The Odd Truth, Nov. 11, 2003

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - One of the hottest car lines is turing 35. But you don't drive these cars - you play with them. Mattel officials say the toy company has produced three billion Hot Wheels since 1968. Collector David Hester started playing with his Hot Wheels as a kid and hasn't stopped. Today, the Canton, Ohio, man says he's got about 1,500 of them and is looking for more. One model he isn't likely to find at a flea market is the 1969 Volkswagen Beach Bomb. Only 22 of those Hot Wheels were made. A collector bought one a few years ago for $72,000.

Condom Found In Clam Chowder

SANTA ANA, Calif. - It was chewy all right. But it wasn't a clam. Laila Sultan claims she found a condom in her clam chowder at McCormick and Schmick's Seafood Restaurant in Irvine, California. Sultan says after she spit out the unwrapped condom, she spent the next 15 minutes in a restroom, vomiting. Sultan and her three female dinner companions are suing the upscale restaurant. A lawyer for McCormick and Schmick's says there's no evidence that either the restaurant or an employee was source of the condom. The case is to go trial in January.

Fijian Village To Dispel Cannibal Curse

BRISBANE, Australia - The Australian descendants of a Christian missionary eaten by cannibals 136 years ago will travel to Fiji this week, hoping to help lift a curse on the village where he was killed.

The Rev. Thomas Baker was murdered in 1867 at Nubutautau, a remote community high in the hills of the South Pacific island of Viti Levu.

Residents say their community has had bad luck since Baker was consumed and they blame his avenging spirit.

The village has no electricity and only a jungle logging trail links it to the outside world. They say they have been regularly overlooked for developmental aid.

The clergyman's great-great-great-grandson, Dennis Russell, and 10 other family members plan to trek there and receive a traditional apology at an elaborate ceremony on Thursday.

"They are obviously hurting so we are basically going over there to help them," Russell, 46, a coal miner from Brisbane said Tuesday.

Past apologies haven't helped. The last time the village said sorry was in 1993, when it presented the Methodist Church of Fiji with Baker's boots.

During Thursday's ceremony, Baker's descendants will receive more than 100 sperm whale's teeth - important and rare gifts in Fijian tribal society. Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase is planning to attend.

There are differing accounts of Baker's demise. But a villager told The Associated Press last month that it started when the village chief borrowed Baker's hat. Baker tried to take the hat back not knowing that touching a chief's head was culturally taboo and punishable by death.

The Long, Disinterred Arm Of The Law

KIRKWOOD, Mo. - Two legs and an arm express-mailed to the home of a man who brokers body parts apparently broke no laws, police said in this St. Louis suburb.

The body parts shipped via FedEx, which bars such packages, were sent from a Las Vegas donor research company to the man, who acts as a broker for doctors needing body parts for research projects, Kirkwood police spokeswoman Diane Scanga said.

The shipment was discovered Wednesday when one of the boxes was found leaking at a Federal Express depot in St. Louis. Workers found each package to contain a limb, wrapped in dry ice.

Scanga said investigations by Kirkwood police, the FBI and other state agencies determined no laws were broken by the man, who police declined to identify. Still, the man was issued a warning for apparently operating an unlicensed home business, Scanga said.

Howard Clabo, a spokesman for Memphis-based FedEx Corp., said Saturday that the shipments were "in clear violation of our policy," which on FedEx's Web site makes clear that "cremated, embalmed, not embalmed, or disinterred human remains or body parts, are prohibited and will not be accepted."

While declining to discuss the Missouri case, Clabo said FedEx would work with investigators as part of its own inquiry into how and why the questioned body parts managed to make their way into FedEx's system and shipped.

Sandra Munoz, a FedEx spokeswoman, has said the packages' sender and recipient were both long-standing FedEx customers.

Vietnamese Police Pack Paintball Guns

HANOI, Vietnam - Police in the Vietnamese capital have a new gun in their holsters and it's got a colorful bang. They've armed themselves with paintball guns to brand and track robbers and illegal motorbike racers.

The guns, introduced Monday, will be used to pelt thieves and racers with red, yellow and green dyes, said Tran Quoc Hung, administrative head of Hanoi's police.

The guns have a range of 33 feet and will help police to track fast-moving suspects on motorcycles who could otherwise dart unnoticed into a sea of other bikes.

Robbery is not a major problem in Hanoi, but street racing on motorbikes is becoming more common.

Hong Kong Mulls Hiring Australian Croc Hunter

HONG KONG - A crocodile on the loose has Hong Kong officials at wits end after a weeklong hunt in which the animal slipped unscathed from a trap - and critics said Sunday it's time to bring in the professionals.

The elusive croc has become a running source of amusement in Hong Kong, with newspapers providing frequent updates on failed attempts to catch the 4-foot beast.

Officials armed with tranquilizer darts approached the croc in a suburban marsh on Monday, but scared it away. So they switched to cage traps baited with chicken.

Journalists have had better luck capturing the reptile on camera. The Apple Daily newspaper on Sunday ran a photo of the reptile poking its snout out of the water and toying with the bait in one cage.

The hunt has provided some laughs, but patience is wearing thin.

"The dithering must stop. Bring on the experts," the South China Morning Post said Sunday in an editorial, which called Hong Kong's efforts "comical."

The government has consulted with professional hunters and is considering hiring one, said spokeswoman Viola Kwan of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

The Post report said Lever has offered to work for free.

"I would just walk in and grab it," he was quoted as saying.

Highly urbanized Hong Kong has no native crocodile species. Media have speculated that the stray could be an escaped or abandoned pet.

Young Love, Interrupted

REDMOND, Ore. - Back in 1935, Roy Domigan gave his 16-year-old girlfriend Louise Fowler a gold and diamond engagement ring.

Their romance began as neighbors in the town of Temperance, Mich. Fowler used to climb on the back of Domigan's Harley Davidson and together they would race down the highway.

Then one day, Fowler's family shipped her off to California to keep her from marrying Domigan, who was 23 at the time.

"He didn't know anything about it until I was gone," she said. "He could never find me. My family didn't tell him where I was."

This weekend, Fowler, now 83, rekindled the friendship when Domigan, 90, flew out from Michigan for a two-week visit.

"It's amazing to think after 68 years, he would want to get in touch with me," Fowler said.

When Domigan walked through the airport door, he got a big hug, a kiss and a rose boutonniere from Fowler.

The reunion was made possible by Domigan's chance encounter with Fowler's nephew, who provided her address and telephone number. He called her this past May.

"You could have knocked me over with a feather," she said. "I never did forget him. I always wondered about him."