All Blog Posts from Crimesider

FRANKFURT - The father of American English teacher Devon Hollahan, who went missing in Germany more than a week ago, is "terrified" by his son's disappearance.

"Unfortunately, still no major clues in the case, but they're still hard at it," Jeff Hollahan told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday about the mystery surrounding his 22-year-old son.

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PHOENIX - They are dumb, chesty, and ready to sell cars.

But are they legal?

That is the question as two well-endowed mannequins are getting a Phoenix-area used car dealer in trouble with the law.

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NEW YORK - Texting may not be the root of all evil, but police in Tucson, Ariz. say it did play a role in a party that ended in a fatal shooting early Sunday.

Authorities say the shooting occurred at a "texting party," which is when a group of people begin text messaging an address to more and more friends until a massive group of people, many of whom do not know each other, end up at the party.

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PHOENIX - Self-help guru James Arthur Ray has made a small fortune coaching people that they can achieve wealth and fulfillment by simply imagining the future they want. That's "The Secret."

But the three people who died after a sweat lodge retreat run by Ray probably didn't imagine his words would be the last they ever heard.

Now, Ray will be forced to do some positive thinking of his own. The guru was hit with two lawsuits stemming from the Oct. 8 Angel Valley Retreat sweat lodge ceremony in Sedona, Ariz., that left three dead and 18 hospitalized.

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NEW YORK - The daughter of Liz Neuman, a Prior Lake, Minn. woman who died after participating in an Arizona sweat-lodge ceremony said she wants New Age guru James Arthur Ray behind bars.

Authorities are investigating the Oct. 8 ceremony at Angel Valley Resort near Sedona, Ariz. led by Ray, a motivational speaker. Three participants died and 18 were hospitalized after the sweat lodge ceremony. The deaths have been ruled a homicide by local law enforcement.

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NEW YORK - New age guru James Arthur Ray repeatedly lied to the family of sweat lodge victim Kirby Brown since their daughter passed away the night dozens fell ill at a sweat lodge ceremony in Sedona, Ariz., according to a Monday night interview on CNN's Larry King Live.

The tragedy occurred on Oct. 8, and five days later Ray's first dishonesty came when he called Brown's mother, Virginia Brown, to express his condolences, she told King.

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VIDEO COURTESY OF CNN

NEW YORK - James Arthur Ray, the new age guru whose Sedona, Ariz. sweat lodge may have caused three deaths, sent one victim's family a check for $5,000, about half the participation fee for the deadly event, the family told CNN's Larry King on Monday night.

The check came in a sympathy card on Oct. 22, two weeks after the Oct. 8 tragedy, with a note that read, "Please accept this financial assistance. And on the check he wrote, 'In honor of Kirby Brown.'"

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NEW YORK - He may have been a hero, but he didn't live to know it.

One man who died after an overheated Arizona sweat-lodge ceremony had already brought another sick woman out of the stifling tent, before re-entering the lodge himself, a participant in the ceremony told the New York Times.

Beverley Bunn, a 43-year-old orthodontist from Texas, said James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee, helped a sick woman to safety before going back inside. Shore died later that evening at a Sedona, Ariz. area hospital.

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PEORIA, Ariz. - Police believe a 20-year-old girl was run over in a Phoenix suburb because she had become too "Westernized." And the man they suspect was behind the wheel was her own father, an Iraqi immigrant.

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - No permit. Not even an application.

A sweat lodge in central Arizona where two people were overcome and later died lacked the necessary building permit, an official said Monday.

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