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McCollum near $2-million in funds; Byrd closing gap

TALLAHASSEE - Former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum has raised nearly $2-million and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd more than $1.6-million in their run for the U.S. Senate, the candidates' campaigns announced Tuesday.

In the last three months of the year, Byrd raised more than $770,000; McCollum, almost $524,000.

Neither campaign listed donors. That information will be available after reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission by Jan. 31.

The crowded field of Republicans also includes former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez, state Sen. Dan Webster, Miami lawyer Larry Klayman and former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith. Webster's and Klayman's campaigns said they do not yet have final fundraising figures. Martinez did not enter the race until this week and will not have to file a report. Smith said he didn't raise any money in 2003.

JACKSONVILLE - A man sought in the slayings of three people in northeast Florida was captured in Kentucky on Tuesday.

Pinkney "Chip" Carter, 49, of Jacksonville was wanted in the August 2002 slayings of his ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Smith Reed, 35, her 16-year-old daughter Courtney Smith and Glenn Carter Pafford, 49, in a residence in Jacksonville. He was recently featured on the television show, America's Most Wanted.

Carter was caught in Mayfield, Ky., where he had been working as a roofer, police said. After he was arrested on a public intoxication charge, a Kentucky state trooper recognized him from a wanted poster, officials said.

Carter fled to Mexico after the homicides and was jailed for carrying weapons into the country. But he was freed after paying authorities $1,000 and disappeared.

TALLAHASSEE - A Senate committee on Tuesday approved a bill to require HIV testing for almost every baby born in Florida.

Several of those voting for SB 144 in the Senate Health, Aging and Long-Term Care Committee said that as the bill advances, they will push to make testing optional. The measure was amended Tuesday to let parents opt out for religious reasons, a provision sought by Christian Scientists.

The law now requires that pregnant women be offered testing for HIV, which causes AIDS. Only two states, New York and Connecticut, have mandatory HIV testing programs for newborns.

DAYTONA BEACH - Two men and a woman hiding from police in an attic couldn't stay quiet when they discovered human remains up there, police said.

Police had almost given up searching for the suspects in the house when they heard a shout.

"Get me out of here, there's a body!" 26-year-old Ben Gibson yelled, Daytona Beach police spokesman Sgt. Al Tolley said.

Gibson was arrested along with Zachariah Sanders, 31, and Darlene Reed, 20, on probation violation charges, Tolley said Monday.

The duplex's tenant, Robyn Cooper, 29, said she had complained about a foul smell since moving in about three months ago.

The Medical Examiner's Office is trying to identify the remains.