Cave explorer’s body recovered
Rescuers on Saturday recovered the remains of an amateur explorer who died 41 years ago in a treacherous cavern, closing a memorable chapter in American caving history.
The body of James Mitchell had been locked inside Schroeder’s Pants Cave since Feb. 13, 1965, when the 23-year-old Massachusetts chemist died of exposure while hanging from a harness above a cavern inside the cave.
Christian Lyon, 36, a Dolgeville native whose grandfather discovered the cave in 1947, had the blessing of Mitchell’s family and local officials to recover the body, and he filmed the event for a documentary.
It took six workers about four hours Saturday to finish the recovery of Mitchell’s bones, which were scattered at the bottom of a 75-foot drop-off.
Bunkie, La.
Son’s terror arrest baffles father
The father of a man accused last week in a terrorism conspiracy case said Saturday he was at a loss to explain how his son was suspected of leading such a group.
“He’s not in his right mind, I’ll tell you that,” Narcisse Batiste, 72, at his home in central Louisiana.
His 32-year-old son, Narseal, and six other men were arrested Thursday in a Miami warehouse. Federal authorities said the men had no explosives and lacked adequate funding, with their only link to al-Qaida being an FBI informant fronting as a member of the terrorist group.
Their alleged plot to blow up the 110-floor tower in Chicago and government buildings around Miami was labeled “more aspirational than operational” by FBI officials.
Narseal Batiste was accused of being the group’s ringleader.
Investigators said all members of the alleged plot were in custody on conspiracy charges.
Salt Lake City
Polygamy charges may be dropped
A prosecutor is considering postponing or dropping cases against eight residents of a polygamous community charged with sex offenses involving marriages to underage girls because he is having trouble locating witnesses.
The cases involve members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in the neighboring towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, whose followers believe plural marriage is necessary to earn heavenly exaltation.
The first trial – of Kelly Fischer, 39 – is scheduled to begin July 5 in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman, Ariz., with one for Dale Evans Barlow, 48, to follow on July 11.
However, Mohave County attorney Matt Smith said he’s not sure whether any witnesses are available.
“So far, we haven’t been able to serve the victims in either case,” Smith said Friday. “We’ve not had any luck serving people. They are running; they are hiding; they are changing houses; they are not answering the door.”
Deputies were able to serve only one of four subpoenas on potential witnesses during a search of homes in Colorado City on May 25, Smith said.
The eight men have pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.