First, the Good News....

Six years after her disappearence, Jessica Baker's killer has been CONVICTED!
I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. It's a bitter-sweet victory though, on so many levels. First, he wasn't actually convicted of killing the nine-year old girl. He was only found guilty of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. Christian Gabriel was drunk at the time of the murder. Prosecutors claim he was driving drunk and hit Jessica in his van, then buried her body somewhere. There wasn't enough evidence to actually charge him with her murder, although it is widely believed he is the killer. Hell, it took 5 year to find anyone connected to her death at all, so this conviction is really, really good news. I just wish the maximum sentence was longer- it's only 6 years. Hopefully, investigators gather enough evidence to charge and convict him of her murder, but this is a good start. Gabriel has admitted the whole thing, so I can't understand why he hasn't been charged with her murder. Read his testimony HERE.

More good news:

140 members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment returned home to Columbus, Ohio yesterday. They have spent 185 days away from home, fighting the war in Iraq. Not all came home. 16 came home in caskets; 6 of those were from Cincinnati. I've posted on all six throughout the past few months. There may have been 140 Marines returning home, but there were around 1,000 family members waiting for that final "DISMISSED!" call. Many had children greet them; one had a new baby to come home to. Cpl. Frank Rye's wife was 3 months pregnant when he was deployed. His 12 year old daughter, Brittany, rushed across the lot, crashing into her father and collapsing in tears in his arms. His wife, Edith, stood off to the side, holding 3-month old Benjamin. Rye found her; took his son in his arms for the first time, and rocked his baby for the first time ever.

When the Rye's got home, they had one more suprise waiting for Frank. His wife contacted a local auto body shop, told them her husband was at war and his truck needed a little work. It was falling apart- it needed more than just a little work! But the result was incredible- including a custom paint job featuring a flag, the Statue of Liberty, and the New York skyline- including the twin towers. If you click on THIS STORY, you'll find video links off to the right. It's priceless.


And now... the bad news.


Cincinnat has been wracked with reports of missing children over the past couple of days. 20-month old Aliyah Starling Myrick was taken by her estranged father, Darius Myrick, Thursday night. Her beaten body was found by a jogger just over 12 hours later. IMHO, the police really screwed the pooch on this one. They told Aliyah's mother to stop chasing Darius, return home, and let the police start looking for him. So she did. If she (and other neighbors who were chasing him) had continued chasing after him, little Aliyah would probably be alive today. So sad. You can hear her 911 call by following the link above, and clicking on the 911 call listed on the right. Darius has been arrested and placed in the psych ward at a local hospital. I'm not sure if I hope they fry the fucker, or let him become someone's prison bitch. I don't care if he is "crazy"... he murdered his baby and should be punished accordingly.

Then, last night around 9PM, two children were seen being stuffed into the trunk of a car at our main Post Office center. When the postal workers confronted he man, he ran to the car and took off. He hasn't been found yet, and the kids haven't been reported missing either, which leads me to believe the children are his own. God, I hope they find those kids- alive.

UPDATE!!!!
The children who were seen being stuffed into a trunk were identified, located, and are FINE! Their idiot father was letting them "play" in the trunk... That man needs parenting classes. Feh. God must have heard my plea, because the kids were found, alive. Thank you, God!