A year and a half after the Marek fire, John Doe #214 remains unidentified

After flames destroyed a small encampment near Sylmar, investigators were confident they'd quickly identify the burned bodies of a man and a dog. It hasn't worked out that way.

By Ruben Vives

March 15, 2010

Halfway up an embankment, below the junction of the 210 and 118 freeways, lay the charcoal remains of a man's life: charred newspapers and encyclopedias, a seared carpet, food cans popped open by intense heat.

It was more than a year ago that gusty winds drove a wildfire from the canyons above Sylmar and down to the freeway connector, where it destroyed a small encampment. After the flames subsided, firefighters discovered the burned bodies of a man and a dog.

The man's body was taken to the Los Angeles County morgue. Since the corpse lacked identification, officials gave it a place-holder name: John Doe #214.

At the time, investigators were confident they would quickly identify the man. Many merchants in the working-class area of the northeastern San Fernando Valley said they believed he was a widely known homeless man who dressed in fatigues. They described him as well-mannered and timid, yet friendly. He mostly wandered the area in search of recyclables, they said.

But the investigators' early confidence soon turned to confusion and frustration.Now, almost a year and a half later, John Doe #214 remains unidentified.

"We're at a standstill," said Det. Jose Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division. "It's unfortunate from a human standpoint."

::

The small wooden shanty was well-hidden by trees and large bushes. Although it was close to bustling Paxton Street and Foothill Boulevard, few passersby ever noticed it.

In the aftermath of the Marek fire, which broke out in the Angeles National Forest on Oct. 12, 2008, firefighters determined that John Doe #214 and his dog were killed when embers landed on their campsite. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

An autopsy found the man probably died of smoke inhalation, but the inquest offered few clues to his identity. His skull was too burned and misshapen by the heat to permit a facial reconstruction, and his skin was too charred to reveal tattoos or even fingerprints. His teeth offered only a slight hope of identification.

A week later, Martinez and his partner, Det. Josh Byers, began the task of determining John Doe #214's name. They drove to Sylmar and interviewed commuters, liquor store owners, residents and workers at a recycling center. Had they ever seen a transient with a dog who stopped showing up after the fire?

At first, the trail was hot with leads. Numerous people said they knew of a homeless man in the area. Some even said he had a dog.

Some LAPD officers who patrolled the district told detectives they should be looking for Miguel "Wizard" Ambriz, 48, a well-known transient who wore Army surplus clothing.

But after some checking, the detectives learned that Ambriz had been taken into custody a week before the fire broke out. Ambriz said he was intoxicated and had wandered into an apartment complex where the manager had previously warned him about trespassing. Martinez confirmed that Ambriz was in jail when the fire swept through.

"Everybody was looking for me," Ambriz said later, sitting at a bus bench dressed in his fatigues, camouflage poncho, jungle hat and black boots. "People thought it was me. Friends were looking for me at hospitals. It felt strange."

After detectives located Ambriz, they moved on to a new lead: a white homeless man between the ages of 45 and 50 who owned a white dog.

Martinez and Byers tracked down the man's name, along with a photograph of him. The detectives showed the photo to a liquor store owner who had earlier told them of a transient who never returned to the area after the blaze. The merchant confirmed that the photo was of the person he was talking about.

But just when the detectives thought they had found their man, the owner called Martinez to say that the transient from the photo had returned, alive and well.

He found him sleeping outside the store.

That's when the detectives shook their heads. They were stuck.

Seemingly back at square one, the detectives returned to Foothill Boulevard. They began hearing more about an Asian man who had not been seen since the fire. Martinez said he initially was skeptical, because relatively few Asians lived in the area. But the description kept coming up.

Some described a short, thin and timid Vietnamese man who was often seen pushing a shopping cart and rummaging through dumpsters for recyclables. Sometimes he had a dog.

"He was very quiet," recalled Jerry Frias, 44, a warehouse employee.

Danny Madison, 29, an employee at American Eagle Corp., said he regularly noticed the man reading newspapers near a tree. It was there where Marcos Duarte, a parcel deliveryman at the time, spotted him.

"He loved to read," Duarte said. "I envied him. I'd be rushing to my next route and he'd be there reading his newspaper by the tree."

Duarte said he spoke to the man two weeks before the fire, but it was difficult to understand him because his English was poor.

Charlie Nunez, 37, who owns a party supply store at Van Nuys and Foothill boulevards, also chatted with him.

"I gave him socks, shirts, my 12-year-old son's clothes," Nunez said.

The detectives were excited about the case's new direction -- but they soon realized that even though many people in the area knew the man, none seemed to know his name or where he was from.

"A lot of people seemed to have had some sort of contact with him," Martinez said. "But they didn't try to establish a name. It's almost as if they shunned that connection."

Duarte now wishes he had asked the man his name. "I didn't want to infringe too quickly," he explained. "I just wanted to let him know he had a friend. That's the kind of relationship we had."

::

Today, the remains of John Doe #214 are in cold storage in the county coroner's office, sealed in a plastic bag. A small tag bears the case number and place-holder name. Though most bodies occupy a full metal tray, the remains of John Doe #214 take up only half.

His case recently took on new life with the discovery of a clue at a small recycling center less than half a mile from the campsite.

Wilmer De Leon, 31, an employee at Leo's Recycling Inc., said he got to know a homeless Asian man fairly well because he would often drop off recyclables there.

De Leon, who no longer works at the center, said the man told him he had come from Vietnam many years ago and had been in California for only four years. He also told him he had no family in the area. The man would often read a newspaper while De Leon worked, occasionally approaching him to point out articles about Vietnam.

De Leon said he didn't know the man's name by memory but could identify his signature. He said customers were required to sign a sheet before collecting their money, he said. The sheets were kept by the recycling center's owner, Brigida Rios.

"We are certain we have his name," Rios told a Times reporter recently. "There are a few customers that come to the same place. You know they go to different recycling centers, but this man came almost every day."

A search through hundreds of sign-in sheets turned up this name: Hon W. Pan.

De Leon confirmed the man's name and signature.

It appeared investigators could finally close the case.

But after running the name through local, state and national databases, investigators and coroner officials said they came up with nothing to link the new name to John Doe #214's remains. Not relatives, not dental records, not anything. Immigration officials said a name without a birth date or registration number would yield nothing on their end. And now, investigators say, they aren't even sure of the man's race.

Hearing the news over the phone, Rios said she couldn't believe it. "It's so sad he had to die this way," she said.

In the meantime, De Leon said he has stopped wondering about the fate of his homeless friend.

"I know it was him who died there," De Leon said. "He never came back."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire-search15-2010mar15,0,5981246,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Civil rights activists seek federal probe of Torrance Police Department

At a protest Sunday they called for an investigation into allegations of harassment and racial profiling after a black minister was stopped in March during a search for robbery suspects.

By Kurt Streeter

March 15, 2010

Civil rights activists Sunday called for a federal investigation into allegations of harassment and racial profiling by the Torrance Police Department, following the traffic stop of an African American pastor in early March.

"What we want is a full federal Justice Department probe of Torrance and its treatment of African Americans and Latinos," said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, during a small but sometimes tense protest in the neighborhood where Pastor Robert Taylor was pulled over while driving with his 15-year-old daughter, and subsequently searched.

As Hutchinson, Taylor and others voiced displeasure with the police during a demonstration, about 15 police supporters staged a counter-protest across the street. At times the dueling protests grew heated.

Taylor has filed a complaint with the Torrance Police Department, which has launched an internal investigation, according to spokesman Jeremiah Hart. "The city of Torrance is a multi-cultural city," Hart said. "We celebrate that. We do not practice racial profiling . . . do not tolerate racial profiling."

Taylor was pulled over March 4 on Yukon Avenue in a residential neighborhood, after picking up his daughter from school, according to Taylor and police.

Taylor, 62, pastor of Doors to Heaven Global Ministries in Inglewood, lives in the neighborhood where he was stopped. He said the officers told him they had done a background check on his license plate and found multiple arrest warrants. The officers then asked him to step out of his white Ford Thunderbird, demanded that he hold his hands in the air and then proceeded to frisk him in front of his frightened daughter and several onlookers, Taylor said.

Officers eventually showed Taylor a laptop with a list of four wanted men named Robert Taylor. None was the pastor's age, Taylor said.

The officers, identified by Torrance police as Brent Clissold and Dusty Garver, allowed Taylor to leave.

Hart, the police spokesman, later said the officers pulled Taylor over because they believed he fit the description of a suspect in a series of recent area crimes, including one in which two people allegedly kidnapped a woman from a department store parking lot, stealing $142,000 in jewelry from her home and at least $3,500 cash. Surveillance photos obtained by the police, as well as the woman's account, indicate the suspects were a black man in his 30s, dressed in a shirt and tie, and a woman who appeared to be in her 40s. The pair drove a white Ford Thunderbird with tinted windows. Taylor said he was wearing a suit when he was pulled over.

On Sunday, Taylor stood in front of his white Thunderbird and pointed out differences between his car and the one shown in a Torrance Police Department photo. His car has a rear spoiler and all four of its hubcaps. No spoiler is visible in the photo of the suspects' car, which is missing a hubcap. Taylor, 62, wondered why he had been frisked when he and his teen daughter clearly were not the same age as the suspects.

"This was a totally degrading and traumatizing experience for me," Taylor said. "This means that any black male driving a car that looks like a suspect's car can just be pulled over, taken from the car, searched in front of everyone. That's profiling. That's harassment. . . . They were even talking about putting handcuffs on me."

The Torrance Police Department is no stranger to allegations of civil rights abuse or to unfavorable court judgments. In 2000, a federal appeals court upheld a $245,000 racial-discrimination verdict against two Torrance police officers. The case involved a traffic stop in which officers stopped three young men, two of them African American, pointed guns at them and squeezed their genitals while frisking them.

In 1995, three Latino men were awarded a settlement after a federal jury found Torrance Officer Martin Dempsey had violated the men's civil rights during a traffic stop. Two years later, one of the men, Luiz Ortiz, was awarded a second settlement after he alleged that Dempsey had threatened him in 1996 at a Torrance shopping center.

A 1988 case involving claims of police brutality ended in a $105,000 settlement after video emerged showing one of the men being choked and beaten unconscious.

Hutchinson and Taylor said Sunday that African Americans and Latinos remain targets in Torrance.

Their statements were met with loud resistance from the counter-protesters, whose signs proclaiming loyalty to the police drew honks of support from passing drivers. Some of the counter-protesters accused Taylor of trying to profit from a lawsuit. One man shouted that anyone who didn't like Torrance should leave.

Lynette Vandeveer, a 54-year-old retiree, said the police acted professionally. "You cannot fault Torrance police for following an exact lead," she said. "They did the right thing."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bias-torrance15-2010mar15,0,5023462,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Internet fraud's U.S. price tag put at $550 million

The figure doubled from 2008, with Americans falling prey to increasingly sophisticated scams.

By Stuart Pfeifer

March 15, 2010

U.S. citizens reported losing more than $550 million in 2009 in Internet fraud, falling prey to a variety of increasingly sophisticated scams, according to a report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The loss was more than twice that reported in 2008, according to the agency, a partnership of the FBI and the privately funded National White Collar Crime Center. Based in West Virginia, the center tracks Internet crime around the world.

"Criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet. They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers," said Donald Brackman, director of the National White Collar Crime Center.

Part of the increase can be attributed to a change that allowed more cases to be included, but other possible factors include increased use of the Internet, which has broadened the pool of perpetrators and victims, said Charles Pavelites, an FBI special agent.

More complaints were reported by California residents than by residents of any other state, the report said. Common frauds included the non-delivery of merchandise ordered through websites and "advance-fee scams," in which victims were persuaded to make small payments to receive windfalls that never arrived, the report said.

Typical of the cases reported last year was a scam in which a Miami Beach man advertised vacation rentals on Craigslist.org but stopped communicating with customers after they paid thousands of dollars in down payments, according to the report. Police arrested a suspect in that case, saying he stole more than $30,000 from 16 victims.

Another common fraud in 2009 was the "hit man scam," in which threatening e-mails were sent to victims. The e-mails purported to be written by hit men who had been paid to kill the victims. They said they would let the victims live if they paid them thousands of dollars. Many of those threatening e-mails were traced to West Africa, Pavelites said.

"Internet crime keeps going up. It's cheaper. It's faster. It beats the old method of knocking on your door and trying to get you to give them money," Pavelites said. "If you send out 1 million e-mails and even a minimal number of people return money, you'll make more money than a working person would in a very long time in a legitimate job."

Computer viruses capable of secretly downloading passwords and account numbers are also a problem, Pavelites said. Spread through e-mail attachments, the viruses enable criminals to steal from bank and credit card accounts.

In April 2009, the Internet Crime Complaint Center linked 103 cases in which victims reported paying for vehicles and motorcycles that did not arrive. The victims lost a combined $360,000 that was sent to a fraudulent financing center suggested by the seller, the report said. Consumers can take precautions to avoid being victimized, Pavelites said. They should install up-to-date computer firewalls, use only reputable payment centers to make purchases online, and not respond to unsolicited e-mails or pop-up ads, he said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cybercrime15-2010mar15,0,5299450,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hospital and nursing home complaints have an ear

If you have an issue with a facility, there are ways to address it. Help can come from facility staff, state regulators, insurers and other agencies.

By Tammy Worth

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 15, 2010

With hospitals and nursing homes tending to thousands of patients every year, accidents can — and do — happen. These incidents, whether through carelessness or otherwise, can leave patients feeling powerless. That's not the case.

"There is growing public awareness, people are feeling more empowered, and they have tools at their disposal to make a complaint," said Ralph Montano, spokesman for the California Department of Public Health, which regulates hospitals and long-term care facilities in the state.

That department received more than 6,000 complaints about hospitals in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available. The complaints can be about mixed-up lab results, medication errors, foreign objects left in a patient during surgery or a host of other topics.

Similarly, the California Department of Aging received 43,000 nursing home complaints in 2009. Some alleged patient abuse or neglect; others reported missing items. And some commented on the quality of the food.

But finding the channels through which to lodge a complaint can be tedious and time consuming. Many consumers simply don't bother, and some become lost in the system. Whether the complaint is against a hospital or a long-term care facility, the process is similar — and many people can help, including the facility's staff, insurance company representatives and state regulators.

Here's how to complain.

In-house

Most patient advocates recommend first talking with providers within the hospitals and nursing homes. Many organizations prefer to resolve problems at the point of care.

If you want to make a complaint while in the hospital, Patti Harvey, vice president of quality and patient care services for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, recommends talking with the bedside nurse at a facility.

If that doesn't work, you can talk with other people higher in the chain of command, up to the hospital administrator.

If the problem still isn't taken care of — say you disagree with your treatment plan or have a problem with your doctor — member service offices at each hospital can help address your concerns.

UCLA Health System hospitals have similar offices to resolve complaints or grievances, said Virgie Mosley, manager of patient affairs for the health system. When you or a family member contacts the patient affairs office, the chair of the clinical team responsible for that unit reviews your records. The hospital will then provide a written response to you or schedule a conference.

Insurers

If you want to wait until after you leave the facility's walls to complain, one option is to file with your insurance company. The California Department of Managed Health Care requires that insurers in the state have a written process for patient complaints about hospitals and nursing homes.

Aetna members, for example, can call the Aetna Member Services number on their identification card and speak with a staff member. The company's agents take preliminary information, which is entered into the company's computer system. Often complaints can also be filed with insurers online.

"We are especially interested when they have a quality-of-care or service concern," said Terri Schroeder, head of regional quality for Aetna Inc. "We want to do everything possible to make sure patients are getting the care they need and deserve."

Quality-of-care complaints are sent to Schroeder's department, staffed by registered nurses, for clinical review. For minor issues, such as long wait times or out-of-service equipment, the company tracks the complaints, looks for patterns and may work with the facility if it becomes a trend.

For an event that is life-threatening or poses imminent danger for a patient (for example, a family finds there is not sufficient staff on a patient on suicide watch), Aetna's staff will try to help resolve the issue immediately. If a patient has left a facility, Aetna collects medical records, which go through a review process by trained medical professionals. This is typically a 30-day process.

If a facility is found to be at fault, Aetna can request a corrective action or even terminate the institution's contract. Though the details of the investigation are confidential, members can call in to find out whether the problem has been resolved.

Joint commission

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is a not-for-profit agency that accredits and certifies more than 17,000 healthcare organizations and institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, behavioral health facilities and clinical laboratories nationwide. The commission's Office of Quality Monitoring evaluates complaints filed against accredited organizations relating to care and safety issues.

Complaints can be faxed, phoned, e-mailed or mailed to the Joint Commission (see related story for contact information). When filing a complaint, briefly summarize the issues and provide the name and address of the facility. The agency takes one of four actions, depending on the complaint's severity. The healthcare facility may be asked to provide a written response to the allegation. The complaint may be reviewed and considered during a coming survey. It may be placed in a database used to track performance. And if there is a serious threat to patient safety, a staff member will conduct a surprise visit to the organization.

Verified complaints can result in actions from resolution of the problem to denial of accreditation.

Ombudsman

The California State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program can help resolve problems at nursing homes. It's the arm of the state's Department of Aging that investigates complaints made against long-term care facilities.

There are 35 offices in the state, staffed with ombudsman representatives who advocate for residents of the 1,200 nursing homes and almost 8,000 residential homes in California.

When a complaint is received, an ombudsman from a nearby office goes to the facility to investigate within two to three days, said Joe Rodrigues, the state long-term care ombudsman. If the facility takes action, the case is considered resolved.

If there is no resolution or if the problem is about neglect or abuse, the ombudsman will bring it to the attention of the California Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes and hospitals. But most of the time, ombudsman representatives are able to take care of issues that come to their attention.

"We are able to resolve three out of every four complaints brought to us fully or partially," Rodrigues said. "That is a testament to the kind of advocacy we engage in."

State regulators

If you are filing a complaint with your local ombudsman, file one with the Department of Public Health for good measure, recommends Pat McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

The department's staff responds within 24 hours to severe complaints and within 10 business days for minor complaints. When a facility is found to be at fault, the department can issue fines, deficiencies or revoke Medicare and Medi-Cal funding. Documentation of substantiated complaints is available at district offices.

If the complaint is found to be unsubstantiated, you can request an informal conference with a district manager. You must request the conference within five days of the decision, and it will be scheduled within 30 days. The district manager's staff will render a decision within 10 business days after the conference.

One final appeal can be made within 15 days of the conference if you are unsatisfied with the decision. The deputy director's staff will review the case and make a final determination within 30 days.

Recommended information to include in any complaint is the name and address of the facility and your contact information (if you choose to provide it), the date and time of the incident, specific details, names of witnesses and relevant staff, and any useful records.

McGinnis recommends filing complaints even if it seems to be a minor issue, such as unfilled water pitchers in a nursing home (this could lead to patient dehydration).

"If this is something that happens a lot, it is something that may be going on with everyone," she said. "We want people to look at systemic problems, because it is not just your mom, but it is probably happening to others who don't have advocates as well."

For contact information for the above agencies, see related story: health@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-practical-matters-20100315,0,2061731,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 Americans and a third victim are killed in Mexico shootings

Two cars leaving a party come under fire in Ciudad Juarez. A baby in the back seat of one car survives unscathed, but her parents are dead.

By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard A. Serrano

March 15, 2010

Reporting from Mexico City and Washington

Three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Mexico's deadliest city, Ciudad Juarez, were shot to death by men who intercepted their cars as they returned from a child's birthday party, officials said Sunday. Two of the dead, an American couple, were discovered slain in their vehicle, their uninjured baby crying in the back seat. President Obama on Sunday expressed outrage at the drive-by slayings. The three victims were killed in broad daylight Saturday near the city's border with El Paso.

Ciudad Juarez, a key entry point for drugs into the U.S., has seen a staggering increase in bloodshed as narcotics gangs battle for control of smuggling routes, turf and market share. Mexico's raging drug war has claimed thousands of lives, including those of some Americans. But this appears to be the first time in recent years that Mexican drug traffickers have attacked U.S. diplomatic personnel and their families.

FOR THE RECORD: A subheadline on an earlier version of this article said a U.S. Consulate worker and his wife had been killed. It should have said a U.S. Consulate worker and her husband had been killed.

In response to the escalating violence, the State Department on Sunday told employees they could send family members and other dependents home to the U.S. from six northern Mexican cities where Washington maintains consulates. It also updated its existing travel warnings, cautioning Americans about traveling to or within northern Mexican states and strongly cautioning American youth about spending their spring break in Mexico.

The dead couple were identified by Mexican authorities as Lesley A. Enriquez, 35, an employee of the consulate, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 34. Redelfs was a detention officer with the El Paso County Jail, a relative told the Associated Press. Neither the relative nor U.S. officials in Washington were able to specify Enriquez's job at the consulate.

The third person killed was identified as the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate. He was traveling with two children, both of whom were injured, according to the state prosecutor's office in Ciudad Juarez.

A security official in Ciudad Juarez said the victims were obviously targeted but that the motive was still under investigation.

"The information we have indicates they were specific targets, but the motives behind the attack are not yet known," said the official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name.

Later Sunday, the state prosecutor's office said it was working with U.S. federal agents and believed the attackers might belong to one of two drug gangs, the Aztecs or the Linea, both fighting for control of parts of Ciudad Juarez.

The mayor of Ciudad Juarez said the gathering the victims had attended was a child's birthday party. U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash said the party was attended by a large number of officials connected with the consulate.

"A lot of the people were there and they were all coming home when this happened," Lash said.

Witnesses said gunmen apparently tailed Enriquez and Redelfs for several blocks before opening fire. Enriquez was struck in the head and Redelfs in the neck and arm, the prosecutor's office said, and the car, bearing Texas license plates, drifted for some yards before crashing near the Santa Fe international bridge that links Juarez with El Paso.

When police approached, they first heard the cries, then found the child in the back seat. She was estimated to be several months old and was not injured. Investigators found spent 9-millimeter bullet casings, suggesting the attackers used high-caliber handguns to kill the parents.

At almost the same time, the husband of another consulate employee, identified by the prosecutor's office as Jorge Alberto Salcido, 37, traveling in a separate car, was cut off by gunmen in sport utility vehicles.

They shot him to death and injured two children with him, ages 4 and 7, the office said.

U.S. officials in Washington said a fourth adult, traveling in Salcido's car, was also injured. It was not clear if that person was Salcido's wife, who works at the consulate, or someone else.

In a statement Sunday, the White House said Obama "shares in the outrage of the Mexican people at the murders of thousands in Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico."

Obama said the U.S. would "continue to work with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his government to break the power of the drug trafficking organizations that operate in Mexico and far too often target and kill the innocent. This is a responsibility we must shoulder together."

The Mexican government also said it was "profoundly sorrowed" by the slayings but pledged to press ahead with its military-led offensive against drug cartels. Calderon expressed "indignation and condemnation" and promised to bring the killers to justice.

This was a particularly deadly weekend in Mexico. Thirteen people were killed around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, and 20 others died in fighting elsewhere in the state of Guerrero.

Eight people were slain at a birthday party for a farmer in the drug-producing state of Sinaloa.

In recent months, the most high-profile slaying of an American took place on New Year's Eve, when an official from El Monte, Calif., was killed with five other men when they were kidnapped from a bar in the Durango state city of Gomez Palacio. The official, popular educator Bobby Salcedo, was in Mexico visiting his wife's relatives for the holidays.

Bloodshed in Ciudad Juarez has surged as the Juarez drug cartel, which traditionally controlled the area, battles a takeover attempt by traffickers loyal to Sinaloa-based kingpin Joaquin Guzman. Calderon traveled to the city twice last month to promise to restore safety.

But beleaguered citizens say their complaints fall on deaf ears and they live in terror.

Calderon's government has been especially sensitive to the damage that bloodshed has done to his country's image and at times seeks to downplay the extent of the violence. A Foreign Ministry official said the decision to authorize removal of U.S. government dependents was "worrisome."

Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said he understood the U.S. fears prompting the decision.

But he said the consulate, which had to close briefly because of a bomb threat, has strong security. "It is one of the most heavily guarded places in the city," Reyes told CNN's Spanish-language service.

In Washington, the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs on Sunday reiterated a travel warning for Americans going to Mexico and those living there.

"Recent violent attacks have prompted the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua states . . . and advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution," the warning said.

The warning, in effect until April 12, also authorized the departure of U.S. dependents of government consular officials in border cities such as Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo. The major difference between this warning and one Feb. 22 was the authorization for dependents to leave Mexico.

"Violence in the country has increased," the warning stated. "It is imperative that U.S. citizens understand the risks in Mexico [and] how best to avoid dangerous situations."

The warning added: "The situation in northern Mexico remains fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements cannot be predicted."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-mexico-shootings15-2010mar15,0,3296488,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDITORIAL

How do we stop predators?

California has been throwing new sex offender laws against the wall and hoping they will stick. It's time to assess which ones work and which ones don't.

March 15, 2010

Their first names have become synonymous with outrage and grief: Megan, Jessica, Samantha, Amber. Now, 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois join the list of young lives likely cut short by sexual predators. And as in each of the previous cases, the heartbreaking discovery of the child's body is followed by a renewed determination to enact stricter laws, to toughen sentences and intensify monitoring -- to do something, anything, to keep children safe.

And we do try. These murders continue despite sex offender registries and Jessica's Law, which restricted where offenders can live and strapped global positioning systems on the ankles of about 6,700 perpetrators. They come after laws permitting chemical castration and the indefinite confinement of certain high-risk offenders to psychiatric facilities. And still, a registered sex offender, John Albert Gardner III, is suspected in both of the latest cases. What to do next?

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego), whose district includes Poway, home to King, and Escondido, home to Dubois, was right on target when he called last week for a complete evaluation of the state's incoherent, patchwork approach to sex offenders. He was also right to hold off on the instantaneous creation of a "Chelsea's Law." For too long now, California has been throwing new sex offender laws against the wall and hoping they will stick. It's time for lawmakers to assess which ones work and which ones do not.

Fletcher could begin by delving into the recent report by the California Sex Offender Management Board. It is startling reading for revelations about what data the state does not have. Although California has the largest population of registered sex offenders in the nation (in part because it began registering them in 1947), it has done little to analyze the behavior of this population. For example, according to the report, the state has never determined an accurate recidivism rate for sex offenders. Nor has it taken stock of how supervision, treatment, GPS tracking and sentencing affect a sex offender's likelihood to re-offend. By now, for example, the state should know how many sex offenders enter treatment programs -- voluntarily or otherwise -- how many never do and the quality of those programs. But it doesn't.

We must also explore the limits of sex offender registries and residency restrictions. Knowing where an offender lives is not the same as knowing where he or she is every moment of the day. GPS tracking was expected to address that gap, but in some ways Jessica's Law has created new and unanticipated complications. The state now has a large population of sex offenders who, thanks to the law's housing restrictions, are homeless. In 2007, shortly after the law was passed, only 88 sex offender parolees were homeless; in the years since, that number has grown to 2,088; the total number of "transient" sex offenders is more than 5,000. More and more are now dropping off the radar completely, failing to update their registry information -- a development that does not improve public safety.

California spent $65 million last year to track more than 6,000 sex offender parolees, but it is unclear which agency is responsible for monitoring them for life once their parole ends; nor is it clear whether the entire parolee population warrants tracking. California's slender resources should target the offenders who pose the greatest threat. Is it reasonable that an 18-year-old boy who has consensual sex with a 13-year-old girl could land himself a lifetime spot on the sex offender registry with no chance of being removed? Fletcher has mentioned the importance of better prioritizing resources, and we hope he means it. What we have seen in the past after similar tragedies are measures hurried through the system to pacify a frightened, angry public, regardless of expense or efficacy.

It is also important to remember that the overwhelming majority of people who are sexually assaulted -- adults and children alike -- are preyed on by people with whom they are acquainted. Yet many of California's policies seem to be aimed more at deterring assaults by strangers, the small fraction of offenses that garner the most attention and public outrage.

There will be a Chelsea's Law when this inquiry phase is done, according to Fletcher. Well, maybe there should be and maybe there shouldn't be. No one knows yet whether the measures we already have on the books are working as well as they should. If there is to be a new law, let's be sure that it is bolstered by research and offers evidence that it will actually improve the public safety. The illusion of safety is not enough.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-chelsea15-2010mar15,0,1307512,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Fox News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hundreds Join Search for Missing British Student at Va. University

Sunday , March 14, 2010

The Sunday Times

Hundreds of people were expected to join a search Sunday in Virginia for a British college exchange student who disappeared 12 days ago, The Times of London reported.

Jonathan Dorey, a 22-year-old geography student from the University of the West of England, was last seen leaving the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) campus in the city of Richmond at around 11 a.m. ET on March 2.

He had his mountain bike, a backpack and his mobile phone with him.

His worried friends have spread the word of his disappearance with a Facebook group which now has nearly 19,000 members.

Bob Beebe, a friend of Dorey's family who is acting as their spokesman, said that the latest search attempt would focus on a rural area near the VCU campus.

“There's a very large group of people gathering around the Belle Isle area, which was the last known message link to Jonny's phone,” he said.

“It's a beautiful rural setting, very popular with mountain bikers and walkers. He may have gone off on a mountain bike trail, had an accident and injured himself. If he's lying there we want to find him.”

Police said that there was no evidence of foul play. Detectives have been collecting electronic information in a bid to piece together his last movements.

Beebe said it was hoped that these clues, along with help from people in the local area, would help the search team to retrace Dorey's steps and follow his planned movements.

“Someone somewhere must have seen Jonny Dorey that Tuesday,” he said.

“All it takes is somebody sending a message from an internet cafe, a phone box (phone booth), Twitter, and that single piece of information will help to complete that very complex jigsaw.”

Dorey's parents have traveled from their home in Guernsey to the U.S. to aid in the search. VCU has offered a $5,000 reward for information which helps to locate the missing student.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,589210,00.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guns From High-Profile Shootings Had Same Origin

Sunday , March 14, 2010

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — 

Two guns used in high-profile shootings this year at the Pentagon and a Las Vegas courthouse both came from the same unlikely place: the police and court system of Memphis, Tenn.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that both guns were once seized in criminal cases in Memphis. The officials described how the weapons made their separate ways from an evidence vault to gun dealers and to the shooters.

The use of guns that were once in police custody to attack police officers highlights a little-known divide in gun policy in the U.S.: Many cities and states destroy guns gathered in criminal probes, but others sell or trade the weapons in order to get other guns or buy police equipment.

In fact, on the day of the Pentagon shooting, March 4, the Tennessee governor signed legislation revising state law on confiscated guns. Before, law enforcement agencies in the state had the option of destroying a gun. Under the new version, agencies can only destroy a gun if it's inoperable or unsafe.

Kentucky has a similar law, but it's not clear how many other states have laws specifically designed to promote the police sale or trade of confiscated weapons.

A nationwide review by The Associated Press in December found that over the previous two years, 24 states — mostly in the South and West, where gun-rights advocates are particularly strong — have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions. Gun rights groups are making a greater effort to pass favorable legislation in state capitals.

John Timoney, who led the Philadelphia and Miami police departments and served as New York's No. 2 police official, said he doesn't believe police departments should be putting more guns into the market.

"I just think it's unseemly for police departments to be selling guns that later turn up," he said, recalling that he had once been offered the chance to sell guns to raise money for the police budget.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,589192,00.html

.