The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 18

Page 88 Wednesday, August 3, 2005 REGION lre (Anniston tar Iannis visionary a raws pi to Shelby County field BRIEFS Riley goes to prison to sign sex offender law SPRINGVILLE Gov. Bob Riley went to a state prison Tuesday to sign legislation strengthening the penalties against sex offenders who attack MISSING MOUNTAIN BROOK TEEN Behavior specialists question Dutch teen in Holloway case BY PETER PRENGAMAN Associated Press ORANJESTAD, Aruba Behavioral specialists on Tuev lay questioned a young Dutch suf pect fa children. "Today. Alabama takes a tremendous leap forward in protecting our children and stepping the predators." Riley said in a bill pressure on authorities to solve the case. After two months searching for her daughter, Holloway Twitty said she returned to Birmingham, Alabama last weekend to see her younger son and coordinate a leave from her job as a speech pathologist.

"I just went home to reload my ammunition." said Holloway RILEY in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, and a volunteer group conducted a final search of a landfill where a witness claimed to have seen men dump lit 1 HOLLOWAY Associated Press STERRETT -r- The religious visionary Marija Lunetti has returned to a Shelby County field, where pilgrims are gathering this week for her sightings of the Virgin Mary. Several hundred arrived Monday to kneel and pray with Lunetti. who first told of seeing apparitions at the field in 1988 after coming to Alabama to donate a kidney to her brother. She has since claimed dozens of sightings at the field. She said Monday her visions of the Virgin Mary have been continuing.

"She asks that we pray for peace," said Lunetti. Het mostly Roman Catholic followers remain convinced. "I'm looking for peace and direction." Colleen Henny, a resident of Junction City. told The Birmingham News. Henny, whose husband died earlier this year, attended Monday's prayer session.

Lunetti first gained wide notice when she was one of six visionaries to claim sightings of Mary in Medjugorje, a remote Bosnian-Herzegovinan village, in 1981. While the Roman Catholic Church has not ruled on the authenticity of the sightings, Lunetti says they will not do so while the sightings are still going on. Lunetti will be at Caritas, the mission in Shelby County that promotes the visions, through Friday. Twitty by telephone from Alabama "It's allowed me to clear my head and see how angry I am at this situation and want to go back." Holloway Twitty, who has repeatedly said she believes van-der Sloot knows what happened to Natalee, has had a major role in keeping her daughter's case in the limelight through frequent media appearances. Police escorted van der Sloot from San Nicolaas prison on the eastern side of the island to the police station in downtown Oran-jestad to meet with the specialists, Comenencia said.

He was accompanied by his lawyers. Van der Sloot has been repeatedly interrogated since being arrested June 9, but last month a a (fit ing a female body. The behavior specialists from the Netherlands questioned Joran van der SJoot to observe his body language and look for inconsistencies in his account of what hap-; penedthenight Holloway, 1 8, disappeared, police spokesman Edwin Comenencia said. Van derSloot, 17, has changed his version of events at least once. Originally, he and two Surinamese friends told police they dropped Hoi loway off at her hotel and then went home May 30, the day she disappeared while on a graduation trip with 124 classmates.

Later, van der Sloot acknowledged to his mother and authorities that he was alone with the Alabama honors student on a beach near the Marriott Hotel, leaving her there but not harming her. Massive 'searches near the Marriott, including the recent draining of a pond, have produced no clues. Comenencia said authorities have been searching the area for a pair of white tennis shoes van der Sloot was wearing and apparently lost the day Holloway vanished, but declined to explain their significance to the investigation. Meanwhile, the mother of the missing teen, Beth Holloway Twitty, said she would return to Aruba late Tuesday to step up Frank Couch Associated Press Religious visionary Marija Lunettis speaks to pilgrims Monday while in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary in Shelby County. Florida firstto send Amber Alerts to cell phones judge ruled authorities could not question him without legal representation.

Also Tuesday, volunteers from Texas used a tractor hoe to dig through a landfill where a witness claimed to have seen men dumping and covering a blond female body two days after Holloway disappeared. The group planned to take trained dogs through the site to try to detect human remains, said Joe Huston, search leader for Texas EquuSearch, the group conducting searches around the island. Searches of the landfill over the weekend produced nothing of interest, and Huston said the volunteers would leave today unless they find something significant. Holloway 's family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return, and a separate $100,000 award for information that helps solve the mystery. Associated Press TALLAHASSEE Fla.

The Amber Alert system used by police to give the public the description of a missing child is being expanded to cell phone customers in Florida, the first program of its kind in the nation. Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday. The program, announced by the wireless industry this spring in Washington, allows subscribers to receive text messages on their phones when an alert is issued. "It's another step forward in our effort to bring children home where they belong," said Bush, who said he's already signed up for the free program.

The governor called in NFL Hall of Famer Steve Largent, president of the Wireless Association and a former congressman from Oklahoma, to help promote the program. Subscribers with phones capable of receiving text messages can registerthrough participating carriers' Web sites. However, many of the nation's 182 million wireless users who don't use text messaging, so it isunclear how effective the program will mwmmsm mmtmm signing cere-mony at prison in St. Clair, County. Riley was accompanied by Attorney General Troy King, ho developed the legislation.

and by legislators ho steered it through a special session last week. The legislation prov ides that sex offenders who commit the most serious crimes against children 1 2 and younger rape, sodomy and sexual torturer-must spend at least 20 years in prison. When they are released from prison, the offenders will have to wear electronic monitoring de ices for at least 1 0 years so officers can track their movements. Today. Riley plans a ceremony at the state Capitol to sign legislation restricting government use of eminent domain to obtain private property.

The Legislature passed the bi.ll in the special session that ended July 26. Jury tours crime scene in Moore trial; man charged with killing 2 officers FAYETTE Jurors in the capital murder trial of Devin Darnell Moore toured the crime scene Tuesday where Moore allegedly shot and killed two Fayette officers and a dispatcher in June 2(K)3. Moore. 20. is charged with killing Fayette officers Arnold Strickland.

55. and James Crump. 40. and dispatcher Ixslie "Ace" Mealer. 38.

He allegedly stole Strickland's gun on June 7, 2003 while being booked on a stolen auto charge and used it to shoot the ictims before fleeing the police station. Lawyers for Moore argue that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after being abused and neglected as a child. The defense also claims that Mopre committed the murders after obsessively playing the video game "Grand Theft Auto." Prosecutors argue that Moore knew exactly what he was doing and shot the victims to escape and avoid jail time. In the statement. Moore said he panicked, grabbed the gun and shot the victims until they "fell to the floor." But Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent Darren Blake testified that crime scene photos indicated Moore shot Crump through the head hile the officer was already down, bleeding from multiple other gunshot WHunds.

Nautical archaeologists reach shipwreck deal in Mobile Bay case MOBILE A group of nautical explorers has agreed to reveal to state and federal officials the precise locations of four shipwrecks they claim to have found in the Mobile Bay area, in hopes of keeping part of what they may bring up. The agreement was reached in a federal court suit brought by the group. Fathom Exploration, which seeks to salvage the sites and split the artifacts with the state. The proposed agreement now goes to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristi DuBose, who had called for it earlier.

Fathom Exploration's attorney, Michael Mark, said Monday the group will now attempt to negotiate a permit with the Alabama Historical Commission. The state and federal government have said they may be the rightful owners of the underwater artifacts. Fearing looters, Fathom Exploration previously resisted revealing the locations to a distance any closer than two nautical miles. Court documents state the wrecks are in Alabama territorial waters with debris trails extending toward federal waters. From wire reports FREE TWO HOUR PARKING DOWNTOWN ANNIST0N FOR 1000 CARS WILLOW TREE NATIVITY 1 Lynn's 4a11 1111 Noble St.

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