Missing NH girl’s body found in river

Missing NH girl’s body found in river

STEWARTSTOWN, N.H.

The body of an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl who disappeared almost a week ago was discovered Monday in a river less than half a mile from her home, and authorities said they considered her death suspicious.

Celina Cass was reported missing July 26. New Hampshire and Game divers found her body late Monday morning near a hydroelectric dam that spans the Connecticut River between her hometown of Stewartstown and Canaan, Vt., ending a massive search, Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said. It was recovered from the river Monday evening.

“We have brought Celina home, obviously not the way we wanted to bring her home,” said Young, her voice breaking with emotion.

Egyptian forces remove activists

CAIRO

Egyptian forces swinging electrified batons and shouting the battle cry “God is great” swiftly chased off dozens of activists Monday who had refused to end four weeks of renewed protests at Tahrir Square to pressure the country’s transitional military rulers.

Hundreds of riot police backed by armored vehicles and soldiers moved in to tear down the camp of dozens of tents after a group of holdout activists — some of them relatives of people killed in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February — refused pleas over loudspeakers to go home. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the police.

Planned Parenthood law blocked by judge

WICHITA, Kan.

An incredulous federal judge on Monday rejected the state’s claim that a new Kansas statute that denied Planned Parenthood federal funding did not target the group, ruling that the law unconstitutionally intended to punish Planned Parenthood for advocating for abortion rights and likely would be overturned.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten granted the request from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri for a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the law, which would require the state to allocate federal family-planning dollars first to public health departments and hospitals, and leave no money for Planned Parenthood or similar groups.

Lead surfaces in D.B. Cooper case

SEATTLE

The FBI says it has a “credible” lead in the D.B. Cooper case involving the 1971 hijacking of a passenger jet over Washington state and the suspect’s legendary parachute escape.

The fate and identity of the hijacker dubbed “D.B. Cooper” has remained a mystery in the 40 years since a man jumped from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 flight with $200,000 in ransom.

The recent tip provided to the FBI came from a law-enforcement member who directed investigators to a person who might have helpful information on the suspect, FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich told The Seattle Times on Sunday. She called the new information the “most promising lead we have right now,” but cautioned that investigators were not on the verge of breaking the case.

Tropical Storm Emily forms

MIAMI

Tropical Storm Emily formed southeast of Puerto Rico, and warnings were issued for several islands in the Caribbean, the National Weather Service said Monday.

Forecasters said the storm was about 350 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It had sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving west at 17 mph.

Associated Press