Free Republic

The uncle of a missing Utah 5-year-old girl was charged with her murder Wednesday. At a news conference Wednesday, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen told reporters that 21-year-old Alex Whipple had been charged with aggravated murder, child kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a human body. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shelley was reported missing Saturday morning. Her body has not been found, but Jensen said investigators had evidence, including DNA, linking Whipple to the girl's murder. The desecration charge stems from alleged actions by Whipple to move, remove or conceal Lizzy's body. (Logan City Police) According to the chief, traces of...

HAWK POINT • The prime suspect in the abduction of a Louisiana, Mo., girl is dead, the Missouri Highway Patrol said Thursday morning. The suspect shot himself in the head when authorities closed in Wednesday afternoon, a day after the little girl was found alive in a St. Louis County strip mall parking lot. Cpl. Jeff Wilson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the man died at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Charles. The patrol didn't confirm the man's death until Thursday morning. Police sources say the suspect is Paul S. Smith, a sex offender who...