JAMES PREVATT III, GIRLFRIEND RENEE REYNOLDS IS ACCOMPLICE

Man And His "Hostage" Both Charged After Two-Day Standoff
Reported by: Megan Healey
Saturday, Aug 23, 2008 @12:12pm EST

HANCOCK, MD - Police have charged a South Carolina man and his pregnant girlfriend after a two-day standoff that appeared to be a hostage situation.

Police say James Prevatt III, 26, was not holding his girlfriend hostage. In fact, they say Renee Reynolds, 21, appears to have been a willing participant.

The pair was formally charged early Saturday morning. Prevatt faces various counts of felony theft and drug charges, and for threatening to use an explosive device; Reynolds is facing felony theft charges and conspiracy charges. Police say they expect additional charges will be filed in the near future.

Both are being held at the Washington County Detention Center. Prevatt is being held on $500,000 bond, and Reynolds on $250,000 bond.

SWAT teams moved in on the room just after 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. Officers tasered Prevatt as he opened the hotel room door to get a meal. They also used a small explosive device to knock the back door down.

(snip)

Officers executed a search warrant in the room, but no weapons were found. They did find drugs and stolen property-- that includes jewelry, electronics, cameras and coins. Police say some of that property was stolen from a Hancock home on August 11th.

SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST STUPID!
http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=27171

SKYLA WHITAKER, TAYLOR PASCHAL-PLACKER, 1 CLUE: .40 CALIBER GLOCK

Who owns the Glock like this one that killed these two young girls.

SKYLA JADE WHITAKER AND TAYLOR PASCHAL-PLACKER

BEST OF FRIENDS

OKFUSKEE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA

.40-Caliber Glock Used in Slaying of Oklahoma Girls
Friday, August 22, 2008
By Sara Bonisteel

It was a .40-caliber Glock.

In their latest effort to solve a double-murder that thus far has neither motive nor suspects, Oklahoma police have revealed the make of one of the weapons used to kill two young girls on a country road nearly 10 weeks ago.

Police say two guns were used to kill 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Jade Whitaker as they took an afternoon walk down County Line Road in Okfuskee County on June 8. It's a "brutal and deliberate" crime that has stymied investigators in this rural area 70 miles south of Tulsa.

"Since we don't have a motive, we just can't look in one direction for a certain person," Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, told FOXNews.com. "It's wide open."

In a state that doesn't require gun registration, officials have had to canvas local pawn shops to check sales records for Glocks. They compiled a list of 60 gun owners and tested the weapons of about 40 last weekend. But they still need to test more.

"Here's the only way it's going to help us probably, if someone just bought a gun or they loaned it to someone recently right before the homicides and got it back," Brown said.

Officials said they were checking up with the remaining 20 gun owners to see why they chose not to have their weapons tested. "We just want people to cooperate so we can find this weapon, and then the person who had it in his hand," Brown said.

WHY? THAT'S THE BIGGEST QUESTION ON THESE MURDERS...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,408781,00.html

MARYLAND: JAMES PREVATT III HOLDS PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND HOSTAGE

The newly renovated Americas Best Value Inn of Hancock, MD is located only 5 miles from both West Virginia and Pennsylvania at the narrowest point of Maryland. This charming, quaint 22 Guest room Inn is positioned on a picturesque hill of the Appalachian Mountains, near the banks of the Potomac River.

Hancock, Maryland: Historic main street

James A. Prevatt III (Submitted photo/)

The scene Thursday morning at the Americas Best Value Inn in Hancock where a hostage situation started late Wednesday night. (Joe Crocetta/Staff Photographer)

The Washington County SRT armored vehicle approaches Americas Best Value Inn Thursday in Hancock. (Joe Crocetta/Staff Photographer)

Suspect Holds Pregnant Woman Hostage at Maryland Motel
Associated Press / Thursday, August 21, 2008

HANCOCK, Md. — A burglary suspect wanted in four states remained holed up Thursday in a western Maryland motel, and doctors were standing by in case a woman believed to be his pregnant girlfriend gave birth, police said.

The standoff began around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday when state troopers and sheriff's deputies went to the America's Best Value Inn on Md. 522 in Hancock to arrest 26-year-old James A. Prevatt III, Maryland State police spokesman Greg Shipley said.

Shipley said Prevatt threatened to kill a woman in the room with him and any officers who tried to arrest him.

The woman is thought to be Prevatt's 21-year-old girlfriend, and Shipley said she is believed to be eight- to eight-and-a-half-months pregnant. Authorities don't know if Prevatt is the baby's father. A team of physicians from Johns Hopkins Hospital was standing by to handle any medical emergency, including childbirth, Shipley said.

Troopers and deputies evacuated about 12 of the 20 rooms in the one-story red brick motel where other guests were staying. Md. 522 was blocked in both directions near the motel, where a sign advertises room rates at $45 and up.

Prevatt is wanted in Maryland, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Virginia on burglary and larceny charges, Shipley said. Police did not know if he was armed, but Shipley said some of the burglaries involved the theft of firearms.

WE'LL UPDATE THIS BREAKING NEWS ASAP...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,408281,00.html

CASEY ANTHONY RELEASED: WILL SHE TELL THE TRUTH...OR MORE LIES?

Casey Anthony, mother of missing toddler Caylee Anthony, is at home after walking out of the Orange County Jail this morning.

AP PHOTO / Aug. 21: Casey Anthony, mother of missing toddler Caylee, is escorted from the Orange County Florida jail by her attorney Jose Baez.

Casey Anthony released from jail
Reported by: Cary Williams Email: cwilliams@abcactionnews.com

Last Update: 8/21 7:17 pm

ORLANDO, FL -- Casey Anthony was released from the Orange County jail Thursday morning. Her attorney, Jose Baez, held an umbrella over her head as she left along with bounty hunter Leonard Padilla around 10 a.m.

They were surrounded by a throng of screaming reporters and photographers who yelled repeatedly, "Casey, what happened? Did you kill Caylee?" Baez yelled back, "Get away! Get away! Give her a break!" Casey was silent as she was hustled into a waiting black SUV.

She had been in jail for 36 days.

A flurry of behind-the-scenes deal-making came to fruition Wednesday night when a the owner of a Tampa-based bail bond company posted a $500,000 bond for Anthony.

The bond was posted after nearly a week of negotiations involving Padilla, his nephew Tony Padilla, a Texas-based insurance company, and Tampa-based Al Estes Bail Bonds.

Anthony faces charges of child neglect, making false statements, and obstructing an investigation. Police say she lied to them and didn't report 3-year-old Caylee missing for more than a month.

Caylee hasn't been seen since June. Her grandmother reported her missing in July.

Casey Anthony told investigators she gave her daughter to a baby sitter, but they don't believe her.

READ ON...THIS IS NOT OVER...

http://www.abcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=5d5c1201-0ddb-4236-854a-93d317dc8944

SCOTLAND, TX: MINDY DAFFERN ABDUCTED, KILLED BY WALLACE BOWMAN JR

Police find body of clerk abducted in rural Texas
updated 3:32 p.m.

CNN / EDT, Sun August 17, 2008

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A body found in a remote area was been identified as the clerk whose abduction from a store in a small North Texas town was recorded by security cameras, authorities said Sunday.

Mindy Daffern, 46, had been missing since Friday from the store her family owns in the city of Scotland, 130 miles northwest of Dallas. Surveillance camera videotape showed her being confronted at gunpoint by an unmasked man who walked her outside the store.

A man suspected in the abduction led investigators to the body Saturday, and Texas Rangers confirmed it was Daffern, Archer County Sheriff Ed Daniels said Sunday.

Wallace Bowman Jr., 30, of Bowie, was being held on charges of aggravated robbery and kidnapping, and Daniels said he is expected to be charged with capital murder. His bail was set at $3 million.

Bowman did not yet have an attorney to speak for him, Daniels said.

A man suspected in the abduction led investigators to the body Saturday, and Texas Rangers confirmed it was Daffern, Archer County Sheriff Ed Daniels said Sunday.

Wallace Bowman Jr., 30, of Bowie, was being held on charges of aggravated robbery and kidnapping, and Daniels said he is expected to be charged with capital murder. His bail was set at $3 million.

Bowman did not yet have an attorney to speak for him, Daniels said.

Daffern's body was found in a remote area near the town of Sunset in neighboring Montague County. Investigators were awaiting on an autopsy report, Daniels said.

"She was just a down-to-earth, good person," he said. They're a very close-knit family, and of course it's just completely devastated the family."

Video from one store camera showed a man casually walking into the store and handing Daffern a cup, then pulling out a handgun and pointing it at her face.

Watch Daffern's kidnapping »

READ MORE...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/17/clerk.abducted.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

TEXAS: DID WALLACE BOWMAN JR KILL TWO MORE

Subject was convicted of the AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT of a 12 year old female victim. The final disposition date was 09/15/1997. Punishment: 7 years confinement to TDCJ.

Murder suspect linked to burned bodies
Aug 18, 2008 08:29 PM PDT

Undated_The man police say kidnapped and killed a north Texas convenience store clerk may be connected to two other deaths in the Bowie area late last week.

Jack McGaughey, the district attorney for Montague and Archer Counties, says there was a house fire near Bowie last week that appears to be arson. He said officials found two burned bodies and they suspect homicide.

District Attorney McGaughey says police are investigating possible connections of 30-year-old Wallace Bowman, Jr., to the arson.

McGaughey says Bowman knew the man and woman whose burned bodies were found after the fire. McGaughey says the authorities believe Bowman also lived at the house--near Bowie--for a period of time.

Officials have not named Bowman as a suspect in the arson at this time, but he is a focus of their investigation.

Bowman is in Jack County Jail on charges of aggravated robbery and kidnapping convenience store clerk Mindy Daffern of Scotland, Texas.

WHAT OTHER SECRETS DOES KILLER HAVE?
http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8862038