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Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:26:18 GMT -5
February 14, 2004 Vaughan, Mississippi Date of Birth: February 7, 2000 Place of Birth: Mississippi Sex: Male Hair: Blond Height: 3'6" Eyes: Blue Weight: 30 to 40 pounds Race: White On February 14, 2004, James Patrick Hargon, aged 4, and his parents Michael Hargon and Rebecca Hargon, were reported missing from their residence in Vaughan, Mississippi, a rural area of Yazoo County. There were no signs of forced entry or robbery at the residence, however, there may have been violence associated with the family's disappearance. They were last seen by family members on February 13, 2004. James Patrick Hargon has asthma and may need medical attention. He has bright white caps on the front of his upper teeth, extremely long eyelashes, a mole on the back of his neck, and a scar near his left eye. Individuals with information concerning this case should take no action themselves, but instead immediately contact the nearest FBI Office or local law enforcement agency. For any possible sighting outside the United States, contact the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate. www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htmwww.fbi.gov/contact/legat/legat.htm THE DETAILS On February 14, 2004, Rebecca Hargon, her husband Michael Hargon, and their 4-year-old son James Patrick Hargon, were reported missing from their residence in Vaughan, Mississippi, a rural area of Yazoo County. There were no signs of forced entry or robbery at the residence, however, there may have been violence associated with the family's disappearance. They were last seen by family members on February 13, 2004. REMARKS Rebecca Hargon also uses the name Rebecca Dawn Hirtz Hargon. Her front teeth are crooked and she has a very slight overbite. She has freckles on her face; moles on her neck and left foot; and scars on her forehead, her back, and her feet. She has double pierced ears.
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Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:27:01 GMT -5
TAYLORSVILLE, Miss. — A relative of a family of three who disappeared on Valentine's Day was charged Sunday with a drug and firearms violation, and authorities said other charges were expected. Authorities have not said whether they believe Michael and Rebecca Hargon and their 4-year-old son, James Patrick, are still alive. Blood and spent bullet casings were discovered at the family's home in Yazoo County. "At this time, the whereabouts of the Hargon family are still unknown," said State Highway Patrol spokesman Warren Strain. Earnest Lee Hargon, an adopted cousin of Michael Hargon, was charged with a single count of possession of methamphetamines (search) while also in possession of a firearm. The firearm is an AR-15 assault rifle (search), which Strain said could be converted into an automatic weapon. "As a result of recent developments, that's all that we are going to charge him with today. We fully anticipate filing additional charges," Strain said at a news conference. Hargon was expected to appear in court Monday, he said. The drug and firearm charge was filed in southern Mississippi's Smith County, where Earnest Hargon and his wife live on 160 acres. He also was being held for questioning by Yazoo County (search) authorities. Strain said possible evidence was found Saturday at Hargon's property but would not elaborate. About 50 officers continued searching the wooded property Sunday, using dogs, helicopters, backhoes and all-terrain vehicles. Authorities said rain, forecast for Monday and Tuesday, could hamper the search. They have declined to say whether they were looking for bodies or for other evidence. Authorities closed off a county road on both sides of Leaf River Veterinary Services (search). The clinic is on Earnest Hargon's property and his wife works there as a veterinarian, Strain said. The search area included the clinic, Earnest Hargon's residence, several other buildings and the banks of the nearby Leaf River, Strain said. Investigators also have been checking a piece of land that Michael Hargon recently inherited from his uncle, Charles Hargon, to determine if it is linked to the disappearance, said Jennifer Hargon, Michael's sister. Earnest Hargon, Charles Hargon's adopted son, was not included in the will, she said. Taylorsville Mayor Ron Walker said he has met Earnest Hargon's wife, Lisa Ainsworth, and called Hargon "quiet and cordial." Lisa is the vet in town, she and her family are well known," Walker said. "Her family is well-respected hardworking people. I'm sorry they're having to go through this." www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112854,00.html
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Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:27:41 GMT -5
It has been more than a week since the disappearace of Michael, Rebecca and John Patrick Hargon. While there have been no major breaks in the case, there is still no let up in the search. About 75 volunteers from the area joined Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks officers in searching the woods around the house Monday. Nothing was found. The Department of Public Safety, the FBI and the Yazoo County Sheriff's Office are getting so many questions from national and local media they began daily briefings. Officials still say no gun was missing from the house and there is no explanation for the .22-caliber shell casings found in the house. The FBI spoke out publicly for the first time since joining the case. We asked Ed Worthington, special agent in charge of the Mississippi FBI, if he considers a will of some land to Michael Hargon last January as a part of the case. "The sheriff, the Dept. of Public Safety and the FBI have not ruled out anything," he said. "That would obviously be something that is of lead value, and we will continue to follow those leads, along with anything else coming in." A witness to that will in which the missing man's great uncle, Charles Hargon, willed him 60 acres of land in Madison County, told us the will had been changed to leave the land to Michael instead of his cousin, Earnest Hargon. The witness is Alice Chapuis, Michael's second cousin. She said the will was changed just before Charles Hargon died in January. "There was a will made originally in 1995, and the will was changed on January 3, 2004," she told us. We could not reach Earnest Hargon for comment. The last man to see Michael Hargon alive, Benny Fisher, worked for Michael's deceased uncle. He said Michael told him he was on his way to work when he stopped off last Saturday morning to give him breakfast. Instead, Fisher says, Michael went back toward his home. "When we got through eating," Fisher told us, "he said he was going right back to work. He went that way. So he went back home." The reward for the safe return of the Hargon family has been upped by $2500 from the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors. It now totals $28,500. www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=1662017
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Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:28:25 GMT -5
Police continued their investigation Tuesday after the bodies of a Yazoo City, Miss., couple and their 4-year-old son were found Monday night. Investigators said it is not yet clear if Rebecca Hargon, 29, and her son, James Patrick, were alive when they were taken to rural Covington County, Miss. Investigators think Michael Hargon, 27, was killed before he was taken from his home on Feb 14. Investigators reportedly found the bodies in a wooded area in a shallow grave covered by sheets of tin. Earnest Lee Hargon, Michael's cousin, faces three counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths. On Tuesday, neighbors talked about Earnest Hargon's actions during the past two weeks. "He called (his wife), Lisa, and told her if someone asked where she was at that day, to have an alibi for him," neighbor Ross Blakeney said. Blakeney said he knew Earnest and Lisa Hargon well and that Earnest was having financial trouble. Blakeney said Earnest Hargon also was coping with the recent deaths of his adoptive parents. Autopsy results on the bodies of Michael, Rebecca and James Patrick Hargon are pending. No date has been set for the Hargon family's memorial service, but the locations have been decided. A general memorial service will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Canton, Miss. Burials will be at Ellison United Methodist in Vaughan, Miss. search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=&p=bodies Wed, Mar 03, 2004 JACKSON, Miss. - The father of a family found slain in the Mississippi woods was shot to death, and his wife and their 4-year-old son were strangled, according to autopsy results released Wednesday. The findings were made public only hours after relatives of the Hargon family arranged Friday funerals for the three who disappeared from their rural home on Valentine's Day The bodies of Michael Hargon, his wife, Rebecca, and their 4-year-old son, James Patrick, were found in a wooded area Tuesday night. The discovery occurred shortly after Michael's cousin, Earnest Lee Hargon, was charged with capital murder. Michael Hargon, 27, suffered a fatal bullet wound to the head, said Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Highway Patrol. District Attorney James Powell has said Michael Hargon apparently was killed at the family home in Vaughan, about 35 miles north of Jackson, but he was not sure where Rebecca Hargon and her son died. Spent bullet casings from a .22-caliber weapon were found at the home, but a weapon has not been recovered. "This tragedy of monumental proportions has had an impact on everyone in Mississippi," Public Safety Commissioner Rusty Fortenberry said. "With the results of these tests — as horrific as they are and proving our worst fears — now we may begin the healing process." Authorities believe Earnest Lee Hargon, a 43-year-old cattle truck driver, acted alone. While no single motive had been put forward, there was speculation that he was angry at being written out of his adoptive father's will that gave Michael Hargon several acres of land in nearby Madison County. Hargon was charged with three counts of capital murder. Yazoo County District Attorney James Powell has said he would seek the death penalty. Earnest Lee Hargon, being held without bond, should have an initial hearing on the charges in the next couple of weeks, his court-appointed attorney said.
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Post by LadyBlue on Nov 6, 2004 14:15:15 GMT -5
Adams County Coroner James Lee say a skeleton found last week along a county road has been identified as that of Lisa Emery, who had been missing since 1993.
Lee said he assisted a forensic orthodontist in Hattiesburg on Friday to identify Emery from her dental records from New Mexico.
A forensic anthropologist continues to study the remains for signs of blunt trauma, which have not been found. Lee said at this point they are considering asphyxiation as a possible cause of death.
Emery, 22, and her mother Linda Emery Stuart, 45, were reported missing on July 1, 1993 by Stuart's husband Dale Stuart. Police later found blood in the Stuart home and several months later Dale Stuart committed suicide.
Linda Stuart's body was found seven months along U.S. 84 by a hunter.
"I received calls from Franklin and Madison parishes in Louisiana concerning the missing woman," Lee said. "But I was sure we had the right woman the day of the discovery."
Lee and Adams County Sheriff's deputies removed the skeleton last Thursday and compared local dental records at the scene.
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 18, 2005 9:41:20 GMT -5
- DeSoto County lawmen say a body found this past weekend near Nesbit is that of a missing surveyor.
The remains were found Saturday in a creek north of Nesbit Road by children riding all-terrain vehicles.
Mark Havens, 42, had been missing since Nov. 30. His truck had been found earlier in the same area.
County Coroner Jeff Pounders said Monday the identification was made using dental records. The cause of death, however, has yet to be determined. He said the crime lab in Jackson performed an autopsy on Sunday which showed there was no trauma to the body.
"Right now we don't know what the cause of death was," Pounders said. "A toxicology report may tell us more but it will probably be next week before we have those results."
Sheriff's Cmdr. David Mitchell said Havens' disappearance triggered a massive search effort in the county with deputies, search and rescue team members and helicopters joining in. Search dogs were also a part of the search effort but were unable to locate the remains.
"There was an exhaustive search of that area," said Mitchell. "But the creek was filled with water at the time."
Pounders said the body of the Nesbit man was lodged in place by a fallen tree and had apparently been washed to that location by the current. Pounders said Havens was still wearing boots and blue jeans but that his shirt, which was recovered, had been apparently removed by the running water. His wallet was also recovered.
Pounders said Haven's jeep was apparently stuck in soft dirt on the edge of Nesbit Road.
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Post by LadyBlue on Apr 1, 2005 14:07:37 GMT -5
When Leslie Evan Cruse entered Sonya Bartholomew's house two days after her 14-year-old son, Jacob Sigalas, vanished, she had a feeling he had something to do with his disappearance and as she found out this week, her son's death.
Cruse, a 37-year-old construction worker from Gautier, has been arrested on charges of capital murder in the death of Sigalas, who had been missing since March 4.
"(Cruse) wouldn't look at us. He kept his head down the whole time he was talking to us. I knew then there was something wrong," said Bartholomew, of her first face-to-face encounter with Cruse. She said Cruse told the family he had dropped Sigalas off on Catalpa Avenue in Pascagoula.
Bartholomew alleged that Cruse came to her house after she threatened to go to police after hearing that his house was where Sigalas was when he and his girlfriend had been cut off while talking on the phone. Bartholomew said her son was never heard from again.
Sigalas was one of 13 of Bartholomew's children and the family undertook numerous searches for him near Cruse's home after receiving tips of his whereabouts. She said it was frustrating when they learned where his body was eventually found.
"I feel like we didn't go far enough and I didn't want to be the one to come up on him, either," she said.
Sigalas' mother said "I'll be lost" without her son, who enjoyed playing football, fishing and other activities.
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said Cruse, of 3301 Hakes Road in Gautier, was arrested about 10:30 a.m. Thursday on Spring Avenue in Gulf Park Estates, where he was working at a construction site. Spring is near the entrance to Gulf Park Estates.
Judge Larry Wilson ordered Cruse held without bond after an initial appearance Thursday afternoon in county court.
Cruse appeared in court handcuffed and shackled and clad in work clothes and stood motionless as Wilson read the charges against him.
Wilson asked Cruse twice if he understood what was happening to him and the charges against him, adding, "do you comprehend that?"
Cruse responded with a slow nod of his head.
Cruse's arrest came about 18 hours after Sigalas' body was removed from a shallow grave in a wooded area off Marsh Island Drive, a narrow winding road that leads to the former Pine Island Golf Course.
Sigalas' body was discovered late Wednesday afternoon by a resident who was walking in the area.
Bartholomew received word it was possibly Sigalas shortly afterward.
"It hit me right then -- it was my son," she said.
The exact cause of death is undetermined, pending the results of toxicology tests by the Mississippi State Crime Lab. Byrd, however, said that alcohol poisoning was suspected.
Coroner Vicki Broadus said the autopsy performed Thursday morning on Sigalas indicated no signs of trauma.
Byrd said the arrest was the result of a joint investigation by Gautier police and sheriff's investigators, with assistance from the Mississippi State Crime Lab and Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County agents.
"This shows what happens when you have cooperation between law enforcement agencies that are willing share information," he said. "This arrest was the result of a lot of hard work."
Byrd said information developed by the joint investigation indicated Sigalas was killed in Gautier, and that the underlying felony for the capital murder charge was sexual battery. He said that evidence of sexual battery was found on Sigalas' body.
According to the affidavit read during his initial appearance, Cruse is accused of causing Sigalas' death on March 4, the day he was last seen alive when he was dropped off at Singing River Mall in Gautier to meet a friend.
Authorities said Cruse knew Sigalas and allegedly met him and his friend at the mall, and took them to his house. Cruse also allegedly bought the boys alcohol to drink.
Authorities believe that Cruse panicked after Sigalas died and took him to the wooded area off Marsh Island Drive to bury his body.
According to Jackson County Circuit Court records, Cruse has been in trouble with law before. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to eight counts of burglary and was sentenced to five years in prison and then placed on probation after he was released.
Cruse's probation was revoked in 1998 and he was sent to prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance of less than 2 pounds.
He served some of his prison time in 1992 and later in 2000 at the Adult Detention Center, where he was a state trusty working at the courthouse.
"He was a hard worker," Byrd said. "Whatever he was assigned to do, whether he was working for the state or for us, he did his job."
The family has set up an a Jacob Sigalas benefit account at Han Bank to help defray funeral arrangements, which are incomplete.
The account number is 013694380.
Reporter John Surratt can be reached at jsurratt@themississippipress.com or (228) 934-1427.
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Post by LadyBlue on May 28, 2006 13:57:19 GMT -5
A body recovered from the Mississippi River was identified Wednesday as that of a medical student at Hofstra University in New York who had been missing for nearly two weeks.
The Ramsey County medical examiner said preliminary autopsy results indicate that Sudi Bashir Abdi, 24, drowned. Her body surfaced in the river near a St. Paul railroad bridge on Monday.
Abdi had come to Minneapolis to visit, according to relatives.
She was reported missing on May 9, a few hours after a man called police and said he had seen a woman go into the river near the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.
A spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said there is no indication of foul play.
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