The Herald from Rock Hill, South Carolina • A3

Monday December 31, 2012 The Herald 3A DEATHS Todd H. Ayers INDIAN LAND Todd H. Ayers, 51, of Indian Land, S.C., passed away Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, at Piedmont Medical Center. Born in Rock Hill, S.C., he was a son of Obie Ayers and Betty Jones Ayers.

He is survived by his wife, Paula Brock Ayers and two daughters, Leigha Ayers King and Jasmin Ayers, both of Rock Hill; three step- children, Holly Geery, Travis Geery and Travis Stacks; three grandchil- dren, Hunter, Kailee and Khloee King of Kings Mountain, N.C.; sis- ter, Martha Armstrong (Graham Armstrong) of Indian Land; and Ricky Pittman of Rock Hill. Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at Parker Funeral Home, 870 Saluda Street, Rock Hill. Memorials may be made to Park- er Funeral Home.

Charlotte Chandler GREAT FALLS Mrs. Char- lotte Virginia Chandler, 85, died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster, S.C. The funeral will be 3 p.m. Monday at Dantzler-Baker Funeral Home, with the Rev.

Gene Fowler officiating. Interment will be in Greenlawn Cemetery. Visitation will be 2 to 3 p.m. Monday at Dant- zler-Baker Fueral Home, Great Falls. Online condolences may be made at www.dantzlerbaker funeralhome.com.

Charlie Harden (Buck) Dixon Charlie Harden (Buck) Dixon, 91, of 570 Barrett Road, Bowling Green, S.C., depart- ed this life Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, at his residence. Born Jan. 13, 1921, in York, S.C., he was a son of the late Cecil and Mozelle Starnes Dixon. A deacon at Langrum Branch Baptist Church, Charlie was presi- dent of the Hymn Choir and a mem- ber of the Brotherhood.

Charlie loved farming and gardening and was retired from Uniroyal Chemi- cal Gastonia, N.C. He was a member of the White Hill Masonic Lodge in York and was also past president of the Prayer Band. On Dec. 7, 1940, Charlie was united in marriage to Eliza Ann Thomason and the Lord blessed this union with two children. He leaves to cherish fond memo- ries his loving wife of 72 years, El- iza Ann Dixon of the home; one son, Charlie Dixon Jr.

(Mary) and Patricia Ann Dixon; two brothers, Cleveland Dixon (Mary) and Joe Dixon; two sisters, Elizabeth Gar- vin and Mary Sims; three grand- children, Karen Vann (Milton), Ma- ry Charlene Johnson (Pink) and Anita Santa Cruz (Armando); nine great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren; as well as a host of other relatives and friends. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, at Langrum Branch Baptist Church in York, with Dr. Osbey Roddey officiating.

Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Masonic rites were held Sunday evening at Langrum Branch Baptist Church. Wright Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Loretta K. Gay ROCK HILL Mrs.

Loretta K. Gay, 75, passed away Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, at Westminster Rehab. The funeral service will be 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan.

2, 2013, at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel. The family will receive friends from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel. George Gordon ROCK HILL Mr.

George (Short George) Gordon, formerly of 222 Green Street, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, at Presbyterian Hos- pital in Charlotte, N.C. The funeral will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at Cedar Grove Baptist Church. Burial will be at the church cemetery.

Viewing will be 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Rob- inson Funeral Home and from 12 p.m. until time of the service Wednesday at the church. The fam- ily will receive friends at 214 Bows- er Street. Connie Hall ROCK HILL Mrs.

Connie Hall, of 134 Armstrong Court, Rock Hill, S.C., died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at her residence. Parker Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Douglas Leroy Knight LANCASTER Mr. Douglas Leroy Knight, 88, passed away Sun- day, Dec.

30, 2012, at White Oak Manor. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Glenwood Heights Baptist Church, with the Rev. Jo- seph Reed officiating. Burial will be in Pleasant Plain Baptist Church Cemetery.

Visitation will be 10 to 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Notes may be made at www.lancasterfuneralhome.com. Shirley Miller ROCK HILL Mrs. Shirley Jean Graham Miller, 77, passed away, Friday, Dec.

28, 2012, at the Wayne T. Patrick Hospice House. A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Monday at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel, with Chaplain Tony Caruso of the Hospice House officiating. Interment will be pri- vate.

The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. prior to the serv- ice. Condolences may be made at www.greenefuneralhome.net. Billy J. Tucker ROCK HILL Billy J.

Tucker, 71, of Rock Hill, S.C., passed away Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at this time. Condolences can be emailed to the family online at www.bass cauthenfuneralhome.com. Bass-Cauthen Funeral Home, 700 Heckle Boulevard, Rock Hill, S.C., is serving the family.

By Rachel Heaton The (Hilton Head) Island Packet HILTON HEAD ISLAND Christmas presents were under the tree toys to teach him the alphabet, and clothes given by friends and grandparents. His room was ready, the bed neatly made and clothes hanging in the closet. His parents had thought of ev- erything including airline tick- ets dated Jan. 20 as they made the final preparations to bring their adopted son from a Russian orphanage to his new home on Hilton Head Island. Last week, mom Kristy Gonza- lez even bought a small snow suit and boots so be warm when they picked him up.

This week tha turned into an Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Friday banning the adoption of Russian children by American citizens. That left Kristy and her hus- band, Michael and 45 other American families in limbo. Their adoptions are nearly com- plete, but senior officials in Mos- cow say the ban, which takes ef- fect Tuesday, probably will block the departure of the children. even know Mi- chael Gonzalez said. on pins and A reunion of brothers Jack is 1 and the biological brother of the 3-year-old son Braeden, adopted a year and a half ago.

They had long known Braeden had a brother and have been working for some time to adopt him. Those efforts easy. First, they had to wait for Jack to be old enough to be adopted. Then came a six-month wait- ing period, required to allow a Russian family an opportunity to adopt him. That was followed by thick stacks of paperwork to complete the process.

Among them was the requirement that Kristy and Michael submit letters from eight doctors attesting to their health. Things were further compli- cated when some of the guide- lines changed after an American mother, who said she could no longer cope with her adopted emotional issues, sent him back to Russia, flying the 7-year-old boy home alone in 2010. The incident created a scandal in Russia and had authorities there threatening to ban adop- tions by American citizens. This summer, the two coun- tries reached an agreement that allowed adoptions to continue under increased scrutiny. The agreement included a more thor- ough screening of American fam- ilies, as well as steps to ensure adoptive families were informed of their medical histo- ries and upbringing.

On Dec. 11, Kristy and Michael finally completed the last step in the process. A Russian judge after reviewing their paperwork, poring through their medical and financial history, and talking to the Gonzalez family and local Russian officials about the risks approved their adoption of Jack. Then came the new Russian law, passed as part of a bill draft- ed in retaliation against an Amer- ican law that targets human rights abuses in Russia. Now much is now uncertain.

Kristy and Michael pray that something anything will al- low them to bring their son home in a few weeks. But Russian officials have said the ban will have an immediate effect, keeping Jack and other children from their new homes. definitely our What has survived through it all is hope that the couple will have another son and Braeden his brother. look at Braeden, and I see faith and perseverance and Kristy said. a true example of all of those things.

I feel in my heart that this will work out. have Braeden to prove adoptions can turned that hope into action. The couple started a petition on the White House website and contacted members of Congress. As of Saturday night, 849 peo- ple had signed the petition; 25,000 signatures are needed in a month for it to merit an official White House response. Though Jack is always on the i ind am i i strengthened by the routines of daily life, running their real es- tate business, ERA Evergreen Real Estate, and making Brae- life as normal as possible.

That can be difficult for the boy. He begs to see photos of his brother every time he sees the iPad. On Friday on the way to pre- school at Cross Schools, he asked again when he would see Jack. They sure what tell him if Jack come. young as he is, I guess just have to say Jack is not coming, and stop talking about Michael said.

day, have to tell him about his broth- er, They worry what might hap- pen to Jack if the adoption is halt- ed. Workers at the orphanage had already begun to show him pic- tures of his new family. our child in terms of Russian Michael said. being told, are your After all this, Braeden is excited. excited.

defi- nitely our unknown is just Kristy said. I feel it will work out. brothers. They should be She was quiet for a moment. want my two sons to be to- Russian adoption ban puts Lowcountry family in limbo our child in terms of Russian law.

being told, are your definitely our Michael Gonzalez By Noelle Phillips Amir Jennings. Gabriel le Swainson. As 2012 comes to a close, the in- vestigations into their disappear- ances have not found resolution. In public, the law enforcement officials responsible for finding Amir and Gabrielle show confi- dence that they will be found. give said Rich- land County Sheriff Leon Lott.

not going to give a months pass with no sign of their re- turn, hope dims for those who have fol lowed their cases. Both disap- ea red a hands of those who knew them well, authorities have said. moth- er, Zinah Jen- nings, is serving a 10-year prison sentence on a cruelty to chil- dren charge for not telling any- one where she left her toddler son. Freddie Grant, a 52-year-old El- gin man who had dated the moth- er of 15-year-old Gabrielle has been charged with her kidnap- ping. Pictures of Amir, with his big brown eyes and curly hair, started appearing last January as family and friends launched a search.

The then-18-month-old was last seen around Thanksgiving 2011, but his disappearance did not become public until the last week of December 2011, when his mother was arrested by Columbia police. The search has stretched from Columbia to Atlanta to Charlotte because Jennings was known to visit relatives in each city. A cell- phone ping led police to spend an entire January day searching a swath of woods in northern Rich- land County. They did not find Amir. In spite of her prison sentence, Zinah Jennings has never told po- lice, her mother or the father where Amir is.

Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott said investigators work on the Amir case every day. am confident his mother, Zi- nah Jennings, knows where she left him, what she did with him and what his condition Scott said. really believe going to break the Amir Jennings case. If not today or tomorrow, I just believe going to be a con- tinuously unsolved On Aug. 18, a worst nightmare evolved in a quiet sub- urban neighborhood in northeast Richland County when Gabrielle Swainson disappeared from her bedroom in the middle of the night.

Elvia Swainson came home from work at 7:30 a.m. to discover her daughter missing and blood in the bed. Almost immediately, Richland County Department depu- ties suspected Gabrielle had been kidnapped. The FBI and the Na- tional Center for Missing and Ex- ploited Children were called in. The suspect soon became Grant, who was dating the mother.

Police traced cellphone to towers near his Elgin home and found her blood and hair on duct tape inside the house and on duct tape in a nearby junk yard. As police searched for the petite teen, the public rallied to support her and her mother. Their church held daily prayer sessions. Hun- dreds attended a candlelight vigil in the Lake Carolina neighbor- hood. Facebook pages were creat- ed, along with on Twitter.

Lott said case cap- tured hearts because was such a good about this case grabbed Lott said. the worst fear of any par- ent to have your child taken from her Lott said he has not given up hope that Gabiee eventually will be found. will hope that we do find her, just like I hope that we find Dail Dinwiddie and Paula Lott said, referring to two other high-profile missing persons cases in the Midlands. 2012 ends with Amir Jennings, Gabrielle Swainson still missing C. Aluka Ridge View High School cheerleader, Chasity Blume, 14, joins hundreds of people as they gather during a prayer vigil for missing teen Gabrielle Swainson in the Lake Carolina community.

C. Aluka Amir grandmother, Jocelyn Jennings, talks about her daughter, Zinah Jennings, at her office. Amir Gabbiee Obituary guidelines Email Call 803-909-4209 or 800-793-6116 with the names of the deceased and the funeral home serving the family..