Houston News

Monday, December 10, 2012

Plane upside down after landing in Brazoria County

BRAZORIA COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- A pilot somehow avoided injury after his plane landed upside-down in a field in Brazoria County on Friday.

It happened around 3pm. According to DPS, the pilot reported engine trouble and tried to land the Cessna in a field near Highway 6 and FM 521. The plane flipped after it touched down. The pilot was not injured.

Houston Southwest airport is about two miles to the southwest of where the plane ended up. That may have been from where the pilot took off. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you any new information.

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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Salvation Army red kettle stolen outside Deerbrook Mall

HUMBLE, TX (KTRK) -- The search is on for a brazen thief who took off with a Salvation Army red kettle. The crime happened outside a mall in Humble. As investigators try to close in on the suspect, the Salvation Army is working hard to prove the thief can't steal any holiday cheer.

Every holiday season for the past five years, Larry Arnold has been ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.

"It's a fun activity," he said. "I like to help people out."

He's only had a positive experience at his post outside Dillard's. But last week, on a day he wasn't working, someone stole the red kettle with about $200 inside.

"Last week, they pulled one of the guys, when I was off, they brought him to one of the stores and they told him one of the kettles was snatched," Arnold recalled.

While stealing red kettles isn't unheard of, the Houston area Salvation Army told us it decided to take the bell ringer working at that time off the job, though the organization would only say it did so out of an abundance of caution.

Salvation Army area direction Major Chris Flanagan said, "There was no foul play. When we do any of that, we talk to the person who was manning the kettle. We try to get the details of how this came about."

Mumble Police Detective David Scott was just assigned this case, so he has no leads, and only a vague description of the suspect.

"The description given was a black male in his 20's with a long goatee, and wearing a black hoodie," Det. Scott said. "The vehicle was described as a tan Chevy Malibu."

So while the Salvation Army waits and the police investigates, for the people who do try to fill the kettles with holiday cheer, this is not a holiday message they wanted to see.

Donor Jo Hanson said, "I try to think maybe they really, really needed it, but it doesn't cut it anymore. No, they're just selfish."

The bell ringer who was working when the theft allegedly happened is no longer working with the Salvation Army, although the organization would only say it is them being extra cautious while the investigation continues.

local, miya shay

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Vapor leak prompts voluntary shelter-in-place order

CYPRESS, TX (KTRK) -- Cy-Fair fire officials said an unknown vapor is leaking from a well pump jack in Cypress.

It's happened near Longenbaugh and Fry Road.

According to authorities, there is no danger to the public.

A temporary voluntary shelter-in-place was issued for the Manor at Canyon Lakes West subdivision and was lifted as of 9:40pm Saturday.

Crews isolated the leak and will repair it Sunday, officials said.

We're told the well is owned by Josey Oil Co.

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Investigators work to ID teen girl dumped

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Nearly two months after the skeletal remains of a teenage girl were found dumped on the side of a road in north Harris County, investigators are still having a tough time identifying the victim.

Officials believe the girl was between the ages of 15 and 17 years old. Her body was discovered on the 125000 block of Walters Road in a garbage bag on the side of the road.

Investigators say the girl's body was so badly decomposed that they've been having some serious challenges identifying her. Now they're making another plea for the public's help.

A distinctive t-shirt with the cartoon character Smurfette and a pair of khaki cargo pants -- those major clues have been little help identifying a teenage girl whose remains were found dumped on the side of Walters Road.

Dr. Jennifer Love, Forensic Anthropology Director at the Harris County Institute for Forensic Science, said, "We've had a few possible matches reported to the office, however we have excluded them."

Dr. Love and her team have been working to identify the 15- to 17-year-old victim whose remains were found dumped on October 16.

"The pathologist at that time did do an autopsy," Dr. Love said. "However, given the stage of decomposition, many of the organs were badly deteriorated."

Investigators tell me that unidentified girl's remains were found in two black trash bags. They say they'd been out in this area so long, wild animals had already gotten to them.

Dr. Love says with no positive leads, so far the medical examiner's office isn't even sure if the young victim is from this area.

"We all understand that we have a human trafficking problem here in Houston," she said.

Dr. Love told me the next step for her team is developing more data from skeletal remains to build the victim's life history. They'll be consulting with other labs and conduct isotope analysis on the girl's teeth and hair to better determine where she originated.

"The teeth will give us where she developed as a child. The hair will give us where she's lived over the past year or so," Dr. Love explained. "So by using that information, you can kind of map her travels."

Investigators are urging anyone with information about that girl or her family to contact the medical examiner's identification unit at 713-796-6774.

local, demond fernandez

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Deputies: Boy, 11, nearly abducted at Montgomery Co. bus stop

Pooja LodhiaCONROE, TX (KTRK) -- Montgomery County investigators are turning to the public as they look into a claim of an attempted abduction. A Conroe ISD student says he was waiting at a bus stop when two men tried to take him.

The alleged encounter happened Monday morning along County West Drive in the Grangerland area.

Investigators already have combed through the area, trying to find out who would try to kidnap 11-year-old Ricardo Meza.

"Two guys pulled up whenever I was alone," Ricardo told us.

Ricardo was waiting at his bus stop on Monday morning when he says a gray Toyota hopped a curb and came right at him.

"They pulled up and told me to get into the car and I said no, and whenever I went to run, my backpack swung forward and the passenger punched me in the back," he said.

Ricardo says he first tried to run home.

"They said that they know where I lived," he said.

So Ricardo ran two miles away, to the Subway restaurant where his mother, Wanda Meza, works.

"He was crying hysterically and I was calming him down," she said.

Montgomery County deputies haven't been able to find or even identify any suspects.

Now this mother is asking for your help finding those responsible.

"You expect them to be safe, going to walk to the school bus or doing anything," she said. "This could be any one of our children, you know, not just mine."

Ricardo was not injured during the incident, but he is still shaken up from it.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked contact the Montgomery Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Office at 936-760-5876.

conroe, local

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Cell phone photo lands 12-year-old Channelview ISD student in serious trouble

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A 12-year-old is accused of a crime because of what she did with her cell phone at school. Her story is a reminder of how because of our quickly changing technology, you may be breaking the law without even realizing it.

The 12-year-old Channelview ISD student's attorney says she was using her iPhone to take a picture of herself and a friend, but the phone has two camera lenses and she accidentally selected the wrong one. As a result, she snapped a picture of what could be percieved as a very racy picture of another young girl.

"They were telling me that I can get in a bunch of trouble for taking a picture like that, and I told them that it was an accident and they were like, 'no, you're lying,'" said the girl, who we're not identifying.

She was pulled out of class Friday at Alice Johnson Junior High, handcuffed, put into a patrol car and taken into custody all because of an incident Thursday at the school in the locker room. Her attorney says she was trying to snap a picture of herself and friends when she mistakenly took one out of her iPhone's forward-facing lens -- a picture of another student not fully clothed.

"She was just pulling down her pants, but not all the way -- barely," she told us.

The 12-year-old says she immediately realized her mistake and deleted the picture, even showing the girl who was in that alleged picture as she did.

But on Friday, she was arrested for taking it.

Lawyer Jack Carroll says the law protects the content that's on your phone. He says the Constitution was violated when investigators took the girl's phone to look for the picture.

"It's like having a government official or a police officer look through your diary. You can't do that without consent or a search warrant," he said.

But KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy doesn't agree, saying the law is different because this occurred on school grounds.

"Like when you enter the airport you give up many of your constitutional rights; when you go into school you give up many of your constitutional rights in regards to search and seizure," Androphy said.

"They couldn't find nothing, but they're still saying that I did it," the 12-year-old said.

The girl just wants to go back to school. She's been suspended for three days and is being sent to an alternative school for another 30 days. She and her parents are appealing that assignment to alternative school.

We should note that investigators could not comment in any detail on this case because juveniles are involved.

Channelview ISD did not return our repeated calls for comment.

channelview, local, kevin quinn

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No timeline for ex-President Bush leaving hospital

HOUSTON -- Former President George H.W. Bush remains in stable condition more than two weeks after entering a Houston hospital for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough.

Methodist Hospital spokesman George Kovacik (koh-VAH'-chik) said Saturday the 88-year-old Bush continues to improve, but doctors are being cautious with his care.

Kovacik says physicians have provided no timeline for when the 41st president will be discharged. Bush was admitted to the hospital the day after Thanksgiving. He had a weeklong stay for the same illness earlier in November.

Bush and his wife, Barbara, divide their time between their residences in Houston and Kennebunkport, Maine.

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Sunday, December 9, 2012

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