In brief: ‘Missing’ woman regrets trouble
Anu Solanki wanted out of her marriage, so the 24-year-old met a male friend at a forest preserve on Christmas Eve, jumped into his car and fled for what she hoped would be a new life in Southern California.
Only days later, she told investigators, did she learn that her disappearance had made headlines and prompted a costly search by authorities, who had feared that Solanki might have drowned in a river.
“She expressed regret and embarrassment,” Cook County sheriff’s spokesman Bill Cunningham said Saturday, a day after Solanki flew back to Chicago from Los Angeles and spoke to investigators for several hours. “She claims she in no way meant to deceive people into thinking she fell into the Des Plaines River.”
Authorities spent about $250,000 on their search, which included divers and a helicopter. Her family also handed out fliers with Solanki’s picture.
Police will meet with prosecutors soon to determine if Solanki broke any laws, but Cunningham declined to say what charges she could possibly face.
Nairobi, Kenya
Riots protest delay in counting ballots
Thousands of Kenyans enraged over delays in announcing the country’s next president burned down homes and attacked political rivals with sticks and machetes on Saturday, tainting a vote that initially was seen as a beacon of hope for democracy in Africa.
Three people were shot dead during protests in Migori, 360 miles west of Nairobi, said area police chief Grace Kaindi. In the capital Nairobi, hundreds of supporters of opposition candidate Raila Odinga marching on the electoral commission were beaten back by police using tear gas.
With votes in 180 of 210 constituencies counted, Odinga clung to his razor-thin lead by 38,000 votes. Despite pleas from both parties to release final results quickly, electoral commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu suspended announcing tallies for the night, promising to look into allegations of rigging from both sides.
Thursday’s vote pitted incumbent President Mwai Kibaki against Odinga, a flamboyant millionaire who cast himself as a champion of the poor.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Angry customer shoots up Hooters
A customer who was upset over his tab fired several shots into a Hooters restaurant Saturday, killing one person and seriously wounding a manager, police said.
Police were searching for the man, who left on foot just after midnight, Lt. Kenny Miller said.
Managers asked the man to leave after he refused to pay his bill. He then went outside and started firing a .40-caliber handgun at the building, police said.
The shots hit another customer identified as 35-year-old Stacey Sherman, of Applegate, Mich. Sherman, who police believed was visiting family for the holidays, died later at a hospital.