The Star Press from Muncie, Indiana • Page 4

Page designer: Kathleen Scott, 213-5847 Page4A The Star Press Thursday, June 20, 2002 Grand jury weighing case against Boston's cardinal Search for Milwaukee girl enters I- seventh week THE ASSOCIATED PRESS is A MILWAUKEE It's been 7 weeks since 7-year-old Alexis Patterson disappeared on the way to school. Volunteers have placed fliers bearing her smiling face on trees, light poles and in store windows, and her parents have repeatedly pleaded for her return on local television newscasts. But still no Alexis. However, legal experts said the investigation would probably not lead to charges against leaders of the archdiocese. Reilly himself said that state laws on conspiracy, obstruction of justice and being an accessory to a crime would make it difficult to prosecute someone for putting another person in a position to commit a crime.

Also, Massachusetts has no law requiring the reporting of a crime. In addition, the statute of limitations on some offenses has run out, Reilly said. The scandal in the nation's Roman Catholic Church began earlier this year in Boston when it was disclosed that the archdiocese had moved priests from parish to parish despite allegations they had molested youngsters. Nationwide, at least 250 priests have either been dismissed from their duties or resigned since the scandal' erupted. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON A grand jury is looking into whether there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Cardinal Bernard Law and other church leaders in the sex scandal that has engulfed the Boston Archdiocese, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

The grand jury, convened by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, has been investigating for weeks whether the cardinal and other leaders broke the law by quietly shuffling priests accused of molesting children from parish to parish, where they still had contact with youngsters. A law enforcement source confirmed the grand jury investigation was under way. "We respect the right of the attorney general to pursue the investigation with any means that are appropriate," said Donna M. Morrissey of the Boston Archdiocese.

ill V. -w-J Mi. -L I ttiL ft 4-if-aatii The Associated Press NEWS CONFERENCE: Elizabeth Smart's parents, grandparents and other relatives link arms Wednesday as they listen to Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse answer questions during a news conference. Police chief says younger sister saw Elizabeth Smart's abductor twice "This is probably one of the tougher cases I've done," said John Robins-Wells, a private investigator who came out of retirement to volunteer in the search for Alexis. "Normally, we have something to work on, but here we don't have anything." lf f- fc afe ALEXIS i PATTERSON: The 7-year-old vanished on her way to school.

Ml Ml Assisted Living 3l 765-759-4700 we probably are not going to until we're further along." Wednesday was the 15th day of the investigation into Elizabeth's abduction. She was reportedly taken from her bedroom at gunpoint in the early hours of June 5, police said. Police still have no suspect in the case. They have received a total of 8,000 to 10,000 leads, of which 1,300 warranted follow up, Dinse said. Up to 900 of those leads have been cleared and about 400 remain to be looked at, he said.

Police who interviewed Mary Katherine four times now say the man did not speak to the younger child or apparently realize she saw him. based on secondhand accounts, stated that Mary Katherine had been threatened by the kidnapper to keep quiet about the abduction. They now say that Mary Katherine, who was in the same bed as Elizabeth, feigned sleep during the abduction and overheard the threat addressed to Elizabeth. "She hasn't wavered one bit from her original statement that she gave investigators," Dinse said. Dinse rejected any idea that his department was deliberately deceiving the media.

'There is no conspiracy afoot here," Dinse said. "We are not telling you everything, and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY Elizabeth Smart's little sister, the sole witness to the teen's apparent abduction, waited 2 hours to tell her parents about the kidnapping because she feared the kidnapper was still in the house, authorities said Wednesday. Police Chief Rick Dinse said the girl, Mary Katherine, got out of bed soon after the abduction and headed toward her parents' bedroom. But she saw the man still in the house, so she went back to her room and waited for 2 hours. On Tuesday, police changed a key detail in the case.

Their initial report, which they say was AmehCare Communities :4 Heritage Retirement Village I month to month lease, 24 hr. staff, utilities paid, 3 meals a day, medication set-up, medication reminders, laundry housekeeping assistance, activities. Limited Time Only Mention This Ad! j-t a.t tjf. -L. A word from the Hoosier Park Track Announcer on the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational Pace: "Aaannd they're off! LOTSA FUU is out to sn early Alexis's stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois, said the girl disappeared May 3 after he walked her half a block from their home to her elementary school.

Classmates said she never made it to class. Initially, Police Chief Arthur Jones said Alexis had apparently run away after she left for school. Jones said "things did not go well" between the girl and her mother that morning. "We have no suspect because we have no reason to believe right now that a crime has been committed," Jones said at the time. But the Milwaukee Police Department later questioned Bourgeois and Ayanna Bourgeois, Alexis's mother, for nearly 10 hours.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that LaRon Bourgeois failed a polygraph test on the girls' disappearance, Ayanna Bourgeois passed her tests, the newspaper said. Bourgeois said he did not believe he failed the lie detector test. "If I would not have passed, then I Wouldn't be standing here," he told a reporter. Investigators with the Sheriffs Department and the Police Department did not immediately return several calls from Associated Press on Wednesday. After Alexis's' disappearance was reported on the news, about 100 community volunteers fanned out across her neighborhood, searching for clues.

Police recently released a surveillance video from a drugstore showing Alexis the evening before she disappeared, hoping it would generate new leads. Early leads in the volunteer search for Alexis have dried up, Robins-Wells said. 'The hardest part is that we don't have any leads at all, no clues," Robins-Wells said. Community involvement also has begun to dwindle, said Keith Martin, one of the search's organizers. Only eight full-time volunteers are still working on the case, he said.

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i i I Hoosier Park AT ANDERSON A Churchill Downs Company 7 Saturday, June 22 Dan Patch Night ir niiii.n1 Hang out with Dick Wolfsie The Carl Storie Band from 4:30 6:30 p.m. Family Entertainment Also featuring the Breeders' Filly Stake Race Doors open early at 4:30 p.m. Fill up at the Budweiser BBQ Barn or Grandstand Club Seating section Ttj Post Time: 6:45 p.m. I-b9 South to Exit 26. 4500 Dan Patch Circle.

Off Scatterfield Road, behind Kohl's. 1-800-526-RACE. www.hoosierpark.com "We dreamed of lending a hand to residents who live in unsafe ot unhealthy houses." Members, Delaware County Volunteer Home Maintenance Program have to do something." That was the decision when community activists learned that 300 homes were in desperate need of repair but their owners didn't qualify for As public assistance. "We started out doing simple jobs," says Don Maxstadt, board chairman of the local organization. Ten years and 500 construction projects later, "we tackle anything that involves the safety of the homeowner." The group recently launched the "Warm Hearth Fund" to support furnace repairs for residents in emergency circumstances.

The fund, established with the help of the Community Foundation, provides for an immediate response from a professional furnace technician. Ensuring a "warm hearth" is typical of projects undertaken by the volunteers with support from the Foundation, says Maxstadt. "Over the years the Foundation has been absolutely instrumental to our work." YJ. A'.