After The Rain

So, the whole thing is over. At round 10:30 this morning, Michael Rodriguez - escaped Clearfield County Jail inmate and fugitive for a little over 18 hours - blew through a roadblock in a stolen pick-up, busted his tires over spike strips, and crashed into an embankment.

However.

The media is only reporting that Rodriguez was injured, but able to walk to the staging area for LifeFlight. This is nothing compared to what I've heard: Rodriguez was indeed injured. I've heard broken legs and broken ankles, but in either case, something's broken.

Now, if Rodriguez is suffering from even one broken leg/ankle, he's also been through a pretty nerve-racking ordeal, and probably would have not been in any condition to put up any resistance.

And yet, I've been told that Rodriguez was forcibly removed from the pick-up, slammed to the ground face first - hard - and a boot was put into his neck - right after he was in a fairly nasty crash. Any emergency services worker on the planet will tell you that just moving an accident victim is tricky business and shouldn't be done lightly.

Furthermore, I've also been told that they spent a moment beating Rodriguez up a bit, probably to "teach him to not run again." After all, he had the gall to break out of jail and cause them to do their jobs! Oh noes!

After all that, he was then forced to walk UP A HILL to the extraction area where LifeFlight would take him to the hospital. So that's a reported two broken legs/ankles, one rough trip out of the vehicle, one rough meeting between ground and face, one boot to the neck to hold him down, a bit of the old Rodney King treatment, and then a Green Mile march up a fucking hill to the landing zone.

Something is seriously wrong here, people.

For the folks coming to this site from Buffalo: Obviously, you either know or know of Rodriguez, otherwise you wouldn't be searching for him. Whatever you do, don't stay quiet. Don't let Bill Shaw and the local authorities bully you. Speak up. Demand an investigation.

While Rodriguez was a sick puppy (burglary and assaulting his ex-girlfriend, among a probable laundry list of other violent crimes), no person deserves to be fucked with like that, especially after an accident. Seriously: What if Rodriguez died as a result of direct police action AFTER the crash? This place would make national news in a heartbeat if that had happened.

Thankfully, he's still alive as of yet, and the national eye can still be turned this way. If there's even a hint of possible police brutality, fan that motherfucker until the flames grow too high to not be noticed.

Clearfield County has long been in need of a good housecleaning: The corrupt elements here would surprise you. This is the second escape in three years from Clearfield County Jail: Sam Lombardo's job is in trouble, as are those of whatever COs were on duty at the time. And if local and State police are involved in any brutality, that creates a seperate fire. If the two meet and begin burning as one, then you just might see comissioners, attorneys, and judges in the other public eye: the one that doesn't like you or what you're doing very much at all.

As local residents, we have the right to know just what the hell is going on with the people we trust to protect us. If they're doing stuff that made national pariahs out of so many before them, then we need to know about it, and we need to make it stop. We need to weed out the corrupt and arrogant elements of our own local government if we even think we have a chance at making it as a community.

Otherwise, we'll still be overseen by incompetent fools who think it's all just a popularity contest and an easy paycheck at the expense of the "little people..."

Escapee Wakeup Update - SUSPECT CAUGHT

UPDATE 11:55AM: More pictures from the accident scene from my EMS-related source:

I'm also gathering more of the complete story from the scene, I'll have that as soon as I compile it! Thanks to both Missy and Megan for contributions! You ladies ROCK!

UPDATE 11:45AM: Contacted WOKW about the press conference, which is apparently not open to the public. Crap.

The bigger news is the update coming in from the scene: Rodriguez was indeed in the accident: He stole the truck from a local resident who went into CoGos for a soda. He broke both of his ankles in the accident and was LifeFlighted to a hospital (unknown which one, probably Altoona). He also put his head through the windshield.

There's also talk of his Girlfriend (identity unknown) ratting him out to police, telling them where he was and what his plans were.

But the biggest update of all is a report, however unsubstantiated, that police (unsure as to which agency) beat the heck out of Rodriguez prior to him receiving medical treatment.

That's right: After the guy got into a wreck smashing through a roadblock, putting his head through the windshield and broke both ankles requiring an airlift to a hospital, Police kicked the crap out of him, probably out of frustration.

More coming, this isn't over yet. Pics in a few!

UPDATE 11:25AM: Late-to-the-game local joke-of-a-radio station WOKW (102.9FM) is reporting that this accident was indeed CCJ Escapee Michael Rodriguez, and that PSP has in fact apprehended him as a result:

The search has ended for the inmate that escaped from the Clearfield County Jail Tuesday afternoon, Michael Rodriguez was taken into custody earlier this morning. Earlier today the escapee, Michael Rodriguez was being pursued by authorities as he was driving a stolen heavy duty pickup truck heading back towards Clearfield along State Route 879. Law enforcement officials deployed spike strips and the Rodriguez vehicle hit the strips and crashed into an embankment a short distance later. Michael Rodriguez was apprehended and flown to an area hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash. A press conference will be held this afternoon so keep it tuned to OK 102.9 for updates.

Now, first of all, WOKW needs to get into the 21st century and come up with a better web page. Secondly, this should bring to a close the events of the last 24 hours. It's been a wild ride. Kudos to the Pennsylvania State Police for their hard work in bringing this dangerous fugitive back into custody.

I wish I could say the same to Sam Lombardo... Wait, no I don't. This is the second escape from CCJ in three years, and quite frankly, I think Lombardo should be fired and replaced (and not from within). I think I might head to this press conference that OK102.9 is talking about, take my video camera, and ask a few questions of my own.

Yep, might have press video and clips that the 'majors' won't let you see. Stay tuned, kids!

UPDATE 11:12AM: Another picture from Missy, this time showing the truck involved in the accident. As you can see, it matches the report of the gray truck that Rodriguez reportedly stole and used to try and flee the area. Still nothing solid on him, though, so stay with us for updates.

This has been an interesting story to cover so far, especially given the failure of even the local media - let alone the 'majors' - to cover this story with any depth and timliness. Sad.

UPDATE 11:05AM: The first picture from the 879 Accident Scene, from Missy. She can't get too close, but just around the corner is where the action is. Still no confirmations as of yet on any information regarding Rodriguez, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we know what's what!

UPDATE 10:30AM: I've just been informed that a friend of the site is headed to the accident scene now, and will be providing photos soon. Granted, they'll be mobile phone photos, but in the age of cell phone journalism, that will be gold. Also, still no real confirmation on the previous report, although it did come from the same source headed to the scene, and I trust her quite well. Stay tuned, folks, this thing could have an ending very soon...

UPDATE 10:15AM: I've just recieved word that PSP has caught up with Rodriguez on the Shawville-Croft Highway (SR 879 north of Clearfield). A report has just come in from a source close to emergency crews who were just called to an accident there. Apparently, a roadblock was set up, and someone believed to be Rodriguez crashed through it, initiating the accident. There's also a report that Rodriguez is in custody, and at some point, was shot. This is all just early stuff, so don't take it as fact just yet. I'm working on confirming everything as fast as I can...

Well, it's morning, and apart from Missy waking me up with one of the stupidest forwards ever, she also sent along word that PSP is chasing a stolen gray pickup (I'm noticing a theme here, maybe he's a Counting Crows fan). The person driving is reported to be armed, and police do believe that it could be Clearfield County Jail escapee Michael Rodriguez. I can't really confirm this right now, since my scanner source isn't quite with it yet this morning.

Gant Daily has a basic update, with pretty much a recap of what the "majors" have been reporting. According to them, Rodriguez is still on the loose and possibly looking for transportation. I'll see what I can dig up (now that I'm awake, thanks Missy :P) and update as the day goes along...

Overnight Filler

For those coming in looking for info on Michael Rodriguez, the Clearfield County Jail escapee, welcome! My name is Eric, and I'm just a guy with some friends who did some simple, legal snooping and came up with what you're here for, found below in These Two posts. The second of those links is the most up-to-date as far as info is concerned, as of the time of this post.

As for the current moment, there's nothing really new to report, other than I've had some real FAIL moments typing on Twitter as the night has worn on. Totally unrelated to this whole thing, I know, but oh well. Here's a recap of everything we know to this point:

Around 2pm on Tuesday, September 22nd 2009, 32 year old Clearfield County Jail inmate Michael Rodriguez - incarcerated for a burglary in the DuBois, PA area - escaped by working his way under CCJ's yard fences somehow.

Rodriguez, from New York (Buffalo, apparently), is described as 6'0" tall, brown hair and eyes, 180lbs, large build and a tattoo on his neck. He is said to have a history of violent crimes, and is considered a serious threat to the population. The search for him has extended into the area surrounding US Route 322 west of Clearfield, PA, towards the community of Woodland, PA.

Officially, Pennsylvania State Police are searching by ground with K9 units and other units from Centre County. They also have a chopper with night vision equipment in the air. According to major sources, PSP may be scaling back ground efforts for the night.

And now, what the "major" media hasn't told you:

The search began in the county's cornfield site near the jail itself, where we have heard reports that a pair of glasses were found.

Not long afterward, a gray sweatshirt - matching that which an inmate would be permitted to wear inside CCJ - was found near a shed, which Rodriguez apparently broke into. This is the probable source for any weapons he may have, and speculation has ranged from screwdrivers to hammers to bladed tools, anything light and effective.

Some time on, fresh footprints were twice found - first near the Susquehanna River, and then reportedly near a residence.

After a few hours, the reports came in that the search was expanding to the small community of Shawville, PA, in the neighborhood of Stiner Road. During this time, PSP units searching the area reported a possible sighting of a suspicious individual both near the bridge (from civilians) and on a hill near Stiner Road (by PSP themselves), but no contact or positive ID was made in either instance.

Also during that time, the first word of a woman by the last name of Mack [sic?] who claimed to have been in contact with Rodriguez's cellmate came over the scanner. The cellmate apparently had information on possible outside assistance given to the fugitive from people in the Clearfield Area.

In an odd twist (to us, at least), a report came over the air that there was a possible sighting of Rodriguez at the Uni-Mart in Curwensville, PA, ~10 miles from the previous possible sighting in the Shawville area. Although Uni-Mart has security cameras at that location, no further reports came in about the matter.

A brief report came from County Control who relayed information from a citizen about a possible hiding place at a train tunnel somewhere in the local area (which I'm not really familiar with, but possibly near Curwensville or Shawville). At this time, we figured that if the possibility of help were in fact true, then those helpers could be making false tips to throw the search effort off.

(Honestly, we believe that thinking on that level is beyond the average Clearfield County resident - especially those willing to help an escapee and risk state time themselves - but it wouldn't surprise me if it was indeed possible for his help to think outside the box like that.)

In the latest update we have, we learned that PSP had made contact with the cellmate/stool pigeon, and have probably spent the past few hours talking to him and gathering whatever information they can, none of which we've heard at this point.

At this point, this is all we know.

At any rate, if you live in the area, PSP is advising all residents to lock everything that can be locked and keep your house lights on to discourage Rodriguez should he decide to try and attack a home or vehicle.

If you have any information, forget contacting me, first you should call PSP's Woodland Barracks at (814) 857-3800. THEN contact me. We want to see how this all plays out as much as you do, but you have to play within the bounds of both the law and ethical journalism.

In the meantime, I think it's time for me to retire for the night as well. Stay safe, Central PA. And thanks to everyone who's been reading throughout the day/night. Come in for the details the "majors" won't give you (yet), stay for the nostalgia and reaction-inducing socio-political commentary!

CCJ Escapee Post

Well, I beat all four major network affiliates, even had the booking photo before them. So, to compliment my speed, here's a recap so far:

Here's our boy: Michael Rodriguez. Apparently 26 32, 6'0", 180 lbs, large frame, and booked into CCJ on August 10th on Burglary charges. Yeah, he looks like a smart cookie, doesn't he. We're not sure when the breakout happened, or exactly how it happened, but we know that he somehow negotiated the yard fences at CCJ. He's reported to still be wearing his orange CCJ jumpsuit (all of which are in crap shape, trust me), although chances are he ditched that rather quickly and they haven't found it.

Thanks to Google Maps, here's CCJ's close-up. He's most likely to have escaped from the East Yard, as that's the side of the jail where they keep those inmates not eligible for work release, or are considered too dangerous. The West Side is work release and low-risk inmates. The fence system for both yards is the same: Two for each yard, 20 ft. high, topped by razor wire and with an approximately 10-15 foot wide guard path (with central shack) between them. These shacks are typically unused, and only one camera watches each yard from the interior of the jail.

How he got over (or under) these fences is the question on my mind, along with will Warden Sam Lombardo (who is a jackass, I might add) catch hell for the escape on his watch. I hope so, because as both a warden and as a person, Sam Lombardo fails.

And here is the larger search area so far. Top left is CCJ, bottom right is the WalMart distribution center on the hill overlooking Woodland, near I-80. There have been reports of footprints found near the river, and near a residence, which is near the Lock Haven University Clearfield campus above-left of center. Glasses were said to be found somewhere here, as well as a grey sweatshirt (which is likely the suspects, as it conforms to CCJ's inmate dress code) near Mountain Laurel Nursing Home, located next to the Clearfield Mall in the top left of the image.

Thanks to my eyes and ears - Jester and Melissa - I've managed to stay connected to the police scanner and get info like the booking photo. Without them, I'd just be a kid in a motel room making blind guesses. Thanks, you two!

They've kept me up to date quite well: Centre County PSP and officials have been called in to assist, and PSP has a chopper (with night vision) in the air and K9 units on the ground sniffing about. They also state that Rodriguez may be armed (with a screwdriver) and have access to transportation, but these are unsubstantiated.

I've been tweeting this, so if you want quick updates, follow @lostprophyt on there.

And to all the local media outlets: You guys suck. Obviously, I can do your job better, and with limited resources, sitting in a shoddy motel room with just a computer and a phone. Get with the program.

By The Numbers

This past week, thanks to the Jesse Campbell murder story (which noone has linked back here to, ignorant bastards, I was the first online with this thing), traffic to this site has seen the most in one week it's ever seen since its inception.

But... How many will stay?

Apparently, I've pissed alot of kids off. "The system failed Jesse," they say. They say "You're wrong about him."

How can you say something negative about a kid who kills his own mother and have it be wrong? At that point, the kid has invited everything negative known to man into his front door and had a party for all of them.

No, the system didn't fail Jesse. Jesse failed Jesse. The system works, but only if you choose to work within it. If you don't, then you've doomed yourself to failure with no blame cast on the system at all. You kids can stop crying about how the system failed, and start crying anew because your so-called "friend" failed himself.

Instead of asking why they didn't do more for him, ask why Jesse didn't allow the help he was offered. Instead of thinking this is a horrible tragedy that befell a sweet boy, think how horrible and terrible this twisted little fuck's mind is. After all...

HE BEAT AND SLASHED HIS OWN MOTHER.

I'm probably the least religious person on the face of this planet, but even I will concede that killing your own mother falls into the "unforgivable sin" category.

Face it, kids: The person you thought Jesse James Campbell was, wasn't.

So, now that I have all these new readers, how many have I alienated with those comments? Honestly, I don't care, because you kids need to hear someone speaking the truth. And, as the old saying goes, the truth hurts. This time, though, it hurts like a motherfucker.

A young man has betrayed his friends and his family. A mother is dead at the hands of her son. The motive? Selfish greed. The excuse? None.

Noone failed Jesse James Campbell but Jesse James Campbell. And he failed all of you, too. Don't mourn his "mistake," condemn his actions. Quit making excuses. Jesse didn't make an excuse when he beat and slashed his own mother, did he...

Aftercomers

Google for Jesse James Campbell. A week ago, that name was hard to find on the Internet. And now, it's everywhere. And everywhere you look, if there's a comments section, it's full of the same thing: Grab your torch and pitchfork, we'll have a hangin' at dawn.

Most interesting is one found down the list a piece: A GoDuBois Forum Post on the subject, with some lively debate, including this quote:

Jesse James Campbell...

parents: think twice when you name your kids please

Har. Appropriately enough, the thread is titled "Mentally Unstable." Gee, ya think? What's really sad is, even in this local area, there are probably quite a few more kids like Jesse who haven't pulled something like this yet.

And speaking of Har, here's a funny one: Jesse has made his way to People You Will See In Hell. Before this morning, I never knew this site existed. And since I don't really believe in Hell, I can't say that Jesse will go. But if there is one, I bet he's got a reserved seat on the special bus.

Blogs are finally starting to pick up on the whole story more, as is the case with this post at Dreamin' Demon. Plus, there are all kinds of news stories with details of what really went down, mostly send-ups of the third link, a generic blanket UPI story. Turns out that Jesse had taken his mother's computer and, not wanting to return it and fearing his mother would send him back to prison (go figure, kid had a prior and did State time), he decided to kill her.

And not one link to this site from any of these. Bummer.

Brilliant. For all of you anonymous people who deem it necessary to defend such a soulless, moronic subhuman, you're just as brilliant.

Meanwhile, Jesse's preliminary hearing has been continued to April 30th(links here and here). I'd say this kid is headed straight for the table with the tubes. There isn't a jury on this earth that wouldn't have him put to death.

In short, he's fucked.

But what about Kacey? From what I've read this morning, she took the clothes, which Jesse had wadded up into a trash bag, and tossed them into the dumpster. That sticks her with a few charges right there, and while they're not Murder 1, they're fairly serious on their own. I'm sure there will be some form of Evidence Tampering charge, as well as some sort of Obstruction charge. Accessory to Murder 1? With her not being present for the whole thing (she was under the impression that he was just out getting cigarettes, even though he told her he was going to kill his mother before he left), I doubt she'd be tagged as an accomplice.

What she did and didn't believe at that point has yet to be fully determined. It's a pretty safe bet that, as soon as I can talk to her, I will, and hopefully she can give us a clearer picture of what the hell was going on in the days leading up to this circus. Until then, though, it's my guess that she'll be the star witness for what will most likely be a local media spectacle of a trial, and what might snag itself a little national media coverage in the process...

UPDATE: 2:40pm - The story has made a newsgroup posting, oddly enough on alt.drugs.psychedelics, found via Google Groups. Whoever this Rob Cypher is, he's linked to Jesse's MySpace page, encouraging people to leave comments. However (and this is no surprise), there are no new comments: He's not there to add new friends, and its set to only receive comments from friends.

Some More Coleman Murder Stuff

Wow. This has generated quite a response, as I figured it would, but it's a bit bigger than I thought.

First of all, I should address the most recent comment, from reader melanie626. She's fairly adamant in her correction that it's Jessie Campbell, not Coleman. I'll concede that much, no problem, and will correct my prior entries. More on that in a moment. She's also saying that, no, Kacey was not with Jessie when the deal went down, which is a huge relief.

So, why have I been calling him by his mother's last name? That comes from my initial discovery of the event, when an unknown person logged on to Kacey's Yahoo! Messenger account and sent me a message. They had logged in under Invisible mode, so I had no idea they were there until the message came through.

My archiving has been turned off for some time, so I have no hard copy of the conversation (idiot). All I can do is recount the basic gist of the whole thing.

them: hey kacey is in jail

me: What?!?

them: yeah

me: For what? WTF?

them: she and her boyfriend killed his mom

me: You said what now? They killed Jordan's mom?!?

(At this point, I had no idea that Kacey and Jordan had broken up two weeks prior.)

them: no she broke up with jordan two weeks ago

me: So it's that other kid she's been seeing, then.

them: yeah jessie coleman

(It was this unknown person using Kacey's account who gave me the name I'd been running with up to this point)

me: God damn... When the hell did this happen?

them: last night

me: Mother Fucker...

At this point, whoever it was stopped talking, and I've received nothing from Kacey's screen name since. Prior to this, I'd spoken to her online about three weeks before, and seen her briefly on a Thursday a few days before that. Personally, I received no indication that any of this was going on in the slightest. Kacey didn't mention anything about Jessie other than that she'd been seeing a kid younger than her (she's 22, he's 20). Never told me his name or anything else about him, really, just mentioned him in passing.

Otherwise, she was her usual self, pretty much. I can't speak for the two weeks leading up to the murder, since I had no contact with her. I really do hope that she's alright, because she's a good kid and hella cool to hang out with.

If anyone else close to Kacey would like, feel free to use my Comments links to chime in with what you know, any speculation, or just to show your support for Cindy Jo's or Kacey's families. This is probably the worst tragedy Houtzdale has seen since the block party fires of the late 90s: a son, killing his mother in, from what I've heard, is an argument over a computer.

Something went very wrong here, and not just that night...

Star-cross'd Lovers

A few quick updates on coverage of the Cindy Jo Coleman murder here in Houtzdale. A quick check of teh Googles reveals the first blog (that I've found) other than my own to speak out on the story: A blog called News of Doom picked it up and has a bit of commentary to go with it. Yeah, this kid could very well be looking at the needle, and I can't think of anyone in this state who would sit on the jury for this case, hear how this kid killed his mother, and NOT throw the book at him.

A bit of ha ha, Froggy98's website had a blurb about it on their FrogNet News page (find it yourself, I don't like Froggy, so no link for them), but apparently it's rotated out of their limited live page cache. Oh well, it would have only been a paragraph at most, and would have probably run along the lines of a summary the Altoona Mirror's article, anyway. In short, nothing new from a crappy source.

Years ago, when the Kimmy Jo Dotts (wow, women with Jo as a middle name tend to get killed around here...) Murder went down, Montel Williams did a show dedicated to the case, where I saw my friend Clint on the air, and heard a phone call from a very stupid/ignorant Dawn Lanager and her mother. I wonder which tabloid show will pick this story up first. Oprah? Maury? JERRY?!? We'll see, I guess.

While I'm inclined to continue to dig up new junk on this story, today is, in fact, St. Patrick's Day, and I can't help but want to step away from the keyboard and search box for a while and relax. I'll be at Electric Avenue tonight, watching everyone else get hammered while I drink my Sierra Mist 'on the rocks,' straight. I'll be back tomorrow, though, hopefully with more. On the bright side, I won't have to battle through any sort of hangover to do it...

Cats In The Cradle

The weekend has brought new information in the Jessie Coleman Campbell murder story, as teh Internets (which is a series of tubes) have finally caught up to me, at least when it comes to actually having anything online at all. Granted, they're a bit more well-connected than a lowly citizen-journalist such as myself, so they're a bit more in the know. But hey, at least I got to break it to the digital world, not a chance I get often (or one that I get soon enough to act on).

GantDaily says that the murder itself happened at Woodward Terrace Apartments. The police presence my friend confirmed for me at McAteer was most likely a posse hunting Jessie down at his girlfriend's apartment (that being Kacey).

The first mention of Kacey, however, comes in the form of an article from the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat which gives us some more details about the killing itself. While Kacey is only mentioned as "his girlfriend," it goes on to say that there's a stolen computer involved. Jessie took a 5lb plastic weight and clubbed his mother with it when she wouldn't wake up, then slashed her throat and wrists.

While she lay there, choking on her own blood, Jessie apparently sat and read the bible to her. Funny, since Jessie doesn't strike me as a Bible sort of kid...

Of course, The Progress is late to the party. And even though they're the most local paper to the story, their coverage, as always, is lacking.

And finally, the plot thickens as we get our first mention of Kacey (left) by name outside of this blog. According to the Altoona Mirror (who also supplied Jessie's CCJ booking photo, above left), it was Kacey who blew the whistle. Around 2AM (which is pretty much the same time I was near her apartment picking up diapers from a friend for my son), Kacey came back to her apartment hysterical, and called the police.

While I still can't garner Kacey's status at the moment (all I have to go on is whoever used her Yahoo to message me told me she, too, was in CCJ), the article does mention that Kacey was involved in some sort of planning. She never mentioned anything like this to me.

In fact, her's what WAS mentioned to me by her in the weeks leading up to Cindy's murder: Around three weeks ago, she revealed to me that she was cheating on her boyfriend (at the time) with Jessie, the first I'd ever heard of him at all. She did say that she was under a ton of stress, but never went into details, even when I asked her. After that, her account went dark for about a week and a half, popping back up on Thursday morning with whoever was in control sending me the message that started this whole fiasco.

The computer, I understand. Since Kacey had broken up with her previous boyfriend, she lacked a computer, hence her Yahoo account not coming online for a week. Cindy's computer (honestly, she won't be using it now) would fill that void, though I highly doubt that Jessie killed her because Kacey wanted a way to get online. Pretty weak motive for murder right there.

No, there's something deeper here. This Jessie, I'm willing to bet, is one seriously fucked up kid. And I aim to get to the bottom of why he is. Why? Because, in a very distant but still-significant way, his anger is like my own when I was that age. Understanding that anger, and understanding Jessie Coleman Campbell, brings us one step closer to understanding why so many kids are flipping out and racking up body counts these days.

For the record, I love my mother endlessly, and would never, EVER dream of killing her, or anyone else, for that matter.

As I gather more info, I'll post it here. Week should be interesting...

Small Town

Well, things have pretty much settled in the aftermath of Thursday morning's insanity. The story so far:

From what I've gathered, Jessie has been wandering about for some time saying he was going to kill his mother. While I haven't pinpointed a reason yet, it looks like no one took him seriously, with the possible exception of Kacey. In the end, WTAJ (CBS10, Altoona) reported it that evening as Jessie acting alone, with no mention of Kacey's involvement. That was a bit of a relief, seeing as how I'm obviously very worried about someone I consider a good friend.

Cause of death is likely to be blood loss from slash wounds to the throat and wrists, but I've heard some reports of possible blunt force trauma as well, which wasn't reported by WTAJ during their 5pm newscast. If that's the case, then Cindy suffered a very frightening death at the hands of her own son.

But what would possess a child to kill his own mother, let alone do it in such a violent and nasty way? One possible scenario is that, mad at his mother for some reason and sent over his breaking point by something, he beat the ever-loving tar out of her and, scared of the consequences of that, killed her to silence her. If that's the case, wrong move, just made things worse.

What makes a kid rage against his mom like that? Any number of things, really, could - either on their own or, more likely, in tandem with more - contribute to a child's anger. Jessie is a part of a very selfish and spoiled generation, the grandchildren of the Boomers and children of TV Generation parents. With doting grandparents desperate to stay young by living through their grandkids, and parents who are either unwilling or unable to connect with them on much of any level, its really no surprise how these kids fall off the boat.

Most adopt a "Fuck The World" mentality, refusing to care about this or that or the other thing and only focusing on their narrow view of the world around them. They feel trapped by their surroundings, with a fear of inability to escape their mundane existence in their tiny niche of the world. They assault their ears with the overly-aggressive, testosterone-fueled anthems of Hardcore music, and at the same time feed their depression with the whiny crybaby sounds of Emo. The "fuck it all" attitude leads to indifference to school, work, life, and pretty much anything that isn't branded PlayStation or Aeropostale.

In effect, they've desensitized themselves to sympathy, empathy, and have failed to find outlets for the wellspring of emotions swimming around inside of them. Social interaction, even among family, is retarded, and bridges (rather than being burned) aren't even built in the first place.

With a parent who, while trying their best but still falling short, can't make a connection with their kid, the other side of the bridge doesn't even get past the foundation phase. With neither side making any effort, any emotional bond is all but erased.

The kids end up reacting negatively to any parental "intrusion," distrusting and coming to resent any effort by their parents for anything, over time becoming a conditioned response. Kid will run off, do what he/she pleases while they're out, consequences be damed because the parents lack the skills to enforce any punishments. Grounded or no, kids are right back out doing lord knows what.

But what drove Jessie to kill his mother, and in such a violent manner, is something that needs to be looked at in order to understand the true nature of the generation gap kids and parents these days have to deal with. If I were to go any further with this subject, though, I'd never get any sleep.

And yes, I know, it's Caturday. I'm going to try my best this time around...

UPDATE: 6:43am - Whoopsie. Eric too tired, forget to check teh Googles. Here's a Centre Daily Times blurb, although it's fairly limited at this time. Looks like I'm the only one releasing names other than perp and vic. Can that get me in trouble? Eh, fuck em.

BREAKING NEWS: MURDER IN HOUTZDALE

From what sources I have, signs point to holy shit.

All the information I have right now says this: Sometime very recently (probably last night or this morning), Kacey Fisher and Jessie Coleman Campbell killed his mother, Cindy Jo Coleman. Both are in Clearfield County Jail, held for murder 1, most likely. Currently, Jessie is being held without bond in Clearfield County Jail. I have yet to confirm the whereabouts of Kacey.

I wish it weren't true, but it is. Kacey was a friend of mine.

The who and the why will all become clear in time as I try to gather the facts. But I have one source who told me essentially that story, and another source who lives in the area who confirmed the heavy PSP presence since this morning, making it highly unlikely that the first source is wrong.

While I master a home video DVD for Teddy's grandmother, I'll be hitting teh Googles for whatever links and news I can find. For now, though, it looks like I'm the first to hit the net with this story.

UPDATE: 4pm: - Links to Kacey's Yahoo Profile and MySpace account. Kacey is at least 22 now, possibly 23, though I never really knew when her birthday was. From what I've heard, this Jessie kid is 20, and that's all I have on him at the moment. Kacey's MySpace page hasn't been update for a week, but still has pictures of her and her ex boyfriend on it.

An excerpt from Kacey's blog, dated April of last year:

Todays the day to start life over. I have no clue on what to do or how to live my life normal, or in the normal sense. I"m tired of fuckin around, i'm tired or wasting time and my life on the petty arguments, the fights and the tears i've had to cry. I want to start fresh, start anew, open my eyes and get a clear view. A new perspective. I need a challenge. I don't want to run anymore, and death is not an option. I miss my friends and my family, I miss being me. I feel very alone, depressed, scared and everything in between. Somebody, Anybody, please help me start my first new day or freedom.

I guess that won't be the case now. She'll be starting a new life, but not the one she'd hoped for. When the motive comes out, I'm sure I'll be able to piece together what went wrong...

UPDATE 2: 4:21pm - Via another source, though it has yet to be confirmed, Jessie's mother's cause of death was the old ear-to-ear grin. Man, something went really wrong here, and I aim to find out what the fuck it was. I need to find Jordan...

UPDATE 3: 4:30pm - Found Jessie Coleman's Campbell's MySpace account. Kid said he's just trying to live life and be happy. I guess offing the woman who gave him that life in the first place was part of his happy plan.

Interesting Observation: On Kacey's MySpace, the song is "The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars. On Jessie's, it's "Gravedigger" by Willie Nelson. Talk about creepy...

On a completely different note, my good friend Justin ended up in the hospital this morning, and they're keeping him for a bit for observation. For the most part, he's fine, but tests will reveal more. Get well soon, Old Man!

Thank You Mr. Handel

Maybe, just maybe, there is a (Insert Deity Here). Or at least some sort of higher power with enough clout to listen to my insane ravings, because three Chicago Newspapers are cutting back or eliminating NASCAR coverage. I have yet to grouse in the Fark Thread, but I plan on doing so soon.

And the reason for the cutbacks in NASCAR coverage? People want more local news. In other words, Chicago's regional sections are going to get more space (are you listening, Altoona Mirror?) at the expense (ha ha ha ha) of go fast, turn left coverage that only the most hardcore of hayseed Earnhardt merchandise collectors care to read.

Now THAT is a good start to 2008. BRAVO!

Suck it, Hillbillies.