DAYTONA BEACH -- It's a scary story first reported by the Daytona Beach News-Journal last year and picked up by national media. Could there be a serial killer lurking about?
Stacey Charlene Gage, a 30-year-old Holly Hill mother of two went out for a bag of ice the night of Dec. 11, 2007, and never returned home.
DAYTONA BEACH -- A 31-year-old man was found shot to death in the backyard of his Tucker Street residence Feb. 11, about 14 hours after he left his girlfriend in the car of his driveway to go to relieve himself in the back yard, according to a police report. He didn't return and the woman didn't call police.
Family members found Laron Davis' body the next day and called 9-1-1. Police interviewed the girlfriend who told them she saw several masked men run by.
Today I have the distinct honor and unprecedented privilege of appointinga third member to the Florida Supreme Court. As we begin this new year, the historic significance of having the opportunity to name four of the Supreme Court’s seven members does not escape me. I fully recognize that these appointments are some of the most important decisions I will make as Governor.
DELAND -- Volusia County's 16 public libraries are asking patrons to help them reduce costs by returning overdue materials and paying their fines.
The libraries will allow patrons to close the book on fines before a new and stricter policy takes effect Feb. 1. From Jan. 25 - 31, patrons may return overdue items and pay half the price of accrued fines. They also can pay off fines on their account for half-price.
DELTONA -- A 45-year-old man died in a single vehicle crash with a utility pole Saturday night in Deltona, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported.
Kristopher Jones of Deltona was killed when his Toyota four-door crashed into a pole at 10 p.m. at the intersection of Elkcam Boulevard and East Barlington Drive.
Sheriff's deputies arriving on scene found the vehicle still running and in gear wedged against the utility pole.
Jones was found dead in the driver's seat. There were no passengers.
Wilfred Glasbrenner, 75, of New Smyrna Beach, a retired master cabinet maker died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008.
Richard "Puffer" Green Jr., 79, of Edgewater, a former linesman for a utilities company, died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008.
Jean Myers, 85, of New Smyrna Beach, died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008.
Ronald North Sr., 69, of Edgewater, a firefighter for the Turnbull Volunteer Fire Company in New Smyrna Beach, died Monday, Dec. 29, 2008.
DELAND -- The Friends of the Library will have a book sale in the DeLand Area Public Library auditorium from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9; and 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10.
Customers may preview the books and purchase them for a slightly higher price from 5:30 - 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8.
The sale will include hardcover books, paperbacks and a large collection of cookbooks and gardening books.
DELTONA -- One of the killers in the Deltona Xbox murders lost an appeal to get off death row with the majority of the Supreme Court Justices describing the six killings as "especially brutal" and that this particular convict, Jerome Hunter, was a willing participant.
"The murders were especially brutal, with all of the victims having been beaten to death with baseball bats," the justices wrote in a 46-page opinion in September.
It was the first such appeal heard for one of the so-called Xbox murderers, the four men involved in the the Aug. 6, 204, bloodbath that started with an argument over a missing video-game system taken from a Deltona residence where Troy Victorino had been staying as a squatter.
PORT ORANGE -- Family Days had all the makings for Horror Night on Oct. 4, when a woman on a carousel ride called the Crazy Bus, was left dangling with her other arm clutched around her child, the result of the ride suddenly starting up as patrons were getting of it.
Port Orange Fire Department spokeswoman Tonya Gilardi said Sherri Pinkerton of Ormond Beach started to lose her grip and was forced to drop her pre-school child to rescuers 35 feet below.
The mother was then helped off the ride by a Port Orange firefighter after a city worker retrieved a ladder.
DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office on June 5 arrested Robert Benjo of Deltona on a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 76-year-old wife.
The 82-yer-old husband was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, where he was being held without bond.
Sheriff's investigators have recovered the .22-caliber handgun they believe the Robert Benjo used to shoot his wife, Peggy Benjo.
