Woman, 66, freezes to death on Toronto driveway after her cries for help ignored

TORONTO - A 66-year-old woman, who was found without vital signs on a Toronto driveway in the bitter cold, died after no one answered her cries for help, police said Monday.

Police called it a "tragic death" that might have had a different outcome, if only someone had called them.

A newspaper delivery woman found the woman at about 5:30 a.m. Monday on Kennaley Cres. in the Brimley Road and McNicoll Avenue area, just a block away from her home, police said.

It's believed the woman, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had wandered away from her home in -20 degree temperatures around 2 a.m., police said.

Sgt. David Dube said some neighbours heard the woman crying out in distress in the driveway, but no one called 911 or came to her aid.

"I can tell you around 2 a.m., through our investigation, there's a couple of neighbours in the area who did hear a scream," said Dube.

"We do not suspect foul play. We believe she was distraught and was perhaps looking for help," he said.

"I think one of them actually saw this person in a bit of distress but didn't know what was going on but did not call us," added Dube.

The veteran officer, who's been on the force for 24 years, said he was "somewhat surprised" no one called police, noting it is a good community. He urged people to call police immediately if they hear someone screaming for help.

"If you're going to be a community member I think we have an obligation to look after one another and do the right thing," said Dube.

"I think if someone would have called the police right away there could have been a different outcome," he added.

Police say the woman's husband had last seen his wife about 2 a.m. When he woke up and she wasn't there, he called police and a search was launched about 4:45 a.m., Dube said.

When she was found, the woman wasn't wearing her coat or glasses and she had no pulse.

"Our officers tried CPR. Due to her condition, the hypothermia, the chest compressions were difficult," said Dube.

Police said finger marks could be seen on a vehicle in the driveway where the woman had likely tried to pull herself up off of the ground.

There were also scratch marks on the screen door to the home and Dube said he suspects the woman may have tried to get inside.

The woman was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 a.m.

Toronto has been under an extreme cold weather alert since Saturday.

The city sends out the alerts when the temperature drops below -15 C, with or without the windchill.

All I can think of is this is pretty much typical of the society we now live in no one wants to get involved. Its really very sad and to those people that don't want to get involved I put this to you, think what if this was your grandmother,mother,sister a family member that died this way would you want to have gotten involved then or have at least the hope that some stranger would help them?

Ottawa Earthquake

I had a most amazing experince today, it was a little bit scary but there was an earthquake near Ottawa that was about 5.0 to 5.5 in magnitude. No One was hurt but there was some minor damage. At the time where I was at the walls and floor were all shaking this lasted for about 30 seconds or so long enough to get a bit of a scare.

E-Bay And Paypal In The European Union

You can now start filing legal action against E-Bay & PayPal in the European Union! You don't even need to hire a lawyer at all.

Firstly,read this; http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/index.htm .

Secondly,read this;
http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/your_rights/your_rights_forms_en.htm .

Download the form marked 'en',then fill it in & send.

The European Commission will even accept complaints made anonymously,even if they are lodged from outside Europe.

Please state that you want to invoke Article 82d. of the European Union Treaty,which will generate a complaint against the authorities of all 27 European Union member states for failing to apply E.U. law against eBay & PayPal. - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

If enough people file complaints to the European Commission against E-Bay & PayPal,they WILL take notice & they will file a legal case in the European courts on behalf of consumers.

If legal action does occur in Europe,then hopefully,that will spur the authorities in other countries,including both America & Canada,to file legal action against both E-Bay & PayPal in their own legal jurisdictions.

Coroner Rules Jackson's Death Homicide

Well it looks like Michael Jacksons Death is going to be ruled a Homicide acording to an AP source sometime soon. I wonder how the family is going to respond and who will be charged.

LOS ANGELES – A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that the Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide.

The finding makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died.

The official says the coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died in his rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.

Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol in Jackson's system along with two sedatives, the official says.

Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, is the target of a manslaughter probe headed by Los Angeles police.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

HOUSTON (AP) — A search warrant affidavit says Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anesthetic propofol in his system when he died.

The document unsealed Monday allowed officials to raid the Houston offices and storage facility of Dr. Conrad Murray last month.

It says Murray told a Los Angeles police officer he administered several drugs to Jackson the day he died, including 25 milligrams of the sedative, which he gave intravenously.

The affidavit says Murray never ordered, purchased or received any of the propofol but that the doctor found about eight bottles of it in Jackson's home along with numerous other vials and pills.

E-Bay Is Broken Buyers & Sellers Beware

Yet another writer and blogger descibing thier selling experinaces on E-Bay it's nice to see that the fruad problem is still around although not with coins this time it's still the clasic ongoing scam. Below for you convenince is a copy of the article.

I expected selling my computer on eBay to be easy.

Attempt 1: I listed it. Within hours, someone bought it -- from a hacked account, as eBay notified me, canceling the sale.

Attempt 2: I listed it again. Within hours, someone bought it, and asked me to send it to her via FedEx overnight. The buyer sent payment via PayPal immediately, and then -- near as I could tell -- immediately opened a dispute with PayPal so that the funds were put on hold. And then she sent me an e-mail saying "I paid you, now send me the computer." But PayPal was faster than she expected, I think. At the same time, I received an e-mail from PayPal saying that I might have received a payment that the account holder did not authorize, and that I shouldn't ship the item until the investigation is complete.

I was willing to make Attempt 3, but someone on my blog bought it first. It looks like eBay is completely broken for items like this.

It's not just me.

http://consumerist.com/5007790/its-now-completely-impossible-to-sell-a-laptop-on-ebay or http://tinyurl.com/55hprp

A copy of this essay, with all embedded links, is here:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/06/fraud_on_ebay.html