Cell Phone Text Message Leads Mother to Kidnapped Daughter

LUGOFF, S.C. - A text message sent by a kidnapped 14-year-old to her mother led to her rescue Saturday, when police found her in a hand-dug, booby-trapped bunker. ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Shoaf's message also led investigators to name a suspect in her Sept. 6 abduction — police were searching a wooded area where the girl was found for 37-year-old Vinson Filyaw, said Kershaw County Sheriff Steve McCaskill. Shoaf was found by deputies about a mile from her home in a 15-foot deep hole in the side of a hill that was covered with plywood. The bunker had a hand-dug privy with toilet paper, a camp stove and shelves made with cut branches and canvas. McCaskill said the girl appeared to be unharmed but was taken to Kershaw County Medical Center for evaluation. Police have not interviewed her, saying they would leave her alone until she's ready to talk. "We're just glad that she's alive and she's safe and that she will be home with us," her aunt, Geraldine Williams, told WLTX-TV in Columbia. "She's a good girl. ... We never believed that she ran away." Investigators say Filyaw may have posed as a police officer when he met Shoaf. The unemployed construction worker also is wanted on an unrelated sexual assault charge. "He dug this pit and this child was in this pit," McCaskill said. "He is linked to her disappearance and he's got to answer for that." The sheriff said the girl was walked around in the woods by her captor until she became disoriented. In the bunker, she was threatened with handmade grenades and a flare gun. The sheriff said the text message the girl sent to her mother came from Filyaw's cell phone and deputies began looking for him Friday night. Investigators used cell towers to determine a general location of the phone used to send the message. "That was the first break," McCaskill said. McCaskill said the girl cried out as searchers approached the bunker where she was found. "She was standing at the mouth of the bunker with the door open," sheriff's Capt. David Thomley told WLTX-TV in Columbia. He said Shoaf was not tied up and was very coherent. The bunker was protected by a booby-trap, the sheriff said. Police tracking hounds were brought in to aid in the search for Filyaw, and helicopters with spotlights circled overhead as night fell. A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture. Filyaw was considered armed and dangerous. Deputies have been searching for Filyaw for months on an unrelated charge of criminal sexual conduct against a 12-year-old girl, McCaskill said. Officers tried to arrest Filyaw at his home earlier this week, but he had an elaborate escape plan, involving a tunnel dug from his bedroom to a shed, the sheriff said. "When deputies came to serve the warrant, he was able to escape, going under the mattress, going under the trailer and hiding and eluding the arrest," McCaskill said. This is the second case this year in South Carolina involving an abducted teenage girl taken to an underground hideout. Kenneth Hinson of Hartsville is charged with kidnapping two 17-year-old girls March 14 and taking them to a closet-sized dungeon behind his home. Authorities said the girls freed themselves and walked to safety, and Hinson was captured after a four-day manhunt.

Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine

Vol. 25: 189-191, 2006. The authors are Örjan Hallberg and Gerd Oberfeld. You will need to access the journal to get the full copy. Letter to the Editor: Will We All Become Electrosensitive? Örjan Hallberg*1 and Gerd Oberfeld2 1Hallberg Independent Research, Trångsund, Sweden. 2Public Health Department Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. Dear Editor, Each year an increasing number of people claim to suffer from electrosensitivity (see, e.g., compilation of references given in Table 1), also known as being electrically hypersensitive (EHS). There are also other diseases, such as fibromyalgia and burn-out syndrome, that have symptoms similar to those exhibited by people suffering from electrosensitivity. (Table 1) In Sweden, electrosensitivity is recognized as a handicap, but there is still controversy surrounding the diagnosis of the disease. The mainstream view by governmental and medical authorities is that this handicap is a psychological phenomenon with no basis in physical or medical mechanisms (Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, SNBHW, 1995), whereby perpetuating the misconception that only a small fraction of the population is concerned about electrosensitivity or the proximity of new radio transmission masts. The number of reported cases of electrosensitivity has been steadily increasing since it was first documented in 1991. Data presented here are estimates and are based on large sample inquiries where different sets of questions have been used. To determine whether the statistics indicate a sub-population of electrosensitivity or if the total population is at stake, we plotted reported prevalence estimates over time in a normal distribution diagram (Table 1 and Figure 1). Contrary to the views of mainstream medical authorities, Figure 1 shows that the group of electrosensitive people around the world, including Sweden, is not just a small fraction that deviates from the rest of the healthy population. Instead, it points at the possibility that electrosensitivity will be more widespread in the near future. The extrapolated trend indicates that 50% of the population can be expected to become electrosensitive by the year 2017. Data presented here were collected in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

Court delivers blow against mobile masts

Court delivers blow against mobile masts Ruling cites public health risk Original article: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_ 18/07/2006_72201

Ten mobile telephone antennas, eight of which are in Athens, must be removed as they pose a threat to public health, the Athens Appeals Court ruled yesterday.

The ruling rebuffs an appeal by an unidentified mobile operator for the suspension of a decision by the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) to remove the poles. In justifying its ruling, the court cited "urgent concerns regarding the protection of public health.?

All 10 antennas in question had been hidden in chimneys, electric boilers and other appliances to thwart residents and authorities. Eight of the 10 antennas are located on top of apartment blocks in districts of Athens including Halandri, Vyronas, Ilioupolis and Kallithea. The other two are located at the airports of Iraklion, in Crete, and Kos. Only one of the antennas, in Kallithea, had been operating with a license but it will also be taken down.

"It is not only one (mobile phone) company that is to blame here,? EETT Vice President Nikos Koulouris told Kathimerini. "The unlicensed erection of antennas is common practice. EETT has also decided to take down antennas put there by other companies,? he said, adding that the commission usually finds out about illegal antennas through residents´ complaints.

"We refuse to become the guinea pigs of (mobile) firms,? Nikos Krassakis, a member of the Sepolia committee lobbying for the removal of antennas told Kathimerini. "Our main concern is not whether the antennas are legal or not but how much of a threat they are to our health.? Krassakis said his group´s protests had led to the removal of two antennas and the decision to stop the erection of a third.

"(The ruling) is a very positive decision, a blow against the unaccountability of (mobile) firms, but is not enough. We need a more collective approach,? Loukas Margaritis, a professor at Athens University, told Kathimerini. "Scientifically, there is no doubt that radioactivity is a health risk, even within the limits imposed by legislation,? he said. He added that a solution would be to relocate the antennas to the outskirts of towns, and set them at much higher levels to lessen the impact of emissions.