Zoltan Zion

**UPDATE III**
11:01 CST

JOE MATHEWS ON FOX NEWS
**KELLY LEFT BAR WITH EMPLOYEE WALKING HER HOME - SOMEONE MAY HAVE LED POLICE TO THE BODY**

BODY ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

KELLY LAST SEEN JUNE 23RD 2007

PATRICIA SIMMS - BODY NOT IDENTIFIED.

LOCATED 11 MILES FROM MADISON

**UPDATE II**
10:35 AM CST

**NEWS CONFERENCE EXPECTED AT 11 AM CENTRAL STANDARD TIME**

BODY FOUND 20 MINUTES FROM WHERE KELLY NOLAN MAY HAVE LAST BEEN SEEN

FORENSICS ON SCENE FROM TMJ4

-----------------------------------------

**FOX NEWS HAS REPORTED THAT A BODY HAD BEEN LOCATED IN OREGON WISCONSIN**
11:22 AM EST

DETAILS ARE COMING INTO FOX AND THEY ARE AWAITING IDENTIFICATION

THE BODY APPEARS LOCATED ON THE SIDE OF A HIGHWAY.

**MORE AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE**

ZACH SCHULTZ FROM FOX NEWS - OLD ROCK QUARRY - LE TREATING AS HOMICIDE - CORONER NOT YET ON SCENE

OREGON IS OUTSIDE MADISON.

REMOTE LOCATION.

NO ONE HAS IDENTIFIED WHERE THE BODY IS ACTUALLY LOCATED.

JUST BEFORE 10 AM CENTRAL TIME IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT A BODY WAS FOUND.

POLICE SUSPECT FOUL PLAY IN DISAPPEARANCE OF COLORADO MOM PAIGE BIRGFELD
Sunday, July 08, 2007
FOX NEWS

**VISIT MY HOME PAGE FOR FURTHER UPDATES**

PAIGE BIRGFELD

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Colorado authorities suspect foul play in the case of a missing mother who worked with an escort service and who hasn't been seen in more than a week.

Paige Birgfeld, 34, of Grand Junction, Colo., has not been seen or heard from since June 28. Police found her burning car in a parking lot a couple of miles from her home a day after the mother of three was reported missing.

"Nothing during the course of our investigation has lead us to believe that Paige walked away from her family or that she left of her own free will," said Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey in a statement released Saturday.

"Unfortunately, we do suspect foul play in her disappearance and the subsequent arson of her vehicle."

Mesa County authorities have focused their search on persons of interest with whom Birgfeld may have come into contact while working for an escort service, Models Inc. She was known to her customers as "Carrie," police said.

Birgfeld's red Ford Focus was found ablaze in a business parking lot about 2 miles from her home on July 1.

READ THE REST HERE

NO WORD ON MISSING MOTHER AND DAUGHTER - COMMUNITY SCARED.
July 7, 2007 09:16 AM

There's still no word on a missing mother and daughter from Jackson county.

It's been more than 2 weeks since anyone's heard or seen Kimberly Whitton and her 11-year-old daughter, Haleigh Culwell.

Their disappearance has shaken their Sand Mountain community.

"I am terrified. I am absolutely terrified," a Section woman said.

Kim's husband, Barry Whitton, was a suspect in his first wife's murder.

Michelle Whitton was reported missing nearly 10 years ago.

6 weeks later she was found in a shallow grave. Investigators say she was beaten to death.

Barry Whitton was never charged.

People in Section say his current wife and stepdaughter's disappearance seems all too familiar.

"Everybody in Macedonia and Section, I would say 99-percent to my knowledge is aware of Barry and circumstances that happened in his past with his first wife. And they are all literally terrified of him and what he could do them," a Section woman said.

One of Kim's friends, also wanting to remain anonymous, says she's just concerned about finding Kim and Haleigh.

She's trying to remain hopeful.

"If she's out there, we love you Kim. Come home," Kim's unidentified friend said.

But she says the more time that passes, the harder it becomes.

This weekend will be especially difficult. Kim's 37th birthday is today.

"It makes me nervous. It makes me wonder why she hasn't called because I think she would call. I just hope that she's ok and that's not the reason that she's not calling," Kim's friend said.

Investigators say there's no evidence of foul play in Kim and Haleigh's disappearance.

Barry Whitton is not considered a suspect.

WAFF 48 News tried calling him for comment, but he did not answer.

POLICE : WASHINGTON GIRL MAY HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED
Friday, July 06, 2007
AP

ZINA LINNIK

TACOMA, Wash. — Police said a missing 12-year-old Washington girl is not a runaway, and they fear she was abducted.

The girl, Zina Linnik, disappeared near her home while watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. A witness heard a girl scream and saw a gray van driving away.

Zina is 4 feet 10 inches tall, 80 pounds and was wearing a pink T-shirt, capri pants and flip-flop sandals.

Police are looking for van with a license containing the numbers 1677. The driver may be an Asian man.

Every once in a while there comes along a person with not only brains and beauty, but a lot of MOXY!

Some things in life are more important than a beauty pageant tiara. Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo uses her platform to help kids and find online predators.

She also says - 'YOU CAN'T BLACKMAIL ME!'

And no one makes a VICTIM outta Amy Polumbo!

I like this girl! What a bunch of chutzpah!

MISS NEW JERSEY AMY POLUMBO

JERSEY BEAUTY QUEEN PUSHES BACK AFTER BLACKMAIL ATTEMPT
Thursday, July 05, 2007
FOX NEWS - WHO ELSE!

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — Miss New Jersey says someone is threatening to make some personal photographs of her public if she does not give up her crown.

But Amy Polumbo is not just Miss New Jersey, she's also a Jersey girl, and says she has no intention of giving in.

"It would certainly be easier for me to simply succumb to these unlawful and immoral threats, and quietly disappear," Polumbo said Thursday at a news conference she called in Asbury Park.

Polumbo, a 22-year-old Howell resident and a senior at Wagner College on Staten Island, won the Miss New Jersey competition last month, giving her the right to compete in the next Miss America competition — wherever and whenever it may be held. Her platform: Protecting children from online predators.

Polumbo's lawyer, Anthony Caruso, said that starting last week, Polumbo, her family and officials in the Miss New Jersey Education Foundation received packages with pictures of her and the demand that she resign by Friday.

Caruso said the pictures show her with some friends and some may have been photos that she posted years ago on a private Internet site.

Did they reveal skin that a pageant-sanctioned swimsuit would cover up? College students behaving badly, perhaps? Caruso would not say.

"I don't think the photos are that bad," Caruso said. "The people posting this blackmail scheme are trying to make these photos out to be worse than I think they are."

He said he couldn't comment further because more photos could arrive and change everything.

READ THE REST HERE

CASE OF MISSING COLORADO WOMAN PAIGE BIRGFELD BAFFLES INVESTIGATORS
Thursday, July 05, 2007
FOX NEWS

**VISIT MY HOME PAGE FOR FURTHER UPDATES**

PAIGE BIRGFELD

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Colorado authorities are baffled by case of a missing mother of three and are investigating whether she may have staged her own disappearance.

Paige Birgfeld, 34, of Grand Junction, Colo., has not been seen or heard from since June 28. The Mesa County Sheriff's Department is still listing it as a missing persons case.

"We're looking into all possibilities, whether she walked away or someone took her away," Heather Gierhart, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Department, told FOXNews.com. "At this point we really don't have anything that would indicate one over the other."

On Sunday night, Paige Birgfeld's red Ford Focus was found ablaze in a business parking lot about two miles from her home. Lt. Jim Fogg of the Mesa County Sheriff's Department said authorities have not ruled out a random act of vandalism.

READ THE REST HERE

MY FOX COLORADO - WOMAN'S CAR FOUND ON FIRE
Last Edited: Tuesday, 03 Jul 2007, 1:55 PM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. --

Investigators in Grand Junction are looking into whether Web site postings by a missing woman may have anything to do with her disappearance.

Thirty-four-year-old Paige Birgfeld was last seen driving her car on Thursday. She has not been seen or heard from since then.

The Daily Sentinel reports Birgfeld posted messages on chefsuccess.com indicating she feared the return of her ex-husband, Rob Dixon.

Birgfeld wrote in March that her children asked if their dad was going to kill her.

But Birgfeld's father, Frank Birgfeld of Denver, said it doesn't appear Dixon has been in the Grand Junction area recently.

Investigators found Paige Birgfeld's car, a 2005 red Ford Focus, on fire in a parking lot in an industrial area Sunday night. It was located about two miles from her home.

READ THE REST HERE

DENVER POST - WOMAN DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLES FAMILY AND POLICE

MESSAGES POSTED BY PAIGE BIRGFELD ON CHEFSUCCESS.COM

'SUBSTANTIAL REWARD' OFFERED BY FAMILY OF MISSING WISCONSIN COED
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
FOX NEWS

KELLY NOLAN

MADISON, Wis. — A "substantial reward" will be given to anyone who provides information that leads to Kelly Nolan's whereabouts, the mother of the missing Wisconsin college student said Tuesday.

"We know there is one more person out there that has the right tip," Mary Jane Nolan said during a press conference. "A sizeable amount for a reward has been determined and the doors are open."

Kelly Nolan's mother is convinced that her daughter is out there and that she will be found alive.

"I'm not crying today because I really have hope and if it takes money, we have it for anyone who has that last piece of the puzzle," she said.

Mary Jane Nolan also said police have spoken with all the individuals who were with Kelly throughout the night of June 22 when she went missing

"She has plans to be a journalist," Nolan said. "She would be out there finding your daughter someday and that was her dream."

Kelly's younger sister, April, said she couldn't imagine her life without her older sister.

"I don't want to be standing here crying because that's not what she would be doing," April said.

According to the family, Kelly had signed up for a journalism class the Monday before she disappeared.

A photo of Kelly Nolan's purse and the young woman's cell-phone records are among the leads police are pursuing in their search for the missing student, her family said earlier Tuesday.

Police have released a photo of a purse similar to the one Kelly was carrying on the night she disappeared in hopes that someone will recognize it. April, told FOX News on Tuesday that the 22-year-old's cell phone also does not appear to be working.

Police are still referring to Kelly's disappearance as a missing-persons case and are reviewing her cell phone records to see with whom, if anyone, she had contact in the early hours of June 23, when she disappeared.

Kelly vanished after she separated from three close friends in Madison. Her 20-year-old sister, April, talked on the phone with Kelly early that morning. That appears to have been the last time anyone heard from Kelly, who lives in downtown Madison.

A prayer service is set to take place tonight at 7 p.m. in Waunakee, Wis., Kelly's hometown, located about 15 minutes outside of Madison. Hundreds of friends and family are expected to gather to show support and give strength to the family, according to Megan Janeway, a friend of Kelly's who has been leading an effort to find her.

"It's really a chance for the family to take a break, sit back and realize how many people are out there trying to help," Janeway told FOXNews.com.

Her family continues to hold out hope that she will be found alive.

"She loved life. She had a lot of goals and plans and there was no reason to get away from the life she had and that's way I think she's coming back," April told FOX News Channel.

Mary Jane Nolan said the family will continue to pray for the safe return of their loved one.

"Police are working hard and tips are coming in. We've been displaying posters and looking and searching for her as well as having hope that Kelly is going to come back really soon," she told FOX News.

READ THE REST HERE

**NOTE** THE END OF THE ARTICLE STATES :
154 adults have gone missing in Madison since 2001. 12 people have been reported missing this year, three of whom are still missing, including Kelly.

WISCONSIN WOMAN'S DISAPPEARANCE REMAINS A MYSTERY
Jul 3, 3:04 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Was Kelly Nolan kidnapped? Is she lost, hurt, or worse? Or did she just walk away and not look back?

All anyone knows for sure is the 22-year-old college student has been missing for a week and a half, and Madison detectives have been unable to pick up her trail.

"Under most circumstances, I'd be less hopeful, but if you knew Kelly, she's just a really tough girl. That girl, I'm sure she's out there. I'm sure she can be found," said Nolan's co-worker, Megan Janeway.

Nolan, of Waunakee, a Madison suburb, is a senior speech major at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She rented an apartment in downtown Madison this summer and was about to return to work with Janeway at a dinner club when she vanished.

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Nolan was dressed in a green sleeveless shirt and jeans when she went out with friends on June 22 in downtown Madison.

The group hit a number of bars and restaurants before Nolan became separated from them about midnight. DeSpain said he wasn't sure how or why she left the group.

Others who were downtown that night have told police they saw and spoke with Nolan after she left her friends, DeSpain said. Detectives aren't saying whether she was with someone during those encounters.

Sometime after midnight, Nolan talked to her sister, April, by phone, DeSpain said. He declined to release details of that conversation.

Nolan, who stayed in close touch with her mother and sister, didn't return to her apartment Saturday morning, stirring fears among her family that something happened to her, DeSpain said.

"She just drops off the radar by daylight Saturday," he said.

A team of detectives are still talking with Nolan's family, friends and others who saw her early that morning. Divers checked Lake Mendota around the UW-Madison student union, where college students sometimes swim. Nolan's friends posted messages on the Internet asking for help.

But so far, nothing.

Janeway said Nolan "was always up for a good time, like any other college student."

Her mother, Mary Jane Nolan, said her daughter wouldn't have gone anywhere against her will.

"She'd say no and she'd mean it," said Mary Jane Nolan, 55. "I would like to believe a strange thing happened. I pray for that clue. ... I think we're going to get that silver lining, and Kelly's walking right out of it."

Nolan's disappearance invokes memories of missing UW-Madison student Audrey Seiler. The search for her in 2004 consumed Madison police until she turned up alive in a swamp. Seiler eventually told detectives she had staged the entire abduction.

READ THE REST HERE

WOMAN WHO OWNS FLORIDA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY MISSING SINCE FRIDAY
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
FOX NEWS

BRUCE AND SUSAN FAST

BRADENTON, Fla. — Investigators say they have few clues as to the whereabouts of missing Florida construction company owner Susan Fast, who has been missing for three days.

And the more time that goes by, the more authorities are worry whether they will find her alive.

"As hours and days go by, it gets less hopeful," Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, told the Bradenton Herald Monday. "But there's always hope."

Fast's stepson, Thomas Fast, who was arrested recently on a separate concealed weapons charge, is considered a person of interest by police because he was the last person believed to have seen her, reports FOX affiliate WTVT.

His criminal history includes convictions for petit theft, worthless checks and prostitution-related charges. His bail was raised to $100,000 on Sunday morning.

"He admits that he was there at the house and spoke with her at 5 p.m. ... so that's essentially the last person that may have seen her, and so we do suspect foul play because she hasn't made any contact," Manatee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Major Connie Shingledecker told My FOX Tampa Bay.

READ THE REST HERE

FOUL PLAY SITED IN WOMAN'S DISAPPEARANCE
July 01, 2007

CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATORS

MANATEE --
Tara resident Bruce Fast said he and his wife have been living in fear for the past three months because of "open threats" from relatives.

Late Friday night, those fears might have been realized.

Returning from a business trip to the Bahamas shortly before midnight, he found his wife and her 2008 Lexus sport utility vehicle missing from their home in the 7500 block of Bird's Eye Terrace.

At 12:15 a.m. Saturday, he called 911.

Susan Fast, he said Saturday afternoon, is "not the type of person to go out and wander around.

"She's a very professional woman," he said, declining to elaborate on the nature of the threats the couple had received.

The couple are co-owners of Construction Team Management LLC, based in Bradenton but also with an office on Fruitville Road in Sarasota County.

Susan Fast's vehicle was found about 3 p.m. Saturday parked in front of a vacant home at 603 11th Ave. E.

Earlier that morning, Thomas Fast, Susan Fast's 52-year-old stepson, was arrested on a concealed weapons charge after being interviewed by detectives who found his car in a parking lot off State Road 70.

READ THE REST HERE

MY FOX TAMPA - UPDATE

MY FOX TAMPA - HOPE FADING FOR MISSING WOMAN

MY FOX TAMPA - STEPSON CONSIDERED PERSON OF INTEREST

BODY OF MISSING ARIZONA MOM FOUND IN CANYON
Monday, July 02, 2007
FOX NEWS

CHERYL JONES

Police found the body of a 43-year-old Arizona woman Sunday, almost two weeks after she mysteriously vanished.

Cheryl Jones' 1998 Suzuki Esteem was found in a canyon Sunday just north of Black Canyon City, after the vehicle had apparently driven off the road and crashed. Police then found her body inside, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported.

Police told MyFoxPhoenix.com that the accident appeared to happen several days ago.

Jones, of Tempe, was last seen in Prescott June 18 after a custody hearing with her ex-husband over the couple’s 14-year-old daughter. She left to visit friends in Cottonwood and had not been seen since.

MYFOXPHOENIX.COM BODY FOUND SUNDAY

The body of the Tempe mom who went missing has been found Sunday, just north of Black Canyon City.

Police say 44 year-old Cheryl Jones went missing almost 2 weeks ago.

DPS says Jones' car was found at the bottom of a canyon north of Black Canyon City. When they checked out the wreckage, they discovered Jones' body. Investigators say it appears the collision happened several days ago.

Jones was in Prescott for a custody hearing involving her ex-husband, the father of her teenage daughter.

She left Prescott to visit friends in Cottonwood, but never showed up.

KELLY NOLAN

PURSE SIMILAR TO THE ONE KELLY NOLAN WAS CARRYING

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN WITH KELLY NOLAN'S MOM MARY-JANE NOLAN AND SISTER APRIL NOLAN

FOX NEWS VIDEO HERE

CHAD MULVIN - GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

Where to begin? How about at the beginning.

I met Chad Mulvin through a mutual friend - Kurt. I guess it was in or about 1998 or 1999. It was one of those things when you just instantly knew that you are gonna be friends with someone. For whatever reason friendships begin, you just know when your personalities click.

Maybe it was Chad's infectious smile or out-going personality. But whatever it was, everyone noticed.

On July 2nd 2004 something bad happened and it all changed.

Chad and his roommate Joe Larkin went out to have a few drinks.

PENNSBURY VILLAGE MAN MISSING SINCE PARTYING IN ROBINSON
POSTED: 8:59 am EDT July 9, 2004

-CARNEGIE, Pa. -- The Carnegie Police Department is investigating the disappearance of a Pennsbury Village resident. Chad Andrew Mulvin, 29, has not been seen or heard from since the early morning hours of July 2, when he was at Jabby Joe's in Robinson Township.

Mulvin has missed scheduled shifts at the Red Lobster restaurant where he bartends, according to his manager. Also, Mulvin's roommate says he hasn't returned to their apartment.

Family members say Mulvin always calls his mother in Cleveland on her July 3 birthday, but she did not hear from him this year.

Mulvin is white, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a gothic-style tattoo on his upper left arm.

MISSING ROOMMATE FOUND DEAD
POSTED: 7:36 am EDT July 13, 2004

-PITTSBURGH -- A Pennsbury Village man missing since July 2 was found shot to death and buried in a shallow grave behind a house in Ohio Township.

Joseph Larkin was arrested early Tuesday morning after Allegheny County and local police uncovered the body of his roommate, Chad Mulvin. Police say Larkin led them to the back yard of his mother's home on Gary Drive, where he had allegedly mixed some quick-setting concrete and buried Mulvin under a thin layer of the substance.

According to police, Larkin, 31, and Mulvin, 29, had been drinking together at Jabby Joe's in Robinson Township, where one of Mulvin's co-workers was having a party. The men apparently had a disagreement at the bar that escalated when they got back to their apartment.

Mulvin fought with Larkin after coming home, the suspect told police. Mulvin grabbed Larkin's rifle while they were wrestling and was shot in the chest when the gun went off, according to what police say Larkin told them.

An informant told detectives that Mulvin was angry because Larkin left him at the party and stuck him with the bill. When questioned about the anonymous tip, Larkin said he had ditched Mulvin because he wanted to go home early, police said.

Larkin is being held without bond in the county jail on a charge of homicide. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 26.

MAN CHARGED IN ROOMMATES DEATH
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 14, 2004

-Arnett Blackhurst felt a chill the moment she laid eyes on Joseph Larkin. The Pennsbury Village man ordered a beer, then told her to put the drink on his roommate's tab.

Hours later, the roommate, Chad Mulvin, 29, was dead from a rifle shot to the chest after an apparent argument over a $68 bar bill.

"I just didn't like the feeling I had when I saw (Larkin)," said Blackhurst, manager of Jabby Joe's bar in Robinson. "That kid was dark."

Police on Tuesday charged Larkin, 31, with killing Mulvin in the condominium the two men shared. Police say Larkin fired a shot from a .22-caliber rifle into Mulvin's chest early July 2, then stashed the body under sacks of concrete in the back yard of his mother's Ohio Township home.

Police questioned Larkin on Monday after receiving tips that he'd argued with Mulvin at a party at Jabby Joe's. Larkin, who reported Mulvin missing on July 7, led police to the body late Monday.

Friends of Mulvin say the two bickered at the bar: Larkin wanted to leave, Mulvin wanted to stay. Larkin eventually ditched his roommate, sticking him with what Blackhurst said was a $68 tab. The two had been attending a going-away party for a manager at Red Lobster restaurant in Robinson, where Mulvin had worked since the eatery's opening in February.

Larkin said he left the bar about 12:30 a.m., and then called Mulvin to tell him he wanted the younger man out of his condo, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Larkin initially told Carnegie police that he heard Mulvin come home later in the morning but did not see him.

On Monday, though, Larkin told police a different story: that Mulvin returned early July 2 and started a fight in Larkin's bedroom. That Mulvin grabbed Larkin's .22 rifle, the two struggled, and the gun went off.

Larkin said he then used his sister's station wagon the next day to take the body to his mother's home on Gary Drive.

The weapon still has not been recovered.

It's the first homicide in Pennsbury Village since the community of 790 people was incorporated in 1977, Carnegie police Chief Jeff Harbin said. Carnegie police cover Pennsbury Village.

Authorities had been suspicious of Larkin all along, Harbin said.

"There were some inconsistencies in what he said that made us suspicious," the chief said. "It was not your typical missing person report. We knew that from the beginning."

After Larkin filed the report, police checked with hospitals, the county jail and Mulvin's mother, but found no sign of him. Then on July 10, a neighbor told Carnegie police that she had heard a scuffle early July 2 in the condo the men shared.

Two days later, a friend of Mulvin's told county homicide detectives that he'd overheard Mulvin at the bar arguing with Larkin on the telephone. Mulvin told the friend he wanted to "beat" Larkin for sticking him with the tab.

When Mulvin turned up missing, co-workers speculated that he'd gone to Cleveland, where his mother lives. But Red Lobster co-worker Ashley Ulrich said she knew that wasn't the case when Mulvin failed to pick up his paycheck.

She and other co-workers described Mulvin as fun-loving and outgoing. Disagreements with Larkin, however, were common, Ulrich said.

"I know they just didn't get along, and I know Chad was in debt to him," said Ulrich, who has worked at Red Lobster in Robinson since it opened.

Larkin bought the condo where the two lived in Pennsbury Village for $73,200 in 2002, but police did not say how long Mulvin had lived there. The two had been roommates "for years," Ulrich said.

Despite his quarrels with Larkin, Mulvin wasn't the sort to initiate a fight, Blackhurst said.

"He's not the type to start anything," she said. "He was meek. That's what shocked me, because Chad was not the type to instigate anything. He would back away."

Blackhurst remembered Mulvin, who tended bar for her several years ago at Bishop's in Carnegie, as charming and good with people. She said he often came to Jabby Joe's for karaoke nights, where he would sing "hard rock" songs.

"He would really get into it," Blackhurst said. "He'd belt them out. He thought he was (a good singer), but he was terrible."

Larkin was jailed without bond pending a hearing in the coroner's office on July 26. He is charged with homicide and abusing a corpse.

CHAD MULVIN

EDITORIAL - ONE MAN'S BODY - THE CORONER'S OFFICE MISLAYS EARTHLY REMAINS
Thursday, May 05, 2005

Chad Mulvin was shot and killed over a bar tab last year, but he's been on ice ever since. Somewhere in the bowels of the Allegheny County coroner's office, Mr. Mulvin's body has been lying unceremoniously nine months after it was thought to have been sent to a funeral home for cremation.

Homicide detectives discovered the mistake last week after requesting the victim's clothing as evidence in the upcoming trial of Joseph Larkin, his alleged killer. But instead of Mr. Mulvin's clothes, workers for the coroner found the homicide victim in a freezer.

It's unclear whose -- or what -- ashes were laid to rest in July 2004. There's speculation that Mr. Mulvin's clothes were accidentally released to the funeral home. No one knows exactly what was cremated at the time, so the mystery deepens.

There is justifiable embarrassment at the coroner's office over this snafu, and, we suspect, justifiable outrage among Allegheny County residents. There could be further ramifications from this at the Larkin trial.

Joseph Larkin's lawyer is arguing that the misplacement of evidence will only weaken the case for the prosecution. Meanwhile, Chad Mulvin's family is confronted by the reality that his earthly remains were not laid to rest as they expected last July -- a fact that only can deepen their grief.

The protocol for the coroner's office releasing bodies to funeral homes obviously broke down. After a thorough investigation, we can only hope this problem will not happen again. Although 2,000 bodies may cross the coroner's slab every year, there is no excuse for losing track of a single one.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER'S STAFF BLAMED FOR MIX-UP ON CREMATION
Wednesday, August 17, 2005

-An internal investigation has determined that Allegheny County coroner's office employees were responsible for a mistake that resulted in a funeral home cremating a body bag filled with a homicide victim's clothing weighted with chunks of concrete.

But a deputy coroner who signed off on the release said an unsupervised intern actually turned over the clothing in violation of coroner's office rules, a practice that has been tacitly accepted by senior management.

Deputy Coroner Alesia Roskov said she accepted responsibility for the mix-up, but alleged that office rules governing interns and the release of bodies were routinely flouted with the knowledge of management.

"The protocol reads one way, but functions in a different way," said Roskov. She said she felt she needed to speak out about the mistake, even though it could cost her her job.

The mix-up relates to the death of Chad Mulvin in July 2004. Police said Mulvin was shot dead by his roommate at their Pennsbury Village home after a dispute over a bar tab. Investigators arrested Joseph Larkin, whom they say buried Mulvin in a makeshift grave in Larkin's mother's back yard after covering his body with a quick-forming concrete.

On the afternoon of July 13, 2004, a body bag was released to McCabe Funeral Home of Derry, which was to handle cremation of Mulvin's remains and forward them to the McGorray Bros. Co. funeral home in Lakewood, Ohio, where Mulvin's mother lives.

Nine months later, Mulvin's body was discovered at the coroner's officein a basement freezer that is used for decomposed remains.

A chemical analysis showed that the cremated materials were Mulvin's clothing and some of the concrete that had covered his body, Senior Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominick said.

At the time the remains were to be released, protocol dictated that a funeral director and deputy coroner identify a body by opening the body bag, matching the face against a photograph taken at the time the corpse was brought into the office, and checking the name on a wristband.

"The deputy coroners that were involved in releasing remains simply did not follow the standard operating procedure of the office," Dominick said. "They released the bag without checking its contents."

Interns are not supposed to release bodies to funeral directors but often have done so without the presence of a deputy coroner, Roskov said.

She also said that deputy coroners are supposed to identify remains before turning them over to a funeral home, after which they are to fill out required paperwork and initial a photograph of the deceased. But Roskov said that deputy coroners oftentimes filled out the necessary paperwork before releasing a body because they are understaffed.

"It's all of management. They're completely aware of what happens there," Roskov said.

Dominick disputed Roskov's claims but did not rule out the possibility that interns released bodies against protocol.

"I have not personally observed that, but there is a possibility that happens. Quite honestly, in this situation, that's what appears to have gone on," he said.

"I have never given anyone the authorization for an intern to release a body, and I don't intend to do that," Dominick said.

Dominick denied Roskov's assertion that deputy coroners are understaffed.

As for deputy coroners signing off on the release of a body without actually seeing the remains, Dominick said: "Apparently it was something that was a practice, even though it was not standard operating practice."

Dominick said that since the Mulvin case was brought to his attention in April, the office policy governing interns and releasing bodies has been tightened. The new policy requires that a second wristband must be removed from the body, placed into a plastic bag and stored with the case file.

"There's no possible way for them to release a body without taking that off," Dominick said.

Also, the coroner's office will now store evidence such as clothing in fluorescent orange body bags, while bodies will continue to be kept in royal blue bags.

Dominick refused to identify any employees involved in the snafu or how many there were. It was unclear yesterday how a funeral director could mistake clothing -- even made heavier by concrete -- for a body.

Officials from McCabe Funeral Home could not be reached for comment.

Dominick said he had spoken to the employees involved; however he also said he did not know how many interns were on duty the day of the release and did not speak with them because they were "long gone."

Ultimately, he said, the buck stops with a deputy coroner, not an unpaid intern.

"The deputy coroner is the one responsible. Interns are not employees of this office. They are not employees of the county," Dominick said.

Roskov said a female intern released the body, but she could not identify the intern.

Roskov, 27, of East Pittsburgh, who has worked for nearly two years as a deputy coroner, said she has not been disciplined for the incident.

"I cannot say I didn't play a role. I most certainly did have some kind of limited involvement. Paperwork -- the necessary paperwork that needs to be signed to release the body -- I signed it," Roskov said. "I should have known better. I'm really kicking myself in the butt now."

Roskov said she cried about the incident and felt terrible for Mulvin's family. She said she was worried about coming forward publicly.

"I really want some reform. I really want things like that to not happen" Roskov said. "I'm taking a big gamble. It's very likely I can be reprimanded for this [speaking publicly] or even fired."

PITTSBURGH CORONER INVESTIGATING CLOTHING - CORPSE MIX-UP PDF FILE
Wednesday, 04 May 2005

-PITTSBURGH Chad Mulvin's father in Fredericksburg thought his son's remains were cremated nine months ago, and the ashes were given to Chad's mother.

Now Nevin Mulvin Senior has been told that Chad's body was found in a freezer in the coroner's office in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania.
Nevin Mulvin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that relatives were stunned to learn about the mistake.

The roommate of 29-year-old Chad Mulvin is charged with shooting him last July in a suburban Pittsburgh condominium
they shared. County homicide detectives were preparing for an upcoming trial when they discovered the mix-up last
week.

The Allegheny County Coroner's Office had two body bags -- one holding Mulvin's body, and one containing his clothing.

They now cannot find his clothes, but found his body last week.

Nevin Mulvin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that relatives were stunned to learn about the mistake.

The family plans to get Mulvin's body and have it cremated.

JUDGE ALLOWS TESTIMONY ABOUT SPOKEN CONFESSION AT MURDER TRIAL
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

-Ten days after his roommate went missing, Joseph Patrick Larkin told Allegheny County homicide detectives that Chad Mulvin had been shot in the heart in a struggle over a rifle. Mr. Larkin also admitted he wrapped the 29-year-old's body in a tarp and buried him in his mother's yard in Ohio Township.

After hearing testimony yesterday on a defense motion to suppress Mr. Larkin's statement, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski ruled that the verbal confession was admissible. Mr. Larkin refused to complete a written or taped confession, saying that he wanted an attorney present.

In the confession, Mr. Larkin, now 33, told detectives Mr. Mulvin returned angry July 2, 2004, to their Pennsbury Village townhouse after Mr. Larkin stiffed him with the bill and left him stranded at a farewell party at Jabby Joe's restaurant. After they argued, Mr. Mulvin reached for his roommate's Ruger semi-automatic rifle, and, at some point after Mr. Larkin passed out, the struggle resumed. Mr. Larkin said Mr. Mulvin died from a single gunshot to the heart.

Allegheny County Homicide Detective William Palmer testified yesterday that Mr. Larkin said he bought a tarp and some duct tape from a Home Depot outlet and wrapped the body the day after the shooting. He then drove the body to his mother's home and left it under a truck bed. On July 7, after he had filed a missing person's report with Carnegie Police, he bought 10, 80-pound bags of concrete powder. He placed the body in a depression on his mother's yard and dumped the concrete over it.

In a mixup by the county coroner's office July 13, 2004, a body bag was released to McCabe Funeral Home of Derry, which was to handle cremation of Mr. Mulvin's remains and forward them to the McGorray Bros. Co. funeral home in Lakewood, Ohio, where the victim's mother lived. But nine months later, officials at the coroner's office found Mr. Mulvin's body in a basement freezer used for decomposed remains.

Several of Mr. Mulvin's co-workers from Red Lobster in Robinson also testified at yesterday's trial, confirming that their friend had been left at the party with the $60 bill for his and Mr. Larkin's drinks. Several testified that he appeared upset. One co-worker dropped him off at home. Two others made inquiries to Mr. Larkin when he did not show up at work the next day and urged Mr. Larkin to file a missing person's report.

The homicide trial was scheduled to continue today.

ROOMMATE DID MUCH TO CONCEAL MAN'S DEATH
Thursday, May 25, 2006

-After his roommate died in an early-morning struggle over a rifle, Joseph Patrick Larkin went to great lengths to conceal what occurred, according to testimony yesterday at his homicide trial.

Prosecution witnesses said he ripped up the carpeting in their Pennsbury Village townhouse, duct-taped the bullet hole in Chad Mulvin's chest, stashed and buried his body, tossed the .22-caliber weapon in the Ohio River and made several calls to Chad Mulvin's friends and family to ask if they knew where he was.

The two men, who were close when they moved in together, had spent the evening of July 1, 2004, at Jabby Joe's bar, at a luau-themed goodbye party for one of Mr. Mulvin's co-workers from the Red Lobster in Robinson, witnesses said. Several hours into the party, Mr. Mulvin, 29, became visibly upset when he realized Mr. Larkin, then 31, had stuck him with their $68 bar tab and left him stranded without a ride home.

Ten days later, Mr. Larkin told Allegheny County homicide detectives that Mr. Mulvin came home early July 2 and grabbed for his roommate's rifle. He told police the gun went off when he tried to block Mr. Mulvin from putting his finger on the trigger.

Shortly after Mr. Mulvin disappeared, investigators spoke with one of his co-workers who rode in the car pool that ultimately took him home from Jabby Joe's. In that interview, William "Tank" White said Mr. Mulvin became increasingly irate as he called Mr. Larkin from the bar -- a total of 22 times, records would later show. Mr. White told police he overheard his co-worker say he was going to go home and give Mr. Larkin a "beating." But Mr. White testified yesterday that he did not recall hearing the outburst.

Testimony in the nonjury trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski will resume today.

MAN ACQUITTED IN ROOMMATE'S DEATH
POSTED: 4:02 pm EDT May 25, 2006

-PITTSBURGH -- A judge has acquitted a Carnegie man in connection with his roommate's death.

Joseph Larkin was charged in the shooting death of Chad Mulvin in July 2004.

Mulvin's body was found buried in Ohio Township.

The judge ruled Larkin acted in self-defense after the two men struggled over a rifle.

Prosecutors had alleged that Larkin went to great lengths to cover the crime.

To Nancie, Chad's Mom, know I am thinking of Chad and You on your Birthday. Prayers for you Nancie.

RIP Chad - GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

The following pictures are from Leah - Chad's former girlfriend.

SEARCH BEGINS FOR MISSING ARIZONA MOM
JULY 1ST 2007

CHERYL JONES

The family of a missing Arizona woman was planning a search Saturday, nearly two weeks after the 43-year-old disappeared.

Cheryl Jones, of Tempe, was last seen in Prescott, Ariz., last Monday, after a custody hearing with her ex-husband over the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported. She left to visit friends in Cottonwood and hasn’t been seen since.

Both Jones and her car, a silver 1998 Suzuki Esteem, have vanished without a trace. A reward of $2,500 is being offered by the missing woman’s mother.

MYFOXPHOENIX VIDEO 6-30-2007

MYFOXPHOENIX VIDEO 6-29-2007

MYFOXPHOENIX VIDEO 6-27-2007

KPHO.COM 6-27-2007

-Jones is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 210 pounds. She has blue eyes and blonde, shoulder-length hair.

-She has been suffering from depression, but the last person to see her in Prescott said she was in good spirits, according to deputies.

-Authorities said Jones is in need of thyroid medication.

AZFAMILY.COM 6-27-2007

AZCENTRAL.COM 6-27-2007

-Jones' husband, Rusty Ferguson, 56, was released from prison in February. Neither police nor Jones' family knows if the two are still married. Ferguson was imprisoned in Yavapai County for a dangerous drug violation in 2004.

MISSINGABDUCTED - CHERYL JONES MISSING SINCE 6-18-2007

**THANKS TO CARPE NOCTEM FOR THE HEADS UP**