A South Carolina man who was reported missing at sea in January was picked up by a German cargo ship off the North Carolina coast on Thursday.

The crew of the Houston Express reported finding the overturned 35-foot sailboat, Angel, at about 1:30 p.m. about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras. On the boat’s hull was Louis Jordan, 37, whose family had reported him missing to the Coast Guard on Jan. 29.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crew from Elizabeth City flew to the Houston Express, hoisted Jordan aboard and took him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia, according to the Coast Guard.

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Jordan had an injured shoulder but had managed to keep himself fed during his months at sea, said Lt. Krystyn Pecora, spokeswoman for the Coast Guard Fifth District in Portsmouth, Va.

“From what he told us on the phone, he was catching fish and collecting rain water and drinking it,” Pecora said.

The Coast Guard still needs to interview Jordan to find out what happened to him and the Angel, Pecora said.

Jordan had set sail from a marina on the Wacamaw River near Conway, S.C., said Ryan Doss, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Seventh District in Miami, Fla., which handled the initial search for him. Jordan’s father contacted the Coast Guard on Jan. 29 to say he had not heard from his son in a week and to ask if the Coast Guard had come across him, Doss said.

Jordan’s mother called a week later to say he was still missing and to ask for help finding him. In addition to alerting its own ships and aircraft, the Coast Guard began contacting marinas, bridge operators and refueling stations from Miami to New Jersey, asking people to keep an eye out for him, Doss said.

“We didn’t know where he was going,” he said. “Without that critical piece of information, a good portion of the Atlantic Ocean becomes your search area.”

The Coast Guard also began monitoring the use of Jordan’s credit card, cellphone and social media for clues about where he might be and encouraged his family to file a missing person’s report with police in case he showed up on land, Doss said.

But no one heard from him until Thursday, when the 1,085-foot container ship came upon his disabled sailboat.

Police issued a missing person alert for a 51-year-old man who is both bi-polar and schizophrenic. Jerry Stewart, of Fredericksburg, was last seen March 26 around 9 a.m. Stewart’s family told police left his home in the Mayfield neighborhood to catch a bus to Planet Fitness in the Eagle Village Shopping Center.

“This trip was an almost daily routine for Mr. Stewart,” Fredericksburg Police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said. “Jerry never made it to Planet Fitness and it is unknown if he boarded the bus. His family has not seen or heard from him since.”

Stewart is described as a black man approximately 5’6” and 145 pounds. He wears glasses and he was last seen wearing a gray sweat suit.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

“Mr. Stewart has a number of medical conditions that make his disappearance of particular concern,” Bledsoe said. “He has high blood pressure, and he is also diagnosed as bi-polar and schizophrenic. Mr. Stewart does not have any of his medications with him.”

Anyone who sees Mr. Stewart is asked to call the Fredericksburg Police Department at 540-373-3122.

Two have been arrested in the investigation into a Wayne County woman’s disappearance, but the search continues.

Officials confirmed Thursday morning that Eugenia Schell and Christopher Pearce were arrested this week in the ongoing investigation of Willie Joe Vaughn disappearance.

Schell, Vaughn’s daughter, was arrested for charges of aggravated stalking and false statements while her boyfriend, Pearce, is also facing false statements charges. Vaughn also has a restraining order against her daughter.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Vaughn was reported missing on March 26 and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office officials said that searches are ongoing by air, water and land.

In the ongoing attempt to find Vaughn, officials are also looking for her car, a white 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The car’s tag reads PD9HQY.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 912-427-5970.

A Detroit mother was charged Wednesday with murder and torture in the slayings of two of her children whose bodies were found last week in a deep freezer inside the family’s eastside apartment.

The new charges against Mitchelle Blair, 35, include two counts each of felony murder, premeditated murder and torture, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said in a news release.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Blair was arraigned last week on five counts of first-degree child abuse, but amended charges were expected after the Wayne County medical examiner’s office classified the deaths of Stoni Ann Blair and Stephen Gage Berry as homicides. The office said both died from multiple blows and that Stephen also had “thermal injuries.”

Blair will be arraigned Thursday on the updated charges during a probable cause hearing. The murder charges carry mandatory life in prison upon conviction. Her attorney, Wyatt Harris, declined to comment Wednesday. Blair is jailed on a $1 million bond.

Court officers who were carrying out an eviction March 24 found the frozen corpses in a deep freezer at the home in the Martin Luther King Apartments.

Investigators believe Stephen was 9 when he died in August 2012 and that Stoni was 13 when she died the following May.

Blair’s surviving children, a 17-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, have been placed into a relative’s care. The state also made a filing last week to end Blair’s parental rights.

The 17-year-old told child welfare officials that their mother tortured Stephen “for approximately two weeks prior to his death by tying a belt around his neck, throwing hot water on him while in the shower and putting a plastic bag over his head.”

In the court filing, the state Department of Human Services said the 17-year-old also told them that after Blair killed Stephen, his body was wrapped in a bed linen and put in the freezer.

The daughter told officials that in May 2013, Stoni incensed their mother by saying she didn’t like either of the surviving siblings, and the mother strangled Stoni with a T-shirt and placed a plastic bag over her mouth.

The oldest girl said she was forced her to put her sister’s body in the freezer, the agency wrote.

Madison County Detention Center officials confirm that a man has walked away from a work release program.

Officers are searching for Sam Isaacs. He is 48-year-old white male standing 5 feet 9 inches tall. Isaacs weighs 160 pounds. He has white hair and green eyes.

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Isaacs is serving a sentence for slander and contempt of court related to unpaid child support.

If you have information on his whereabouts contact police.

Criminals are proficient in stealing the personally identifiable information (PII) of individuals to facilitate various fraud activities, including using stolen identity information to file fraudulent tax returns. Once the fraudsters obtain victim PII, they electronically file tax returns and set up pre-paid debit cards or bank accounts to route fraudulent returns. The balances on the pre-paid cards and bank accounts are depleted shortly after the tax refund is issued.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

The fraudsters utilize multiple methods to obtain the information needed to file a tax return. The most popular methods include: computer intrusion, the online purchase of stolen PII, the recruitment of insiders who have legitimate access to sensitive information, the physical theft of computers that contain PII, the impersonation of Internal Revenue Service personnel, and the aggregation of information that is obtained through multiple publicly available Web sites.

Recent open source reporting indicates that cyber criminals also target and compromise legitimate online tax software accounts of individuals. Cyber criminals conducting this scheme modify victims’ bank accounts to divert transfers to bank accounts or pre-paid cards under their control.

Victims who filed complaints with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported they discovered they were victims of tax refund fraud when they tried to file a return and were notified by the Internal Revenue Service that their Social Security Numbers had already been used to file a tax return. One individual reported that due to an error in direct deposit account information submitted on his return, he was issued a check. However, the victim had not yet filed a return. Others reported before they filed their return, they received notification that their returns were being audited or were under review.

A recent investigation identified a tax refund fraud ring responsible for filing approximately 644 fraudulent tax returns totaling over $1.9 million in attempted fraud. Using fraudulently obtained PII, the fraudsters submitted tax returns and requested the funds be deposited into bank accounts under their control. The group recruited college students to open accounts to collect the tax refund monies. The students withdrew funds via ATMs and counter withdrawals. The students then passed the majority of the funds to another group member and kept a portion of the refund as payment for the use of their bank accounts to conduct the scheme.

This type of fraud is a growing concern as the number of complaints filed with the IC3 has doubled from 2013 to 2014.

If you believe you have been a victim of this scam, you should reach out to your local IRS or FBI field office, and you may file a complaint with the IC3 at www.IC3.gov. Please provide any relevant information in your complaint.

Tips to protect yourself:

• Monitor your credit statements for any fraudulent activity.
• Report unauthorized transactions to your bank or credit card company as soon as possible.
• Review a copy of your credit report at least once a year.
• Be cautious of scams requiring you to provide your personal information.
• Do not open email or attachments from unknown individuals.
• Never provide credentials of any sort via email. This includes clicking on links sent via email. Always go to an official website.
• If you use online tax services, double check to ensure your bank account is accurately listed before and after you file your tax return.
• Ensure accounts that are no longer being utilized are properly deleted or scrubbed of sensitive information. Allowing online accounts to become dormant can be risky and make you more susceptible to tax fraud schemes.

An arrest has been made in connection to a church break-in and vehicle theft.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Michael Lee Lakes in Lexington. Lakes was allegedly caught on camera breaking in to the Union City Church and stealing a purse from a vehicle.

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Lakes was captured in Lexington.

Lakes has been charged with theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief. LEX 18 has learned that this is not the first church that Lakes has been accused of burglarizing. In 2009, Lakes was arrested for charges related to the burglarizing of three churches: two in Lexington and one in Jessamine County.

He is currently being held by the Fayette County Detention Center on Lexington police charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, parole violation and narcotics possession.

Officials released a missing person alert Wednesday evening for a man in Lakewood after he walked away from a care facility near West Colfax Avenue and Eaton Street.

Donald Robert Scharf was last seen in a red t-shirt with white letters, dark blue jeans and boots. He is a white 57 year old male, 5-foot-5 and about 157 pounds.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Scharf takes medications but did not have them with him upon disappearing. He left the care facility in an unknown direction around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and may possibly be using the light rail system.

Anyone who spots Scharf is asked to call police.

Police have charged a woman with murder in connection with the stabbing of a lawyer found dead in an upscale Washington D.C. hotel.

Jamyra Gallmon, 21, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with first-degree felony murder while armed.

The body of David Messerschmitt, 30, was found inside a fourth floor room at the trendy Donovan Hotel early on the morning of February 10.

According to court documents, officers found blood on the floor, walls and door of the room. A wallet was found next to Messerschmitt with various credit cards and identifying documents spread throughout the room.

The affidavit says credit cards, an HP computer, lubricant, condom, enema, cell phone, bedding, watch, towel, curtain and swabs were some of the evidence seized in the search. Fingerprints were also found in the room.

D.C. police had previously released surveillance video and photographs of a person of interest seen coming into the hotel and walking up some stairs the evening Messerschmitt was stabbed

The Washington Post reported that Messerschmitt lived with his wife in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The paper quoted a family friend as saying that Messerschmitt was at work at his firm’s office on Feb. 9 and left at about 5:30 p.m. According to the report, police said he texted his wife a couple of hours later to say he’d be home in an hour or so.

Messerschitt’s wife filed a missing-person report with police shortly after midnight the next day. A search-warrant affidavit seen by the Post said that police called the hotel to ask of Messerschmitt was staying there. It was not clear what evidence led police to the hotel or what Messerschmitt was doing there.

Two law enforcement officials told the Post investigators believe the motive for the killing was robbery.

Gallmon will appear before a judge at D.C. Superior Court on Thursday.