Police Seize Joshua Powell's Van

Today seems to be a day of updates. I was just thinking about Susan Powell yesterday. I prayed for her and for her sons. I don't know Susan. I just can't help but feel sorry for her sons. I had two sons and I think that my presence in their life helped shaped the men that they became.

I saw that te police have seized Josh Powell's van for the second time. I pray that police find the evidence that will solve the mystery of Susan's disappearance.

Sometimes I wonder if Susan's relatives would be willing to let me interview them. Would they be willing to post something here about Susan. Periodically I try to put something out there on twitter with the hashtag #SusanPowell. I try to link it up to my post that contains the information for the West Valley City Police. I think it's easy for the media to forget a story when new stories appear on the horizon. I don't want Susan's story to get lost. For the sake of her boys, for the sake of her family and friends. I want Susan found and I'm willing to keep trying to help if only I knew what to do to help.

Anyone with information about this case should contact the West Valley City Police at 801-840-4000.

Update - Abraham Shakespeare Is Found Dead

A tragic end to a story that some might call a tale of rags to sudden riches.

Abraham Shakespeare won a cool $30 million dollar jackpot back in 2007. A friend accused him of stealing the winning lottery ticket, but the matter was settled in court when a judge ruled that Shakespeare could keep his millions.

Shakespeare had a criminal record that consists of several arrests and prison time for burglary, battery and failure to pay child support but winning the lottery offered him the opportunity to turn his life around. As a matter of fact his life was already beginning to change even before he bought the winning ticket when he joined a church and was baptized.

With his winnings, he bought a Nissan Altima, a Rolex from a pawn shop, a $1 million home in a gated community and talked about starting a foundation for the poor. He insisted the money wouldn’t change him. It seemed that although the money might not have changed him but it changed the people around him as many came around with their hands out for a piece of the jackpot. Shakespeare's brother, Robert Brown, said Friday that Shakespeare often wished he had never bought the winning ticket.

Not long after he bought the million-dollar home in early 2007, he was approached by a woman named Dee Dee Moore, said family and officials. She was interested in writing a book about Shakespeare’s life. She became something of a financial adviser to Shakespeare. Keep in mind Dee Dee NEVER graduated high school.

Moore had a checkered past herself which includes a year of probation after she was charged with falsely reporting that she was carjacked and raped in 2001. Officials said she concocted the scheme so her insurance company would reimburse her for the SUV, which she claimed had been stolen.

According to authorities Moore “has offered at least one person a several hundred thousand dollar house if they would make false sightings of Abraham.” Moore also put all of Shakespeare’s assets in her name and has used the missing millionaire’s cell phone to call and send text messages to his family and friends.

Acting on a tip, investigators began digging around on a property located near Plant City, Florida. According to county records, the house is owned by Shar Krasniqi who has been noted as Moore’s boyfriend.

Using heavy equipment, investigators broke up a large concrete slab and for two days they dug up dirt and sifted through it. Much of the digging was done by hand.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives used fingerprints to identify Shakespeare's body, which they found buried 5 feet deep and covered by a 30-by-30 concrete slab in the backyard of a two-story ranch house.

Shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday, this missing person’s case turned into a homicide investigation. A body was found buried in the concrete slab and while a positive identification hasn’t been made, it’s presumed to be that of the missing lottery winner and authorities say it’s been there for some time now.

Sadly, it appears Abraham' naivety and willingness to trust ultimately led to his death. Everyone wants to believe that winning the lottery will be the answer to all of their problems. Sadly it changed Abraham's life in a bad way.

Did You Almost Forget Obama Was Black?

MSNBC analyst Chris Matthews, apparently in celebration of the fact that he believes we now have a "post-racial America," felt the need to congratulate President Barack Obama on his State of the Union Address by proudly claiming that he "forgot Obama was black for an hour."

I am not sure where Chris Matthews was coming from with these comments. To some extent, his remarks were shocking, and I wasn't exactly sure why they shocked me until I'd had a chance to sleep on it. During my rest, I realized that Chris Matthews' words were hurtful and irritating because they represent the kind of paternalistic racism that might come from liberals in an historically racist society. With his words, Matthews was practically applauding Obama for rising above his blackness, as if merely mentioning the words, "I am a black man," would have completely ruined Obama's brilliant speech. No one asked Matthews what he thought about the fact that the president was black, so Matthews going out of his way to mention Obama's blackness is a reminder that Matthews himself was focused on the fact that he was listening to a black man.

It's odd and interesting that in a so-called "post-racial society," the way to applaud the fact that you didn't notice something is to mention the very thing that you're claiming to not have noticed. If Matthews had been truly unaware that he was listening to a black man, he would have spent his time commenting on Obama's policies rather than the color of his skin.

Am I the only one that remembers the rebuke to those who commented on Obama being articulate is racist? Do you remember when Biden said of Candidate Obama:

I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

This brought scrutiny of "articulate" being a racist comment.

Biden then had to issue a statement saying: "I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone. That was not my intent and I expressed that to Sen. Obama."

It is now Chris Matthews who is eating a little crow as he attempts to clarify his comments here:

"I grew up in a country that was driven apart by race right until the '60s. You couldn't have a black member of the U.S. Cabinet. There were no black cabinet members in the Kennedy administration. It has been such a big part of our life.... To see a president of the United States who is African Amercan, I was thinking tonight, this isn't even an issue tonight. How far we've come in just a year.... President Obama has done something wonderful. I thing he's taken us beyond black and white in our politics...and I'm loving it."

No matter what you say, no matter what you do, get used to it, you are racist.

Searchers Find Child's Body At Roanoke Landfill

This is an update to an especially tragic story I told you about earlier. Aveion Mark Lewis had been reported missing by his stepfather, 24-year-old Brandon Lockett.

Brandon had originally claimed that the child was abducted but he has since been charged with felony child neglect, improper disposal of a human body and obstruction of justice.

Sadly the child's body was found in a landfill. Tossed away like trash.

Again I ask when are we as a nation going to say enough? Enough of the violence against children! Enough of the violence against women! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at the charges against the stepfather. Mark my words there will be very little jail time in this case.

Tuesday would have been Lewis' third birthday.

The Remains Of Morgan Dana Harrington Found

Back on October 17th, Dana went missing. Dana, a Virginia Tech student had gone to a Metallica concert. Around 8:40 p.m., she went outside to smoke a cigarette and left her ticket inside. Her friends in the arena called her and she told them she'd find her own ride home. That was the last time anyone saw her.

Police found her purse, ID and cell phone in the parking lot, but said there was no sign of a struggle.

David Bass found the remains on Tuesday in a remote hayfield on his farm approximately 10 miles outside of Charlottesville. There is no public access to the area where the body was found. Police had not searched the area before this morning.

"I was on my tractor feeding cows on a remote part of the farm I don't normally go to," Bass told The Hook, a Charlottesville newspaper.

The remains reportedly have blond hair and were clad in black clothing. Missing-person fliers for Harrington described her as blond and said she was wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Pantera" on it, a black miniskirt, black tights and black boots when she disappeared.

"This is a horrible day" for the family, her father, Dan Harrington, told WTVR in Richmond after the remains were discovered.

Did she know her killer? Had he targeted her as a victim? Will her killer ever be found?

The Harrington family has offered a $100,000 reward for her return or information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance. Metallica has added another $50,000 in reward money.

If you have any information please use the contact information below:

Tip Line: (434) 352-3467

State Police E-Mail:
bci-appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov

General: info@findmorgan.com

Who Is Ellie Light

Who is this prolific letter writer who wants you know that she's and "Obmama Girl."

Ellie, if in fact Ellie truly exists, has has written the same letter defending Obama to dozens of publications across the country, getting them published in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico.com, the Washington Times, and USA Today. And the woman, Ellie Light, has claimed residence in many of these states.

In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers.Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.

“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News. (Is that a fact? Really? Seems to me that was one of the things for which Bush was highly criticized. I mean he didn't have a magic wand.)

The letter' kept on rolling in from the woman who seems to have more homes than John McCain.

Her letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daily City, California.

Variations of Light’s letter ran in:

* Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal on Jan. 13, with Light claiming an address in Mansfield;
* New Mexico’s Ruidoso News on Jan. 12, claiming an address in Three Rivers
* South Carolina’s The Sun News on Jan. 18, claiming an address in Myrtle Beach. (Wow maybe she lives near my ex mother-in-law)
* The Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia on Jan. 15, claiming an address in Waynesboro.
* California: The Los Banos Enterprise, listing an address of Gustine, CA.
* Maine: In addition to the Maine link above, there is another appearance of the letter in Maine: in the Bangor Daily News, in which Light lists an address of Bangor, Maine.
* Maryland: The Baltimore Chronicle.
* Massachusetts: The North Adams Transcript, listing an address of Williamstown.
* The Sheboygan Press in Wisconsin. AND the Stevens Point Journal in Wisconsin — listing an address of Algoma, Wisconsin.
* Connecticut: Another Connecticut paper, in addition to the Stamford listing: the Danbury News-Times. And here’s another: the Greenwich Time a/k/a Ctpost.com. (Address listed is Greenwich.)
* Georgia: Gainesville Times. (Her address is listed as Gainesville.)
* Massachusetts: In addition to the above, there is The Berkshire Eagle.
* New Hampshire: It appeared in the Seacoastonline, which appears to be an online version of several New England papers including the Portsmouth Herald, Exeter News Letter, and others. Light’s address was listed as Portsmouth, NH.
* Wisconsin: In addition to the above, there is the Oshkosh Northwestern (address listed is Oshkosh).
* In addition to the Californian.com link provided in the Plain Dealer story, listing an address in Salinas, CA, there are other California letters with other California addresses.
* HudsonHubTimes.com, in which Ellie listed Streetsboro OH as her hometown.
* The Willits News, with Willits CA as the hometown.
* CDAPress.com of Coeur d’Alene ID, with Ellie listing a hometown of Post Falls.
* From Ohio, the Chillicothe Gazette, with Chillicothe OH as the hometown.
* Annapolis, Maryland publication. Light lists her city of residence as Annapolis.
* She appears in Good Times, listing an address in Santa Cruz, CA.
* She also appears in TheUnion.com, listing an address of Grass Valley, CA.

Her publications list includes other papers in Ohio, West Virginia, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and California, all claiming separate addresses.

Who is Ellie? One radio caller swore it was her and claimed she was a traveling nurse hence the many locations. Interesting interview. However, Barbara Brooks is really the wife of the MAN who claims to be Ellie Light.

He is 51 year old Winston Winston Steward. Can you imagine the kind of outrage that would develop if this had been an Bush supporter?

What Does A Trillion Dollars Look Like?

Just imagine if the money had been given to the PEOPLE rather than large corporations and Wall Street Bankers.

For example the AIG bailout cost each American family $1,455.97. That might have helped some people with their mortgage payment and staved off foreclosure.

Oh and by the way, how's that working for the taxpayers? AIG, for example, has said it has not generated enough earnings to repay the remaining $62 billion it owes the government, despite recording two straight profitable quarters.

What should we do? Well I guess we need to BORROW more money. Heck I know that works at my house. If I'm deeply in debt and can't make the payments on my house or put food on the table, I just borrow even more money knowing that there's no way I can pay it back.

How much money are we going to borrow? Senate Democrats Propose $1.9T Increase to U.S. Debt Limit. I know, I know, it's all George Bush's fault. I mean after all he's the one who wants to spend even more money with the new health insurance bill but..... Oh wait that would be the Dems. Wasn't that supposed to be deficit neutral?