Mereja

Author: Amanda Crum

  • Three Bodies Found On Farm; Young Missing Mom Believed Dead

    Three bodies were found on a farm in Kansas on Monday, and investigators believe one of them belongs to a young mother who disappeared with her 18-month old daughter last week.

    The bodies were discovered when two friends of 21-year old Kaylie Bailey visited the home–which belonged to her boyfriend, Andrew Stout, and his roommate, Steven Eugene White–to check on some animals there. The women–Kortni McGill and Corey Schlotzhauer–quickly smelled a foul odor coming from the garage and called police, who did a brief search of the home and found nothing. After they left, the women decided they weren’t satisfied with the quick inspection and returned with another friend, 21-year old Shona Osladil, to investigate. They then found a decaying body beneath a tarp that had been weighted down.

    “I reached down and saw teeth through the square in the cinder block. I said, ‘Corey, there’s a body here,’” Kortni McGill said.

    The reported reason the police didn’t find the body is that it was covered in trash, but Osladil is extremely unhappy with the way things have been handled.

    “I’m very frustrated,” she said. “Without us going out there how long would it have been before they found that body?”

    Investigators aren’t releasing details regarding how the victims died, saying it is crucial to their investigation. The baby, Lana Bailey, has yet to be found. They are, however, looking for two men in connection with the murders: Kyle Flack, 27, and Cyle Mathew Bailey, 22. They are believed to be driving a Toyota Corolla.

    three bodies found

  • Ali Lohan: Model Behavior A Must After Sister’s Escapades

    Ali Lohan has quite a legacy to overcome as she begins her modeling career. Namely, she has to prove that she’s trustworthy and professional, two things Lindsay doesn’t seem to be.

    19-year old Ali, who appeared in Lindsay’s music video “Confessions Of A Broken Heart” when she was considerably younger, says she aspires to be in the fashion world but doesn’t want to use her name to get ahead.

    “I would just like to be known as my own person,” she says. “I don’t need to ride on any coattails. I just want to make my mark myself. I definitely have to prove myself — just showing up on time and doing everything that you’re supposed to do.”

    Ooh, burn! Looks like the general public aren’t the only ones tiring of Lindsay’s escapades.

    But no, Ali says, she’s proud of her sister and has gotten some good advice from her on how to get ahead in the industry (Lindsay must have read it in a magazine somewhere).

    “She just says the main thing is to do your best and to do what you love,” Ali said. “We’re very close and speak very often. Well, the last time we spoke, I guess, was two weeks ago, so kind of often. But yeah, she’s awesome.”

  • Fake Nuns’ Cocaine Habit Gets Them Busted

    Three women wearing nuns’ habits looked a little too nervous about being on the lovely island of San Andres recently, and when police looked closely, they could tell that the fabric the women were wearing was all wrong (did they pull a Scarlett O’Hara and yank the curtains down to make their outfits?). Also, all three of them had unsightly bulges on their thighs, owing to the four pounds of coke they all had strapped to each leg.

    During questioning, the women reportedly burst into tears and said they had agreed to smuggle the drugs on a flight from Bogota, Columbia because they were desperate for money.

  • Anne Hathaway: Blonde Ambition At Met Gala

    Anne Hathaway was rocking a platinum hairdo at the Costume Institute Gala at the Met this weekend, and says it was in honor of Blondie’s Debbie Harry.

    “I don’t know that you could tell it by looking at me, but Debbie Harry was [my inspiration],” she said. The gala’s theme was Punk: Chaos To Couture.

    Hathaway’s hair made waves last year after she debuted a super-close crop, which was done during filming for “Les Miserables”. The lighter shade makes her doe eyes pop, but it’s hard to say whether she’ll keep it for long; she may have to tint it dark again for a movie role.

    The 30-year old said she immediately loved the dress she wore to the gala, a vintage Valentino gown from 1992.

    “I couldn’t believe it when he (Valentino) sent me the picture because he asked me if I wanted to wear archive . . He said, ‘Well, have you ever done anything punk, darling?’” Hathaway said. “Princess, maybe! He sent me this one and I said, ‘Oh my god, I love it. It’s fabulous! First and only [choice] as soon as I saw it! I took the chaos thing as far as the couture would allow.”

    anne hathaway

    Image: Us Weekly

  • Three Kidnapped Women: Rescuer Is A Meme Waiting To Happen

    The man who helped rescue three women being held captive in Ohio yesterday is hilarious, and I suspect it’s a matter of time before a new crop of memes begin popping up in his honor.

    Charles Ramsey, who lived next door to the home, heard the screams of a frantic young woman and helped her open the door after she told him she’d been kidnapped and couldn’t get out. She turned out to be Amanda Berry, who has been held captive in that house with two other missing women for ten years. Berry also had a child with her.

    “I’m eating my McDonald’s; I come outside; I see this girl going nuts,” he said. “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway!”

    Ramsey, like everyone else in Cleveland, was shocked and elated to discover that the women were alive, unharmed, and finally free after a decade of being held against their will. His joy manifested itself as an awesome sense of humor.

    “I barbecued with this dude! We ate ribs and whatnot, and listened to salsa music!” Ramsey said of Ariel Castro, the man accused of kidnapping the women.

    An investigation is obviously pending, but the women and Berry’s daughter have been released from an area hospital, where they underwent evaluation to determine what condition they were in. All are said to be healthy and elated to be reunited with friends and family; the three of them all went missing at different times and have been presumed dead for years.

    Ramsey’s 911 call is also pretty funny, now that we know the context and that the women are all ok. NSFW unless you work with people who say f**k a lot.

  • Dr. Phil Sues Over Manti Te’o Interview

    Dr. Phil is majorly mad that Deadspin posted a video clip of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo speaking in the voice he used to convince football star Manti Te’o he was a woman. So mad, in fact, that he wants to sue.

    Phil says that Deadspin–under the umbrella of Gawker Media–totally screwed him over when they posted the clip, because he was going to use it in the second half of his interview with Tuiasosopo after a “cliffhanger” in part one. The clip was posted before the second part aired to the majority of his viewers, he says, and that ain’t cool. Claiming that they stole the clip, he’s now suing the company for an unspecified amount.

    Tuiasosopo made major headlines last year when it came out that he’d been posing as a woman for over a year in phone conversations and online with former Notre Dame player Manti Te’o. Te’o claims he never realized he’d been talking to a man and had been calling Tuiasosopo’s character–Lennay Kekua–his girlfriend. Tuiasosopo eventually killed Lennay off in an elaborate story involving her having cancer, and, in a recent interview, claims he was molested as a child and that the experience changed him profoundly.

    “I felt that I couldn’t do things, accomplish things, pursue things, live out as Ronaiah,” Tuiasosopo said. “And I felt the need to create this. It has everything to do with what I went through as a child.”

    Image: CBS

  • Lotto Mistake: $14 Million Win Almost Didn’t Happen

    A woman in California made the best mistake of her life last week when she accidentally put too much money into a lotto ticket machine.

    Thuan Le, a single mom of four boys, meant to buy five dollars worth of lottery tickets at her local CVS Pharmacy–as she does every week–and accidentally put in six dollars. When she realized her mistake, she used the extra dollar to buy a SuperLotto Plus ticket. The next day, she was a millionaire several times over.

    The winning ticket paid out $14 million. Le’s family said she screamed when she realized she had the winning numbers and immediately drove to the lottery office to claim her prize. She says she plans to travel with some of the money.

    Back in February, a story out of Arkansas went viral when one couple won big in their local lotto over the weekend, then picked up more tickets on a whim and ending up winning big again.

    Lotto wins have been big in the news since last year, when Mega Millions began announcing astronomical payouts.

  • Woods With Vonn In Public For The First Time

    Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn made their couple debut last night at the Costume Institute Gala at the Met, grabbing headlines as they walked the red carpet together for the first time.

    Of course, the two made it official in March when they posted photos of themselves on Facebook to tell the world that they are, in fact, dating. But seeing them out together is a whole different media ballgame.

    Woods released a statement about the pairing on the social media site, saying, “This season has been great so far and I’m happy with my wins at Torrey and Doral. Something nice that’s happened off the course was meeting Lindsey Vonn,” the star athlete captioned the album—which features four perfectly posed pics of the happy couple—on his social media page. “Lindsey and I have been friends for some time, but over the last few months we have become very close and are now dating. We thank you for your support and for respecting our privacy. We want to continue our relationship, privately, as an ordinary couple and continue to compete as athletes.”

    The couple glowed on the red carpet last night, with Vonn wearing a cream-colored floor-length gown with sheer panels and Woods going for the traditional black-tie look.

    Image: Facebook

  • “Girls Gone Wild” Creator Charged With False Imprisonment

    “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis was found guilty on Monday of several charges, including false imprisonment and assault, and now faces up to five years in jail.

    The charges stem from a 2011 incident in which Francis picked up three women at the Hollywood Supperclub, took them back to his home, and became physical with one of them, allegedly grabbing her by the hair and slamming her face into the floor. He eventually let the women leave, but only after threatening them and warning them not to tell anyone about what had happened.

    Francis has been accused of assaulting a woman before but hasn’t been charged with anything until now. His charges include three counts of false imprisonment, one count of assault causing great bodily injury, and one count of dissuading a witness from reporting. As for his celebrity status, it will not help him this time.

    “Whether a celebrity or not, you will be held accountable for your misdeeds,” City Atty. Carmen A. Trutanich said in a statement. “The victims in this case should be commended for their courage in stepping forward and reporting these attacks, and for not being intimidated from seeing this matter through the justice system.”

  • Al Pacino Quits “Despicable Me 2″ In Middle Of Recording

    Al Pacino is famous for playing the bad guy; even when he’s the good guy, he’s still kind of the bad guy. He yells a lot, he makes crazy eyes, his hair always looks like he’s been awake for 37 hours on an anger binge. He’s gravel-voiced and intimidating. So, he was the perfect choice to play a villain in a children’s movie. Unfortunately, he’s reportedly dropped out due to “creative differences” with the producers of “Despicable Me 2″, the highly-anticipated sequel to the Steve Carrell-led animated feature.

    What’s most unfortunate is that he was halfway through the recording of his part, meaning the producers were left in the lurch. They issued this statement:

    “Over the production of Despicable Me 2, there were creative differences between us and Al Pacino, who had been cast as the voice of Eduardo in the film. We have mutually decided with Al to replace the voice of Eduardo with a new actor. Universal and Illumination thank Al for his many contributions to the process and look forward to a new actor bringing this memorable character to the screen upon its release this summer.”

    In fact, knowing that they had to stick to their tight schedule in order to keep a July 3rd release date, those at the helm of the film made a quick decision and snapped up Benjamin Bratt to take Pacino’s place. No statement yet from Pacino, however.

    The film is still slated for a summer release and also stars Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Ken Jeong, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Steve Coogan.

  • Reggae Great Dies: Cedric Brooks Was 70

    Reggae Great Cedric Brooks has died of heart failure, his family said. He was 70 years old.

    Brooks, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, was a flute and sax player who fostered a love of music from an early age. Playing clarinet at the Alpha Boys School led to Brooks picking up other instruments, and by the time he was in his 20′s, he was playing onstage with bands like The Vagabonds and the Granville Williams Band. In the ’60s he found commercial success after partnering up with trumpeter David Madden, and by the 1970′s he was working as a studio musician and releasing his own singles.

    Brooks worked with several influential musicians of the day and eventually teamed up with drummer Count Ossie for many projects before heading out on his own again. He would later settle in the ska band the Skatalites.

    Brooks suffered a heart attack in 2010 that left him almost incapacitated; he also lived with diabetes and high blood pressure. His sister, Paulette Keise, said he passed away on Friday at New York Hospital Queens.

  • Amanda Bynes: Nose Job Has Boosted Her Confidence

    Amanda Bynes has been something of a headline hog recently; between her alleged strange behavior during most of 2012–reported hit and runs, walking around nude at a tanning salon, locking herself in a bathroom at a cupcake shop, and deleting her Twitter account–and her recent move to New York, the former child actress is no stranger to news stories. That’s why she’s so irritated that everyone keeps using the same old pictures of her, wearing her old face.

    “The reason I’ve asked all magazines and blogs to stop using old photos of me is I don’t look like that anymore! I had a nose job to remove skin that was like a webbing in between my eyes,” she said on her reinstated Twitter account over the weekend.

    Bynes claims she was going to keep the surgery hush-hush, but now that she’s seeing these old photos everywhere it’s getting under her skin.

    “I wasn’t going to tell anyone, but I look so much prettier in my new photos that I don’t want old photos used anymore!,” she said. “When will they stop? I will never look like that again!”

    Bynes recently tweeted out some topless photos of herself after announcing that she’d gotten a new haircut–which included having half her head shaved–and appears to be loving her new look.

    Amanda before:

    amanda bynes

    And after:

    amanda bynes nose job

  • Zip-Tied 4-Year Old Found Fastened To Baby Gate

    The parents of a 4-year old North Carolina girl have been arrested and charged with felony child abuse after she was found tied to a baby gate and physically abused.

    26-year old Gerald Thomas Swineheart and 28-year old Marlaine Coffey had their daughter taken into protective custody after she was discovered bound to the gate with plastic zip ties, of the sort electricians use.

    Police have not said whether the abuse was ongoing or if this was the first incident, but Swineheart was charged with pushing and kicking the girl until her teeth cut into her lip. His bond is set at $100,000, while Coffey’s is set at $50,000.

  • 7-Month Old Water Skiing: Video Goes Viral

    The parents of 7-month old Ryder have quite a hit on their hands with a video that looks like the baby is water skiing.

    In fact, Ryder is simply being pulled along the shoreline of a lake in Queensland, Australia. He has such good balance!

    The video has earned both encouraging and disparaging comments on YouTube, with some applauding the parents for spending outdoors time with their son at an early age and some wondering about the child’s safety. Although he’s not actually “water skiing”, he appears to be holding onto the bar on his own, and 7 months is pretty early to learn watersports.

    See for yourself:

  • Schwarzenegger Son Kicked Out Of Club For Threatening DJ

    Schwarzenegger is certainly known for being intimidating in his films, and apparently his son Patrick is trying to follow in his footsteps.

    The 19-year old got into the famous Sayer’s Club in Hollywood on Saturday and was enjoying himself a little too much; reportedly, he kept bumping into the house DJ’s equipment. When the DJ, Anthony Valadez, spoke to him about being more careful, Schwarzenegger allegedly threatened him loudly and then began throwing ice at him.

    “I’m gonna beat the f–k out of the DJ,” Schwarzenegger reportedly said. “He kicks everybody out of his table, losing money for the club, losing money for the owner.”

    The teen later posted on Twitter:

    Because he was drinking while underage, Schwarzenegger was ejected from the club and will likely have employees on the lookout for his famous face in the future.

    Patrick gained some headlines last year after reportedly taking issue with his famous dad once word got out about his affair; his Twitter handle includes his mother’s maiden name, not his surname.

  • Booze And Bikinis “Welcome” In Egypt Now

    Booze and bikinis aren’t the first things that spring to mind when one thinks of Egypt, but the tourism minister says that despite a previous ban on both, visitors are now welcome to bare some skin and imbibe some spirits.

    Hisham Zaazou is looking to ramp up the tourism trade in the country after stories of Muslim groups calling for a ban on all the things people on holiday love began to circulate. Travelers have been wary of making their way to Egypt since the 2011 uprising that took down President Hosni Mubarak, fearing for their safety.

    Still, Zaazou admits that not everyone is okay with allowing tourists to do as they please.

    “We had talks with these Salafi groups and now they understand the importance of the tourism sector, but still you have some individuals that are not from the leadership saying these things”, Mr Zaazou said.

    Tourism has always been a huge part of Egypt’s economy; in 2010, 14.7 million visitors made the trip, generating $12.5 billion in earnings. That dropped to 9.8 million the following year, making income earnings just 8.8 billion. Still, leaders are optimistic that some changes will encourage travelers to rethink their worries. Their goal is to hit 30 million tourists with revenues of $25 billion by 2022.

  • Free Shotguns: 15 Cities Targeted For Project

    Free shotguns may be finding their way into the hands of civilians in 15 cities if a certain group has their say.

    The Armed Citizen Project has already begun its campaign, handing out guns to at least four people in Houston. They want to expand to several cities, including Chicago, which was chosen because of its restrictive anti-gun laws. The founders of the group say that all they want to do is give people who live in high-crime communities a way to defend themselves and their families.

    “It’s our hypothesis that criminals do not want to die in your hallway. We think that society should use that fear to deter crime,” said founder Kyle Coplen. “We’re giving folks the tools with which to defend their life, liberty and property, we’re training them how to use the weapons and empowering citizens.”

    As one can imagine, the idea isn’t going over well with everyone. Tonya Burch, the mother of a murder victim in Chicago, says handing out guns will only cause more problems.

    “See, that’s not going to work. More of our people, more of our kids are going to be killed. I disagree. I think more of our kids are going to be killed. I think more of our loved ones are going to be killed. No matter how much training you give them, more people are going to die,” she said.

    The leaders of the group say they have a legal team to ensure they aren’t breaking any laws before they take action in any city. Their site claims they will be giving away an AR-15 on May 10th (pictured weapon).

  • Jennifer Lopez: Gunshots Crash Video Set

    Jennifer Lopez endured a scare in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday when gunshots rang out near the set of her new music video with rapper Pitbull.

    Adding to the drama was the fact that Lopez was actually in the middle of being interviewed when the shots were fired. Rob Marciano, co-host of “Entertainment Tonight”, tweeted about the incident live.

    Lopez hasn’t released a statement about the shooting, but initial reports said multiple people were detained in the area soon after. Police say no one was injured.

    Image: Fame Flynet

    jennifer lopez gunshots

  • Gray Hair Cure? Sunlight And This Could Be Answer

    As someone with naturally dark hair, it was pretty distressing when I realized I was following in my dad’s footsteps and going gray prematurely. Hair dye is one relief, but it takes a toll on the strands and tends to fry the ends no matter how much conditioning you do.

    Some scientists think they may have discovered another route, however, after finding that people with gray hair share attributes with people who have vitiligo. Vitiligo is a skin condition which causes patchy spots of discoloration, and is caused by an accumulation of hydrogen peroxide. An enzyme made by the human body called catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide, but vitiligo blocks its release. Therefore, a synthetic reproduction was on the agenda for scientists, who made something called “pseudo-catalase”. In cream form, the catalase partnered with sunlight returned pigment to the skin and hair of vitiligo patients.

    ‘The improvement of quality of life after total and even partial successful repigmentation has been documented,’ said Dr. Karin Schallreuter.

    Doctors believe this cream could be applied to gray hair in order to restore the color, taking the need for harsh dyes out of the equation.

    “For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair,” said Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, “but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed.”

    vitiligo

  • Lauryn Hill Sentencing: Singer Faces 3 Years

    Lauryn Hill, the Grammy-winning singer formerly with The Fugees, will be sentenced today on three charges of tax evasion.

    The 37-year old was charged last summer with evading taxes on the $1.8 million she earned between 2005 and 2007, and the courts say she still owes a substantial amount. She’s signed a recording deal with Sony recently and just made a song available on iTunes, but if she can’t pay up and the judge decides to forgo the probation her attorney is going for, she could do up to three years of prison time.

    Hill is rarely seen publicly anymore and is something of a rare bird on the music scene. She’s battled depression and a painful breakup from Rohan Marley, the father of her five children, and has been out of the spotlight for several years now. She does own several companies, however, which may help with her money problems: Creations Music Inc., Boogie Tours Inc., L.H. Productions 2001 Inc,. and Studio 22 Inc.