***UPDATE SUNDAY, APRIL 29TH, 4:55 P.M.**
We have a tragic update to bring you on the story of the missing 7 year old at Fort Gordon. Dive teams discovered the girl's body around 3:15 Sunday afternoon at the lake behind the girl's home. We will have more on this story tonight on WJBF News Channel 6 at 6.
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The Augusta Richmond Dive squad is still searching for a missing 7-year-old girl at Fort Gordon. The dive team is looking for Hannah Ross, who investigators say went missing near her home, Saturday evening.
The Ross family moved into Fort Gordon from California just last week.
A PIO for Fort Gordon says Ross has no shoes on, and was last seen wearing a purple shirt and white shorts.
Investigators at Fort Gordon police, the Columbia County Sheriff's office, the Richmond County Sheriff's office, as well as hundreds of volunteers spent Saturday night looking for Ross.
K-9 units also assisted with the search.
Investigators searched for Ross behind the Lakeview housing area on Fort Gordon.
Several hundred volunteers, mostly soldiers, combed the area and searched into the night.
A helicopter crew also assisted with search efforts.
Ross suffers from autism and was last seen behind her home on Fort Gordon at approximately 6:45 p.m. Saturday evening.
Hannah is 4 foot 8 inches tall, 80 pounds.
Anyone with any information on Hannah's whereabouts, please contact Fort Gordon authorities at 706-791-9747.
WJBF News Channel 6 will have much more on this story tonight at 6, 10 (CW) and 11.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Woman pleads not guilty to murder in death of 4-year-old son
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A Carmel Valley woman accused of drowning her 4-year-old autistic son in their apartment bathtub pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and assault charges.
Patricia Corby, who faces 25 years to life behind bars if convicted, was ordered held on $10 million bail by San Diego County Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth.
A bail review and status conference is scheduled for Tuesday at the downtown San Diego Courthouse.
Corby, 36, flagged down a patrol sergeant driving out of a parking lot at the precinct house about 9:30 a.m. Saturday and asked for help with her son, Daniel, who was unconscious and not breathing in her car, said San Diego police Lt. Ernie Herbert.
Daniel Corby, who turned 4 last week, was pronounced dead by medics near a San Diego police substation on El Camino Real in Carmel Valley about 30 minutes later.
After questioning Corby, detectives arrested her on suspicion of murdering the child.
An autopsy was conducted, but a cause-of-death ruling was on hold pending completion of further postmortem tests, the medical examiner reported.
Police disclosed no suspected motive for the crime, which occurred in the 4600 block of Torrey Circle in the Torrey Hills area of Carmel Valley. The boy's father was at work at the time of his son's death, Herbert said.
A neighbor said Patricia Corby was a stay-at-home mom who was attentive to the needs of her son, who had some form of autism.
While the world dithers with blue buildings and "experts" fiddle with official numbers and scientists dream of their DNA payday, people with autism are dying:
After a desperate three-hour search by scores of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies — including about eight divers working multiple ponds at the same time — a missing 9-year-old girl with autism was found in the bottom of a pond behind the home where she attended a party.
Deputies began searching for Ariyanna Pivachek shortly after 3:30 p.m. when a call came in that she walked away from a party at 11159 Golden Silence Drive in Riverview, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon.
The preliminary cause of death at this time appears to be an accidental drowning however a final ruling will be determined by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, according to McKinnon.
Ariyanna had gone missing about 20 minutes earlier in an area that has several ponds, said McKinnon.
"We had deputies fanning out in ponds, taking their gun belts off to go in," said McKinnon, adding that about 50 deputies in all, including those flying in a helicopter, were involved in the search.
Deputies searched the party house, where there were eight adults and eight children, several times, according to McKinnon.
"We wanted to make sure she wasn't hiding," he said.
After searching the pond about 40 feet behind the home where the party took place for about an hour, Ariyanna was found about 15 feet from the shoreline in about 6 to 8 feet of water.
"There was zero visibility in those ponds," said McKinnon.
Ariyanna was living in a foster home at 309 Greenview Drive, Brandon, according to McKinnon.
The girl was picked up from that home by a family who was considering adopting her, according to McKinnon. The family brought her to the Golden Silence Drive home to attend the party.
A man answering the phone at the Greenview Drive home declined comment.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Maryland Psychiatrist allegedly murders 13 year old with autism, self.
This story is from MyFoxDC . Our condolences to the child's father and other family. We'll discuss this in further detail soon. For now, just pray. For Benjamin, Margaret, all of us.
By BOB BARNARD/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON - Montgomery County Police say a well-known psychiatrist and author shot and killed her teenage son, then turned the gun on herself in a murder-suicide inside their Kensington home.
Police were called to the rented townhouse on Simms Court Tuesday afternoon. They say Dr. Margaret Ferne Jensvold, 54, was found in her bedroom with a gunshot wound. 13-year-old Benjamin Barnhard was found in his bedroom also suffering from a fatal gunshot wound. The Maryland Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the case a murder-suicide.
FOX 5 News spoke with the boy's father, James Barnhard, who calls his ex-wife a lovely person who likely killed their only child out of desperation and love.
Barnhard says Ben was tormented by bullies at school for being extremely overweight and on the autism spectrum.
Statement from James Barnhard, ex-husband and father of victims:
"I loved my son and ex-wife, and I was proud of both of them. My son was a successful graduate of Wellspring Academy. He was featured on "Too Fat for Fifteen: Fighting Back," and lost 160 pounds in the last year, due to his hard work and determination.
I do not understand this tragedy, and I do not know why this has happened.
I will hold them in my heart, and they will be sorely missed by all who loved them. Please keep us in your prayers."
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
A psychiatrist specializing in women's health and her 13-year-old son were found dead in their home in suburban Washington in a likely murder-suicide, police said Wednesday.
The bodies of Margaret Ferne Jensvold, 54, and her son, Benjamin Barnhard, were found Tuesday afternoon in their respective bedrooms. Police were called after one of Jensvold's co-workers reported being unable to contact her for several days. Jensvold was divorced and lived with her son in the upper-middle-class suburb of Kensington, Md.
Both bodies had signs of trauma, but police did not elaborate. Capt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery County police spokesman, said officers had obtained a search warrant for the home and were continuing to investigate but believe that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide. He would not elaborate on what led police to that conclusion, and said autopsy results were still pending.
"We of course still have to gather all evidence," Starks said.
Jensvold was most recently working with Kaiser Permanente in Kensington, said her ex-husband James Barnhard, Benjamin's father. He said he was still in disbelief and had not yet heard a timeline from police as to what they believed happened. He said he had last spoken with Jensvold several days ago to arrange a time to pick up his only son from her house.
"Ben was a very sweet and loving child. I mean, he was just one of the kindest and sweetest kids a parent could ever wish to have," Barnhard said. He said his son had spent the last year at a weight-loss program in North Carolina and had shed more than 100 pounds and loved sailing and other water activities.
He said he had no indication of any problems between his son and ex-wife.
"She was always nice to Ben. Sometimes she could get a little frustrated with him, but she was always nice to Ben," he added.
In 1990, Jensvold filed a federal lawsuit against the National Institutes of Mental Health, where she had been a medical staff fellow.
She alleged that a male superior harassed her because she was female and fired her in 1989 before she could complete the third year of her fellowship program. An eight-person jury found in Jensvold's favor, but that decision was rendered moot in 1996 when a judge held that she did not have the right to a jury trial and called her version of events an "illusion" and "widely exaggerated and skewed."
"She's an incredible person. I know she struggled against significant adversity, personally and in her career, and overcame a lot of hurdles to do some wonderful research and be a really good practitioner," said Lynne Bernabei, an attorney who represented Jensvold in her case.
"I think she had a great compassion for women and improving the lives of women through good health research, and she had a real passion for that," Bernabei said. "It wasn't just a 9-to-5 job for her. She really cared."
It's a tragic ending for a 7-year-old boy who went missing on Sunday afternoon.
Officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources found the body of John Burton Jr., 7, in North Hogan Creek on Monday morning just after 9 a.m.
Police say Burton was playing with his dog Sunday afternoon in area of Park Avenue in Aurora near a creek. The dog returned to the boy's home at 451 Park Avenue and was wet, but the boy was not with the pet.
The family had just moved to the Aurora neighborhood this weekend, meaning it was a new environment for the child.
Over 150 people were out at one point looking for Burton on Sunday. People who did not even know the family searched for hours.
"Everybody wants the same thing, to find a healthy, happy 7-year-old," said Jennifer Gallagher. "We are a very close-knit community and we just had to band together to help out."
John's parents say he would sometimes hide from people he believes are looking for him.
The search for Burton on Sunday ended around 9 p.m. when conditions became too dark for volunteers.
The search resumed Monday morning, but search crews were called back shortly after heading out after officers found the body.
ARVADA - Authorities are working to figure out what caused the death of a missing girl with autism found on Tuesday morning at a construction site. Arvada Police also want to know why a tracking device on the girl did not work properly.
Kristina Vlassenko, 10, was reported missing by family members Monday afternoon. She was last seen at 3:30 p.m. Her parents contacted police within one hour, said Arvada Police spokesperson Susan Medina.
Medina says a construction worker found the girl's body near 58th Avenue and Oak Street around 7 a.m. Tuesday. Police say she may have fallen into a water-filled hole excavated for the foundation of a new recreation center.
Investigators do not believe foul play was involved. The coroner's office has yet to determine her cause of death.
"It's never easy. You just want to bring that child home and in this case we didn't get to do that," Medina said.
Medina says the girl was equipped with a Life Trak system, which is a transmitter about the size of a wrist watch used to locate at-risk people when they go missing. They are similar to those used for people with Alzheimer's and autism. Arvada began using the program in 2008 at no cost to families that qualified.
According to officers, Kristina's Life Trak had never been activated before, since she did not have a history of wandering off. They were not able to get a signal from it when it was activated Monday.
"We never were able to get a solid ping from that," Medina said.
9NEWS contacted six law enforcement agencies that use Colorado Life Trak. All reported that the technology is reliable - with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office reporting its success rate at 100 percent.
Michael Chylewski, vice president of Illinois-based Care Trak International, says this is the company's first reported fatality in its 26-year history.
"We were very sad to hear about the incident," he said. "We are sending company representatives out to aid the local police and sheriff's office in their investigation."
Jefferson County Sheriff's Public Information Director Jacki Kelley says the key is to report the missing person quickly.
"It should be up and running within ten minutes of the missing child," Kelley said.
Cmdr. Jeff Satur with Longmont Police sys his agency used Life Trak on May 13 to find a missing man with autism. The search took less than 30 minutes once the technology was activated.
"It helps us locate the people that we are looking for very quickly," Satur said. "We're very happy with its success."
Officers suspect Kristina's transmitter probably wasn't emitting a traceable signal because it was under water. They have contacted the manufacturer, Illinois-based Care Trak, to address the issue.
9NEWS left a message with the company after business hours Tuesday.
Kristina's former school bus driver, Liz Garcia, says the girl could have easily wandered into a dangerous situation.
"She is very nonverbal. I just can't imagine her being lost and not being able to cry out for help," Garcia said.
Garcia says Kristina loved to play in dirt and that could have been a reason she went into the construction site.
Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen the girl from the time she was reported missing to the time she was found to call police at 720-898-6900.
By Clifton French (cfrench@wsbt.com) WBST
7:41 p.m. EDT, April 22, 2011
An Elkhart teenager has died after suffering severe burns in a fire that happened Thursday evening in the 1200 block of Rice Street.
Tristan Guffey, 15, was air-lifted to a hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The victim had a severe form of autism. According to fire investigators, he was playing with matches and lighter fluid when he caught himself and his home on fire.
Despite the efforts of some strangers who managed to put out the fire that was burning the teen, on Friday he passed away.
"I wish I could have actually got here sooner to help him out. Maybe I could have saved his life," said Drake Newton. "I really don't know him, but I care for him."
Drake Newton and his nephew Derek were driving by, becoming two of the first to help Tristan when he ran out of his house, his entire body covered in flames.
Drake and Derek ripped his burning clothes off, stopping the fire that was burning him.
Now that Drake knows the boy has died, he wishes he could have done more.
"I wish I could have taken that pain myself instead of him going through that."
The tragedy has hit the entire Elkhart neighborhood. People who knew Tristan remember a happy boy who loved Legos and Transformers.
"He was really nice, because he would always say hi to me and we didn't even know each other," said Hannah Duncan.
Duncan and her friend were walking around the neighborhood when they saw the fire, catching the chaos on their phones.
"We saw him and he was on a stretcher…and he was completely black. We saw his mom screaming…"
Now, for those who witnessed the fire, they are still shocked that the young boy is gone.
"I can't even put it in words right now."
Tristan and his guardian, who he called his mother, were the only two who lived in the house. WSBT talked to a friend of the family who told us Tristan's guardian is back from Kalamazoo, but she does not want to speak to the media right now.
