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Man charged with murdering kidnapped mom
Associated Press
Published January 23, 2008
NORTH PORT
A man suspected of kidnapping and killing a North Port woman has been charged with murder. Prosecutors charged 36-year-old Michael Lee King late Monday. He is accused of abducting 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her home last week, killing her with a single gunshot and burying her body in a shallow grave. Police captured King shortly after Lee made a 911 call from his cell phone. During the call, the mother of two could be heard crying and begging her captor to set her free. Her body was found Saturday after a massive search. North Port is south of Sarasota.
MIAMI
Two killed in helicopter crash
Authorities say two people are dead after a helicopter crashed at a remote airstrip in the Florida Everglades. The Collier County Sheriff's Office says it appears the two-seat chopper was practicing takeoffs and landings when it flipped and exploded on Tuesday afternoon. The private runway is on the edge of the Florida Everglades, about an hour east of Miami. Sheriff's official say it is accessible only by air.
KEY WEST
Endangered Key deer found slain
Wildlife officials are investigating the killings of several endangered Key deer, the tiny deer that live exclusively in the Florida Keys. In one incident last month, a Big Pine Key resident found three severed Key deer heads on federal property. In a second incident, a deer was found alive but with a 3-foot-long spear in its neck. The deer had to be euthanized last week. Investigators do not think the incidents are related. A count conducted in 2001 found about 700 of the deer. Killing Key deer is a crime under the Endangered Species Act and punishable by fines or jail time or both.
WINTER HAVEN
Blast was suicide, authorities say
Authorities say a woman intentionally caused an explosion at a motel that killed her and her two children last week. Detectives say Priyakumari Master used gasoline and a lighter to create an explosion in a storage room at the Camellia Motel Jan. 15. The blast ripped the door off its hinges and killed Master and her children. Authorities say they don't know why the 25-year-old mother would kill herself and her children - she had no history of mental illness and didn't leave a note. Master, her husband and children lived at the motel, which is about 50 miles east of Tampa.
[Last modified January 22, 2008, 23:26:25]
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