Remains in Colorado car identified as man missing since 1987

Published May 14, 2013

Associated Press

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. –  Authorities in western Colorado say a human skeleton found in a partially buried car belongs to a man who was reported missing 26 years ago.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports the Mesa County Coroner's Office identified the man on Monday as 65-year-old Ronald Vasey. He went missing in 1987.

The sheriff's department says someone hiking near John Brown Canyon Road, near Gateway, called 911 at about 6 p.m. Thursday to report a crashed vehicle below a cliff. The old station wagon was roughly 100 feet off the roadway, and it was partially obscured by rocks and sediment that presumably washed down over the years.

Deputies found personal items in the car, including clothing and credit cards.

The coroner's office says it appears Vasey committed suicide.

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Drowsy driving remains an elusive highway dilemma

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  In this March 12, 2011 file photo, emergency personnel investigate the scene of a bus crash on Interstate 95 in the Bronx borough of New York.AP

It probably happens to most drivers.

Heading home after an overtime shift and the eyelids flutter. Up all night with a sick baby and you rest your eyes for just a moment on the way to dropping off the kids at school. Drowsy drivers often make it safely to their destination, but for some, the consequences are devastating.

"To this day I still hear my boys crying out, yelling for Daddy, when they were told the news," says Jackie Califano, the widow of a New York police officer killed when a suspected drowsy driver plowed into his parked cruiser in 2011. "The pain we experienced is beyond description and continues to be."

More than 11,000 deaths were attributed to drowsy driving from 2000 to 2010, according to federal statistics. And experts say it's a problem that can't easily be solved by new laws because proving sleepiness behind the wheel is difficult, if not impossible.

Authorities can easily determine how much alcohol is in a driver's blood, or whether someone has used illegal drugs, or even if someone has been texting while driving.

But quantifying drowsy driving is not an exact science, prosecutors say, and laws banning commercial truck and motor coach operators from driving more than 14 hours a day and requiring 10 hours between shifts are flawed because they often rely on the drivers to report those hours themselves.

In a drowsy driving case late last year, a tour bus driver was acquitted of manslaughter and negligent homicide in a 2011 Bronx crash that killed 15 people. A jury rejected prosecutors' arguments that Ophadell Williams was so sleep-deprived from working another job that it affected his reflexes as much as if he was intoxicated.

That verdict influenced a Long Island prosecutor's decision this year to drop negligent homicide charges against the truck driver involved in a fatal crash that killed Califano's husband. Ultimately, the truck driver pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge and paid a $500 fine.

"If you are going to try and make fatigue -- sleepiness -- a criminal legal issue in a motor vehicle accident, you have a lot, lot more to prove," said Patrick Bruno, who defended Williams in the bus crash case.

Maureen McCormick, who heads the Nassau County vehicular crimes bureau, explained that to obtain a conviction in the police officer's death, she would have had to prove "serious blameworthiness," "moral blameworthiness" or "dangerous speeding," a standard she said is impossible to meet.

"Drowsy driving is something that generally has happened to everyone," McCormick said. "The question is what do we do as a society when that feeling starts to come?"

When McCormick read a statement at the truck driver's sentencing on behalf of Officer Michael Califano's widow, veteran police officers and journalists wiped away tears.

"Michael, Christopher and Andrew now have to grow up without him," McCormick said as Jackie Califano sat in the front row of the courtroom, hugging her sons, 16, 13 and 8. "No more doing homework with his help. No more sports with him. No more family vacations. No more horsing around with dad. No dad for Father/Son Night at school. No dad at home to turn to when they need advice."

New Jersey is the only state that has successfully passed legislation addressing drowsy driving, according to Dan Brown, an Atlanta attorney and member of the National Sleep Foundation board of directors. But he noted that "Maggie's Law" doesn't fully solve the problem because prosecutors must show that a driver had been awake for 24 consecutive hours to prove possible recklessness, which is often a difficult proposition.

New Jersey court officials didn't have statistics available on the number of arrests or successful prosecutions since the law was enacted in 2003.

Massachusetts state Sen. Richard Moore said he considered legislation after a constituent's son was killed in a 2002 drowsy driving crash. But, Moore said, "It's not as easy as drunken driving; there's not a good deal of research." Instead, Massachusetts is including early warning tips in driving manuals, and there is an effort to add rumble strips that warn drivers when they are drifting off the road when state highways are resurfaced, he said.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says while sleep is the best cure, drinking two cups of coffee, followed by a 15-to-20-minute nap, can refresh some drivers for a short period of time. Things like turning up the radio volume, singing loudly, chewing gum or eating, and getting out of the car and running around are not effective.

"There's not a way to legislate against sleepiness," said Bruce Hamilton, manager of research and communications at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which instead focuses on public education campaigns and issuing brochures advising on the dangers.

Last summer, drivers in Tennessee's four largest cities saw message boards imploring them to not drive while drowsy, along with a running tally of highway fatalities in that state.

Mark Rosekind, a National Transportation Safety Board member who formerly directed a sleep research center at Stanford University, says it's a pervasive problem that requires a culture change to fix.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study this year that found 4 percent of U.S. adults nodded off or fell asleep at least once while driving in the previous month.

"For some reason people in our culture think it's OK to lose sleep and get behind the wheel," Rosekind said. "It's just as bad as drinking and driving. As far as public awareness, drowsy driving is in the dark ages compared to that, but it's just as dangerous.

"The issue has been around for a while and we need to get the word out. Clearly it has not penetrated our culture."

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Why America's unemployment remains a problem

Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report the economy added 153,000 jobs in April—up from 88,000 in March—and unemployment is expected steady at 7.6 percent. This gain may prove short lived, and this pace is well below what is needed to get unemployment to acceptable levels.

New hiring lags behind broader economic growth. In the fourth quarter, GDP was up only 0.4 percent—with businesses continually improving productivity, the economy was lucky to have created any jobs at all this past winter. 

Businesses remain cautious about future demand, and reluctant to invest in new machinery, computers and software that would improve worker efficiency.

In the second quarter, GDP growth rebounded to 2.5 percent, but about 40 percent of that growth came from businesses piling up inventory—not from the final sales. Underlying demand remains weak—January tax increases limit household spending, trade deficits on China and oil continue to leak consumer dollars abroad, and sequester spending cuts reduce government purchases.

Generally, economists expect second quarter growth at 2 percent or less—about the same or less than potential improvements in worker productivity; hence, jobs creation should slow through the spring.  The unemployment rate would rise but for so many additional folks choosing not to work—663,000 in April.

Should economic growth pick up, many adults may be expected to rejoin the hunt, and the economy would have to add more than 360 thousand jobs each month for 3 years to lower unemployment to 6 percent. That would require growth in the range of 4 to 5 percent—this is possible but not likely with current policies.

Since turning the corner in mid-2009, GDP growth has averaged 2.1 percent and unemployment has fallen from 10.0 percent to 7.6 percent. 

In contrast, high oil prices and double digit interest rates pushed unemployment to 10.8 percent during Ronald Reagan’s first term; then GDP growth averaged 5.3 percent for the next three and half years, and unemployment fell to 7.3 percent.

Factors contributing to the slow pace of recovery include the huge trade deficits on oil and manufactured products from China and elsewhere in Asia—these drain demand for U.S. goods and services. Absent U.S. policies to confront Asian governments about their purposefully undervalued currencies, and to develop more oil offshore and in Alaska, the trade deficit will continue to tax growth.

The recent surge in natural gas production, and accompanying lower prices, is substantially improving the international competitiveness of industries like petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics, and primary metals—as well as consuming industries like industrial machinery and building materials. 

However, the Department of Energy is considering proposals to boost exports of liquefied gas, which would create many fewer jobs, than keeping the gas at home.

Dodd-Frank regulations continue to make lending by regional banks to small businesses difficult. Many smaller banks have sold out or are considering consolidation with money center banks, which are less inclined to small business lending.

More onerous regulatory reviews are an increasing complaint among businesses. Government needs to subject policies to protect the environment and other goals to the same efficacy standards the market applies to commercial technologies—regulatory assessments and enforcement are needed but those must be delivered cost effectively and quickly to add value.

Many businesses look to Asia where government policies are more accommodating and prospects for growth remain stronger.

A better jobs market is simply not possible without better trade, energy and regulatory policies.

Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and widely published columnist. Follow him on Twitter @PMorici1.

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Remains ID'd as 13-year-old Hailey Dunn, Texas cheerleader missing since 2010

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  Hailey Dunn, a student and cheerleader at Colorado City Middle School in Colorado City, Texas, was reported missing on Dec. 28, 2010. (Colorado City Police Department).

The remains of a 13-year-old Texas cheerleader Hailey Dunn have been found more than two years after she was reported missing.

Hailey's remains were found in a remote West Texas location last month, and the Texas Department of Public Safety informed her mother, Billie Jean Dunn on Friday that the remains are her daughter's, attorney John Young said.

"She's trying to process the entirety of this," Young said. "She has to process that Hailey isn't coming home."

Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson said later Friday at a news conference that the remains were found near Lake J.B. Thomas in Scurry County on March 16. The girl's disappearance and cause of death remain under investigation.

Officials are expected to hold a news conference Friday afternoon.

Hailey had been the subject of months of intensive searches in and around her hometown of Colorado City and surrounding fields and landfills.

More than 100 billboards featuring her picture and information about the case have been set up along interstates in West Texas and other states.

Hailey was last seen walking to a friend's house and was reported missing Dec. 28, 2010, when her mother discovered the girl had never arrived.

Billie Jean Dunn told officials she had gotten into a fight with her daughter the night she disappeared. She was arrested a few months later for lying to police about the whereabouts of Adkins, her live-in boyfriend.

Dunn was given a year's probation and reportedly moved to Austin. Adkins had been named a person of interest in the case but was never charged.

Police records revealed Adkins had made troubling statements before Hailey disappeared. According to a police affidavit filed in the investigation, Adkins had remarked to a relative that hurting a teenager would be "like killing a deer." The affidavit also noted that Dunn and Adkins had an apparent fixation on slasher movies and serial killers -- something Dunn called a "hobby."

The affidavit mentioned that in February 2010, police responded to a domestic violence call at the house. Adkins allegedly threatened to kill Billie and Hailey Dunn during a heated argument. After telling police he never issued these threats, he later allegedly confessed to police that he threatened the two. However, both Adkins and Dunn denied having any involvement in the girl's disappearance.

Adkins told The Associated Press that he would "never ever do anything to harm Hailey."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FBI, Boston police say range of suspects, motives remains 'wide open'

The deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three and injured at least 144 is believed to be an act of terrorism, senior White House officials told Fox News.

Two explosions tore through the finish line of the world-famous race just before 3 p.m., going off simultaneously as throngs of onlookers watched runners complete the 26.2-mile trek. The timing of the blasts immediately sparked suspicions of a deliberate act.

“When multiple devices go off, that’s an act of terrorism,” a senior administration official told Fox News, just moments after President Obama delivered a statement to the nation and did not use the word “terror.”

  

The official stressed that it was unclear whether a foreign entity like Al Qaeda was behind it or whether it was home-grown terrorism, prompting  the president’s caution in characterizing the bombing. 

A first responder source confirms to Fox News that five total explosive devices were found in the Boston area, including the two that exploded. Authorities spent the next several hours sweeping the area for additional devices.

A source involved in the investigation tells FoxNews.com police are searching an apartment in the nearby Boston suburb of Revere as part of the investigation into the explosions. The apartment is on the fifth floor of the building.

Investigators were seen leaving the Revere house early Tuesday carrying brown paper bags, plastic trash bags and a duffel bag, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities are guarding a person of interest at a local hospital, according to a New York Post report confirmed by Fox News. 

The person, who sources said was 20 years old, had severe burns, but authorities had not determined whether the person was a victim or a perpetrator. Sources say the person of interest is reportedly a Saudi national in the United States on a student visa. 

“There is no suspect,” said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. “There are people we’re talking to.”

Davis said at an evening press conference the bombing killed “at least three,” and multiple reports said one of the dead was an eight-year-old boy. A source tells the Associated Press the boy's mother and sister were also injured as they waited for his father to finish the race.

A first responder source tells Fox News all of the victims were either bystanders or marathon runners, and that two of the deceased were adults. 

In addition to the deaths, more than 144 people were injured – including up to 10 with amputated limbs and 17 critically. 

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: "This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war."

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said during a press conference that no suspect is in custody. The first two explosions occurred at 2:50 p.m. – nearly five hours after the marathon began – about 50 to 100 yards apart, according to Davis. A third explosion occurred near the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in the Columbia Point section of Dorchester, several miles southeast of the marathon's finish line, at around 4:15 p.m. Police could not say if it was related to the earlier explosions.

The horror unfolded as the city marked the 238th annual Patriot's Day, commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the bloody chaos, while some witnesses reported seeing victims with lost limbs.

"Somebody's leg flew by my head," a spectator, who gave his name as John Ross, told the Boston Herald. “I gave my belt to stop the blood.”

The FBI, which was treating the bombing as a terrorist investigation, was analyzing video from several area surveillance cameras. 

Twenty-six people were transported to Brigham and Women's Hospital, including a 3-year-old, who was then taken to a children's hospital. A doctor at the hospital said at least two of the patients there are in critical condition and that some have burns and injuries that will likely require amputations. 

"They just started bringing people in with no limbs," said runner Tim Davey of Richmond, Va. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to shield their children's eyes from the gruesome scene inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners, but "they saw a lot."

"They just kept filling up with more and more casualties," Lisa Davey said. "Most everybody was conscious. They were very dazed."

Witnesses heard booms that sounded like two claps of thunder near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel, according to multiple local reports. Video of the scene showed a number of emergency crews in the area tending to victims and blood on the ground near the finish line. 

"I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising," Boston Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon, told the newspaper. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something...There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads.”

"There are a lot of people down," said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina. He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg. A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.

About three hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another thunderous explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

Runner Laura McLean of Toronto said she heard two explosions outside the medical tent.

"There are people who are really, really bloody," McLean said. "They were pulling them into the medical tent."

Cherie Falgoust was waiting for her husband, who was running the race.  "I was expecting my husband any minute," she said. "I don't know what this building is ... it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don't know what it was. I just ducked."

While the White House does in fact believe terrorism was at play, lawmakers were increasingly reaching the same conclusion.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, reportedly said her understanding it “that it’s a terrorist incident.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., top Republican on that committee, also said that “as the evidence mounts that this was a terrorist attack, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies must do whatever is necessary to find and interrogate those responsible so we can prevent similar attacks."

Authorities in New York, meanwhile, are deploying counter-terrorism vehicles around landmark sites in Manhattan, including prominent hotels, according to the New York City Police Department.  

Nearly 25,000 people, including runners from around the world, competed in Boston's celebrated 26.2-mile race, attracting huge throngs of onlookers, especially near the finish line.

"This is a horrific day in Boston," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured. I have been in touch with the President, Mayor [Thomas] Menino and our public safety leaders. Our focus is on making sure that the area around Copley Square is safe and secured. I am asking everyone to stay away from Copley Square and let the first responders do their jobs."

Anyone with information on the bombings is being urged to call Boston authorities at 1-800-494-TIPS. 

Click for more from MyFoxBoston.com

Fox News' Ed Henry, Catherine Herridge, Mike Levine, Jana Winter and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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