Newborn abducted in Texas found safe; woman arrested
Lubbock, Texas – A missing 5-day-old baby was found Monday evening, and police arrested a woman suspected of abducting the child a day earlier after she had posed as a nurse.
Police said the infant, Priscilla Nicole Maldonado, was found alone in a car seat beneath a carport in 104-degree weather. It was not clear how long she had been outside before authorities arrived.
The baby was taken to University Medical Center, where spokesman Greg Bruce said she was fine.
“She’s back into our hands. Everybody’s happy,” said Jesse Madrid, the baby’s great-uncle. “We couldn’t have asked for more.”
Lt. Roy Bassett said police rescued the child after a tip led them to call a man and ask whether his wife had recently had a baby. The man said she had, but his answers had “obvious flaws,” Bassett said.
Stephanie Lynn Anderson Jones, 33, was being held on kidnapping charges. Detectives were questioning her and her husband.
Jones closely matched the description of a woman who had visited the baby’s mother, Erica Ysasaga, several times in the hospital last week wearing scrubs. The woman disappeared with the girl Sunday after she visited the family at their home, Bassett said.
Police Chief Claude Jones said the woman was taken into custody as she drove into an apartment complex. He said she led officers to the baby.
NEW YORK
Cops turned hitmen get life in prison
A judge told two former detectives Monday that they will get life in prison for moonlighting as hitmen for the mob.
But U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein said he would not formally impose the sentence on Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa until at least June 23.
The two former partners were convicted in April of participating in eight slayings between 1986 and 1990. Prosecutors said the detectives committed some of the murders themselves and delivered up other victims to the Mafia to be killed.
Eppolito, 57, and Caracappa, 64, received $4,000 a month from Luchese underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso. Their pay went up for the murders: They earned $65,000 for one killing.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
Birthday boy, 6, left behind after party
A 6-year-old boy who was accidentally left behind by his family after they celebrated his birthday at a restaurant will temporarily remain in state custody, a judge ruled Monday.
Michael James Emanuel Jr.’s family said they accidentally left him Saturday night and didn’t notice he was missing until the next day. Each relative thought the child was with another family member, they told police.
Employees at the Boca Raton restaurant called police, and the child was taken into state custody, sheriff’s spokesman Paul Miller said Monday.
The state Department of Children and Families will likely determine today if Michael can live temporarily with a relative, Juvenile Judge Ronald Alvarez said. No criminal charges have been filed.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
Peru, Venezuela spar at OAS summit
An annual Organization of American States gathering was marked Monday not by gentle diplomacy but by a sharp exchange between Peru and Venezuela over Venezuela President Hugo Chavez’s outspoken ways.
It was an unusually public clash at the OAS General Assembly after Peru, with U.S. backing, forcefully demanded the OAS issue a statement condemning Venezuela for taking sides in Peru’s presidential election.
Chavez openly backed the losing nationalist Ollanta Humala in Peru’s Sunday election, won by Alan Garcia, a moderate leftist. Chavez called Garcia a “thief” and threatened to break diplomatic relations if Garcia won.
Chavez’s meddling in Peru “had no precedent in this hemisphere,” Peruvian Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua told the General Assembly.
TEHRAN
Nuclear negotiators strike peaceful notes
Iranian officials signaled Monday that they would look seriously at the package of incentives offered by world powers if Iran suspends its nuclear program.
European Union envoy Javier Solana arrived Monday night and was to deliver the proposal this morning. He struck a conciliatory note at the airport, urging “a fresh start.” The Iranians’ tone, too, was more conciliatory and careful than it had been the past several days.
KHARTOUM, Sudan
U.N.: Help in Darfur not a takeover
The U.N. Security Council, visiting Sudan on Monday, assured the wary government that the United Nations has no intention of taking over the country.
The government has been very reluctant to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force take over from the 7,000-strong African Union force that has largely been unable to stop the violence in conflict-racked Darfur. Fears were fueled last month when a council resolution to spur planning for a handover was adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows military action.
Britain’s U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, is leading the council mission, and said after his arrival that he recognized some Sudanese “took amiss” the council resolution.
