Joseph Duncan

Investigators are now reviewing unsolved missing children cases nationwide for possible links to kidnapping and murder suspect Joseph Edward Duncan III. Typically, the arrest of a violent sexual predator would prompt a regional review of unsolved cases, said FBI Special Agent Brent Robbins. But in Duncan's case, the FBI decided to ask for a massive review of cases nationwide.

Two Denny's employees were rewarded Thursday for their role in the rescue of Shasta Groene earlier this month, but her father thinks another rescuer was shortchanged and is considering giving him his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The Kootenai County Sheriff's Department awarded $4,315 each to Amber Deahn, the Coeur d'Alene Denny's waitress who recognized Shasta, and to her manager Linda Olson, who told the 911 dispatcher that a customer in the restaurant looked a lot like the missing Coeur d'Alene girl.

Four workers at Kootenai Medical Center were disciplined recently for violating Shasta Groene's privacy, after they viewed her medical records even though they weren't part of her medical team. The four were among 1,000 KMC employees with security passwords that allow them access to medical records that are now electronic, Tom Legel, KMC's vice president for finances and information systems, said Wednesday. KMC began moving its paper patient files to computers 15 months ago and completed the job last September, Legel said.

John Tuggle walked into a convenience store on Wednesday, past his own wanted poster hanging on the door, to ask a clerk behind the counter about packaged hotdogs. After Tuggle – accused of stabbing his daughter – left, the clerk called the police, who apprehended him a few blocks away. The scenario is reminiscent of the Denny's customers and employees who spotted Shasta Groene with Joseph Duncan III earlier this month, ending a weeks-long search for the missing child and the man who kidnapped her and killed members of her family.

The recent murder and kidnapping case in Coeur d'Alene's back yard depressed children's advocate Tinka Schaffer, but she also saw an opportunity in the accompanying publicity to help teach children about sexual abuse. The man charged with the crimes, Joseph E. Duncan III, is a registered sex offender with a history of molesting children.

BOISE – Idaho's sex offender law has a major gap – it methodically identifies the worst, most violent offenders who are most likely to reoffend, but then allows them to live unsupervised in the community. Designated "violent sexual predators" are deemed the most dangerous – there are only 31, out of the 2,562 registered sex offenders in Idaho.

John Adams and Lynn Nelson appear to have a thankless job. The two criminal defense attorneys are representing Joseph E. Duncan III, the 42-year-old sex offender who's facing multiple murder and kidnapping charges in the bludgeoning deaths of two adults and a child in May.