Starved, sexually abused, kept in basement: Teen's horror revealed

It's a case that has the nation asking: How could this happen?

Police say a 15-year-old girl was kept for years in a Madison, Wis., basement, beaten and starved by a father and stepmother who often forced her to eat her own feces and drink her own urine. And, they say, her stepbrother had been sexually abusing her in the cellar since she was just 10  years old.

Moreover, it appears that child protective services had repeatedly been called to the home or otherwise alerted to something amiss.

On Thursday, the girl's father, Chad C. Chritton, 40, and stepmother, Melinda J. Drabek-Chritton, 42, were charged with reckless endangerment, child abuse and child neglect, according to the Madison State Journal. The girl's stepbrother, Joshua P. Drabek, 18, was charged with sexual assault and child abuse, the newspaper reported.

The girl, whose name is not being released, is in protective custody. Two other children have  been removed from the home, although there were no immediate reports on their condition.

The girl, who escaped this month, told law enforcement authorities that she had been virtually trapped in the unfinished basement. Video equipment was trained on the cellar door, and it was rigged with an alarm that would go off if it opened, according to a police affidavit obtained by the Associated Press. The girl said that if she was caught eating without permission, she would have to throw out -- or throw up -- the food as punishment.

On Feb. 6, the day she escaped, she had been let out of the basement by her stepmother so she could clean up some papers. When the girl did not do so quickly enough, the stepmother threatened to cut her throat and throw her back in the basement. Fearful of what would happen next, the girl said, she escaped out a window, according to Madison.com

The 15-year-old was wandering the streets of Madison, barefoot and in her pajamas, when she was spotted by motorist Mike Vega, above. He stopped the car. Instinctively, he knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. She was so slight -- authorities later said she weighed about 70 pounds --  that he initially took her for an 8-year-old. The girl was bleeding from a gash on her face.

Vega called police.

"It was the most shocking thing I have ever seen," he told Madison.com. "I've never seen anybody look like that."

But the horror of what had happened to the girl was only just beginning to reveal itself.

A neighbor next door and another across the street each said they had called child protective services after catching a glimpse of the rarely seen girl -- and suspecting something was wrong. One of the neighbors, Mark Stuntebeck, said he made the call after watching the girl take out the garbage and then scavenge through it for food.

"She seemed to be hiding and munching on crumbs or remnants of something," he told the Wisconsin State Journal.

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-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Mike Vega points to the site in Madison, Wis., where he found a starving 15-year-old wandering the streets in her bare feet. Credit: Todd Richmond/Associated Press

Costa Concordia search for missing Minnesota couple halted

The search for missing passengers aboard the Costa Concordia -- the cruise ship that capsized more than two weeks ago near the western coast of Italy -- has been suspended. Among the passengers yet to be found: a retired Minnesota couple, Gerald and Barbara Heil.

Italian emergency officials announced the development Tuesday, saying they were halting the search because it had become too dangerous for rescue workers. The search of late had been taking workers into the deeper, submerged recesses of the ship.

A spokeswoman for the Civil Protection agency, Francesca Maffini, said a search for the missing would continue wherever possible, including on the part of the ship above water, in the waters surrounding the ship and along the nearby coastline, according to the Associated Press.

Photos: Costa Concordia wreck

The agency said in a statement that relatives of the missing, along with diplomatic officials representing their respective countries, have been informed of the decision, AP reported.

All but 32 of the 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew have been accounted for in the wake of the accident, which occurred Jan. 13 when the cruise ship strayed into shallow water. Rocks tore a gash as wide as a football field into the side of the ship. It began taking on water and quickly capsized. Seventeen bodies have been recovered, but other people remain missing, including the Heils.

Gerald Heil, 69, and Barbara, 70, were devoted parishioners at the Church of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, Minn. Congregants there, as well as the Heils' four children, had been holding out hope for days that rescuers would help provide answers, and some measure of closure.

There was no immediate reaction from either the church or the Heil children, who have created a family blog to keep everyone posted on developments.

Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise and Costa Concordia management have infuriated survivors by offering them the equivalent of about $14,460 each as compensation. Six passengers have filed lawsuits in U.S. federal court in Miami seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, according to AP. A crew member has also filed a lawsuit in Chicago federal court seeking class-action status and at least $100 million in damages, it reported.

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Twitter / renelynch

Photo: The Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen off the coast of Isola del Giglio. Credit: Luca Zennaro / EPA

Smoke in Florida pileup may have come from deliberately set fire

The smoke suspected of contributing to a fiery, multicar pileup on Interstate 75 in Florida early Sunday may have come from a deliberately set fire. The pileup killed 10 people, injured 18 and left a mile-long trail of wreckage.

The scene looked, one witness said, "like the end of the world."

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are joining the Florida Highway Patrol in efforts to pinpoint the cause of the chain-reaction wreck, which occurred near Gainesville at about 3:45 a.m. Sunday and spanned both the northbound and southbound lanes.

PHOTOS: Florida interstate pileup

Low visibility, possibly caused by a combination of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire, appear to have played a role, forcing cars, trucks and motor homes to suddenly slow down and pull over -- and begin slamming into each other. Cars burst into flames. Trucks crushed smaller vehicles.

"In that area, the road, it kind of dips down, it's a low area, we had a mixture of fog and smoke that combined and kind of laid into that area, [and] made visibility a factor," Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said (see video above).

Authorities had shut down the stretch of road earlier in the evening due to a crash, but reopened it later. No doubt, questions will be raised about whether the roadway should have remained closed for public safety.

Eyewitness Steven R. Camps of Gainesville attempted to describe the accident to the Gainesville Sun: “It looked like someone was literally throwing cars,” he said. “I honestly sat there and thought I would never get out of that situation alive, even after I got out of the car.”

He told CBS News: "You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy." He said he had been driving home with friends when he found himself staring down the carnage. "I would say it looked like the end of the world."

Before the investigation is over, it could turn into a criminal investigation, CBS said. State officials can find no natural cause, no natural explanation like a lightning strike, that could have started the brush fire. They say it may have been intentionally set.

The highway has since been reopened to traffic.

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New Mexico hikers: First, a marriage proposal. Then, a rescue

Russell Vandemeer’s plan to propose to his girlfriend started out pretty well.

He and Karen Renshaw took their three dogs -- Stitch, Suzy and Griswald -- on a hike Monday at White Sands National Monument. Amid the sweep of white dunes in southern New Mexico, Vandemeer asked Renshaw to marry him. She said yes.

Then they couldn’t find their way back to their car.

Somehow, the Oklahoma couple had enough of a cellphone signal to call a relative, who contacted park officials just before sunset, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. The resulting nighttime search party included two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters from Texas’ Ft. Bliss and a F-22 Raptor from New Mexico’s Holloman Air Force Base.

Using infrared equipment, the Raptor pilot spotted the couple, the paper said. Then the helicopters scooped up Vandemeer, Renshaw and their dogs.

The couple invited the rescuers to their upcoming wedding.

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Photo: The early morning sun casts a golden glow on dunes at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Credit: Karen Benke / Associated Press

Firefighters haunted by Connecticut mother's wail for 'my babies'

Firefighters who tried to rescue three girls from a Christmas morning inferno told counselors this week that they're haunted by the harrowing cries of the girls' mother as she watched flames engulf her home with her children and parents trapped inside.

"My whole life is in there," advertising executive Madonna Badger reportedly screamed as Stamford, Conn., firefighters fought the flames shooting out of the windows of her three-story home facing Long Island Sound.

"My babies, by babies," she wailed.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Assistant Fire Chief Peter Brown, a 25-year veteran with the department, said its members can't shake the agony of the mother's cries. "The one thing they can't get out of their minds is her screaming. That voice will stay with them for as long as they live."

The Connecticut medical examiner's office ruled Wednesday that smoke inhalation killed Badger's daughters, 9-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace, as well as Badger's mother, Pauline Johnson.

Lomer Johnson, Pauline’s husband and the girls’ grandfather, died primarily of blunt head and neck trauma. It is believed that Johnson fell through a window attempting to save one of his granddaughters.

Earlier in the week, Stamford fire officials said that embers from the home's fireplace -- which had been left in a trash can -- ignited a blaze that then spread through the house. Badger, 47, and her companion, Michael Borcina, a contractor whose company was overseeing the renovation of the Victorian house, had been wrapping presents in front of the fireplace until 3 a.m., according to media accounts.

Borcina apparently put the embers in a bag to cool, sparking the blaze, which became too fierce for firefighters to rescue the children and their grandparents, officials said.

Although a modern safety and fire-detecting system was being installed, officials said, there was no evidence that it was in use. The fire trapped the children and their grandparents on the upper floors; Badger and Borcina tried to rescue them before firefighters arrived about 5 a.m., but their efforts proved futile.

Borcina, 52, who was injured while trying to reenter the house, told reporters shortly before his release from Stamford hospital Wednesday: "It was a tragedy. It's really hard."

All but two of the 70 members of the Stamford Fire Department who fought the fire had a six-hour session this week with peer counselors from the New York City Fire Department to help them cope with the trauma. "They vented," said Assistant Chief Brown. "They listened. It was good for them."

One fire captain, who was badly burned, apparently resisted when the fire chief ordered him not to go back into the house. Chief Antonio Conte told The News that the captain insisted: "Please let me go back. I need to find those children." The chief said he refused, telling him "he was done."

Abby Ballin, the girlfriend of the children's father, Matthew Badger, portrayed the family with affection in an email interview Wednesday with the Wall Street Journal. Matthew and Madonna Badger were separated, but they always "put their children first and did everything in their power to give them the best lives conceivable," Ballin said.

"Their home was always filled with music and colorful art could be seen everywhere. Their spirits will live on forever and ever in the hearts of their family and loved ones... there are no words to express how marvelous they are."

Ballin also provided the Journal with a photograph she took Dec. 22 of a smiling Matthew Badger, holding a teddy bear and flanked by this three daughters.

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Photo: Stamford, Conn., firefighter Nick Tamburro pays respects outside the home of Madonna Badger. The home was destroyed by a fire on Christmas morning. Firefighters went into the house twice trying to rescue the victims, but were forced out by the blaze's intensity. Credit: Jessica Hill/Associated Press

5 bodies removed from site of Vegas tour helicopter crash

Rescue teams Thursday recovered the bodies of the five people killed outside Las Vegas when a sightseeing helicopter plummeted into a ravine that authorities could reach only via helicopter and all-terrain vehicles.

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board launched an inquiry into what downed the aircraft, operated by Sundance Helicopters, during a sunset tour Wednesday of the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam. A pilot and four passengers were aboard.

Relatives of Delwin and Tamara Chapman of Kansas identified them as two of the crash victims, the Associated Press reported. The Chapmans had traveled to Las Vegas to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

The pilot was identified by his father as Landon Nield, 31. Nield had worked for Sundance Helicopters for several years, White Eagle Nield told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He had gotten married in June, and his wife, Gabriela, had two children from a previous marriage.

Authorities had not released the identities of the other two passengers late Thursday. Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy told the AP that medical examiners may need to use DNA, fingerprint and dental records to confirm who was aboard the Eurocopter AS350.

Federal investigators will comb the site for several days, said NTSB board member Mark Rosekind. A final report on the incident, which includes safety recommendations intended to prevent future crashes, could take as long as a year.

Sundance, which flies out of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, was involved in a fatal crash in 2003 when one of its helicopters smacked into a canyon wall near the Grand Canyon, killing the pilot and six passengers. An NTSB report said that that pilot, nicknamed "Kamikaze," had a history of flying recklessly.

Former co-workers told investigators that the pilot in the 2003 crash often “worked the helicopter, pushed the aircraft, and pushed the rules of flight in Descent Canyon,” the report said. The NTSB found that the tour company had failed to discipline him.

Sundance has been involved in at least four other accidents since 1997, the AP reported. The company has also been the subject of 10 federal enforcement actions since 1994, although most were for minor violations.

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Photo: Mechanics work on a grounded Sundance tour helicopter Thursday on the tarmac at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Credit: Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Recovery efforts begin for Las Vegas helicopter crash victims

Federal investigators launched a probe Thursday into a helicopter crash outside Las Vegas, in which the pilot and four passengers were killed during a sunset sightseeing tour.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a 12-member team to Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where authorities said the helicopter appeared to have slammed into the River Mountains just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Authorities had not identified the helicopter’s passengers by midday Thursday. The pilot was identified by his father as Landon Nield, 31. Nield had worked for Sundance Helicopters for several years, White Eagle Nield told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He had gotten married in June and his wife, Gabriela, had two children from a previous marriage.

The Eurocopter AS-350, operated by Sundance, had been on a sightseeing flight over the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam. A Sundance representative said the company had suspended all flights Thursday and was cooperating fully with the investigation.

The wreckage, which television news video showed strewn about a canyon, was in a site so remote that authorities could only reach it via helicopter and all-terrain vehicles. NTSB board member Mark Rosekind told reporters he expected the site’s ruggedness to complicate the investigation.

Authorities deemed it too risky to try to recover the crash victims late Wednesday, so a park ranger was dispatched to guard the bodies and debris overnight. Recovery efforts began Thursday morning.

Federal investigators will comb the site for several days, Rosekind said. A final report on the incident, which includes safety recommendations intended to prevent future crashes, could take as long as a year to complete.

Sundance, which flies out of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, was involved in a fatal crash in 2003. One of its helicopters smacked into a canyon wall near the Grand Canyon, killing the pilot and six passengers. A National Transportation Safety Board report said the pilot had a history of flying recklessly.

Former coworkers told investigators that the pilot was nicknamed “Kamikaze” and often “worked the helicopter, pushed the aircraft, and pushed the rules of flight in Descent Canyon,” the report said. The NTSB found that the tour company had failed to discipline him.

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Photo: Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy, center, talks with Las Vegas Metro Police search and rescue officers after viewing the site where a tour helicopter crashed near Lake Mead. Credit: Reuters

U.S. Coast Guard rescues men who'd been adrift for 33 days

The U.S. Coast Guard rescues people all the time -- not exactly news. But its recent rescue is noteworthy for two reasons.

First off, the two rescued men -- from the Pacific island of Kiribati -- went missing Oct. 22, meaning they were adrift for a stunning 33 days before they managed to climb ashore on the Namdrik Atoll, which is part of the Marshall Islands in Micronesia.

It was not immediately clear how the men, ages 53 and 26, survived the trek, which ended about 300 miles from where it started, or what caused them to lose their way in the first place. The men were weak but otherwise in "reasonable" condition when they were rescued, according to ABC's Radio Australia.

But what's really unusual about the incident is that ... it's not all that unusual.

Such rescues happen more often than you'd think, especially involving Kiribati, a hodge podge collection of tiny islands and atolls in the central Pacific Ocean, locals say. Rescues typically involve fishermen and sailors who go missing and end up stranded –- and, if they're lucky, rescued.

"As odd as it may seem, the Marshall Islands hosts Kiribas drifters quite frequently," Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal, told Radio Australia. "It's not that it happens all the time. Let's just say people from Kiribas are very hardy individuals. They get lost on a little boat and manage to persevere. It is an amazing thing."

After the men's boat went missing, the U.S. Coast Guard in Honolulu supervised an air and sea search -- and also set about figuring out where the men might end up, based on currents, reported IBTraveler.

The Coast Guard has had some practice doing this. It rescued 15 people from an remote Pacific island in July, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

As for the recently rescued men, they were reportedly being taken to the Marshall Islands for treatment, and then a plane trip back home to Kiribati.

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