ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Missing NC woman found in Va. after 200-mile walk

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.

Authorities say a North Carolina woman reported missing in September walked 200 miles before she turned up at a Virginia shelter.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that 56-year-old Wilma Edwards of Fayetteville turned up last week in Richmond, Va. Her information was found in a database of missing people, and she told authorities she had traveled to the shelter on foot.

Cumberland County sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said Edwards is known by many as “Miss Betty” and frequently takes long walks around Fayetteville with a white bucket that she sits on when she gets tired.

Edwards last had been seen Sept. 19.

Tanna said Edwards did not have needed medications and did not use her bank account during her disappearance. Her family says she disappeared once before, turning up in New York.

Feds: Ky. man, fearing world’s end, built bombs for protection

OWENSBORO, Ky.

A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to making bombs, claiming he feared the end of the world after watching the movie “2012.”

The Courier-Journal reports that James Byron Birkhead told federal agents he was making bombs to protect his family when the government fails and food riots occur.

Agent Kevin Kelm, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, says police were called to Birkhead’s home when a social worker sent to check on the well-being of Birkhead’s daughters heard that he was acquiring weapons.

On Thursday, the 52-year-old pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Owensboro to possessing and manufacturing explosive materials without a license.

He is scheduled to be sentenced March 4. The government has recommended a six- to 12-month sentence.

Sea lion gets trooper escort

YACHATS, Ore.

A wayward sea lion trying to scoot down a highway along the Oregon coast got an escort from state troopers.

The Oregon State Police says the animal apparently entered U.S. Highway 101 through a state park near Yachats and weaved in and out of traffic for about half a mile.

Troopers and a local fire and rescue unit used batons and plastic boards designed to keep patients immobile as they flanked the sea lion and guided it along the side of highway.

The animal was led back into the Pacific Ocean after the procession guided it to an oceanside state park about a quarter-mile down the road from where it was found.

Associated Press