Texas Infant That Was Kidnapped 8 Years Ago Found

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A Texas infant who vanished eight years ago will be reunited with his mother after police arrested his former baby sitter who is accused of kidnapping him, authorities said Wednesday.

Krystle Rochelle Tanner, 26, remained jailed without bond in San Augustine, about 200 miles southeast of Fort Worth. She was arrested on a kidnapping charge Monday.

The boy's mother, Auboni Champion-Morin, told Houston television station KPRC that she may be reunited with her son later this week. Authorities said she must first undergo a DNA test, even though they're sure of his identity.

"I want to hold him in my arms and let him know who I am," said Champion-Morin, who lives in Houston. "I hope he can feel the same thing I feel for him."

Tanner, also the baby's godmother, was a suspect when the mother reported her 8-month-old son missing in late 2004. But Tanner's relatives in Houston told police that she and the infant had vanished.

The case went cold and was closed in 2006, said Chief Deputy Gary Cunningham of the San Augustine Sheriff's Department.

Late last summer, child welfare investigators in San Augustine County – about 150 miles northeast of Houston – received a complaint that Tanner and her boyfriend were neglecting their two children, Cunningham said.

Officials tried to find the older boy. Tanner told authorities different stories about the child: he went by different names and she had been keeping him briefly for a woman that she had met in a park, Cunningham said.

Although sheriff's deputies had no records for the boy and little information to work with, they began investigating it as a missing child's case in January.

Neither Child Protective Services nor law enforcement knew about the 2004 Houston kidnapping case at the time because the boy had been removed from the national missing children's database. Even so, they didn't know his name.

"It was very difficult because we were essentially searching for a ghost," Cunningham told The Associated Press.

CPS officials recently learned that Tanner was suspected in the 2004 kidnapping, which led to Monday's arrest. One of Tanner's relatives led them to the boy but denied knowing that he had been abducted, Cunningham said.

It's too soon to say whether anyone else will be arrested, Cunningham said.

He said the family will likely go through some counseling. The child apparently has never been in school, and one of the names Tanner called him was "Dirty," he said.

CPS officials in Houston did not return calls Wednesday. The AP's attempts to reach Champion-Morin were unsuccessful.

Champion-Morin said that she had done everything to find her child.

"I prayed every night that he was safe, loved and he would come home one day," Champion-Morin said.

Lemel Leo Adler And Leon Schagrin, Cousins Who Survived The Holocaust, Reunite After Almost 70 Years

It was 1944 when Lemel Leo Adler last saw his cousin Leon Schagrin. They had been teenagers then, meeting by chance at a Nazi death camp in Auschwitz. They had a few minutes together before they were carted off to separate parts of the facility, never to see each other again.

Or so they thought.

Over the weekend, Schagrin and Adler, now 85 and 89 respectively, met -- after almost 70 years -- at a banquet for the Holocaust Survivors of South Florida in Tamarac, Fla., reports the Orlando Sentinel.

"This is the biggest, most important day of my life," Schagrin said.

According to the Miami Herald, Adler has been searching for his cousin Schagrin -- the son of his mother's sister -- for several decades. If found alive, Schagrin would be Adler's only living close relative. Everyone else had died in the Holocaust.

Unfortunately, unable to remember his cousin's last name, Adler kept coming up short.

In late February, a friend gave Adler a copy of another holocaust survivor's memoir, entitled "The Horse Adjutant.

"She thought he would be interested because not only was the author -- one Leon Schagrin -- a fellow South Floridian, but he also hailed from an area in Poland close to Adler's hometown.

Initially reluctant to read it -- "Why do I need to read that? I lived it," Adler had thought -- he eventually flipped through the book and to his amazement, found family names that he recognized.

Stunned, Adler checked Schagrin's facts and soon realized who he really was -- his long-lost cousin who, it turned out, had been living close by in South Florida for years.

Adler called the author and opened with a simple announcement: "I know you!"

"You know how it is when nerves are tickling all over your body? I couldn't believe it after 70 years," Schagrin told the Orlando Sentinel.

After the war, both men moved from their native Poland to the United States, where they began successful careers.

During the banquet, the pair stood together in a corner as they swapped seven decades worth of family stories and personal history, reports the Daily Mail.

"There's a lot to talk about," Schagrin said.

Madonna Talks Kids, Being A Single Mom With A Busy Career

Madonna has had a whirlwind year already, making her directorial debut, performing at the Super Bowl halftime show and preparing to release a new album, but the iconic singer admits that balancing her high-pressure career and her mom duties is taking its toll.

The singer told Britain's The Sun that she often feels as if her "head is going to explode" from all the stress of being a single mom -- something to which many women around the world can relate.

"I'm not going to lie -- it's hard work having four kids and doing all the work I do," she said.

And things are only going to get busier for the superstar, with the March 26 release of her buzzed-about new album, "MDNA," just around the corner and rumors surrounding her personal life running rampant.

Though Madonna is a single mom -- she split from husband Guy Ritchie in 2008 -- she's definitely not a single lady. She's been dating French model Brahim Zaibat for two years, and the inevitable engagement rumors have been swirling for quite some time.

With her worldly travels and her intense work schedule, it's easy to understand the stress Madonna and her family are under, but the singer isn't letting critics tell her how to live.

"Everybody has something to say about the way I live my life," she said. "At the end of the day I'm doing my best. If people don't like it, then that's really their problem."

In addition to raising children Rocco, David and Mercy, Madonna is also trying her best to shield her daughter, Lourdes (who goes by Lola), from the pressure of showbusiness.

 Though she provided background vocals for a track on her mom's new album, Lola is focused on school right now.

"She's not really interested in any of it," Madonna said. "She just wants to go to school. She says to me, 'Mum, I just want to be a normal kid. I'm not ready for any of that.'"

Though her fame may give her children certain advantages in life, the singer hopes her kids will grow up to be independent individuals who won't get trapped in the fame game.

"I realize to a certain extent my children are raised with privilege," she told The Huffington Post in February, adding that she wants them to grow up to think for themselves and not just follow the pack.

 "I encourage them to question things, to take responsibility for their behavior, to think outside the box, [as] they will have a different set of challenges."
 Missed Madonna's Super Bowl performance? Check out some photos below:

 Nicki Minaj

 Nicki Minaj, Madonna & M.I.A

 M.I.A

 Madonna

 Cee-Lo Green

Woman Finds Secondhand Suitcase Full Of Friend's Childhood Memories

Three years ago, Tonya Ritchie went to a Salvation Army store in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada and bought a purple suitcase for $5.

Ritchie, who was in St. John's to attend a friend's wedding, bought the bag to cart some frozen fish back home to Shelburne, Ontario, reports the Star.

Tucked in the bag’s front pocket — zipped shut and stored in her attic for much of the time since then — were three 8 mm film reels containing the childhood memories of a friend, Janet Piper, 51, who lives just three doors down. Incidentally, St. John's is over a thousand miles away from Shelburne.

It wasn't until this January that she realized what an incredible find she had on her hands. Retrieving the bag from the attic for an upcoming trip, Ritchie -- who had not thought to open the front pockets before -- discovered the reels by chance.

According to Orangeville.com, the reels were labeled to a Mr. James Brander of Glen Williams, Ontario.
"I said, 'This is somebody's memories'," Ritchie told the Telegram. "If they were mine, I'd want them."

Ritchie knew her good friend and neighbor, Janet Piper, 51, grew up in Glen Williams. Intrigued, Ritchie's husband showed Piper's husband the reels.

What happened next seems to come right out of a novel.

James Brander was Piper's father. He died nine years ago. And the reels? They documented Piper's childhood with footage from her parents' trip to Disney World, a birthday party and a New Year's celebration.

"We laughed, we cried, we hugged. We were a little freaked out," Piper told the Telegram. "I was blown away, we're still blown away," she told the Star.

No one knows how the reels got to Newfoundland, nor does anyone in Piper's family recognize the purple suitcase.

"It is just bizarre, the chances of me picking it up is crazy," Ritchie said of the purple suitcase. "To give (Janet) back a piece of her dad is more than I can ever put into words. It is the best five bucks I've ever spent."

South Carolina Man Buys Painting For $3 And Sells It For $190,000

A year and a half ago, an 81-year-old man stopped by a Goodwill store in Anderson County, SC., and bought a painting for $3.
Last week, he sold it for $190,000.

The man, who only wants to be known by his middle name 'Leroy', told WISV.com that he only bought the painting because he thought it might be worth "$100 or a couple hundred on the Internet".

His daughter-in-law, however, thought the painting might be worth a little more. She visited the Antiques Roadshow and got an initial appraisal of $20,000 to $30,000.

Over the weekend, at an auction house in Massachusetts, the painting -- which turned out to be a Flemish work of art from 1650 -- sold for over six times that.

"It's the biggest find I've ever had," said Leroy, a former antiques dealer and avid thrift store shopper. "I can only thank Goodwill for that."

Leroy will split the money with his son and daughter-in-law, and use his portion of the profits for some home improvement.

Pop Pariah: An AOL Music Editor's Tale of Top 40 Triumph Over a Secular Music Ban

I was 12 years old when my dad found my stash ... of secular music. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, TLC, Backstreet Boys; they lived under my ruffle-skirted bed.

He let me know I was busted by splaying the CDs all over my floral print comforter -- a silent but deadly move.

"Why would I want to be 'living la vida loca' like Ricky Martin?" he demanded, mocking the song's hook in a nasal, sing-songy voice. That one made me giggle.

 Of course, it all makes me giggle now, considering my job calls for me to listen and write about the once-forbidden secular music all day long.

For all the annoyance it caused me as a kid, my dad's secular music ban came from an honest place. He was raised in a strict Baptist home and went to church multiple times per week for services, Sunday school, Bible study, gospel choir rehearsals and performances.

My dad wasn't exactly into the whole "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" thing -- and that's exactly what popular secular music represented to him as he attempted to raise me and my four brothers in a similar fashion to his upbringing.

Of course, he had to face some generational obstacles; MTV, VH1 and BET were all child-protected channels on our remote control.

And when the Disney Channel started airing original tween music videos, he shut that down, too. Yeah, he shut that down real fast.

 Me with my dad, age 11 But I found my ways around the restrictions.

 For example, my mom was pretty much my "partner in crime" when it came to my secret pop music-harboring life.

I remember riding with her in our golden Mercury Sable back in the day as we both belted out Mariah Carey classics at the top of our lungs.

We'd even circle the block several times before finally pulling into the driveway, trying our best to hit those high notes.

"Keep driving until this song is done! Oh, but this one's my favorite, go around the circle one more time ... drive slower, Mom!" I'd turn the music off and hide the cassette tape in the glove compartment as we rolled into the garage. We were so slick with it.

In an ultimate act of defiance during the 7th grade, I bought concert tickets to go see *NSYNC, or "those silly dancing boys" as my dad called them.

 I cried myself to sleep when he made me sell them (to some kid who totally would not appreciate the show like I would).

 The next morning, I promptly pinned up any teen magazine pull-out poster of Justin, J.C., Chris, Joey and Lance I could find all over my bedroom walls in rebellious fit. Take that!

I got over the *NSYNC tragedy ... eventually. I also learned how to manipulate the TV remote so I could secretly watch after school 'TRL' sessions with Carson Daly and catch midnight airings of 'Pop-Up Video.'

As for my dad? He got over his whole overprotective thing as I grew up. I later discovered his never before-mentioned collection of James Brown, Roberta Flack and Stevie

Wonder vinyls in his study, and he introduced me to the awesomeness of Nina Simone in my teens. Guess he went through a rebellious stage of his own, albeit not until his 20s!

But you know, I definitely think I might be making up for lost time. And I can't help but think it was the forbidden-fruit syndrome that drove me to do what I'm doing now.

As for my dad's opinion of what I do for a living ... well, the verdict's still out. When I told him that I interviewed two members of the Backstreet Boys for work a few months ago, he replied with an "Aww, that's so cute" kind of laugh.

"You mean those boys that were on your wall?" No dad, that was *NSYNC -- get it right!

Kansas Man, Gean Brown Jr., Receives Lost Wallet After 35 Years

When Gean Brown Jr. misplaced his wallet while installing pipes in the attic of a Kansas home around 1976-77, he thought it was gone forever.

But more than 35 years later, Brown's wallet has been returned to him, KCTV5.com reports.
Shawn Wyckoff, the current resident of the house, found it while working on an antenna.

 He called all the numbers in the wallet but they were either disconnected or dead. A quick Internet search helped him find Brown's correct phone number.

"This guy 36 years later he goes up there and looks down -- there it is. Bang. Out in the open," Brown told the news source.

 "And he was decent enough to look me up and find it. He could have pitched it. I don't know this guy. (But he) gives it back."

In the wallet were Brown's original draft card, a picture of his sweetheart (who is now his wife), and photographs of his service in the Navy. Brown told KCTV5.com that although he can't offer a monetary award to Wyckoff, he'd like to take him out to dinner.

"He's a decent human being," Brown said.

Rush Limbaugh Apologizes To Sandra Fluke For Calling Her A 'Slut'

After a media and political firestorm, Rush Limbaugh issued an apology on Saturday for calling student Sandra Fluke a "slut" on his radio show this week.

Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University who was advocating for health insurance plans to cover the cost of contraception, became the target of a series of attacks by Limbaugh. Besides calling her a "slut," he also called her a "prostitute," said that he wanted her to make sex tapes and post them online, and speculated that she only had a problem paying for contraception because she was having "so much sex."

Limbaugh's comments caused advertisers to flee from his show, and even prompted President Obama to weigh in. The statements also became an issue in the Republican presidential race.

Limbaugh — who has a long history of making incendiary remarks, and is not known to take them back — issued the rare apology on Saturday afternoon, saying he was "sincerely" sorry about his "insulting" characterization of Fluke.

But he maintained that the birth control debate was about "personal sexual recreational activities," not any broader health questions, and compared contraception to sneakers.

Even as he walked back his comment, though, there were signs that Limbaugh is not out of the woods yet.

Another advertiser, Carbonite, posted a message on Facebook saying that it was ending its sponsorship of his show.

"No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady," CEO David Friend wrote.

"Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show."

Below, read Limbaugh's apology in full:

"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities.

What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

 My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices."

Whether Limbaugh's apology will quell the controversy remains to be seen, but for some, it wasn't enough.

The company Carbonite announced that it won't reinstitute ads that it had pulled earlier in the week. And at least one organization wasn't buying Limbaugh's choice of words:

"Rush's apology wasn't actually an apology," said Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of UltraViolet, an online advocacy organization that does grassroots work on women's issues.

 "He did little more than continue to expose himself as the anti-woman and offensive media personality that he is. Our campaign to pressure advertisers to drop their sponsorship of his show will continue next week.

No radio show that attacks women should be rewarded with advertising dollars. And more than 84,000 of our members who signed a petition in the last day agree."