Where is Marc Anthony Bookal?

Marc Anthony Bookal, aged 4 of 11 Benkard Ave. in the city of Newburgh, NY has been missing since Dec 14, 2009. His mother, Christina, the police and indeed the entire city is wondering: Where is little Marc?

Marc was last seen around 1pm on Dec. 14. He was in the care of Cory Byrd, 30, Christina Bookal's boyfriend. He said that the little boy had slipped outside while they were getting ready to go visit relatives. Byrd said he followed the boy outside just a few minutes later and found that he had disappeared.

The city of Newburgh Police Dept. were notified and they began an intensive door-to-door search for Marc. That search was later widened. They brought in search dogs, helicopters and received assistance from the NY State police and other agencies. Marc Anthony Bookal has not yet been located.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children issued the following notice regarding the Newburgh youngster:

MARC A BOOKAL
Case Type: Endangered Missing
DOB: Oct 7, 2005	Sex: Male
Missing Date: Dec 14, 2009	Race: Black
Age Now: 4	Height:  3'6" (107 cm)
Missing City: NEWBURGH CITY	Weight:  42 lbs (19 kg)
Missing State :  NY	Hair Color: Brown
Missing Country: United States	Eye Color: Brown
Case Number: NCMC1137211
Circumstances: Marc was last seen at his home on December 14, 2009 at approximately 1:00 p.m. He has a gap between his front teeth. Marc's skin is discolored on the back of each hand. He was last seen wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, gray Rocawear sweatpants, and white Nike sneakers.

The day after admitting that 4-year-old Marc Bookal went missing while under his care, Cory Byrd was arrested by the City of Newburgh police on misdemeanor child endangerment charges. Byrd was also charged with violation of parole. He was arraigned in City Court and sent to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail or $2,500 bond on the misdemeanor charge, but he won't be able to leave the jail while his parole violation proceeding is pending.

Cory Byrd has a violent criminal record with at least one incident involving his own child.

Cory Byrd served five years and five months in state prison for the 2002 attack of an 18-year-old. Now 25 years old, the victim in that attack remembers Byrd as a “vicious animal” who brutally beat him and slashed his face even though he did everything Byrd asked.

The young man, who asked that his name be withheld, had come from out of town and stopped on Benkard Avenue to buy $10 worth of marijuana. Byrd and another man got in his car and stuck a gun against his ribs. They told him to drive. He was taken to a secluded street and they beat him nearly unconscious before Byrd delivered a final blow. It looked like a punch, but Byrd had a knife in his fist and opened a gash that split the young man's face from his right eye to his left ear.

“After I got cut, they left me there to die,” the young man said.

Doctors at Westchester Medical Center needed about 250 stitches to close the 7-inch gash.

At the request of the police Christina, the boy's mother, and Yul Bookal, the boy's biological father both took a polygraph test. Both were found to be truthful in their responses said Police Sgt. Paul Weber.

The police made a similar request of Cory Byrd through his lawyer, Erik Indzonka. However, according to his lawyer, Byrd has refused to participate.

In the meantime two anonymous donors have stepped up and offered a reward for information leading to the safe return of 4-year-old Marc Bookal. One donor offered $10,000 while the second one offered $5,000.

One other donor, the Carlie’s Crusade Foundation has also added $1,000 to the reward increasing the amount offered to $16,000. However, echoing what has been unsaid so far, the money is offered for the safe return of 4-year-old Marc Bookal or the recovery of his remains. 

Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Carlie's Crusade reward may contact www.CarliesCrusade.org or at (800)496-6720 or 309-2961. Donations are in addition to the organization's contribution and tax deductible, officials said. To report any information about Bookal's whereabouts, call City of Newburgh police at 561-3131.

 

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Parents Sue over Teen Sexting Suicide

Jessica Logan, 18, committed suicide on July, 3, 2008, one month after graduating from high school. Her parents Cynthia and Albert Logan filed suit in the U.S. Distr ict Court, Ohio on 12/2/09 against SYCAMORE COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION, Police Officer PAUL PAYNE, CITY OF MONTGOMERY and five other individuals.

This action challenges the severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment that Sycamore Community Schools and Montgomery Police Officer Paul Payne permitted against high school student Jessica Logan before her death. Jessica was continually harassed by students at Sycamore High School and by the named Defendant students, who maliciously circulated a nude photo of her and tormented her with degrading sexual insults. 

Jessica Logan attended Sycamore High School from 2004 to 2008. She had a boyfriend, Ryan Salyers. During her senior year at school, using her cellphone she took, and sent to Ryan, a picture of herself, naked from the neck down. Shortly afterward she and Ryan broke up.

Ryan Salyers, after the break up, texted the naked picture of Jessica to: Sarah Jane Ramsey, Courtney Richardson, Emily Stachler and a minor known only as "A.R." all of whom distributed the photo widely among their friends at Sycamore High and Loveland High School.

When Jessica learned that her picture was the topic of conversation throughout the school, she was "devastated and humiliated." Accompanied by a friend she went to the school's counselor office. They were told to report the matter to the School Resource Officer, Paul Payne.

Officer Payne spoke to the individuals involved in the texting and asked them to delete the picture. Instead of doing so, they contacted Jessica and let her know that they were going to "escalate the level of harassment" because she reported them. That is exactly what happened.

Students began to refer to Jessica as a whore, slut and skank. She received text messages, phone calls and MySpace messages denigrating her character. She was tormented in school and outside as well. Some students even took to throwing objects at her. She reported all this once again to Officer Payne, who said there was nothing he could do about it.

Jessica began to skip school, prompting the school to send truancy notes to her parents. Her grades suffered and she was in danger of not being able to graduate. She did however manage to complete her studies and graduated on June 1, 2008. The harassment did not stop.

Students threw objects at Jessica during Sycamore’s graduation and at graduation parties, slurred her and hurled sexual epithets at her when she attended graduation parties, and continued to harass her by phone and online.

On July 3, 2008 Jessica attended the funeral of a friend who had committed suicide. When she returned home Jessica hanged herself in her bedroom.

Last fall, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy surveyed teens and young adults about sexting — sending sexually charged material via cell phone text messages — or posting such materials online. The results revealed that 39 percent of teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages, and 48 percent reported receiving such messages. 

After her daughter’s death, Cynthia Logan quit her job and was hospitalized for a time with what she described as a mental breakdown. Still grieving over the loss of her daughter, she said she is taking her story public to warn kids about the dangers of sending sexually charged pictures and messages to boyfriends and girlfriends.

“She was vivacious. She was fun. She was artistic. She was compassionate. She was a good kid,” said Cynthia Logan of her deceased daughter.

Cynthia and her husband, Albert, say they are heartbroken and angry. They feel like something should have been done. They question why the five teenagers who continued to spread Jessie's picture and harass her were never charged. Cynthia says the fault doesn't only lie with the police, but also with the school.

"To have a nude photo being disseminated throughout the school of your child, how would you feel as a parent?” she asked. “Wouldn't you want other parents to know? The police department didn't protect her. The school didn't protect her. She had no one,” said Cynthia.

Sexting is a growing problem that has resulted in child pornography charges being filed against some teens across the nation. Montgomery police have charged one teenage boy who sent a racy video to other students. The Warren County prosecutor filed misdemeanor charges against two 15-year-old students at Mason High School, for sending out nude pictures over their cell phones. In Warren county a new law specifically targeting sexting has been proposed.

Why is sexting so popular among teens? One teen explained it this way:

"It's like a digital trophy, proving that you did something or you got someone to show you something personal of theirs and you can parade it around and make sure everyone knows. And it's more satisfying than word of mouth," said one teenager, who did not want to be identified.

In a survey conducted by MTV and the Associated Press more than three-quarters of respondents recognized that digital abuse was a serious problem in the youth culture but at the same time they were only mildly concerned about the risks and consequences from such behavior. Only half of the respondents gave thought to the idea that information or images they posted online could negatively affect them later.

One person who knows first hand how sexting could have a negative effect is Cynthia Logan; it cost her the life of her only child, Jessie Logan.

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Cop-Killer Shot and Killed

Maurice Clemmons, 37 - the cop-killer who gunned down four police officers at a Forza coffee shop near Takoma, Wa. on Sunday, Nov. 29th - was shot and killed by a lone Seattle police officer, investigating a stolen car in Seattle's Rainier Valley neighborhood, on Tuesday, Dec. 1st. It brought an end to a massive two-day search for the killer who assassinated:

Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, Officer Tina Griswold, 40, Officer Ronald Owen, 37, Officer Greg Richards, 42

Sergeant Mark Renninger, age 39 with thirteen years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Officer Ronald Owen, age 37 with twelve years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a former wife and a daughter.

Officer Tina Griswold, age 40 with fourteen years of law enforcement experience. She is survived by her husband and two children.

Officer Greg Richards, age 42 with eight years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

The officers who were all from the Lakewood police department, were in the coffee shop preparing for their upcoming shift. The news of Clemmons' death was summed up by Sylvester Dennis, 50, a truck driver who has lived in the area since he was 11:

"Sounds like he got what he deserved. Those were police officers, man. You just can't just go around killing people"

"When you help a criminal, you become a criminal."

Maurice Clemmons was able to elude the police for two days with the help of others, some of whom have been arrested:

• Douglas Davis and his brother Eddie Davis both pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. According to investigators, Douglas Davis helped Clemmons clean and treat the gunshot wound he suffered in a struggle with one of the officers. Douglas and his brother, Eddie Davis, apparently drove Clemmons around after the shooting while he was on the run. Judge Bryan Chushcoff set bail for Eddie Davis at $700,000 and bail for Douglas Davis at $500,000.

• Rickey Hinton, Clemmons' half brother, is accused of letting Clemmons use his car while he was hiding, knowing full well what he had done. He has not been charged yet but has been booked into jail for investigation of rendering criminal assistance. Chushcoff set his bail at $2 million.

• Darcus Allen is accused of driving the getaway truck for Clemmons after the shooting. Police believe Allen was waiting for Clemmons at a car wash near the coffee shop. He could be charged with murder.

"If he knew that he was driving there for the murder, absolutely. If he knew that this was going to happen and was waiting there, absolutely we will arrest him for murder," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer.

• Letrecia Nelson, Clemmons' aunt, was picked up in Pacific. Quiana Williams, a friend of Clemmons, was arrested in Des Moines. It's not clear what role the two women played but both of them are booked on four counts of rendering criminal assistance.

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Cop-Killer, Maurice Clemmons, Sought by Police

Maurice Clemmons, 37, has been identified as a "person of interest" and is being actively sought by the Lakeland Police Dept. regarding to the execution-style killing of four police officers at the Forza coffee shop near Tacoma, Wa. on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 around 8:15 am.

He is said to have an extensive criminal record, including at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington state. He was released on $15,000 bond just six days ago on his latest charge -- second-degree rape of a child.

Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he ran a landscaping and power-washing business. He has been known to behave erratically giving rise to concerns about his mental health.

The City of Lakewood has released the following information on the four slain police officers:

 Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens, Greg Richards

Sergeant Mark Renninger, age 39 with thirteen years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Officer Tina Griswold, age 40 with fourteen years of law enforcement experience. She is survived by her husband and two children.

Officer Ronald Owen, age 37 with twelve years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a former wife and a daughter.

Officer Greg Richards, age 42 with eight years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

The incident began around 8:15 on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. A gunman, believed to be Maurice Clemmons, entered the Forza coffee shop and approached the counter. The attendant asked for his order and the gunman opened his jacket, revealing a weapon. The employee fled. The gunman then turned his attention to four police officers who were sitting at a nearby table in the process of doing paperwork on their computers in preparation for their upcoming shift.

“Two of them were just flat executed, sitting writing reports,” Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, said of the officers, who worked for the Police Department in Lakewood, just south of Tacoma. “One of them stood up and tried to go for the suspect and got shot. Then the fourth one fought his way out to the parking lot and fired off some rounds.”

It is believed that the fourth police officer, who had fought with the gunman, was able to fire his weapon, wounding the suspect, before he was killed.

“We hope that he hit him,” Mr. Troyer said of the officer, who fired at the suspect before dying from gunshot wounds. “If he’s hit, that means he’s injured somewhere with a gunshot wound. He’s going to have to get that taken care of sometime, someplace,” he said.

Authorities are offering a $120,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person involved in this morning's fatal shooting, described as a black man who is between 5-feet-7-inches and 5-feet-10-inches tall, and wearing a black coat and blue jeans in the Lakewood, Wash. area. Anybody with information is asked to call 253-591-5959 or 866-977-2362.

Maurice Clemmons' criminal history began when he was 17 years old in 1989. He was sentenced to a 48-year prison term on five felony convictions. The next year he was given an additional 60-year sentence for burglary and theft of property. Clemmons served 11 years before being released. He had his sentenced reduced by then Gov. Mike Huckabee, who cited his young age when he had committed those crimes.

After being released, and while on parole, Clemmons was again arrested, in 2001, for aggravated robbery and theft. Those charges were eventually dropped by the prosecution for "technical reasons". Clemmons then moved to Washington state in 2004 where he continued to get himself in trouble. Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. He was released from custody - after posting $15,000 bail with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds - just six days before gunning down the four police officers.

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