Free Republic

TAMPA, Fla. -- A golden retriever missing from his family since a 2004 hurricane destroyed a backyard fence resurfaced this week near Chicago. The five-member Baines family of South Tampa had finally given up the search this summer. They thought their pet was deceased. No one knows how the dog, "Sam-I-Am," traveled the hundreds of miles and turned up as a stray at a shelter in McHenry County, Ill., this week. Shelter workers said they don't think he walked because there was no damage to his paws. "He has wanderlust," Debra Quackenbush, spokeswoman for the McHenry County Health Department, told...

Fervent hopes and a brief break in the weather brought no satisfaction to relatives and friends of three climbers missing on the dangerous north side of Mount Hood. The clear, cold morning turned foul by midday Saturday, before searchers on two sides of the mountain and helicopter crews retired for the night because of weather and darkness, finding no trace of the three men. The Hood River County sheriff's office, a lead agency in the search, said efforts would continue Sunday. On Saturday, a C-130 with infrared heat-seeking capability from the Nevada Air National Guard took to the skies over...

Searchers failed to exploit vital clues in the hunt for the family of James Kim, including several crucial pieces of evidence that surfaced in the final hours of his life, when he was freezing, alone and lost in the woods. An examination by The Oregonian found a search plagued by confusion, gaps in communication, and failures of leadership in Josephine County, where the Kim family was found. Lt. Brian Powers, the Oregon State Police commander in the region, said the lack of a central command prompted him to take control Sunday, Dec. 3, the day before Kati Kim and her...

Relatives of three men missing in bitter weather on Mount Hood comforted each other and held out hope Friday that the trio survived, eight days after the lightly equipped men left for a two-day ascent. Winds were expected to gust to 100 mph Friday morning in the latest of a string of storms to hit the 11,239-foot mountain, and forecasters said rescuers' next shot to find the men probably would be Saturday. Kelly James, who like Hall is from Dallas, was believed to be holed up in a snow cave near the top, and the other two were thought to...

WASHINGTON -- An American soldier missing in Iraq since late October probably was captured by the enemy, the Pentagon said Thursday, making official what the U.S. military there has suggested for more than a month. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, a 41-year-old Iraqi-born resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., was snatched off the street while he was visiting his Iraqi wife in Baghdad on Oct. 23. U.S. forces have conducted raids in portions of Sadr City searching for al-Taayie, who worked as a translator. The U.S. government has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his recovery. He initially was listed as...

Deputies call off search for missing hiker, 56 From Times Staff Reports December 12, 2006 The search for a 56-year-old man missing for nearly a week has been called off, authorities said Monday. David Boone, a father of four and a golf club designer whose clients include pros Ernie Els and Fred Couples, is believed to have gone hiking in the foothills near his home, an area known for freezing nightly temperatures and a mountain lion population, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. ...

Three climbers stranded on blizzard-ravaged Mount Hood selected one of the most difficult approaches to the summit, a decision that is hampering rescue efforts. The trio scaled the north side of the mountain, which offers a view of Mount Rainier but is treacherous, with slopes of 50 or 60 degrees and occasional sheer walls of ice. For rescue crews, the site has been made even more forbidding by snow-laden winds rushing over the steep slopes at speeds up to 80 mph. "Those are the strongest winds I've ever been in — knock you down, hands and knees," said Lindsay Clunes...

Found in a NC swamp. No foul play...believe to be an auto accident. Prayers for their family. They looked like a loving, happy couple.

<p>A retired city sanitation worker and his wife mysteriously vanished while driving from South Carolina to visit their family in Queens.</p> <p>Wayne Guay, 57, and his wife, Dianne, 55, are believed to have left their house early Thursday in Myrtle Beach, where they retired after living for years in Ridgewood, Queens. But their desperate daughter Megan Guay yesterday said the pair - who have three children and two grandkids - never arrived at her sister's home in Ridgewood.</p>

NEW YORK — Frantic family members are pleading for help in the search for a South Carolina husband and wife who seem to have vanished on their way to New York City last week. Wayne and Dianne Guay, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., were expected in the Ridgewood section of Queens on Thursday night for an early holiday visit, said Daniel Rodriguez, their son-in-law. They were expected to make a 4 a.m. start that morning and drive straight north to their former neighborhood. The family rented a helicopter to do its own 50-mile sweep around Myrtle Beach, said Rodriguez, called 100...

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Rescue teams headed up the flanks of Mount Hood on Monday to search for three climbers reported missing in heavy snow, the Hood River County sheriff's office said. The mother of one of the men said he had called his son on a cell phone to say he was stranded in a snow cave just below the summit of the 11,235-foot peak while his companions went for help. "From the conversation, it left us very concerned for the person's welfare," Hood River County Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said. Snow was falling heavily Monday at Timberline Lodge,...

Bob Gainey's daughter swept off ship December 10, 2006 HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) -- The daughter of hockey Hall of Famer Bob Gainey was swept off a Nova Scotia ship during an Atlantic storm, and the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for her. Laura Gainey, a 25-year-old crew member, was washed off the back of the Caribbean-bound vessel by a large wave Friday night. Her disappearance was confirmed Sunday by the Montreal Canadiens. Bob Gainey is the team's general manager. A Coast Guard vessel searched through the night, and aircraft resumed searching at first light Sunday, Coast Guard spokeswoman Faith...

For four days, as the snowbound Kim family's food supplies dwindled and they used up their gas running their stranded car's heater, no one even knew they were missing. It was two more days before rescuers narrowed the search to roads leading across thousands of square miles of western Oregon, and another day before cell phone transmissions helped to pinpoint the search area. While the speed of the investigation in some ways was remarkable -- given what little authorities started out with -- it was dogged by early missteps and obstacles that handicapped investigators. A Portland hotel where the family...

AMBER ALERT: Toddler vacationing with family missing from Gatlinburg The Gatlinburg Police Department has issued a Tennessee statewide AMBER Alert for a toddler missing from Gatlinburg.Advertisement Andrea Montoya is a three year-old, white female. She has light brown hair and brown eyes. She is three feet tall and weighs 35 pounds. She was wearing a purple coat and gray jogging pants when she disappeared. Andrea was last seen in the laundry room at the River Terrace Hotel in Gatlinburg on Thursday at 2:45 p.m. EST. She is from Florida and is visiting Gatlinburg on vacation with her grandmother and mother....

Searchers intensified their efforts Tuesday to find a San Francisco man missing for more than a week in a rugged, remote area of the snow-covered Oregon Coast Range as his wife and two young children, rescued just the day before, recovered in a hospital. Trained dogs, horse patrols and a helicopter with heat-sensitive sensors were sent to join other helicopters, snowmobiles and foot patrols Tuesday for 35-year-old James Kim. Trackers had followed his footprints until dark Monday night. "They determined that he went over the side of the road into the Big Windy Creek drainage area and that's when the...

Wife and two daughters of senior editor James Kim found in Oregon; search is still on for James Kim, who left the car on foot two days ago. The wife and daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and airlifted to a local hospital, authorities announced at a press conference in Merlin, Ore., Monday afternoon. James Kim left the car on snowshoes two days ago to seek help and has not been found, the official said. The search for him continues. According to the official speaking at the news conference, the conditions of Kati, Penelope...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2006 -- Coalition forces have recovered the bodies of all three missing servicemembers lost during an emergency water landing by a helicopter yesterday. A U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing made an emergency water landing near the shore of Lake Qadisiyah in western Anbar province. Sixteen personnel were on board, including the crew. Thirteen of the individuals on board were accounted for yesterday, including the body of one Marine who was recovered from the water after the emergency landing. The rescue effort included all available surveillance and rescue capabilities to include air,...

PORTLAND, Ore. Dec 2, 2006 (AP) — Authorities said Saturday that new clues in their search for a San Francisco family who went missing a week ago during a vacation in Oregon show no indication of foul play. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said a search of James and Kati Kim's credit history showed they had stopped for dinner Nov. 25 in Roseburg, about 160 miles south of Portland and 65 miles northeast of Gold Beach. The Kims and their two children had reservations at a lodge in Gold Beach but never arrived. "We don't have any indication of foul...

Cpl. Jessiah Jameson sounded excited to see his wife and son after a year in Iraq. After he landed in Fort Campbell, Ky., last week, he was on the phone two or three times a day with his wife, Erin, who lives in Bellingham. They were excited to have him home for the holidays this year. But a week ago, he went out with friends to a Tennessee nightclub. No one, including his wife who expected him home on holiday leave next month, has seen or heard from him since he left the club. "He was supposed to be going...

RED LAKE, Minn. - Dozens of trained searchers were taking to woods, lakes and air Friday to hunt for two young brothers who disappeared from an American Indian reservation two days earlier. The FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Tristan Anthony White, 4, and Avery Lee Stately, 2. The boys were reported missing Wednesday from the Walking Shield area of the remote, heavily wooded Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota, the FBI said. Their parents said they had been playing outside their home before they disappeared, Tribal Chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr. said....