Once again, The Amber Alert has saved childrens' lives. In Ellijay, Georgia, James Williams Jones, strangled his 10-month old daughter, and killed his ex-wife's parents and sister on Wednesday. Then he kidnapped his other three children, girls ages 10, 3 and 4. He had called his ex-wife who was visiting a boyfriend in Oregon, and told her that he had murdered the others and he would kill the girls, one by one, if she reported it. She did, a manhunt began, and thanks to The Amber Alert, he was spotted and caught. A State Trooper rammed his car, forcing him to spin and hit a telephone pole because he refused to pull over. Jones then shot himself in the face, the bullet going through his chin and out his upper jaw. The 10-year-old jumped from the car and ran, and the police got the other children out of the car, one of them said to be covered in Jones' blood. What a sick, sick man. I read that his mother and stepfather were killed in the 1996 ValuJet crash in Florida, and he had received a healthy settlement from that, but blew it all as soon as he got it, mostly on drugs. These girls may be physically unharmed, but emotionally they will have problems for the rest of their lives. Their mother returned on a flight from Oregon after being iced in there. At first I questioned why she left her children over the Christmas holidays to visit "a boyfriend" in Oregon. Mothers usually want to be with their kids on Christmas. But, who knows, if she had stayed and he had gone on the rampage, she would probably be dead too and her children motherless, or either all of them would be dead. Who really knows why things happen the way they do? I'm just really glad that The Amber Alert became Nationwide, because it has all ready saved numerous people's lives. At Amber Alert For Home/Workplace[/URL] you can extend the reach of vital AMBER Alerts to your computer desktops at home and in the workplace. Through a free small software application, Internet-connected users are now able to receive, print and email AMBER Alerts as they are released by local law-enforcement agencies. I just wanted to share that information with yall, and let's all keep these innocent victims in our thoughts and prayers.

Phew! I'm glad they caught him - well, he took his own life, but at least he isn't hurting anyone anymore. I was appalled when I found out about this creep. I'm sorry the little girls will have to deal with this for the rest of their lives, but at least they *are* alive. I surey don't understand their mother either, but you may be right - if she had stuck around, who knows what her fate would have been.

I put the Amber Alert ticker on the board (one in the Greatroom and in this forum) awhile back, but I may need to move one out on the main board for maximum exposure. The desktop seems like a great idea!

Kell

I found out earlier that James Jones didn't die from his gunshot wound. He's in the hospital and has to have major surgery. One of the family members they interviewed said she was glad he survived, because she wants him to have to stand trial and she wants him to have to live with what he did.

Ah.... that's just as well. I think he should have to face justice for it and not get off by killing himself. It makes me cringe though to think who is really paying that hospital bill.

Kell

IF there is any justice in this world, I hope this man suffers beyond all human comprehension for what he has done.

His 10 month old baby daughter...