3rd child’s body found

3rd child’s body found

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — The body of one of four children reportedly tossed from a coastal Alabama bridge by their father was found Tuesday in a Mississippi bayou, authorities said.

Kate Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department, said the body was found by a Mississippi marine resources crew in an inlet near Pascagoula.

The identity of the child was not immediately confirmed but was believed to be one of four young children reportedly thrown from the Dauphin Island bridge by their father, 37-year-old Lam Luong.

The bodies of 3-year-old Ryan Phan and his 4-month-old brother, Danny Luong, were recovered over the weekend in waters a few miles west of the 80-foot-tall coastal bridge, where authorities said the father tossed all four children Jan. 7 after a fight with his wife, 23-year-old Kieu Phan.

The bodies of the last two — Hannah Luong, 2, and Lindsey Luong, 1 — were sought Tuesday as the search covered an area extending from the Alabama coast west to Pascagoula.

Actor Renfro found dead

LOS ANGELES — Brad Renfro, the young actor whose film career began at age 12 with “The Client” before dissolving as he struggled with drug and alcohol problems, has died. He was 25.

His body was found in his Los Angeles home early Tuesday, his lawyer, Richard Kaplan, said. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

He starred opposite Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in “The Client.” His other credits include “Ghost World” and “The Jacket.”

Pope visit canceled

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has canceled his visit to a Rome university after protests by secular professors and students, the Vatican said Tuesday.

Such a cancellation of a scheduled papal event is extremely rare, and the few times it has happened in recent decades, the Vatican cited security concerns. No specific reason was given in a brief Vatican announcement, and Vatican spokesmen could not be reached to comment.

“It was considered opportune to skip the event,” the Vatican said of Benedict’s planned visit and speech Thursday at La Sapienza, a public university. Instead, the pope will send his speech to the university.

When news of the cancellation reached the campus, students in a political sciences hall broke into applause.

About 60 of the 4,500 professors at the university had signed a letter to the university rector, opposing the visit. Banners reading “Science is secular” and “No pope” have been strung from university buildings and posters plastered on walls objected to the visit. Students had announced several days of demonstrations this week.

Climbers reach safety

TIMBERLINE LODGE, Ore. — A pair of climbers who misjudged the weather on Mount Hood and got caught in whiteout conditions were brought to safety Tuesday after spending a night in a snow cave. They said they didn’t make it to the summit of the 11,239-foot mountain as they planned Monday because the weather closed in when they were at about 10,000 feet.

“We thought we had a window in the weather, but we were wrong,” said Justin Votos, 27. He and fellow climber Matthew Pitts, 28, are from Portland.

They said they set out to descend back toward Timberline Lodge — at 6,000 feet — where they had parked their vehicle, but they missed the lodge in the stormy weather. They dug a snow cave for shelter at what they estimated was about 5,000 feet.

Associated Press