Someone’s going door to door in Laurel County fund-raising for the East Bernstadt Fire Department, but firefighters say it’s a scam.

The suspected scammers seem to be working their way down Old Richmond Road and Star Hill in East Bernstadt hitting neighbors like Kevin Joseph who says the two asked his family for donations.

“Wouldn’t show a badge or nothing, didn’t have a fire department shirt on, no ID so I said no we’re not going to loan you money,” said Joseph, who reported the incident right away.

He’s one of several people who called East Bernstadt Fire Chief Darren Pennington, alerting him to the scam.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

“They said it’s a male and female in a silver car, possibly a Chevrolet, that’s been coming up to them and asking for donations for East Bernstadt Fire Department,” said Chief Pennington.

Chief Pennington says while his department does rely on donations they never go door to door. Instead, they do it by mail.

“We just sent the letters out last month and now here they are going door to door so people’s going to think well what do they want? We just sent them money in the mail. Now here they are door to door,” said Chief Pennington.

As a volunteer department, donations go a long way so losing out could be detrimental.

“We have to replace it every 10 years, all of your personal protective equipment and you’re looking at thousands of dollars for each man to replace that so the donations help tremendously there,” said Chief Pennington.

Firefighters aren’t sure if the duo successfully scammed anyone out of money, but the sheriff’s office is now investigating.

Anyone who was approached about giving a donation should not give and instead should call the east Bernstadt Fire Department or Laurel County Sheriff’s office to report the incident.

The Kane County Drug Task Force concluded an investigation of an internet scammer, who had not only preyed on a local business, but had defrauded other unsuspecting people in multiple states.

Vince Barbagallo, 39, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, would ‘sell’ merchandise on the Internet. The problem was once the purchase was made, no such product was delivered. Barbagallo had also lived in Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee. He would scam people, then move to avoid prosecution.

http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html

The items he offered for sale often had large price tags, but he usually kept the price under $10,000, so as not to be on the FBI’s radar, among them specialty tech equipment and heavy equipment.

In January 2014, Barbagallo, acting as a heavy equipment broker, allegedly received a check for $27,900 from a Henry County Tennessee farmer for an unspecified piece of equipment owned by another man. Barbagallo took the money and left.

The Kane County Sheriff’s office was made aware of the ruse in Kanab over a year ago, when local internet business Xpressweb was victimized. The item of intended purchase was a fiber optic splicer. It was purchased for approximately $10,000, but no product was delivered.

The KCSO Task Force went after the guy. Internet fraud is no small crime to investigate. Detective Dan Watson gave credit to the Sheriff’s Office and county prosecutor for being supportive on a crime that often times is considered difficult, time-consuming and expensive to pursue. Since the crime was interstate, it usually would go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but the agency declined investigating.

“We located him and e-mailed him concerning an equipment purchase,” explained Watson on how they caught him.

“After being caught, Barbagallo would steal from one victim to pay restitution to another victim, thereby avoiding prosecution. He was taking advantage of these people,” said Watson.

Barbagallo pleaded guilty to fraud in Kane County, a second degree felony, and is currently in the Kane County Public Safety Facility serving his sentence of 45 days and restitution.

The Bedford Police Department has asked for the public’s help in finding a missing person who may be in need of her medication.

Sherridon Simms was reported missing on Friday.  At that point, her family said she had not been seen in two days.

Simms, 27, is known to frequent the Cuyahoga County libraries and uses the RTA bus system.

She has no distinguishing marks or tattoos.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Anyone who has seen Simms or knows her whereabouts is asked to call the Beford Police Department at 440-232-1235.

The Delta Police Department is asking for help in finding a man from Cedaredge who has gone missing.

Around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, the Delta Police Department received a report of a missing person.

Zacharias E. McEwen, 68, of Cedaredge, walked away from an adult day care facility near 14th and Howard Streets sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

The report included information that McEwen suffers from Dementia and advanced Parkinson’s. He needs medication, but reports said he walked away from the facility without the medicine and with no way to provide for himself.

McEwen is 5’6” to 5’8” approximately, 140-180 pounds, has green eyes and mostly gray short hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a dark gray v-neck t-shirt.

He was last seen near 10th Street between Howard Street and Grand Avenue.

There is concern that McEwen is not able to move around or walk due to his illness and not having his medicine.

Anyone with any information on the location of McEwen is encouraged to contact the Delta Police Department at 970-874-7676 or Delta Dispatch Center 970-874-2015.

Louisville police have arrested a man they say killed a 19-year-old man and left the victim’s sister in critical condition.

22-year-old Quinton Huddleston is accused of shooting and killing Joshua Gordon and shooting Gordon’s sister in the face on Monday.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Police say Huddleston had been in a relationship with the woman and the two had a history of violence.

A man has died after his vehicle overturned in a one-vehicle crash in Magoffin County Thursday afternoon.

Troopers say 24-year-old Jason Blair of Nippa, Ky., was traveling east on the Mountain Parkway when his vehicle dropped off the roadway and overturned.

http://liarcatchers.com/accident_reconstruction.html

Blair was pronounced dead at the scene by Magoffin County Coroner Mark Jenkins.

The accident remains under investigation by KSP Trooper Dustin Thompson.

Officials are looking for a man they say has tried to pass fake trucker’s checks at several businesses in Fleming County.

At his latest hit, officials say the man walked into A Day To Remember in Fleming County last Wednesday around 4 p.m., purchased some items and asked for some cash back on a check that he passed.

The check appears to be a fraudulent “truckers check,” according to the Sheriff’s Office. It’s a FirstData EFS Transcheck, common with semi-truck drivers, but the transaction number, issuer number and telephone number on the check appear to be fraudulent, and the bank will not honor the check, officials said.

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Deputies say the suspect had passed similar fraudulent checks to at least two other area businesses in Fleming County – Grime’s Greenhouse and The Pickett Fence. Each time, deputies say he purchased some merchandise and asked for cash back.

When confronted about the check possibly being fraudulent, the suspect pulled out his driver’s license and read off a license number, but that number was made up with no record on file.

He is described as a white male with dark brown hair and a brown/gray goatee, about 6-feet tall and 235 lbs wearing a gray polo and blue jean shorts and black tennis shoes with a large black tattoo the length of his left lower leg and possibly another tattoo on his left shoulder.

Deputies say the suspect was driving what appears to be a gray, newer model Chrysler 200 four-door sedan with a handicap placard on the rearview mirror and possibly a Kentucky license plate.

Officials say he was traveling with a white female with blonde hair who stayed in the car the entire time while he went inside the businesses.

Authorities say businesses are urged to ask for the customer’s driver’s license and copy down their information themselves.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fleming County Sheriff’s office.

Jacky Xu, 21, an Asian male who is 5’7″, and weighs about 125 pounds, has  been listed as an missing/endangered person.  His last contact with family was Thursday, evening,  June 12, near the First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, which is where his vehicle was found.  Xu is a New Territory resident. Anyone who has seen Jacky Xu or has information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office at 281-341-4665.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Sacramento Police spent much of the day Wednesday searching for a missing person in the Sacramento River at Sand Cove Park.

Sand Cove Park is in north Natomas, along the Garden Highway.

The missing woman is Mary Norman, 27. She entered the water around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday night while she was boating with friends.

“Nobody wants to face that. Nobody wants to face the truth. We’re hoping she’s stuck in these bushes somewhere and we find her,” Norman’s friend, Brittany Hall, told FOX40.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Police interviewed everyone on the boat and do not suspect foul play. They also believe alcohol was a factor in the accident, but do not know how much alcohol Norman drank, and do not know how much of a factor it was.

Norman’s friends say the only reason she would have gotten in the water was if she felt she was in danger.

“She got her hair done, eyelashes done,” Hall said. “She’s not jumping in the water at 10 or 11 at night – it’s not happening.”

Yolo County Sheriffs are using a boat and sonar to help their search efforts, but the search area includes trenches that go as deep as 50 feet underwater.

At this point, the file is a missing person report.

Officers halted the search late Wednesday afternoon.

The search for the missing mother of a woman indicted for stealing her dead father’s social security benefits continues in Texas.

The Brewster County Sheriff’s Office says some items found at Judith Broughton’s property in Texas have been sent for human DNA testing.

In the past few days, crews used cadaver dogs to search the Brewster County, Texas, property of Judith Broughton looking for her 80-year-old mother, Mary Elizabeth Broughton, who hasn’t been seen or heard from in about four months.

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“They did find some stuff the dogs hit on and they guarantee us that the dogs aren’t hitting on any other type of dead material other than a human,” said Brewster County Sheriff Ronnie Dodson. “And they hit on a doorway in the house and then a tarp that was outside, so we’ve gathered them up and we’re gonna send them off to have them tested for human DNA.”

The search for Mary started after a federal financial crimes investigation led to the discovery of Judith’s father’s remains inside a unit at Econo Self Storage in Lexington in January.

The 49-year-old was indicted and arrested in Texas accused of stealing a total of $150,667 in social security retirement insurance benefits paid in the name of her father, Luther D. Broughton. That number, according to officials, could actually be closer to $250,000.

Since then, officials in Texas have been searching for Judith’s mother, Mary Broughton. In May, authorities said they had exhausted every possible avenue for locating Mary.

Sheriff Dodson describes the home Judith and Mary lived in as “worse than a city dump.” He says investigators had to use hazmat suits to get around.

“We’re very suspicious of her disappearance. Not that she, you know, was hurt or harmed, but maybe her body was disposed of,” Sheriff Dodson said.

It’s a mystery that Sheriff Dodson just wants to solved, and fast.

As for the death of Luther Broughton, the Fayette County Coroner’s Office says the cause and manner of death are listed as “undetermined” as they wait for the results of toxicology tests.