopkins, known in the fashion world as Ataui Deng.

     She was last seen August 6 about 11 PM on West 48th Street in midtown Manhattan…Hopkins has worked with designers from Oscar de la Renta to Diane von Fursternberg, according to Corinne Nicolas, president of Trump Model Management. She has been featured in Vogue and worked for names such as Hermes and Kenzo.

     Ataui Deng was born in Sudan and immigrated to San Antonio, Texas, before signing with Trump Models in 2008…She is 6-feet-1, weights 100 pounds and lives in Manhattan's East Village…

"Missing Sudanese Model Living in NYC Found in Hospital," CNN, August 18, 2014  

Criminal Justice Quote: Man Missing For a Year Was Dead in His Home

     An Alaska man missing for more than a year was found dead in his home on Monday, March 31, 2014….The home had been occupied by renters for nearly a year, but they apparently had no idea the body was in the home….Samuel E. McAlpine, 37, was last seen March 17, 2013, when he told his mother he was going on a date. McAlpine's sister reported him missing 12 days later….

     Family members weren't initially concerned, because he frequently disappeared for weeks at a time….McAlpine was going though a divorce at the time and had moved out of the home he shared with his now ex-wife, Christine….They were unable to sell the home, so Christine rented it out to tenants. Those tenants moved in to the McAlpine home around April 1, 2013, and recently moved out….

    Christine detected a foul oder when she came to clean and show the house to potential new tenants. She discovered her ex-husband's body in a small storage space under the stairs. Police, who do not suspect foul play, think McAlpine died before the tenants moved in….Drugs and alcohol are believed to have played a role. An autopsy is pending….

Kevin Conion, "Missing Alaska Man Found Dead in Home After a Year," CNN, April 2, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Where is 2-Year-Old Myra Lewis?

     The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information regarding the whereabouts of a missing Mississippi toddler who disappeared March 1, 2014. Authorities began looking for 2-year-old Myra Lewis after family members realized she was missing. She may have been gone from her rural Camden home for hours by that time. An Amber Alert was issued Sunday, March 2, 2014 and family members said they believed she was kidnapped. But Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said that authorities aren't sure.

     Tucker said he is still conducting the investigation with the belief the 2-year-old is alive….FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen said the reward money might encourage someone who knows Myra's whereabouts to come forward….

     Sheriff Tucker told the Associated Press that the arrest of the girl's mother, 35-year-old Ericka Lewis on a probation violation was not connected to the disappearance. Tucker said she faced a warrant for a probation violation following a welfare fraud conviction. She also faced a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm…

"FBI Offeres Reward for Information on Missing Mississippi Toddler," Fox News, March 11, 2014