The same day she was sworn into service, Clark-Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force drug detection dog Piper helped nab one of the task force’s largest drug seizures to date, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies, task force officers, and the Multnomah County Special Investigations Unit arrested three people and seized more than 25 pounds of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, $220,000 in cash, guns and two cars Wednesday evening, the sheriff’s office said.

http://liarcatchers.com/drugdogsweeps.html

Investigators received word Wednesday that Miguel Trujeque Magna, 32, and Juana Santiago Santos, 23, both of Mexico, would be traveling north of Vancouver to buy drugs, according to the sheriff’s office.

Officers followed the two north to the Seattle area, where they met with Luciano Molina Rios, 45, also of Mexico, and allegedly observed the three counting money and making some kind of transaction.

The three drove two cars back to Clark County, and deputies pulled the three over as they passed the Northeast 179th Street exit along Interstate 5. There, deputies reported, they found 2 pounds of heroin and arrested the three.

That evening, officers searched a home at Evergreen Park Apartments in east Vancouver.

There, they reported finding firearms — including a stolen assault-style rifle — cash and 6.5 pounds of heroin, 3.8 pounds of cocaine and 15.4 pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators estimated the total street value of the drugs at $270,000.

The bust was the first for the drug task force’s new drug detection dog, black Lab Piper, who was commissioned earlier Wednesday.

She was “instrumental in the discovery of the drugs and weapons and the successful conclusion of this investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.

Two-year-old Piper is the task force’s first drug dog in 14 years. The unit bought and trained her for about $15,000, using grant money and confiscated cash.

On Tuesday, her first day on the job, and the day before she was sworn in, she helped officers sniff out drugs hidden in a home in Battle Ground.

Rios was arrested on suspicion of three counts of possession a controlled substance with the intent to deliver methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine; unlawful possession of a firearm; possession of a stolen firearm; maintaining a drug dwelling; and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the intent to deliver heroin.

Magna was arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession of controlled substance with the intent to deliver heroin and cocaine; unlawful possession of a firearm; and criminal impersonation.

Santos was arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver heroin and cocaine.

The former owner of a local auto business was sentenced yesterday to 51 months in prison for a scheme that defrauded two insurance companies and netted her $200,000.  Lisa Ephrem, 40, of Happy Valley, pleaded guilty in February to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Beginning in 2011, Ephrem obtained group life insurance policies for fictitious employees of her wholesale automobile business, Carr City, located in Portland, Oregon.  Ephrem provided false information to the insurance company victims – Standard Insurance Company and LifeMap Assurance Company – claiming that certain people were employees, when in fact they were not.   Shortly after the issuance of the policies, Ephrem submitted life insurance claims for the death of six purported employees.  Between January 2012, and May 2012, Ephrem submitted eight life insurance claims to Standard and LifeMap totaling $660,000.  Standard and LifeMap each paid $100,000 for the death of one purported employee, but denied subsequent claims.

http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html

Standard and LifeMap conducted internal investigations and determined that Ephrem had lied (the people were real, and had in fact died, but had not been Carr City employees), and contacted federal investigators.  Despite the results of Standard’s and LifeMap’s internal investigations that determined Ephrem’s claims were fraudulent, Ephrem persisted and filed civil lawsuits against both insurance companies seeking payment for the claims.  Those lawsuits were eventually dismissed, but cost Standard and Lifemap more than $150,000 in costs and attorney fees.

In sentencing Ephrem to the high end of the sentencing guideline range, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman noted Ephrem’s extensive criminal history which included bank fraud, and told her she was a grown woman who had “free rein” with her criminal tendencies.  He also ordered Ephrem to pay more than $280,000 to Standard and LifeMap for restitution.

Ephrem was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by December 17, 2015.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Helen Cooper as part of a partnership venture between the Seattle Region, SSA Office of the General Counsel and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, Oregon.

A 21-year-old Everett woman has not been seen since Monday and her husband in the Navy is flying back to the area to help search for her.

Kaliene Knight, whose maiden name is Kopp, was last seen at her Everett apartment by her roommates. Everett police told KIRO 7 they received a missing person report but have very little information.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

One of her roommates, Isabella Camacho-Hinojoza, said she talked with Knight regularly every day. She said Knight may have been feeling a bit down but she was excited for her husband to return soon from being stationed in San Diego.

Camacho-Hinojoza said Knight had quit her job at a bikini barista stand on Sunday. The roommates had given Knight about $400 in rent money Monday, and they discussed Knight going to Costco that evening to pick up supplies for the apartment.

“By the time we had returned later on that evening – about 9 o’clock – she had not returned,” Camacho-Hinojoza said.

That evening, Knight had spoken with her husband by phone.

Her sister, Jackie Bray, said he could tell she sounded a bit sad. She said he called her back shortly after their first conversation, and she told him she was at the Evergreen Cemetery.

“Sort of gave off the vibe that she wanted to be left alone, which I think he was respectful of. But nobody’s heard from her since,” Bray said.

Bray explained that Knight used to go to that cemetery with a group of friends for fun when she was younger. As a teen, Bray said Knight would sometimes disappear but would always be in touch within a day or so.

Since Monday night, however, “Everybody that I’ve reached out to has absolutely no idea. It’s almost like thin air,” Bray said.

Knight has not answered her phone but it seemed to be on for about 30 hours before calls started going to voicemail.

The second suspect in an armed robbery has been arrested by Somerset Police.

Lenzee M.Cox had been on the run since October 19. On that date, Cox and Albert Swihart are accused of robbing the Goodwill and locking store employees inside a bathroom. The two fled from officers when confronted by a sheriff’s deputy on West Columbia Street in Somerset.

Swihart initially ran from officers on foot, but shot and killed himself in the driveway of a nearby residence.

http://liarcatchers.com/contact.php

Cox has been missing for the past three weeks. After multiple tips, officers located Cox hiding in a trailer in Bronston.

Cox was taken in on an outstanding arrest warrant and charged with robbery, burglary and unlawful imprisonment.  21-year-old Gregory A. Coots was also charged with hindering apprehension second degree. Police say Coots aided Cox by helping her hide from officers at his trailer.

Both were lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center.

A Wichita Falls acupuncturist was sentenced to two years deferred adjudication in the 89th District Court Thursday morning for a July 2014 incident involving insurance fraud.

David Wong, 68, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of insurance fraud greater than $20,000 and less than $100,000 — a third-degree felony.

http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html

According to a court affidavit:

In July 2014, Wong, “with intent to defraud or deceive an insurer, namely, Blue Cross Blue Shield,” sought to receive payment for services valued between $100,000 and $200,000 — a second-degree felony.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has issued an endangered person advisory for a missing 82-year-old woman from Fairfax.

Agents say Irma Kathleen Myrick hasn’t been seen since she left her home on Tuesday around 9 a.m.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Myrick is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. She has blue eyes, wears glasses and has a scare on her left forearm.

She’s believed to be driving a 2002 Honda Accord with South Carolina plate number 1724HK. It has a “I Love Public Library” bumper sticker.

People who have information should call 9-1-1.

A Jackson County woman was arrested after police say she tried to burn down a house, while her boyfriend was inside.

“They had had a verbal argument and he had made her mad,” said Constable Billy Abner. “So she had set the house on fire, with him in it.”

Abner says that Patsy Jones and Jack Jones had been dating for about ten years but aren’t married. The lived together in a house off of Lunsford Road that Patsy owned.

http://liarcatchers.com/arson_investigation.html

About a month ago, Abner says Jack moved out due to tensions with Patsy. He started renting a house about 100 yards away from Patsy’s.

After a verbal dispute around 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, officers say Jack left the property to blow off steam.

“His girlfriend had asked him to come retrieve his property from the home that he’s renting from her and he went to retrieve it,” Abner told LEX 18’s Joe Ducey. “And he was in the back room retrieving it and Ms. Jones came through the front door and lit the house on fire.”

Jack escaped the house unharmed.

“While he was leaving the property in his vehicle, she was in hers attempted to ram his vehicle and made contact several times,” said Abner.

Patsy admitted to what she did when officers arrived at the scene.

They say that alcohol played a role in the incident. Patsy Jones is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center, facing first degree arson, wanton endangerment and criminal mischief.

She is expected to appear in court early next week.

A registered sex offender from Chilton County last week got the same prison sentence his wife had gotten weeks earlier for the same crime – 119 years in prison for sodomy and sexual abuse of a 9-year-old boy.

Lyndon Minot, 56, was sentenced on Oct. 26 by Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff Circuit Judge David Hobdy to the maximum allowed – 99 years for sodomy and 20 years for sexual abuse, according to court records.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

Minot had been convicted Sept. 18 on the charges.

Minot’s wife, Toni Jo Minot, 40, of Verbena, was also sentenced by Hobdy on Sept. 30 to 119 years in prison. She had been convicted by a Bessemer Cutoff jury on Aug. 19.

The Minots, who had maintained their innocence, will not be eligible for parole because the victim was under 12 when the crimes happened.

The victim in both cases was the same 9-year old boy. The incidents the Minots were convicted of occurred in the Bessemer Cutoff of Jefferson County in 2008 and 2009.

Lyndon Minot has been a registered sex offender since he pleaded guilty in 1999 to first-degree sexual abuse, court records show. The victim in that case was an 8-year-old boy, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Community Information Center.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Schiffman, after Ms. Minot’s sentencing, had called  the Minots’ marriage “a marriage made in hell.”

An Alabama boy who vanished 13 years ago when he was five inadvertently solved his own missing person case when he applied to college.

Julian Hernandez, now an 18-year-old high school senior, was found alive in Ohio after he and his guidance counselor probed why several universities couldn’t verify the student’s social security number. His father Bobby Hernandez was arrested Monday on abduction charges, officials said.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

The boy’s mother reported him missing from their Vestavia Hills, Ala., home in 2002. Authorities suspected little Julian’s father took the tot to Florida, but they could never track down the pair.

In reality, the Hernandezes ended up in Cleveland, where they used aliases. The father went by Jonathan Mangina and neighbors knew his son as Jay Jay,Newsnet 5 reported.

This fall, Julian began applying to college. But his applications bounced back — the schools said his name and social security numbers didn’t match up. The teen and his school counselor began searching for answers, even running his information though the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s database.

That’s when they found the missing poster from 2002.

Special Agent Vicki Anderson of the FBI’s Cleveland Division said someone tipped them off on Friday about the teen.

Alabama police are now working to extradite Bobby Hernandez from Ohio.

“I’ve been doing this 25 years and it’s something I’ve never experienced before,” Lt. Johnny Evans, of Vestavia Hills police, told WVTM. “That’s the reason you never give up and you keep looking.”

It’s not clear if Julian, who is now an adult, will be reunited with his mother — or where he might go to college next year.