Today marks four years since Ayla Reynolds was reported missing from her father’s Waterville home.

The toddler’s disappearance launched the largest missing person’s search in state history.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds, has asked people to light a pink light at their home every day until the end of the year in her daughter’s memory.

State Police do not believe Ayla is alive.  They also don’t believe the people she was with that night, including her father, Justin DiPietro, are telling the truth about what happened to her.

There have been no arrests in connection with Ayla’s disappearance.

UPDATE: Both Haylea and Kamarie were found safe in Louisville. They are in good condition.

Lexington Police are working to locate two missing children.

At approximately 7:45 p.m. on December 12, officers responded to the 400 block of McConnell’s Trace in reference to two missing children.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

The first child, a white female, 14, was identified as the mother of the second child who is a one week old boy. Both children were found to be missing from the home at approximately 6:30 p.m. The children are originally from Louisville and have no known ties to the Lexington area. The mother may be attempting to travel back to the Louisville area.

The missing children are:
Haylea Whitaker (14 years old)
Kamarie Whitaker (1 week old)

Tips can be phoned into the Division of Police at (859)258-3600, the Special Victims Unit at (859)258-3700 or Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at (859)253-2020. Information can also be submitted by logging onto www.bluegrasscrimestoppers.com

A successful Lexington real estate agent was in court Thursday afternoon after being accused of stealing a diamond from a client’s home.

Bo Howell III had little to say to the judge. His lawyer Edward Thompson entered a plea of not guilty and the case is going to a grand jury.

“The government has an obligation to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and we are at this point asking them to do their job,” Thompson told LEX 18’s Richard Essex.

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Howell is accused by police and a former client of taking a one karat diamond from a ring in March of this year.

According to court documents, Howell removed the diamond from the ring setting and replaced it with a fake.

His client was selling a Lakewood Drive home which was sold in September for $750,000.

The court records say the stone was valued at $3,500. Howell allegedly sold it to Rosenberg Jewelry in March.

Rosenberg, like all jewelers who buy estate diamonds are required to electronically submit to police the names of those selling jewelry.

This led police to Howell.

A source close to the investigation of this case says that Howell may have sold other diamonds.

Howell is out on bail and his case is going to the grand jury.

A former deputy with the Bullitt County, Kentucky, Sheriff’s Office was charged today by federal grand jury indictment with two counts of willfully depriving an arrestee of his constitutional rights under color of law, announced by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, and U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr. of the Western District of Kentucky.

The indictment alleges that Matthew Corder, 51, of Louisville, Kentucky, arrested D.B., a Bullitt County resident, on Oct. 22, 2014, without probable cause to believe that D.B had committed a crime and that Corder unlawfully entered D.B.’s home to effect the arrest.

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The indictment further alleges that on Oct. 23, 2014, Corder charged D.B. with two crimes that he did not commit, and included false and misleading information in the charging document that caused D.B. to be detained in jail pending resolution of the charges. The charges, disorderly conduct and fleeing and evading, were eventually dismissed.

If convicted, Corder faces a maximum statutory punishment of 10 years of imprisonment on the first charge and one year of imprisonment on the second charge.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and Corder is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Louisville Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory of the Western District of Kentucky, and Trial Attorney Christopher Perras of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

After the Speedway on Paris Pike was robbed for the fourth time in a week, police have arrested two men they say are responsible for the most recent robbery.

Police say that the men that they arrested are not connected to the other three robberies that happened.

The robbery happened just before 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning. LEX 18 was there as both men were arrested in the front yard of a home on Cane Run Road. Police say they chased the suspect to that home after one of the two men held up the Speedway at gunpoint and demanded cash.

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Arrested were, William Joseph Riley and Joshua Wayne Rector. Both are charged with robbery, fleeing and evading, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and unrelated warrants.

While this case is closed, the other three robberies from this week are not. They are still searching for the suspect captured on surveillance footage.

If you have information on the other robberies, you are asked to call police.

An arrest has been made in a deadly accident.

87-year-old Earl Manley was hit head-on on KY-11 on his way to the doctor in Montgomery County back in June. Deputies say a pickup truck, driven by Jennifer Pelfrey of Nicholas County, crossed the center line killing Manley.

“For some reason, crossed over and stuck him head on. You know, I mean, how do you avoid that? You get up in the morning, you want to go to town…you expect to come home,” Montgomery County Sheriff Fred Shortridge said at the time.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Now, Pelfrey has been arrested and charged with murder and DUI.

Two other people in the pickup were treated at a local hospital and released.

Five people have pleaded guilty to charges related to defrauding Ohio’s workers compensation system, the state’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said Monday.

As a result of investigations conducted by the bureau’s special investigations department, four people have pleaded guilty for working while receiving benefits and one person has pleaded guilty for improperly receiving dependent death benefits, bureau administrator and CEO Steve Buehrer said in a statement.

Also in November, Sandra Houshel pleaded guilty to one first-degree misdemeanor count of workers comp fraud for waitressing at a restaurant while collecting temporary total disability benefits for a workplace injury, the statement says. She has already paid $3,369.24 in restitution.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

Meanwhile, Rachel Madison was eligible to receive death benefits up to age 25 as long as she was enrolled at an accredited educational institution, according to the statement. However, investigators found that she did not attend classes and was not enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Akron, despite submitting proof of enrollment to the bureau to continue receiving benefits. She has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for five years of community control, and is required to pay $12,319.98 in restitution, the statement says.

“Identifying and weeding out fraud is an essential part of not only maintaining fairness, but keeping workers comp costs manageable for Ohio employers,” Mr. Buehrer said in the statement.

The bureau is Ohio’s monopoly workers comp insurer, providing coverage to more than 254,000 Ohio employers, according to the bureau’s website.

Lexington Police are investigating an armed robbery at Speedway gas station for the third time this week.

The Speedway on Paris Pike was robbed around 3:20 Wednesday morning.

Police say the lone clerk was taking a smoke break when she was approached with a man carrying a metal pipe. That suspect demanded money. That matches the MO of the robberies that happened here on Sunday and Friday nights but police can’t say for sure if these are related.

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“We’ve looked at the video from the ones from the past weekend on Friday, I think the last one was on Sunday and then the one tonight and we can’t tell if they’re related or not. Their description vary slightly so we can’t say if they’re related or not,” Lt. Matthew Greathouse told LEX 18.

The weapons have all been different as well.  The suspect or suspects in question have used a bat, knife and a pipe. The suspect is described as a black man, wearing a purple knit cap, black jacket, dark jeans and dark boots. Police will be testing that pipe for evidence.