1.Police are searching for a “lean, neatly-dressed man in his 60s” who was seen carrying a suitcase in the area where a child’s skeleton has been found.
The Adelaide News reports that two women have told police in South Australia they saw the man carrying a dark-coloured case at Wynarka, 30km east of Tailem Bend, about six weeks ago.
The women came forward after police announced that the skeletal body of a child aged between two and seven had been found in a suitcase by the road in that area.
The case has been there for between four and six weeks.
Det Supt Bray told News that the child’s remains were “found among the clothes” in the case.
“It’s hard to say what happened and why but somebody has found the suitcase, opened it to have a look what’s in there and tipped out the contents and discovered the human remains,” he said.
“We can say that we believe the child died elsewhere.
“We also believe that the child was placed in a suitcase and brought to this location within about a month but the child had even died some time prior to that.”
The child’s identity is unknown. There is no clear link to the case of missing boy William Tyrell, who disappeared in NSW, but police are checking the Missing Persons register in all States.
2.The oldest living former president of the United States, George H. W. Bush, has broken a bone in his neck during a fall at his home.
The former president’s spokesman released a statement on Twitter saying that Mr Bush, 91, is in a stable condition at home, but has to wear a neck brace.
He has Parkinson’s disease and uses a wheelchair. His son, George W. Bush, also served as President; another son, Jeb, is in the race for the White House in 2016.
Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn.
3.They initially dismissed it as a hoax, but police now believe that the ‘Gone Girl’ style kidnapping of a young woman and the drugging of her boyfriend in California may have been real.
NBC reports that a Harvard-educated former marine, Matthew Muller, 38, has been charged with the kidnapping Denise Huskins.
Muller will plead not guilty, his attorney has said.
Once kidnapped, Huskins boyfriend Aaron Quinn received a ransom demand on his cellphone, but Huskins was quickly released.
Her story of being bound and held was initially dismissed as a hoax, because it sounded like something out of Gone Girl.
However, police now say that curious items have been found in a car and storage locker rented by Muller. They include swim goggles, a night vision goggle harness, duct tape and a collection of drones.
Police also found zip tie-bags, a white doona, women’s make-up, and two Hyatt House hotel key cards, plus a wireless video camera, and pliers with black duct tape on the handle.
Harper Lee.
4.An online bookstore in the US has described the publication of Harper Lee’s new book as a “shameful” exploitation of readers by an industry desperate to make money, even at the cost of the beloved writer’s reputation.
In a scathing post, Brilliant Books said literary fans were being duped into believing that Go Set A Watchman was a new book by Lee, who is now 89.
“We at Brilliant Books want to be sure that our customers are aware that “Go Set A Watchman” is not a sequel or prequel to ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’,” the statement says.
“It is a first draft that was originally, and rightfully, rejected.
“We suggest you view this work as an academic insight rather than as a nice summer novel.
“It is disappointing and frankly shameful to see our noble industry parade and celebrate this as “Harper Lee’s New Novel”. This is pure exploitation of both literary fans and a beloved American classic, which we hope has not been irrevocably tainted.
“We therefore encourage you to view “Go Set A Watchman” with intellectual curiosity and careful consideration; a rough beginning for a classic, but only that.”
The book has already outsold every other title this year.
