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Volume 2, Issue 01
Weekend Weather Thursday
H -5º L -10º
Friday
H -6º L -12º
Saturday
H -4º L -9º
Sunday
H -2º L -5º
As reported from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca Harrow AAFC
Polar Dipping Pages 18 & 19
Fun in the snow Page 24
Murder suspect charged in the death of Bridie Fanning Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Investigation Branch, under the direction of Acting Detective Inspector Kari Dart and the Essex County OPP Criminal Investigation Unit, continue to investigate the death of Bridie Fanning, who was murdered on January 25, 2011. O n January 25 at 9:30 p.m., Kingsville O P P attended a residence located on County Road 34 in response to a death investigation. The victim, Bridie Fanning, age 47, of Kingsville, was found deceased. A postmortem examination of the victim was conducted at London Health Sciences University Campus Hospital on January 26 by a forensic pathologist. The investigation determined that Bridie Fanning died of injuries caused by a gunshot. The OPP arrested and charged Abraham FroesseFriessen, age 51, of Kingsville, with first-degree murder. Any persons with information regarding this incident should immediately contact the Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Investigation Branch at 1-888-3101122 or their nearest police authority. To remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). You may be eligible to receive a reward of up to $2,000.
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What do you do when you have no ID and no money 4,000 miles from home? By Sheila McBrayne What do you do when you lose all your identification and all your money 4,000 miles from home? It doesn’t seem that traumatic, until the question becomes a reality. And that’s what happened to Leamington’s Reverend Paul Rodey of Leamington United Church and his wife Gini. The couple had no idea when they boarded their WestJet plane to Victoria, British Columbia, for a three-day United Church conference that their identity would be taken and they would be left stranded within their own country. “We probably would have been better off if we’d been in a foreign country… We could have gone to a Canadian Embassy, but we were shocked by the lack of compassion or any help from agencies in our own country,” said a very shaken Rev. Rodey. The Rodeys arrived in Victoria for the Epiphany Explorations 2011 conference on Thursday, January 20. They checked into the Best Western Carleton Plaza and Rev. Rodey enjoyed the conference, which featured quality speakers at the First Metropolitan United Church. The Rodeys were scheduled to fly out on Monday, January 24 at 1:40 p.m. On the Sunday prior, the Rodeys’ nephew and his family drove down two hours for an afternoon visit. After the long car ride, they decided to take the two young boys to a nearby park for some exercise. The Rodeys didn’t think twice when a nice young man in his mid 20s came up and started a friendly conversation with the group. Little did they know that this nice young man was actually a decoy for his partner who was breaking into their vehicle and stealing their purse and backpack. “We didn’t notice anything until we got back into the car and my wife started looking for her purse. Then I realized my backpack was gone… We had no money. We don’t carry cash, we just use debit and all our cards were gone. Our passports were in my backpack… We had nothing,” said Rev. Rodey. The last 20 hours of their trip became a nightmare of going in circles. “We went back to the hotel and cancelled all our cards. The front desk guy was very helpful looking up numbers for us and letting us call. He called the police and they took our information and made a report… It wasn’t until later we realized – wait a minute – we just cancelled all our credit cards, how are we going to pay for anything?” said Rodey. What’s worse than having no money or credit is having no identifica-
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tion. How were they going to board the plane? So the Rodeys started calling again. First they called to find out about getting a temporary or replacement passport. We were told, “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do to help you that fast and certainly not without any identification.” The next call was to see if they could get temporary or replacement birth certificates. The fastest this could happen was three days – “and how will you be paying for that.” So the Rodeys thought maybe the transportation office could help, but no, they do not have access to the photo on your driver’s licence and no, they couldn’t help either. On Monday morning, just hours before their (Continued on Page 5 )