In brief: Country singer Craig Strickland’s body found in Oklahoma
The body of rising country singer Craig Strickland, who disappeared in late December after embarking on a duck hunting trip, has been found. Strickland’s wife, Helen, acknowledged the news via Twitter on Monday morning.
“#CraigStrickland was found today. He is safe with his Father in Heaven. Thank you Lord for leading us to him today. I will praise you, Amen,” she wrote. Shortly thereafter, his band’s Twitter account retweeted the news.
The country singer, who led the Fayetteville, Ark., sextet Backroad Anthem, vanished in rural Oklahoma on Dec. 27, and authorities had been searching a lake where the body of his hunting partner had been discovered last week. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Strickland’s body was found in northern Oklahoma in an area known as Bear Creek Cove.
On the day he disappeared, Strickland, whose band was just establishing itself on the national stage, retweeted a message from his hunting partner that jokingly bid farewell as they headed into foul weather.
“In case we don’t come back, @backroadCRAIG and I are going right through Winter Storm Goliath to kill ducks in Oklahoma. #IntoTheStorm.”
That message now serves as a makeshift memorial as fans virtually gather to celebrate the singer.
Britain grants asylum to tunnel walker
LONDON – A Sudanese man who was arrested after walking through the 31-mile Channel Tunnel from France to England has been granted asylum in Britain, lawyers said Monday.
Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, was detained in August near the British end of the tunnel at Folkestone in southeastern England. Police said Haroun had slipped past officers at the tunnel entrance and dodged hundreds of surveillance cameras before being spotted by British security guards.
He was charged with obstructing a railway engine or carriage under a 19th-century law, the Malicious Damage Act.
Haroun’s caseworker, Sadie Castle of law firm Kent Defence, said the British government granted him asylum on Dec. 24. At a court hearing Monday, a lawyer said prosecutors were considering whether to drop the charge in light of the decision.
Haroun, who has been detained since his arrest, was released on bail until a Jan. 18 hearing at Canterbury Crown Court.
Thousands of migrants have tried to reach Britain on trucks and freight trains through the undersea tunnel in the past year, and several have been killed in the attempt.
Operator Eurotunnel said Haroun’s walk was extremely dangerous, since trains travel through the tunnel at up to 100 mph. The company said it was disappointed the prosecution might be dropped.