Crime Time

Body found in Arlington is 2 miles north of missing woman's home; police say it's too early to speculate on identity

Arlington police searching for a woman missing since mid December found a body Thursday afternoon, but they weren’t prepared to say who the person was or even the gender.

The discovery was made in a wooded area near the 1500 block of East Abram Street.

That’s about 1.7 miles north of the home of Maria Arrocha, 77, who was last seen Dec. 18.

"The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death and identity of the person found," said Sgt. Christopher Cook, police spokesman. "At this point it would be premature to speculate on the identity of the deceased."

Cook confirmed that officers looking for Arrocha found the body.

He added that they informed Arrocha’s family about the discovery, but were careful to stress that the medical examiner would have to determine the identity.

No other information was available late Thursday.

— Bill Miller

UPDATE: Arlington man with Alzheimer's located

The 81-year-old man, who apparently walked away from his west Arlington home overnight Sunday, has been located, a police spokeswoman said.

Family members say David Eugene Musselman, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was last seen about 10 p.m. Sunday at his home at 2412 Lakeside Drive. About 4 a.m. Monday, his wife noticed that he was no longer inside the home.

Tiara Ellis Richard, the police spokeswoman, confirmed Monday evening that Musselman had been found.

According to APD's Facebook page, Mr. Mussellman was, "located safely and is home with his family.  He was found on Inez Drive (near Bowen and Pioneer) by a postal employee who was alerted by a citizen volunteer who was actively looking for him.

Last year, Musselman walked out of a north Arlington hospital and was found in Mansfield, according to reports.

-- Star-Telegram staff

Denton dad pleads guilty to fraud in case of missing boys

Edward and Linda Bryant moved from Colorado to North Texas in 2005, after two young brothers the couple adopted mysteriously disappeared. Last year, the pair was arrested for welfare fraud, accused of concealing the boys' disappearance to continue to collect welfare checks. Both have now pleaded guilty to fraud charges, a Colorado Springs newspaper reports. The couple has not been accused in the boys' disappearance, but authorities in Colorado are using cadaver dogs near the couple's former Colorado home, it reported.  Texas authorities reportedly have been cooperating in the investigation, and five other children the couple adopted, including another brother of the missing boys, were placed in the custody of Texas Child Protective Services. At the time of their arrests, Edward Bryant was working in Denton; Linda Bryant was in Lake Kiowa. Anyone with information about the case can call the Colorado sheriff's office at 719-390-5555 - Lois Norder

Missing Plano woman found dead in parking garage

A Plano woman reported missing after going to the Deep Ellum area of Dallas has been found dead in her car in a parking garage at a Plano business, police report. Police began searching for Jaclyn Weinberg, 32, after a report that she had not been seen or heard from since going to Deep Ellum. Her body was found about 5:30 p.m. Monday, police said in a news release. No details were released on a possible cause of death. The case is under investigation, according to the news release. 

Update: Woman missing after house burns

A reward of up to $1,000 has been offered for any information that leads to an arrest in the case of a 62-year-old Parker County woman who has been reported missing after a fire destroyed her home and vehicle last Thursday.

Lisa Marie Pearson, 62, was reported missing by family members after a fire destroyed her home in the 400 block of Old Oran Road in rural northwestern Parker County.

The fire started in the home when it spread to her car and then 30 acres of land, Huffman said.

Texas Department of Public Safety authorities did an aerial infrared search of the area, Huffman said.

An investigation has closed and the fire's cause has not been determined but is said to be "suspicious in nature," according to Parker County Fire Marshal's Office investigator Lanny Padgett.

The case is now being handled by the Parker County Sheriff's Office as a missing persons case, according to a Parker County Fire Marshal's Office dispatcher.

Tipsters can call the Parker County Sheriff's Office at (817)594-8845 and those who wish to remain anonymous can call the Parker County Crime Stoppers at (817)599-5555.

Click here for a photo of Pearson  (Word document file)

-Chance Welch

Bones found in Georgia are of woman missing 18 months

A set of bones found Saturday in Georgia are those of Kristi Cornwell, a woman who went missing nearly 18 months ago, CNN reported.

The remains were identified using dental records, CNN reported.

The 38-year-old woman last was seen in August 2009 in northern Georgia and the bones were found in a wooded area about nine miles from where she was last seen, CNN reported.

-- Lance Murray

Jawbone is not Natalee Holloway's, prosecutors announce

Prosecutors on the Caribbean island of Aruba announced Tuesday that a jawbone found recently on a beach is not that of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway.

Forensic tests using dental records ruled out the connection, they said.

Holloway went missing while on a high school trip in 2005.

The prime suspect in her disappearance, Dutch national Joran van der Sloot is in a Peruvian jail awaiting trial on murder charges in connection with the killing of a 21-year-old student in that country, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Natalee Holloway's mom sneaks into Peruvian prison, confronts Van der Sloot

  I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall for this meeting.

Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty Holloway, confronted murder suspect Joran Van der Sloot in a Peruvian prison recently after sneaking in with a Dutch journalist.

Van der Sloot is still the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance five years ago on the Dutch Carribbean island of Aruba. The Alabama teenager was never found.

Beth Twitty Holloway was able to speak with Van der Sloot for about five minutes before she was removed from the room because she didn't have permission to speak with him, Fox News reported.

Van der Sloot is in jail waiting trial on murder charges in the death of a young Peruvian woman he met in a casino and whose beaten body was found in his hotel room.

21-year-old Stephany Flores reportedly had stumbled upon Van der Sloot's connection to the Holloway case when she looked at his computer in the Lima hotel room, Fox News reported.

-- Lance Murray

Tokyo's oldest living woman is missing; oldest man found mummified

Officials in Tokyo have a really old missing persons mystery on their hands -- 113 years old -- to be exact.

The woman listed as the city's oldest living person is missing and officials have no idea if she is alive or dead or where she might be.

Her disappearance comes on the heels of the discovery last week of the mummified body of the man the city had listed as its oldest living man. Officials admit they hadn't visited the two in decades, but had still listed them as Tokyo's most aged residents.

The daughter of 113-year-old Fusa Furuya said her mother had never lived at the apartment the city had listed as her address and thought she was with her brother somewhere outside the city. The address officials were given turned out to be vacant lot, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Body of missing girl found along North Carolina roadway

We posted a story a few minutes ago detailing the search for 5-year-old Shaniya Davis who had been missing for a week in North Carolina.

News just moved on the wires that searchers have found her body off a road southeast of Sanford, N.C.  Police say that two people, including Shaniya's 25-year-old mother, had been charged in connection with her disappearance. Authorities said that the girl's mother had offered her up for prostitution.

-- Lance Murray