NORFOLK, Va. - The Navy searched Sunday for a missing Marine Corps pilot from Pasco County whose F/A-18 Hornet aircraft went down in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Capt. Franklin R. Hooks II, 32, was conducting a training exercise off the Norfolk-based USS Harry Truman when his plane was reported missing Saturday night, Navy officials said.
Plane wreckage was recovered about 60 miles south of the Azores Islands, a Navy statement said. The aircraft is part of the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, based in Beaufort, S.C.
Records showed a past address for Hooks in Dade City. The telephone rang unanswered at the address Sunday.
3-car Pinellas Park crash kills Clearwater driver
PINELLAS PARK - A 38-year-old Clearwater man was killed in a three-car crash on 49th Street N Saturday night.
Thuc Cao Tran was traveling northbound on U.S. 19 about 11:35 p.m. when he took the 49th Street ramp and proceeded north in the center lane. He sideswiped a 1990 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, driven by Sharon Armstrong, 43, of Indiana, according to Pinellas Park police.
Tran then slid across the median and into the path of a 1996 Ford Explorer, driven by Chauncey O'Brien, 22, of Largo, police said. The Explorer struck the passenger side of Tran's 1995 Toyota Camry, killing him instantly.
O'Brien and one of his passengers were treated for minor injuries at Bayfront Medical Center and released. Armstrong and her passenger were not injured. No charges were filed, but the investigation is continuing.
75-year-old escapes house fire started by her candle
ST. PETERSBURG - A candle left burning on a nightstand destroyed a St. Petersburg home early Sunday.
No one was seriously injured in the blaze that broke out about 5:50 a.m. at 815 59th Ave. NE.
The owner, Lynn Davis, 75, was taken to St. Anthony's Hospital for minor smoke inhalation, but was treated and released, said Lt. Rick Feinberg, spokesman for St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
Davis, who lived alone in the single-family home, told firefighters she left the candle burning while she went to the bathroom. When she came back, her whole bedroom was in flames. She searched for her two cats and then left the house. The cats were still missing Sunday afternoon.
