Death toll climbs to nearly 1,500

Death toll climbs to nearly 1,500

MANILA, Philippines

The death toll from flash floods that swept away entire villages in the southern Philippines has climbed to nearly 1,500 as authorities widen their search for bodies.

The Office of Civil Defense’s latest tally today listed 891 dead in Cagayan de Oro and an additional 451 in nearby Iligan city. The rest came from several other provinces. Most of the dead are unidentified.

Civil Defense head Benito Ramos says decomposing remains were retrieved floating in the sea as far as 60 miles from the two cities where a Dec. 16 tropical storm unleashed more than a month’s worth of rainfall in 12 hours, sending walls of water gushing into homes.

Ramos says the search will continue as long as bodies are being recovered.

Mom, son rescued after Facebook post

SALT LAKE CITY

A Utah woman used Facebook to seek help after she and her 17-month-old son were held hostage at a residence for nearly five days, police said.

Police Sgt. Jon Arnold said the woman hid in a closet with a laptop to post her plea for help on the social- networking website, saying she and her son would be “dead by morning” if they were not rescued.

The post prompted someone to call police, who went to the home to check on the woman’s welfare.

“Facebook was her only outlet that she had at the home,” Arnold said. “It just happened that she was able to use it.”

Police arrested Troy Reed Critchfield, 33, and booked him into jail Saturday for investigation of aggravated kidnapping, forcible sodomy, aggravated assault, domestic violence, child abuse, animal cruelty and other charges.

Doctor getting heart for transplant killed

MIAMI

A heart that a Mayo Clinic surgeon was on his way to pick up when he died in a helicopter crash cannot be transplanted.

The Mayo Clinic says Dr. Luis Bonilla and procurement technician David Hines were on their way to a University of Florida hospital in Gainesville to retrieve a heart for a transplant in Jacksonville when the helicopter went down early Monday.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Layne Smith says the heart cannot be used in another transplant because its viability expired. Smith says the patient who had been scheduled to receive the heart continues to wait for a new organ.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the helicopter crashed about 12 miles northeast of Palatka. The pilot also was killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board also was investigating.

Man returns $10K found at airport

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.

A Colorado man who found $10,000 before boarding a flight in Las Vegas says he returned the money to the owner because he wanted to show his children it was “the right thing to do.”

Greenwood Village resident Mitch Gilbert told KUSA-TV he found two unmarked Caesar’s Palace envelopes at the airport and realized there was money inside when he arrived home. The television station reported Monday that Gilbert called the airport and eventually got in touch with a man from El Paso, Texas, who reported the money missing.

Gilbert says he deposited the money in the man’s bank account two days before Christmas. The man told the television station he won the money gambling and dropped it while running to catch a flight.

Associated Press