The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 22

TTTTrrsnr rr t-f rrt tvf rr "'T1' WW fTT 1 2B THE HERALD WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 20 1995 FLA Mariner turns up says shrimpers saved him Associated Press ST PETERSBURG A marine researcher who disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico and was feared drowned after his empty 22-foot boat was found aground says he was held aboard a shrimp boat then left at a fish camp After a mysterious two-month odyssey Lee Chapin is home In recent days he has been with his family under the care of a physician Calls to his office were not returned Tuesday 1 lis wife Leah Chapin faxed a short statement from her husband to The St Petersburg Times late Monday about the disappearance which triggered rumors of a faked drowning and his encounter with shrimpers were responsible for saving my life as far as I am concerned even though it was irresponsible of them not to take me to somewhere that I could have been given proper medical the statement said It also described the incident that led to the disappearance On Oct 1 6 Chapin was returning from the Gulf after taking measurements for sensors used as navigational aids He was alone in his boat he said when he encountered a shrimp boat that had run aground As he helped the shrimpers he fell overboard and was injured He didn't describe the nature of the injury The shrimpers pulled him aboard their boat and left with him aboard The shrimpers appeared to leave the Tampa Bay area is purely speculation on my part but 1 think that their activities were of illegal the statement said After several days the shrimpers dropped him off at a shrimp camp Chapin say where the shrimp camp was or identify the shrimpers am unwilling to provide information on either since they are people who shun publicity of any sort even positive publicity and I will respect their empty boat was found Oct 17 on a sandbar at Fort DcSoto Park Coast Guard officials searched for two days then gave up presuming Chapin drowned Investigators later released almost 100 pages of documents reports and phone records indicating Chapin had planned his disappearance on a motorcycle that his wife did not know he had bought A friend of in Reno Nev said he showed up at her home 10 days after he disappeared statement did not clarify the apparent contradictions regard to the sensational speculation on my personal life I will not dignify that with any he said adding he was with his family and work and would do anything that would dishonor either ri Couple charged in the beating death of baby Bravo Cartar By JOHN LANTIGUA Herald Staff Writer Freddy Bravo who spent two months in the hospital fighting to live after being bom premature never had a chance once he got home Police say father Tommie Eugene Carter 31 beat the child to death in repeated thrashings during the four weeks the child was in their house at 49 NW 68th Ter Freddy not yet 3 months old died Friday after suffering several skull fractures nine broken ribs and hemorrhaging behind the eyes apparently from being brutally shaken Some of the fractures were new while others could have been several weeks old Dade medical examiners told police He weighed 5 pounds when he died 4-year-old half sister said she saw the man punch the baby so hard in the stomach milk came squirting out of the nose and said Miami Police spokesman Lt Bill Schwartz Carter and the mother Luz Maria Bravo 22 were charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse the mother watched this happen over the last weeks and stop it so we are charging her as said Schwartz someone had called anytime before that last day that child could have been Fire rescue workers were summoned to the house about 8 am Friday According to a police report Carter told them he left his night shift warehouse early and found the child unconscious in his bed The rescue workers could not revive Freddy and he was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital But an autopsy revealed the fractures the clotted blood plus other contusions Police questioned the parents who denied beating the child But the 4-year-old in the house told police she had witnessed the beatings "The homicide detectives talked to the girl the first time and when they went back the second time they saw she had a bruise on her Schwartz said asked and she said the defendant Carter Associated Press SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME PENALIZED: Jim Young who works at a grocery in Pace told Sen Graham his concerns Retirement hopes rest with Congress had given it to her He hit her The child told police that Carter had beaten Freddy because the infant cried a lot Police began questioning the parents again but according to homicide detective Frank Castillo's report they constantly contradicted each other about who had cared for Freddy when he woke the night before Carter also told police that he had left work early because of a stomach virus but told his supervisor he had to leave work early because he had received word that Freddy was having trouble breathing according to report Carter agreed to take a polygraph test said he would fail it because he had failed the report reads in the homicide office the defendant told the co-defen dant Bravo say any thing don't say anything every thing is going to be all continues the report It was not the first time the household had come under investigation for child abuse According to the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services 2-year-old sister suffered a broken leg in 1993 shortly after being born An investigation by HRS Met-ro-Dade Police and doctors at Golden Glades Hospital cleared the parents of wrongdoing at the time But Schwartz was still suspicious someone dropped her or whatever but very hard for a child to break a leg that he said That 2-year-old and her 4-year-old sister have both been handed over to grandparents to be cared for By BILLKACZOR Associated Press PACE Grocery store employee Jim Young is only 58 but envisions having to work past 65 to make ends meet even though his earnings might cost him some of some of his Social Security benefits Congress however is on the verge of passing legislation to ease that earnings penalty on older Americans who want or need to keep working past retirement age have retirement savings and there are a lot of other people who either and a lot who think have it when they get Young said Monday known some in the past that were all ready to retire and catastrophic illness for one thing destroyed their Under existing law people 65 through 69 lose $1 of Social Security benefits for every $3 they earn in excess of $1 1280 a year There is no limit for people 70 and older The Senate Finance Committee last week approved legislation to raise the cap in increments until it reaches $35000 in 2002 The House has passed a slightly different version and Congress could send the legislation to President desk this week although their present budget impasse may delay it until early next year an issue that ought to be important to all people because sometimes things happen we plan Young said The father of three and grandfather of two discussed the earnings cap with US Sen Bob Graham when the Florida Democrat did one of his in Pace nearly five years ago They bagged groceries together at the Winn-Dixie store where Young works in this Florida Panhandle community just outside Pensacola The senator said he has supported lifting the earnings cap since he was elected to the Senate in 1986 Graham a member of the Finance Committee called Young now in the produce department last week to tell him he had delivered on his promise The wage cap has been part of the Social Security law since it was first enacted during the Great Depression was intended to discourage retired workers from continuing to work so they be competing in the job market with younger Graham said policy has for a long time been The bill would raise the cap to $14000 next year and $1000 in each subsequent year until it reaches $18000 in 2000 In 2001 it would increase to $25000 and jump to $35000 the next year Although Graham supports the bill he tried without success to eliminate the increases to $25000 and $35000 because of the cost $25 billion a year He is worried it could harm efforts to balance the budget and said Congress should revisit the matter in 2000 and decide then if further increases would be prudent Young is a conservative Republican who disagrees with Graham on many issues but said they see eye to eye on the earnings cap and importance of balancing the budget a little bit is helpful not for welfare never have been for that rather work as long as I Young said enjoy working When you stop working you might as well be in the Channel 4 expanding its news staff Outlaws convicted by mistake? Three jobs will be filled by people already at the station but roughly will be new hires a 30 percent increase in staff WFOR General Manager Allen Shaklan said jurors made their objection known in writing Not all the jurors believe that the Tampa and St Petersburg Outlaws were entrapped said jury foreman Jerry Hughes think they had complete knowledge of what they were and were not entrapped juror Carl Bridges said of the Outlaws time yes that might have been a setup But after that OUTLAWS FROM IB to Bucklew said At issue in the trial was a series of drug-smuggling incidents in which undercover officers paid 10 Outlaws $1000 each to transfer boxes of cocaine and marijuana from a government airplane to a government truck In mid-August jurors found the men innocent of the first incident by virtue of entrapment but guilty of the later incidents The seven complaining By ROBIN DOUGHERTY Herald Television Critic Just days after it announced the sudden departure of anchor Barbara Sloan Channel 4 has started advertising for 21 new positions to launch an hourlong 6 am newscast in January and increase our street lot of people wake up and they want to see what happened the public relations director Renee Morales said Tuesday An ad in a trade journal lists openings for reporters meteorologists producers writers video-graphers and videotape editors say her contract was not renewed Earlier reports suggested that Sloan 44 did not fit in with the new fast-paced format purportedly designed to appeal to a younger audience Shaklan had no comment on that either Sloan's replacement Anne Roberts who comes from KUSA in Denver is scheduled to appear on air on Jan 22 the day the station hopes to debut its early morning newscast although Shaklan said the date is mitted to investing in the station and in the South Florida says Shaklan Moreover the station beleaguered by low ratings is perhaps ready for a radical change of identity Shaklan declined to comment on departure but sources as well as production and technical directors Three jobs will be filled by people already at the station but will be new hires a 30 percent increase in staff WFOR General Manager Allen Shaklan said is com no entrapment there was whatsoever Chiles backs calls on Bush says mislabeling was wrong 16 win $21788 in Associated Press TALLAHASSEE The Florida Lottery Department on Tuesday released the following information on payoffs in its game The game produced 16 first-prize winners on Mon-dav night and each can collect $2177823 In addition to the first-place winners 1829 people won $3150 for picking 4-of-5 and 39038 people won $4 for picking 3-of-5 The winning numbers for Mondav night were 2-8-9-10-26 Crist and the committee's other Republican members have challenged not only the fake identifications of the calls but also their messages Chiles stands by his statements about Bush who conceded during the campaign that one of his companies failed to pay a Dade County occupational -license tax and another owed state corporate filing i fees On Social Security and Medicare: Bush run- ning mate Tom Feeney sponsored a resolution advocating abolishment of the federal government if the national debt grew too large was not a scare message it was a true Chiles said the election was held today I would use it CALLS FROM IB the chance Chiles and MacKay added a dramatic flourish by arriving at the basement hearing room promptly at 9 am though scheduled to testify later after other witnesses and demanded to be heard then The take-it-or-leave-it appearance shook Sen Charlie Crist investigating the calls is your the general counsel Dexter Douglass told Crist you telling me now or not at asked Crist R-St Petersburg Douglass replied Associated I ULTIMATUM: Dexter Douglass Gov legal counsel presses for Chiles to testify early and out of scheduled order or not at all.