Earlier this week, at least 100 animals died at a Johnson City, N.Y. Petco store due to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee so severe that it turned the pet store's parking lot into a pond. Evidence strongly suggests that the deaths could have been prevented.
The news last month that two adult Austrian women had accused their father of keeping them in a rape dungeon for their entire lives—coupled with a remarkably similar 2008 story—prompted us to ask: What's the story with all the horrendous family-rape, Austria? Turns out the latest story isn't quite what it seemed.
A man in Mexico City apparently kept his girlfriend's two daughters as sex slaves for seven years, fathering five children before killing one of the girls and her daughter. He also used his stepson as a slave, forcing him to collect scraps for recycling and beating him if he returned empty handed.
It's been a horrible year for wildfires in Texas—six of the state's ten largest recorded wildfires have come in the last eight months, and nearly 3.5 million acres have burned so far. Right now, a large fire in Bastrop State Park—near Austin—rages completely out of control, and another in Montgomery County has forced 4,000 to evacuate, destroyed 80 homes, and likely caused the cancellation of a Renaissance Fair. Here are some breathtaking photos of the fires, and the damage they've caused—including a video taken from the International Space Station.
You'd think a professional chef who is also a cannibal would be into some ambitious human meat food, right? Nope! A 21-year-old Russian cook and (now-jailed) cannibal settled for some boring old meatballs and sausages.
On Sunday, police in Thibodaux, La.—following up on a tip from someone who thought he saw a human head in the road—found a "a garbage bag of body parts."
Gay-hating presidential aspirant Michele Bachmann represents a district of Minnesota which public health officials have labeled a "suicide contagion area," according to a deeply disturbing piece in Mother Jones. Here's why: In the space of two years, nine teenagers from the area have taken their own lives—the most recent one in May—while "many more" have attempted suicide unsuccessfully. Most of them were known or perceived to be LGBT youth.
Michael Raper, a 26-year-old employee of meat processing company Bar S, died this week after falling into a meat grinder. Is there a way that this story could be more horrible? Yes, yes there is:
School's out! And what better way to celebrate than with a dip in the pool? Just make sure there aren't any dead bodies floating in it! For two days!
Staff Sergeant Robert O'Hair just returned home from Afghanistan along with the rest of his unit, though with lighter pockets. Why? Because Delta Airlines charged 14 of them an extra $200 each to check a fourth bag. In the video above, O'Hair and a colleague explain how they were treated by the airline.
Following the sentencing of Philip and Nancy Garrido for the kidnapping, imprisonment and rape of Jaycee Dugard, whom they had abducted at 11 and held captive for 18 years, Judge Douglas Phimister allowed the release of an abridged version Dugard's grand jury testimony, described the events of her kidnapping and the conditions in which she was held hostage.
At the beginning of the music video for her new single, "I Don't Wanna Be a Crappy Housewife," Norwegian "recording artist" Tonje Langeteig laments, "Hi, my name is Tonje. I'm a little pretty girl trapped inside a grownup's body." That's pretty much when things go the Rebecca Black route—and fast. There's even an inexplicable rap solo. Enjoy! [via WOW]
An 85-year-old woman walking near her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was dragged by her neck and forced to perform oral sex on her attacker in a stairwell on 83rd St. She's in stable condition at a nearby hospital, but her attacker is still at large; police spent Monday driving vans "equipped with loudspeakers blaring the suspect's description" around the neighborhood. He's said to be "a light-skinned Hispanic man, 25-30 years old." [WPIX]
Being a mother is difficult! But there are a few no-nonsense guidelines that can help, such as: Do not sell your daughter's virginity. Not even for $10,000. Felicia Rae McClure, of Salt Lake City, has — according to police — not followed this guideline.
Botox Mom Kerry Campbell (who might not be "Kerry Campbell" at all, but a multi-named mystery chupacabra of indeterminate origin) has returned to The Sun, the publication where her insanity spree began, to apologize for shooting botulism into her 8-year-old daughter's face, then bragging about it on TV.
Today in absurdly American celebrations of Osama bin Laden's death: Here is a song by one Scott Gerling celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden. Sample lyrics:
While he chatted with her over a webcam from China, a Beijing student says there was knock on his girlfriend Qian Liu's door in Toronto. A man entered and a struggle followed. Ten hours later, Liu's body was found in her basement apartment.
