Hunter mistakes son's hat for hog, fires fatal shot
By wire services
Published January 20, 2004
JACKSONVILLE - A family is struggling to cope with the death of their 14-year-old son, killed by his father in a hunting accident.
Dennis Plucknett said he mistook his son Alex's black cap for a wild hog when he fired his rifle Saturday during a hunt in Baker County in northeast Florida.
"This family is devastated. They are hurting real bad," Ted Hires, a spokesman, told the Florida Times-Union on Monday. According to the Baker Sheriff's Office, Dennis Plucknett was hunting with his two sons, including 17-year-old Jon, and a friend, Deborah Bencivenni.
Witnesses said Alex was in a ditch next to a tree about 225 yards from the camp when someone yelled, "Hog!"
Dennis Plucknett told police he grabbed his .308-caliber Ruger rifle with scope, steadied his aim on the hood of a bus and fired one round at something black he saw moving in the distance.
Bencivenni told deputies that as soon as she heard the shot she yelled, "Alex is setting by the tree."
"Dennis and Jon immediately ran in the direction where Dennis thought he shot the hog, only to discover Alex lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his head," wrote Officer Charles Goldsmith.
Alex attended Fletcher Middle School, where he pitched a no-hitter for the baseball team last spring. He was a member of a Boy Scout troop and had attained the Order of the Arrow. He also had recently earned his scuba diving license, just like his brother and father.
Sudden sinkhole entraps woman walking her dog
APOPKA - Orange County fire rescue workers had to rescue Linda Sharp from a 10-foot-deep sinkhole Sunday evening after the ground gave way while she was walking her cocker spaniel.
Sharp, 57, suffered a back injury in the fall, and workers had to shore up the sides of the hole with plywood before using a crane and harness to pull her out. She was taken to a hospital after her ordeal of more than two hours.
Neighbors called emergency personnel after seeing Sharp's dog walking alone, dragging its leash.
Gone 17 years, he wasn't forgotten, suspect learns
MIAMI - A murder suspect who fled the country after a stabbing 17 years ago was arrested when he flew back to the United States, police said.
Gilbert Fernandez, 34, applied for a U.S. passport in his own name in Barcelona, Spain, in December, police said. Authorities, aware that Fernandez was wanted, gave him the document, then shadowed him.
Miami-Dade police spokesman Randy Rossman said Fernandez was arrested Friday before passengers disembarked his flight arriving at Miami International Airport.
Fernandez was charged with second-degree murder in the 1986 fatal stabbing of Osmani Cruz, 19.
