Message led to discovery of 11 kids in New Mexico compound

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — A message that people were starving, believed to come from someone inside a makeshift compound in rural northern New Mexico, led to the discovery of 11 children living in filthy conditions.

Taos County Sheriff’s officials said Saturday the children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia — 145 miles (233 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque and in an isolated high-desert area near the New Mexico-Colorado border. They were then turned over to state child-welfare workers.

Two men were arrested during the search. Siraj Wahhaj was detained on an outstanding warrant in Georgia alleging child abduction. Lucas Morten was jailed on suspicion of harboring a fugitive, Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.

It was not immediately clear Sunday if either had retained an attorney.

A 3-year-old boy reported missing from Georgia’s Clayton County since December 2017 was not among the 11 children found at the compound.

Three women, believed to be the mothers of the children, were detained and later released.

https://apnews.com/d33871e0ed8c4f588a3373e1eddd8a24/Message-led-to-discovery-of-11-kids-in-New-Mexico-compound

Vintage plane crashes in Swiss Alps, killing 20 on board'''

BERLIN (AP) — Determining why a vintage plane crashed in the Swiss Alps will be challenging since the 79-year-old aircraft did not have black boxes and was traveling in an area without frequent radar readings when it plunged into a mountain, killing all 20 of the people on board, investigators said Sunday.

The Junkers Ju-52 plane, operated by Swiss company Ju-Air, moved at a near-vertical angle before it hit the Piz Segnas mountain while carrying 17 passengers and three crew members, police and the head of the country’s transportation safety agency said.

The victims were 11 men and nine women between the ages of 42 and 84— seven couples from various parts of Switzerland, a couple from neighboring Austria and their son, and the three crew members. Their names were not released.

The fully booked propeller plane, built in 1939 and retired by Switzerland’s air force in 1981, was flying the passengers back to its base at Duebendorf, near Zurich, from a two-day trip to the Italian-speaking Ticino region. It crashed shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, less than 50 minutes after taking off from Locarno’s Magadino airfield.

The plane had two pilots. Police said they have not found any evidence a distress call was made before it crashed.

https://apnews.com/07188cb56b8e4e289892414919722c03/Vintage-plane-crashes-in-Swiss-Alps,-killing-20-on-board

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