Sunday, April 30, 2023
THE GOLD IS IN LAS VEGAS, NOT UNDERNEATH THE DESERT
An underground river flowing with gold worth $1 TRILLON beneath the Las Vegas desert which 500 investors believe they are so close to finding? Now DailyMail.com digs deep to find the truth about the fabled treasure
By Tom Leonard
Daily Mail
April 30, 2023
Prospectors now claim that the discovery of the lost passageway in the Crystal Cave will lead them to deposits of gold worth as much as $1 trillion.
Stalactites taller than the Eiffel Tower, limestone caverns that are ‘one of the marvels of the world’ and – most stunning of all – a ‘river of gold’ running deep underground for mile after mile, flowing with riches beyond any man’s dreams.
Adventurer Earl Dorr certainly didn’t mince his words when he finally set out what he claimed he had discovered under California’s Mojave Desert.
‘This is to certify that there is located in San Bernadino County, California, about two and hundred and fifty miles from Los Angeles, a certain cave.’
So began a sworn statement written in 1934 by Dorr, a cowboy-turned-miner who went on to describe an extraordinary four-day journey he had made seven years earlier deep into the bowels of the earth beneath Mojave’s Kokoweef Peak, which is part of the remote Ivanpah mountain range.
He told of how he and an engineer, identified only as Mr Morton, gained access to a subterranean cave system via Kokoweef’s Crystal Cave, one of three large limestone caverns inside the mountain.
Then, descending several thousand feet, they discovered a half-mile-deep underground canyon, at the bottom of which flowed a river, 300ft wide, and rising and falling as if it were ‘breathing’.
As the water receded, it revealed black sand that was fabulously rich in fat gold nuggets.
In fact, Dorr insisted, there was so much gold that prospectors are still searching for that underground river more than 90 years later.
And can you really blame them? For, they now claim that the discovery of the lost passageway down to that glittering water course will lead them to deposits of the precious metal worth as much as $1 trillion – yes, a trillion.
There are three known large limestone caverns inside Kokoweef Peak.
Critics, including geologists, have long warned, however, that miners are doomed to disappointment. That there cannot possibly be that much gold down there - and that it’s highly unlikely there would be such a large watercourse running under a region as parched as the Mojave.
Dorr, they say, was either a charlatan trying to con investors into financing a madcap gold hunt – or someone who’d simply been out in the hot desert sun a little too long and let his imagination run away with him.
Even his own family weren't sure if he found anything noteworthy.
‘Either Uncle Earl Dorr discovered the richest gold deposit in the United States… or he was the most imaginative liar in the state of California,’ said his nephew, Ray, in 1967.
Nonetheless, it seems entirely fitting that Kokoweef is only 75 miles from Las Vegas, given what a gamble it has been for the men and women who have already reportedly invested millions of dollars on the bet that Dorr – who died nearly 70 years ago – was not exaggerating.
Over the years, a shanty town of huts and trailers has been established out at Kokoweef as those who keep the faith keep burrowing away – waiting for that lucky strike.
Looking for gold is tedious and expensive. And mining operations at 6,038-ft Kokoweef are currently being headed by Larry Hahn, owner of an army-surplus store in Las Vegas, who has been prospecting at the peak since 1977 and estimates he and his partners have sunk a staggering $2.5 million into the search.
But, given Dorr’s estimate that there was at least 50 tons of gold – which, it must be said, is worth $3 billion in today’s money, rather than the $1 trillion figure Hahn advertises – perhaps these successors to the ‘49ers’, who flooded west in the 1849 Gold Rush, feel that it’s a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Hahn keeps some 500 investors – whose identities are not known – regularly updated with breathlessly optimistic newsletters. But, as he told DailyMail.com this week, he’s confident they won’t be mining for much longer.
‘We’re reasonably sure where it’s at, we just can’t get at it,’ he says of the ‘river of gold’.
Kokoweef Peak in the Mojave desert is part of the remote Ivanpah mountain range.
A sketch detailing the elaborate underground canyon Earl Dorr claimed he discovered.
He claims that they have also recently acquired a map drawn up by another man – a Robert McGeeky – who found a way to reach the river in the 1970s but who didn’t have the rights to mine anything inside: ‘We’re just a few feet away. With luck we’ll be able to get in this year.’
He knows what the critics say but he’s not dissuaded – the potential rewards, he says, are worth it: ‘If you hit it, you're talking about the biggest thing that ever happened.’
The last few feet of rock, he claims, are being excavated by hand as the space is too tight to use the large drills that have previously been employed.
As for what he’ll do with his vast haul, Hahn says he intends to turn the area into a resort, featuring a one-million sq ft domed facility that would get 100,000 visitors daily via a bullet train from Vegas.
Has he also caught too much of the desert sun? Only time will tell.
It’s true that extensive and spectacular cave systems do stretch under the Mojave – and, long before Dorr arrived, miners believed they were connected by a huge underground river, possibly stretching for up to 300 miles – all the way to Mexico.
But Dorr was the one who first raised the notion of a great bounty.
Certainly, he sounds as though he was plucked straight from an Indiana Jones movie – a blue-eyed adventurer who wore a gun on a shoulder-holster.
However, his detractors have pointed out how his story repeatedly changed over the years. And how, whenever he spoke to treasure hunting magazines, who obviously relished the tale, he had a tendency towards embellishment.
Born in 1885 to rich Colorado cattle ranchers, Dorr told two different stories about how he first learned of the caves leading beneath Kokoweef – which means ‘gopher snake canyon’ in the language of the local Paiute Native Americans.
Larry Hahn steps into a tunnel dug by treasure hunters into Kokoweef Peak.
Certainly, Earl Dorr (pictured) sounds as though he was plucked straight from an Indiana Jones movie - a blue-eyed adventurer who wore a gun on a shoulder-holster.
In one, he was traveling in the South West looking for a mine that would make him a fortune when he heard a story about three Native American brothers who’d emerged from the caves with gold worth $57,000 (equivalent to more than $1 million today).
In another version, he said he’d actually known the brothers, last name Peysert, since childhood as they had once worked at his family’s ranch. He met them again years later in San Francisco where they said tribal elders had told them about a mighty underground river canyon.
Dorr said two of the brothers managed to bring out a substantial amount of gold – while the third had dived into the river and died when he hit an unseen rock.
His death, under tribal laws, meant they could never return. And so, they told Dorr of its whereabouts, for him to continue the search.
In his 1934 sworn statement, Dorr recounted how he and his companion, Mr Morton, squeezed through a tight gap in Kokoweef’s Crystal Cave. Passing on their way a gigantic and glistening white stalactite 500ft taller than the Eiffel Tower that ‘challenged us with amazement and wonder’, they then descended to the river.
Running along the walls beside the river were ledges – also covered in the gold-rich black sand – which allowed the pair to follow the watercourse for a full eight miles before they were stopped by a waterfall.
Despite being many miles from the sea, the river appeared to be tidal, widening to 300ft across at high tide and, at low tide, revealing vast swathes of glistening sand ‘fabulously rich in gold’.
Dorr said that upon returning to the surface with his pockets stuffed with gold-filled sand, he dynamited the cave entrance to keep others from plundering his bounty while he filed a mining claim for the area.
According to some accounts, he and Mr Morton (who curiously never came forward to back up Dorr’s claims) had seen a distant shaft of light while underground which indicated there was a second entrance to the river canyon.
A map drawn by Earl Dorr detailing the location of his alleged find.
It seems entirely fitting that Kokoweef is only 75 miles from Las Vegas, given what a gamble it has been for the men and women who have already reportedly invested millions of dollars on the bet that Dorr - who died nearly 70 years ago - was not exaggerating.
It’s also even been claimed in some versions of the tale that Dorr and Morgan ran into two rival prospectors at the passageway entrance. They spotted Dorr’s gold stash and he ended trapping them inside before he set off the dynamite. (No human remains have ever been found during subsequent explorations of Crystal Cave).
The tale gets even more convoluted in explaining why Dorr never managed to return for the gold.
It was widely reported that he was unable to file a mining claim covering the entrance he’d allegedly found because someone else – a prospector named Pete Ressler who was said to have been a member of bank robbers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Hole-in-the-Wall Gang – had already done so.
Instead, Dorr turned to looking for that other entrance he’d spotted – which may explain why he built a miners’ shack in a nearby mountain range, the Mescal, where he proceeded to dig a 100ft shaft that seemingly led to nowhere.
The publication of his account in 1934 prompted some LA investors to bankroll his continued hunt – and they even eventually managed to raise enough to buy the mining rights under some of Kokoweef Peak.
However, the initial search was soon scotched by a surprising development – the prospectors discovered zinc ore instead.
And when the Second World War broke out and the government banned mining for any minerals that – like gold – weren’t important to the war effort, Dorr’s backers switched to digging out the zinc (used in making various metal and rubber products as well as medicines).
Thwarted, Dorr gave up mining and died in 1957 with just a few hundred dollars to his name – his secrets going with him.
To his credit, there is evidence that he did penetrate quite far underground as, in 1948, a team of cavers found ‘DORR’ burnt into the rock using a carbide lamp in various locations.
But some of the efforts of others to succeed where he’d failed and find the gold river also ended in tragedy.
A 1967 report on the on-going search for the treasure.
In 1959, two unlicensed treasure hunters suffocated from dynamite fumes when they set off a blast in the Crystal Cave.
Four years later, rival prospectors almost ended up shooting at each other at Kokoweef after a row over access to the caves. One of the teams had brought in an oil rig drill that punched a deep hole down into the rock from which fresh air reportedly flowed – but nothing came of that discovery either.
Everyone from cocktail waitresses to newly discharged soldiers have caught the ‘Kokoweef bug’ and either invested in the on-going prospecting operation or visited themselves to help the search.
It’s estimated that, over the past 50 years, at least 20 separate tunnels and shafts – totaling well over a mile – have been bored out of the rock under Kokoweef Peak.
In recent years, advanced technology such as electronic geophysical surveys, and a deep drilling rig that has burrowed down several thousand feet, have been employed.
But is everyone, including Larry Hahn’s latest team of hopefuls, just wasting their time – and an awful lot of money?
Sceptics also point to a 1942 study of local caves by the National Park Service that found no evidence whatsoever of any dynamite blasting under Kokoweef, nor any major cave systems in the area – and concluded that Dorr’s assertions were improbable.
Perhaps, however, it’s the thrill of the chase as much as the dream of riches that still keeps some people burrowing down into the ground for gold.
A COP SHOULDN'T HAVE A DOPE DEALER FOR A LOVER
Fit Bronx cop is under investigation after 'she tried to stop narcotics detectives from busting her major drug dealer boyfriend'
Alisa Bajraktarevic, 33, was reassigned after she tried to stop detectives from searching her alleged drug dealer beau, according to sources. Bajraktarevic's boyfriend, whose name wasn't disclosed since he wasn't arrested, has been on police radar for some time. The two were involved in a traffic stop when she attempted to use her cop status to get off scot-free
By Vanessa Serna
Daily Mail
April 30, 2023
Alisa Bajraktarevic's boyfriend, whose name wasn't disclosed since he wasn't arrested, had been on police radar for 'some time'
A fit New York City cop is under investigation after she tried to allegedly prevent narcotic detectives from busting her drug dealer boyfriend.
Bronx cop Alisa Bajraktarevic, 33, wreaked havoc when she was pulled over along with the suspect Saturday - as officers said she attempted to use her cop status to get away and caused a scene when they wouldn't let them go.
Bajraktarevic and the alleged drug dealer's romance sparked when they met at the gym, a source told the New York Post.
She had previously warned by her colleagues to stay away from her unnamed lover after it was revealed narcotic investigators have been watching him for some time.
The cop's protective stunt lead her to get her guns confiscated and moved to desk duty. Meanwhile, her boyfriend wasn't named because officers let him go.
Alisa Bajraktarevic, 33, was reassigned after she tried to stop detectives from searching her alleged drug dealer beau, according to sources
Recalling the moment Bajraktarevic and her lover were pulled over, police had planned to search the car of the man they referred to as 'a major player' and arrest him for drug trafficking, according to the source.
Without hesitation, Bajraktarevic immediately jumped out of the car in determination to get herself and the drug dealer off scot-free.
'They didn’t know who she was until she stepped up and said who she was,' the source told the news outlet.
'She definitely gave them a hard time,' another source chimed in.
Bajraktarevic refused to abide by the officer's commands, leading them to call backup.
It's unclear if police ended up searching the drug dealer's car, but they may have been too distracted by Bajraktarevic's tirade.
'They ended up letting him go,' the source said while adding Bajraktarevic was reported.
'They dropped a log on her.'
The cop and the boyfriend were involved in a traffic stop when she attempted to use her cop status to get off scot-free. Pictured: Alisa Bajraktarevic
Bajraktarevic, who previously worked 11 years for the NYPD police with a reported $115,250 salary, insisted her beau wasn't a drug dealer
She had previously warned her by her colleagues to stay away from her unnamed lover after it was revealed narcotic investigators have been watching him for some time
Bajraktarevic's relationship with the drug dealer had been known by the department for about a year, since she tried to interfere with a search at his Manhattan home.
Speaking about the dealer, the source said, 'He’s a really bad guy and known to the department.'
Despite being warned by officer's to stay away from the dealer, Bajraktarevic continued her love affair and even brought him to a company party.
'This person eventually is going to use you as a get-out-of-jail card, which is what he did,' the source added.
But, Bajraktarevic insists that her gym beau isn't a drug dealer.
'He’s not a drug dealer,' she told the news outlet.
Bajraktarevic, who previously worked 11 years for the NYPD police with a reported $115,250 salary, gave vague comments as she insisted she couldn't reveal much of what happened due to department policy.
'But the alleged drug dealer? That’s not under investigation,' she insisted.
Last year, Bajraktarevic moved to work on the Bronx Robbery Squad to assist with city-wide robberies, including residential.
Sources speculate she could've used her status to inform the dealer about various warrants.
THE TOP 10 DEADLIEST JOBS ..... COPS DON'T RATE IN THIS CATEGORY
Daily Mail
April 30, 2023
The
death toll in America's workplaces is climbing again. Loggers, fishers,
hunters, roofers and pilots are the nation's most dangerous trades
THE DEADLY SHOOTINGS GO ON AND ON
Two teens, aged 16 and 18, are killed and four high schoolers are fighting for their lives after witness say a 19-year-old 'came in shooting' at Mississippi house party
Cameron Everett Brand, 19, allegedly shot dead two high schoolers and severely injured four at a Mississippi house party on early Sunday
By James Nye
Daily Mail
April 30, 2023
Cameron Everett Brand, 19, faces charges in connection to a shooting at a Mississippi house party that left two dead
Two high schoolers are dead and four more are in serious condition at the hospital after a teenager opened fire at a house party in southern Mississippi.
Cameron Everett Brand, 19, was identified as the shooter that fired multiple rounds after midnight on Sunday in Bay St. Louis, about 29 miles (46 kilometers) west of Biloxi, The Biloxi Sun Herald reported
A 16-year-old and 18-year-old died as a result of their injuries. Family members identified the 18-year-old as De'Arreis Smith, according to WLOX.
In total, six students were shot and taken to area hospitals. Three were listed in critical condition and three were in serious condition in the shooting's immediate aftermath, officials said.
Two of the victims are students at Bay High School in Bay St. Louis. Four of the students attend Hancock High School in Kiln, 13 miles (21 kilometers) northwest of Bay St. Louis.
Video from the incident showed multiple gunshots were fired in the incident.
Police have not said what led to the shooting that left two dead and four people hurt
None of the victims attended Bay High's prom, which was held earlier Saturday night.
The victims were all between 15 and 18 years old. Four victims were taken to the hospital by medical helicopter.
The house where the party was held is less than a mile from the Hollywood Casino.
Police say they arrested Brand as the sole shooter at the party. It appeared the gunman had fled the scene after opening fire as officers said he was arrested at his home without incident.
He was charged with four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of murder. He is being held in a Mississippi jail without bail.
A motive has not been released and police have not said what led to the deadly encounter at the home along Mississippi's coast.
A witness said that Brand came into the home and started shooting, sending the crowd scattering. Trails of blood could be seen outside the home on Sunday.
The Hancock County School District posted on social media after the shooting: 'Our hearts are broken as we mourn the tragic loss of two Hancock High School students who were victims of the shooting in Bay St. Louis last night. Our hearts are with their families, friends, and the school staff during this incredibly difficult time. Please keep them, along with the others who were injured from Hancock and Bay High Schools, in your thoughts and prayers. To our students and staff, please know that there will be support services available at the high school tomorrow to help you through this.
'Let us come together as a community to show our support and love during this difficult time.'
The shooting was one of a few high-profile shootings in recent days, including in Texas where a man gun downed five people, including an eight-year-old.
Francisco Oropeza, 38, allegedly opened fire Friday near the town of Cleveland, Texas - north of Houston - around 11.30pm.
Police investigate after a shooting left five people dead, including an eight-year-old, in Texas
The street where the shooting unfolded is of often unwind by firing off guns, residents say.
The neighbors - a family of ten all living together - had asked Oropeza to stop firing his weapon because they were trying to get a baby to sleep.
Oropeza, who was known to fire his gun in his yard often, replied 'I'll do what I want in my front yard' and shot five members of the family with an AR-15 before fleeing.
A manhunt in search of the gunman has been sparked with the FBI getting involved as of Sunday.
Police
recovered the AR-15-style rifle that Oropeza allegedly used in the
shootings but authorities were not sure if he was carrying another
weapon, the sheriff said.
ANOTHER INCIDENT IN THE WAR ON COPS
Marc Ferraiolo and Ruth Patton: New Jersey husband and wife charged after they tried to mow down police officers
meaww
April 30, 2023
Police added that while Marc Ferraiolo was removed from his vehicle, his
wife, Ruth Patton, allegedly tried to interfere and told them she would
'kill officers' EVESHAM, NEW JERSEY: A New Jersey man and his wife were arrested on
Sunday, April 30, for trying to run over two police officers with a car.
Evesham Township police officers were seen taking cover in a
surveillance video as an obstreperous driver in a white car started
ramming into one of their cruisers.
"He backed up and repeatedly drove forward, crashing into the canine
vehicle, and he struck the vehicle four times," Evesham Township Police
Chief Walt Miller said, according to CBS News.
The authorities were investigating a motor vehicle crash at about 1 am
on Taunton Lake Road when they say Marc Ferraiolo, 23, drove by twice in
a white Hyundai sedan at an estimated speed of 80 mph in a 45 mph zone.
What is Marc Ferraiolo charged with?
Marc Ferraiolo was charged with two counts of first-degree murder of a police officer, two counts of third-degree aggravated assault on a police officer, two counts of third-degree eluding, four counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, and fourth-degree injuring of a police canine. His wife, Ruth Patton, 42, was charged with third-degree terroristic threats and fourth-degree obstruction of justice.
The entire incident
The officers present at the crash scene provided the details of the car to other officers in the area. One officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop near the intersection of Willowbend and Evans roads, but he refused to pull over. However, they later confronted Ferraiolo at his house after the authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Patton got out of the vehicle when Ferraiolo pulled into his driveway and officers moved their vehicles behind him while he remained inside. According to the police, the man was asked to get out of his vehicle which he refused and instead put his vehicle in reverse and started driving. "He threw the vehicle in reverse and maneuvered the vehicle to try to run over two of the officers that were standing along the side of the driveway. Fortunately, the officers were able to jump out of the way, not be struck by the vehicle, but became very close to striking them," Miller said.
He then reportedly hit a police vehicle with a K9 unit inside and then drove toward the two officers who nearly got smacked as he backed out of the driveway. Ferraiolo allegedly rammed the K9 vehicle thrice after driving across his neighbors' lawns. He then attempted to flee the scene again. He struck two more police vehicles as he tried to leave the scene until his Hyundai was disabled.
The authorities approached before Ferraiolo could get out of the vehicle
and removed him from inside. He was given medical attention and was
transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Police added that while
he was removed from his vehicle, Patton allegedly tried to interfere and
told them she would "kill officers." She was arrested on the scene as
well. The K9, Tango, is being treated by a veterinarian because of the
four impacts on the vehicle inside.
SINCE AN OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF THE ESTIMATED 900,000 STREET GANG MEMBERS ARE BLACK AND HISPANIC, MAINTAINING A POLICE GANG DATA BASE IS OVERLY RACIST, ACCORDING TO THE LEFT
The left’s pro-crime war on the NYPD gang database
April 30, 2023
The City Department of Investigation's five-year probe of the
NYPD's gang database found no "evidence of harm" to people with
suspected gang ties.
In a blow to Gotham’s pro-criminal left, the city Department of Investigation’s five-year probe of the NYPD’s gang database found no “evidence of harm” to people with suspected gang ties.
Officially the Criminal Group Database, it’s a vital crime-fighting tool, especially now that the botched state criminal-justice “reforms” have empowered all the city’s gangs.
But the left, led by the Legal Aid Society, will never give up seeking to delete the whole thing.
Seizing on the DOI report’s call for greater transparency to boost the public’s understanding of what the database represents, the LAS’s Anthony Posada pretended it proves the database “is overtly racist, procedurally indefensible and makes little to no contribution to public safety.”
No: The report clearly rejected the allegation by LAS and other advocates that the database is a racist extension of “Stop, Question and Frisk.”
It’s a tool for the NYPD to target particular crimes, not any category of people, a tool the report notes does bring “public safety benefits.”
Particularly to the victims of gang crime across the five boroughs, the majority of whom are black and Hispanic — and also to the mostly minority kids the gangs relentlessly seek to recruit.
The
Legal Aid Society’s Anthony Posada called the database "overtly racist",
procedurally indefensible and makes little to no contribution to public
safety.”
The left is pushing for the City Council to pass Int. 0360, a bill to scrap the database and prevent the NYPD from creating a replacement.
Any council member who backs that monstrosity might as well be a gang
member him- or herself. The only change the DOI report should bring is a
renewed NYPD drive to ensure the public realizes how vital the database
is.
APPLE AIRTAGS HELPING TO FIGHT THE RASH OF CAR THEFTS
With nearly 4,500 car thefts so far this year, NYC is handing out free Apple AirTag trackers
April 30, 2023
New York City will give out free Apple AirTags to residents as part of an
effort to pump the brakes on rampant car thefts, Mayor Eric Adams
announced Sunday.
Calling the GPS tracking devices a “really amazing piece of ingenuity,” the mayor said 500 of the gadgets donated by a local nonprofit will be doled out to New Yorkers, including in the NYPD’s 43th Precinct in The Bronx — which has been hit particularly hard by the carjacking scourge.
“The aggravated number of grand larceny autos continues to drive up crime in our city,” said Adams, joined by police officials, at a press conference, while noting that other major crimes — such as shootings, homicides and robberies and larcenies — have been on the downturn.
“This simple device, this simple AirTag, hidden in a car location that a person is not aware, of is an excellent tracking device,” Adams said. “It’s easy to monitor. You can see in real-time where the vehicle is located.”
A video posted by the NYPD later in the day demonstrated how the devices would help cops track a stolen vehicle and encouraged motorists to go out and buy the AirTag units on their own.
While he urged New Yorkers to make use of such devices, Adams also said the Association for Better New York had donated 500 of them for cops to hand out.
“We’re going to be handing them out in this precinct, which is really spiking in grand larceny autos,” Adams said from the Castle Hill Library.
City Hall said the NYPD’s Crime Prevention Unit within the Community Affairs Bureau was working on a plan for equitable distribution of the devices, focusing on the precincts with the highest number of grand larceny auto thefts. The city will also be fundraising to purchase more gadgets similar to the ones donated by ABNY, the mayor’s office said.
Car thefts in the Big Apple have been on the rise, with the number spiking to 4,492 through April 23 this year compared to 3,966 over the same period last year — a more than 13% increase.
The 43rd Precinct, which covers the library where the press conference was held, has already seen 207 vehicles stolen so far this year, city officials said.
“Many of us remember when auto theft was an epidemic on our city streets, when we were worried every single time we parked our cars we know we could leave nothing in them,” ABNY chair Steven Rubenstein said.
The nonprofit Association for Better New York has donated 500 AirTag GPS devices to the city.
“There was a joke that went around back then that BMW stood for break my window,” Rubenstein told reporters. “But the crimes weren’t a joke and you didn’t have to own a luxury car like a BMW to be a victim.
“Today we’re nowhere near close to the bad old days but bad leaders don’t wait for things to spiral.”
In January, crooks even took an unmarked NYPD patrol car on a 12-hour joy ride, police said.
Adams said one major driving factor is a TikTok challenge that encourages users to steal Hyundai and Kia vehicles using a USB cord.
AirTag GPS tracking devices can be hidden in a vehicle and will automatically trace it if it is stolen.
The AirTags present a “creative strategic way” to fight back, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.
According to NYPD data, cops reported 104 Hyundais and 99 Kias stolen in December, a huge leap from September, when 21 Hyundais and just seven Kias were stolen.
“It allows our officers to be more strategic while mitigating pursuits, keeping us safe and keeping the community safe,” Chell said of the AirTags. “Hopefully we recover your car undamaged, we take a bad guy off the streets, and you get a car back to conduct your business and it doesn’t impose on your life.”
Adams,
left, and NYPC Chief of Patrol John Chell announced Sunday that the
Association to Better New York has donated the devices.
The AirTags can be hidden in a vehicle where a thief would not find it. If the vehicle is stolen, a movie phone app alerts the car owner and allows for him or her to track its location in real time.
“This is not a centralized tracking system where we are in charge of tracking someone’s car,” Adams said.
Rather, it’ll be up to the car owner to notify the police, he said.
BODY PARTS FOR SALE ... OUR PRICES ARE COMPETITIVE
Arkansas ex-mortuary worker indicted for selling stolen body parts for $11K to a man she met on Facebook
April 30, 2023
An Arkansas woman pleaded not guilty to charges she sold stolen body parts from medical school corpses for $11,000 to a Pennsylvania man she met on social media.
Candace Chapman Scott, 36, a former mortuary worker, is accused of selling 20 boxes of body parts to a man she met through a Facebook group about “oddities,” according to the April 5 indictment unsealed Friday in federal court in Little Rock.
Scott pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property.
She remains in jail as she awaits a hearing scheduled for Tuesday on whether she will be released on bail.
The man who allegedly purchased the remains was not named in the federal indictment. But he was identified as Jeremy Lee Pauley in separate state charges.
Jeremy Pauley reportedly bought 20 boxes of body parts off Facebook.
Candace Chapman Scott pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property.
In the next nine months, Scott sold Pauley fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other body parts, the indictment alleges. The indictment claims that, in one incident, Scott sold the remains of a fetus at a discount because “he’s not in great shape.”
In another message from Dec. 2, 2021, the indictment said Scott offered to sell Pauley “2 brains, one with skullcap, 3 hearts one cut, 2 fake boobies, one large belly button piece of skin, [one] arm, one huge piece of skin, and one lung” for $1,600. Scott received a payment from Pauley through PayPal that same day for $1,600.
Scott collected $10,975 in 16 separate PayPal transfers, the indictment says.
Prosecutors argue that Scott should remain behind bars until her trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Jegley told U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray on Friday that Scott may flee over the prospect of a long prison sentence.
“I think that the facts … underlying the indictment and in the indictment are uniquely egregious and objectionable and we believe there is going to be some significant public outcry as a result of this,” Jegley said.
Ray said the accusations against Scott are “shocking and depraved.” But under federal rules, the judge is only supposed to order Scott to remain jailed if she is a flight risk since she is not considered dangerous.
“The indictment alleges horribly egregious conduct, shocking conduct,” Ray said. “But under the Bail Reform Act, those aren’t factors that I consider for dangerousness that goes to danger to the community or risk of the community. As shocking and depraved as the alleged conduct is, none of that would go toward dangerousness so the only thing I see here that would support a request for detention is obviously flight risk.”‘
Pennsylvania officials learned of the transactions after they received complaints last year about Pauley.
Pauley is charged in Pennsylvania with a misdemeanor count of abuse of a corpse, a felony count of receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and a felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities. He is free on bail and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences spokeswoman Leslie Taylor told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the FBI has not revealed to school officials whether any of the remains have been identified. She said embalming damages DNA, which makes identification extremely difficult.
Taylor said the medical school still contracts with Arkansas Central Mortuary Services.
BIDEN IS FAR TOO OCCUPIED WITH SEARCHING FOR RACISTS BEHIND EVERY BUSH AND AROUND EVERY CORNER, WITH SEEKING THE BAN OF AR-15S, AND WITH DEFENDING TRANSGENDERISM THAN TO BE BOTHERED WITH NETANYAHU WHO IS HATED BY HIS MENTOR OBAMA
McCarthy to Israel Hayom: If Biden doesn't invite Netanyahu, I will
US House speaker says he would offer the Israeli leader to speak before a joint meeting of Congress if the White House doesn't host him "soon".
Israel Hayom
April 30, 2023
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during his visit to Israel, April 30, 2023
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy gave Israel Hayom and exclusive interview on Sunday in which he issued a strong rebuke of President Joe Biden for not hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more than four months after returning to power.
Asked if that situation should be considered normal, the Republican said, "If that [a visit to the White House] doesn't happen, I'll invite the prime minister to come meet with the House. He's a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with," McCarthy said. When pressed on how long he would wait, McCarthy said, "I think it's too long now. He should invite him soon." He added that he has already invited President Isaac Herzog to speak before both chambers of Congress in June to mark Israel's 75th anniversary.
"President Biden hasn't talked to me about the debt ceiling for the last 80 some days so. I think he, the prime minister, might be in good company if he treats me the same way," the speaker quipped.
WITH OR WITHOUT AMERICA'S HELP, ISRAEL MUST HIT IRAN WITH A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE
Iran Trying to Put ‘Noose of Terror’ Around Israel’s Neck
Netanyahu says working tirelessly to combat Iranian threat, warns Tehran that Israel remains united and strong, despite internal rift.
Netanyahu told Sunday's cabinet meeting that it would be a mistake for Iran to assume Israel is divided and weak.
Iran is trying to put a “noose of terror” around Israel’s neck, believing that the time is ripe to bring about the demise of the “Zionist entity,” warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his government is working tirelessly, “both offensively and defensively,” to thwart the schemes of the ayatollahs.
Earlier in the month a leading Israeli expert on Middle East affairs laid out a doomsday scenario in which Iran assaults the Jewish state from all sides using proxy forces.
Days later, Yaakov Amidror, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, warned in a radio interview that war was looming.
Israel, he stressed, “must prepare for war, and it is possible that Israel will arrive at a juncture whereby it will have to attack Iran without America’s help.”
Fighter jets from the IAF's second F-35 squadron, the Lions of the South are ready to strike Iran
Over the weekend, Israeli forces again struck Iran-linked military targets in neighboring Syria.
Iran and its allies, like the Hezbollah terrorist militia in Lebanon, believe Israel’s internal political rifts have made her weak and ripe for attack.
But Netanyahu insisted that the widespread unity demonstrated last week on Memorial Day and Independence Day is evidence that despite political differences, every Israeli would fight to defend the nation.
“We have one country, and it is precious and important to all citizens of Israel,” said the prime minister.
THIS COULD ACTUALLY BE A GOOD IDEA
By Bob Walsh
The talking heads were asserting today that Trump's peeps
have gotten in touch with DeSantis' peeps and suggested that DeSantis
would make a great VP for Trump. Actually there is a lot to be said for
it. They could not beat each other up, which would be good for the
party and the ticket. They would make a formidable team. If they
didn't blow the place up it would give DeSantis a good set-up for 2028
were he could dangle #2 in front of Nicki Haley or Christie Noem.
It
might not happen but it looks like maybe a good idea. I would NOT have
guessed at this happening but (allegedly) it is Trump's idea. One or
the other of them would have to move but for Trump that wouldn't exactly
be a hardship. Also when push came to shove DeSantis would have to
resign as he can not by Florida law run for another office while holding
his current one.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Wishful thinking! It'll never happen. Being governor of Florida is much more beneficial to DeSantis than being hidden away as VP.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
MEXICAN MASSACRES FIVE HONDURAN NEIGHBORS IN TEXAS
Texas man massacres FIVE neighbors including an eight-year-old boy after they asked him to stop shooting his gun at 11.30pm because they were trying to get a baby to sleep
By Jen Smith
Daily Mail
April 29, 2023
Francisco Oropeza, 38, is accused of opening fire on his neighbors at 11.30pm last night in Cleveland, a city north of Houston
A Mexican man living in Texas is on the run after killing five of his neighbors, including an eight-year-old boy, because they asked him to stop practice firing his gun in his yard.
Francisco Oropeza, 38, is accused of opening fire on his neighbors at 11.30pm last night in Cleveland, a city north of Houston.
The neighbors - a family of ten all living together - has asked him to stop firing his weapon because they were trying to get a baby to sleep.
Oropeza, who was known to fire his gun in his yard often, replied 'I'll do what I want in my front yard' and shot five members of the family with an AR-15 before fleeing.
The home in Cleveland, Texas, where the shooting unfolded at 11.30pm last night. Three adults were found dead inside and a child was taken to the hospital
The suspect's home next door. He had been shooting in his yard when at 11.30pm and his neighbors asked him to stop so they could get their baby to sleep
When police arrived at the scene, they found two adult women dead at the front of the house, and a man lying dead in the living room.
The two women were covered in blood, according to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, and were lying on top of two young children who survived.
'In my opinion, they were actually trying to take care of the babies and keep them babies alive,' he said.
It's unclear where exactly the eight-year-old child was in the home.
The shooting occurred at 11.31pm last night in Cleveland, a suburb north of Houston. Five bodies were found inside a home, and another three people were injured
SWAT teams were called to the scene to try to locate the gunman
All of the victims were from Honduras, according to police.
Oropeza was said to have been drunk at the time.
Police described him as a Mexican man who is around 5ft 8. A warrant has been issued for his arrest with a $5million bond attached.
'We are getting closer to him every minute of every hour but we know who he is,' Sheriff Capers said.
TELLING THE TERRORISTS HIS BROTHER HAD DIED SAVED HIS LIFE
British man who survived 1986 Pan Am hijacking when terrorists slaughtered 21 finally confronts man who held him at gunpoint - and is stunned to learn 36 years later why he spared his life
Mike Thexton was returning home from a hiking trip when the plane was taken. A Palestinian terror cell held almost 400 people for 16 hours at gunpoint. Mike finally spoke to the group's leader this year and found out why he is alive
By Tom Cotterill and Elizabeth Haigh
Daily Mail
April 29, 2023
Mike Thexton, who was 27 at the time of his ordeal, was called to the front of the plane and begged the terrorists not to kill him
A British man who was on board the Pan Am 73 plane when armed terrorists stormed it during an assault in 1986 that killed 21 people has confronted the man who held him at gunpoint.
Mike Thexton, then 27, was returning from Karachi in Pakistan after spending the summer hiking the Himalayas when a Palestinian terror cell hijacked the airliner.
The jet never left the runaway and for 16 terrifying hours, Mike and 400 others were held captive by the four men, who were armed with rifles and hand grenades.
The terror group's boss Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini had planned to fly the plane into an Israeli military target, which would likely have seen all on board killed, but the pilots escaped through a hatch before they could break into the cockpit.
Mike begged for his life to be spared during the attack, and always wondered why he had survived. He was stunned to discover the reason one of the terrorists opted to spare him after more than three decades of questions.
Terrorist Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini of the feared Abu Nidal terror group spoke to Mike last summer to reveal why he didn't kill him
After boarding the ill-fated flight, the Brit first realised something was wrong when he shouting on board. He then saw a man struggling with a flight attendant as he held a gun to her head.
Mike's name was one of the first to be called by the terrorists, who were targeting western tourists, and they held him at the front of the plane before going on to slaughter 21 people and injure more than 100 others.
The terrorists' first killed a passenger after failed attempts to negotiate for a pilot to return to the aircraft.
But despite being 'convinced' he was going to die, Mike - now 63 - managed to survive the encounter with just a 'scratch' to his elbow.
After being held at the front for hours he fell asleep - before being awoken by one of the terrorists and instructed to return to the rest of the group.
Almost 37 years on from the nightmare which saw 360 passengers held, he has relived his ordeal in a Sky News documentary, set to air tonight.
Mike had visited the Himalayas to honour his brother, Peter, 30, who died three years earlier while climbing Broad Peak, the 12th-highest mountain in the world.
He says in the new Sky feature documentary, Hijacked: Flight 73, that he begged his captor not to kill him: 'Please, please don't hurt me. My brother has died in the mountains, my parents have no one else'.
Mike said: 'He just waved his hand as if to say, I haven't got time for that.'
Speaking to MailOnline, Mike revealed how the death of his brother had touched the heart of Safarini - who is currently serving a 160-year prison sentence in the US.
Mike spoke to the terrorist in a phone call last summer, and demanded to know why his life had been spared all those years ago.
Safarini's reply took his breath away: 'You mentioned to me that your brother is killed,' he said in broken English. 'I say, "OK man, just sit aside". It touched my heart, actually.'
'I was astonished that he told me that he put me back with the others at the end because of what I had said about my brother dying,' he told MailOnline.
Injured victims are evacuated to a US military hospital in Germany after the 16-hour siege
The jet never left the runaway and for 16 terrifying hours, Mike and 400 others were held captive by the four men, who were armed with rifles and hand grenades
The Pan Am Flight 73 plane pictured after the siege was over - terrorists killed 21 and injured 100 more
Passengers were held at gunpoint during a 16-hour ordeal, which left Mike always wondering why his life had been spared
Mike's older brother Peter had been killed while climbing Broad Peak, the 12th-highest mountain in the world
Mike pictured during his summer of hiking before the hijacking took place
'When I said that, 12 hours earlier, I didn't think he was even listening.
'And yet he remembered it 12 hours later at the end of the hijack, and 36 years later when we spoke.
'I had thought of a number of possible reasons for him giving me that chance, but this one had never entered my head.
'And he said that they opened fire because they panicked, which is the first time I have heard him admit it. Both of those answers were important to me.'
During his ordeal, Mike had attempted to connect with his attackers in another way - by feigning to be a Muslim and praying.
After 10 hours, the plane’s power unit shut down and it went dark. Then all hell broke loose, with the terrorists opening fire and murdering passengers.
'The plane went into darkness after the power unit failed. Then - bang! I remember it started with the explosion of a hand grenade,' he told MailOnline.
'Then - automatic gunfire from a few rows in front of me, impossibly loud. Then - automatic gunfire from the back of the plan, surprisingly distant and quiet.
'The men at the front changed their magazines and fired again, and then again at the back. And then - it cannot have been quiet, but it had been so loud that I only remember silence. I saw the shape of a door - the night sky a different shade of black - and realised that the time had come to leave.'
Sunshine Vesuwala was a flight attendant who also survived the hijacking.
Now 58, a business owner in Ontario, Canada, and a mother of two, she had completed her training just months earlier.
Sunshine Vesuwala had completed her flight attendant training a matter of months before the hijacking took place
Bullet holes in the plane's windshield showed the violence of the attack
Within moments of the hijacking beginning, a gun was pointed to her head then her back as the terrorists wearing military uniforms attempted to storm the cockpit.
Later, she was ordered by Safarini to walk the aisles gathering passports. She tells Sky: 'I had to try and not give him what he wanted. If they were white Americans, I dropped their passports [back] into their laps. I hid passports under the seat as he demanded [I] filter through them.'
'It was a gamble and could easily have turned the other way had I been caught,' she added in an interview with MailOnline.
Recounting the moment the terrorists started murdering people, she continued: 'My first thought was we were all going to die. Once the shooting stopped and I was still in one piece I noticed the door closer to me was open and people were running towards the exit.
'I watched and waited until I was able to head in the same direction and stepped out on the wing.
'People were jumping off the wing and others who could not were left behind. There were too many people to control and direct so I let them jump off if they wanted to.
'They were in a real panic and there was no stopping them. Some of the passengers noticed me there and grabbed me asking for help.'
Sunshine was hailed for her courage and said her decision not to hand over the passports of Western tourists had helped to save lives.
She also remained on the plane to help passengers and injured colleagues escape to safety.
Insisting she is not a hero, she told MailOnline: 'My uniform meant I was responsible for my passengers, I could not just dump them and cut and run. They were helpless, some badly injured and very traumatised. My conscience would not let me leave.'
The gunmen and their accomplices were sentenced to death in Pakistan and later given life imprisonment.
Safarini had then been released from prison in Pakistan, but two weeks after 9/11 he was captured by the FBI and taken to the US where he pleaded guilty to 95 counts, including murder.
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