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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

83-year-old with dementia missing

Warner (The Spokesman-Review)

Police are asking for help finding an elderly man who hasn’t been heard from since Wednesday.

James H. Warner, 83, suffers from dementia and told his nephew he wasn’t feeling well Wednesday, according to Spokane Valley police. He didn’t answer his phone Thursday and wasn’t home when officers stopped by Friday evening.

Warner’s cats hadn’t been cared for, and his 2005 maroon Buick LaCrosse was missing, according to police.

The car’s Washington license plate is 255TVI. Warner has no other relatives in the area but frequented the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley before having heart surgery, his nephew told police.

spokane

Molestation suspect will be extradited

A 69-year-old fugitive wanted by Canadian authorities in connection with sex crimes that occurred 18 years ago agreed to be extradited Friday at a hearing in Spokane before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno.

Dudley Morgan Taylor was arrested Sept. 18 at a rural home near Tonasket by the Eastern Washington Fugitive Task Force.

Deputy U.S. marshals will hand him over to Canadian authorities at the border.

He was charged in 1990 in Whitehorse, Yukon, with three counts of child molestation, but fled Canada. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

After living near Rainier, Wash., he bought property on Cayuse Mountain Road near Tonasket about 10 years ago and lived there using the name Dwayne Taylor, authorities said.

For years, he has been receiving a $550-a-month medical disability pension from the Canadian government. Canadian law enforcement authorities learned last summer that the fugitive was living in north-central Washington, apparently using his brother’s name.

Taylor reportedly had said he would never go to jail again or be taken alive by authorities, court documents said, but he was arrested without incident by task force agents. They found three rifles and three handguns in the remote home.

Secret shopper mailing a scam

Beware of a secret shopper solicitation that offers a check up front, police say. It’s a scam.

“The potential victim is sent a check to be cashed at Wal-Mart using the MoneyGram payment system,” Spokane police Officer Teresa Fuller said.

A letter tells the victim to cash the check, keep $400 as “evaluation training pay,” and send the rest – $3,500 – back to the company that sent the check. The letter also tells the potential victim to include an evaluation of the service at MoneyGram.

The mailings are random, Fuller said, and anyone who receives them is urged to report it to authorities.

“This complainant took the appropriate action, but others who chose to try and cash the check could be charged with forgery,” she said.

Coeur d’Alene

Attorney gets 15 months for fraud

A Coeur d’Alene attorney who paid cash for a new Corvette shortly after declaring bankruptcy has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

Craig Odegaard, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of bankruptcy fraud in July for concealing assets in his 2004 bankruptcy.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill imposed two years of supervised release after the prison term and ordered $2,600 in fines.

Odegaard had been a bankruptcy attorney who had filed more than 600 bankruptcy cases when he declared bankruptcy himself in 2004. After his purchase of the $48,000 Corvette was discovered, he sold it and used the money to help pay off his creditors.

From staff reports