NATION & WORLD | Stepmother sent boy to basement, court records say

Stepmother sent boy to basement, court records say

DETROIT

A 12-year-old Detroit boy who was missing for more than a week before he was discovered in his own basement told investigators his stepmother sent him there, according to a court record obtained Friday by a newspaper.

The petition, filed in Wayne County juvenile court by Children’s Protective Services as part of a custody hearing, was obtained by the Detroit Free Press. A court employee told The Associated Press a petition was filed Friday, but it was not released to the public or the media.

According to the Free Press, the document says Charlie Bothuell V was placed in the basement behind boxes and totes by his stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, and told “not to come out, no matter what he hears.”

Facebook: NYC prosecutors got data on 380 users

NEW YORK

Prosecutors building a sweeping disabilities-benefit fraud case got a trove of data from the Facebook accounts of more than 380 people, the social-media giant said this week as it disclosed a nearly yearlong legal fight over the largest set of search warrants it has ever received.

Facebook ultimately turned over the information but is appealing the court order that required it to do so, saying prosecutors intruded on users’ privacy. The Manhattan district attorney’s office and a judge have said the search warrants were justified.

The dispute adds to a roster of clashes between authorities and Internet companies over law-enforcement efforts to scrutinize people’s online lives for potential evidence.

Tea-party official in photos case dies

RIDGELAND, Miss.

A tea-party official charged with conspiring to take photos of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife inside a nursing home apparently committed suicide Friday, police said, days after Cochran won a nasty Republican primary.

The body of attorney Mark Mayfield was found Friday morning in the garage of his two-story, brick home in a gated community outside Jackson. A gun was found nearby, Ridgeland Police Chief Jimmy Houston said. Houston says Mayfield had been shot, and a suicide note was found at the scene.

“Everything we see so far, this appears to be a suicide,” Houston said.

Ukrainian president extends cease-fire

BRUSSELS

The Ukrainian president’s office says he has extended a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine for three more days.

President Petro Poroshenko’s office said that the weeklong cease-fire that ended Friday has been extended until 10 p.m. local time Monday.

A leader of pro-Russia insurgents said Friday they would also extend the cease-fire if Poroshenko does so.

The cease-fire has been shaky, frequently broken by fighting.

Associated Press