In brief: No apparent damage to Shell ship
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard says an inspection of a Shell drilling ship that lost its mooring and drifted toward the shore of an Alaska island shows no signs of damage or grounding.
Petty Officer Sara Francis said the Coast Guard will review photos of the hull of the 571-foot Noble Discoverer taken by a remote-operated vehicle.
Spokesman Curtis Smith said the company is bringing in divers to check on the ship.
Francis said the vessel came within 100 yards of shore Saturday in Dutch Harbor before it was towed farther offshore. But a boat captain said the ship was much closer.
Kristjan Laxfoss said the vessel was not moving and appeared grounded when he took photos of it. He said they show it was closer to the shore.
Police seek man in deaths of two women
BLISSFIELD, Mich. – A nationwide search was under way Sunday for a 38-year-old ex-convict from Ohio suspected of shooting his ex-girlfriend and her sister to death and wounding their mother in Michigan.
State police Lt. Mardella Horhn said Thomas J. Fritz, of Sylvania, Ohio, hasn’t been charged but is wanted for questioning. Fritz was released from an Ohio prison in 2008 after serving a 1-year sentence for criminal sexual conduct.
“Fritz may be en route to Ohio,” state police Detective Sgt. Marc Moore said in a statement. “He is believed to be armed and dangerous. Citizens should contact police immediately and not approach him.”
Lisa Gritzmaker, 24, Amy Merrill, 34, and their mother were shot at Merrill’s home about 11:40 p.m. Friday in Blissfield, located about 20 miles northwest of Toledo, Ohio.
The mother was conscious and expected to live. State police have not released her name.
Police said Fritz was Merrill’s estranged boyfriend.
Fritz is a white male, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 186 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He was reported to be driving a burgundy or maroon 2002 four-door Honda with Ohio plates EQP8075.
Body recovered after Canada landslide
JOHNSONS LANDING, B.C. – Police say emergency crews have found the body of one of four people missing after a massive landslide crushed several homes in a tiny western Canada town.
British Columbia’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Sunday that an adult male body was recovered near a home swept away by the landslide in the small hamlet of Johnsons Landing in B.C.
At least three homes were crushed after a wall of rock, mud and trees cascaded down the side of a mountain earlier this week.
Two sisters, aged 17 and 22, and their father have been missing since the slide struck last Thursday.
A female German tourist was also believed to have been caught in the debris.
Two more deaths on Italy’s Mont Blanc
ROME – Two more climbers have died on Mont Blanc following the deaths of nine people last week in a massive avalanche, rescue crews in Italy and France said Sunday.
An Italian Alpine rescue team military official said the bodies of a Polish woman and Spanish man were found 14,436 feet up on the Dome du Gouter peak on the Italian-French border Saturday night after spending more than 24 hours in a snow hole.
Rescue services said the man and woman had been climbing with two Spaniards when they were caught in bad weather Friday night. The Spaniards managed to reach the Gouter mountain refuge earlier Saturday and alerted authorities who sent help.