CBS News
Missouri woman found dead over 5 months after mysteriously vanishing
A woman’s remains were discovered in the woods in eastern Missouri over the weekend, more than five months after she went missing, authorities said.
Emily Strite, 33, was last seen in Imperial, a suburb of St. Louis near De Soto, in early April, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives said she left the area on foot, apparently of her own free will, in a missing person flier for Strite released later that month. Strite was officially reported missing April 20.
Law enforcement had asked the public for assistance as their investigation into Strite’s disappearance got underway. The sheriff’s office in their April bulletin had described her as 5 feet 5 inches tall and said she wore jeans and a dark blue hoodie before she disappeared. Images of Strite appeared in that bulletin alongside the description.
The owner of a property in De Soto found Strite’s body on Saturday, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak announced Tuesday.
Deputies responded to a call Saturday from the De Soto property owner, who reported that human skeletal remains had been discovered in a wooded area, Marshak said. Investigators with the regional medical examiner’s office determined the remains belonged to Strite, using medical and dental records to confirm the identity.
Strite’s cause of death was still unknown as of Tuesday, according to the sheriff. Marshak said investigators were “working to learn how her body ended up where it was found.” Authorities have asked anyone with information about the case to contact the detective bureau at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Charlyn McClain, Strite’s mother, told NBC’s Dateline she last spoke to her daughter on April 12. McClain said Strite was staying with a friend in De Soto at the time, and she assumed afterward that the 33-year-old had traveled over the Missouri border to Cahokia, Illinois, to visit her children at their father’s home. But the father, Steve Fults, called McClain about a week later asking if she had heard from Strite, the mother recalled to Dateline.
“He has never called me and questioned anything about Emily or to tell me anything about Emily,” McClain said, according to NBC News. “That’s why I panicked when he called me because he had never done that before.”
A missing person report for Strite was filed shortly after that.
CBS News contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for more information about their investigation into Strite’s disappearance but did not receive an immediate reply.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.