Hiker dies after bee attack, fall - Youngstown Vindicator

Hiker dies after bee attack, fall

PHOENIX

Authorities in Phoenix say a hiker fell off a cliff and died after being attacked by a swarm of bees at a popular recreation area.

It was unclear whether the hiker died from the fall or from being stung Monday afternoon.

Phoenix Fire Department officials say they were able to rescue two other hikers from the Echo Canyon area of Camelback Mountain, and both were treated for bee stings.

Facebook used to kidnap, traffic girls

DEPOK, Indonesia

When a 14-year-old girl received a Facebook friend request from an older man she didn't know, she accepted it. It was the beginning of a story that is repeating itself as sexual predators find new ways to exploit Indonesia's growing obsession with social media.

The junior-high student was kidnapped by the man, locked in a small room and raped repeatedly. She had been told she would be sent to an island known for child- sex tourism but ended up being freed.

In the month since then, there have been at least seven other reports of Indonesian girls being abducted by people they met on Facebook. Abductors used that tactic against 27 of the 129 children reported missing this year to Indonesian child- welfare officials.

2 teens missing for 2 days found safe

PORTLAND, Ore.

Two Oregon teenagers who didn't return from a weekend hike are safe after spending two nights in wet, windy weather.

Jackson Chandler, 17, and Bradley Nelson, 16, were found Monday afternoon by a driver not connected to the search party, Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputy Nate Thompson said. They did not need medical attention.

Television cameras captured the boys' emotional reunion with relatives after rescuers escorted them to the trailhead.

Chandler and Nelson told reporters they went in the wrong direction and got lost.

Hitchhiker pleads guilty to hoax

BILLINGS, Mont.

A hitchhiker from West Virginia pleaded guilty Monday to criminal charges in Montana for falsely claiming to be the victim of a drive-by shooting, leading to another man being jailed for an offense he did not commit.

Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Ray Dolin of Julian, W.Va., would receive a six-month suspended jail sentence and have to pay more than $2,000 in fines and $5,583 in restitution to the Valley County Sheriff's Office.

Dolin pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, making a false report and obstructing a peace officer during an appearance before state District Judge John McKeon in Valley County.

Sentencing was set for Jan. 22.

Molar, tools can cast light on evolution

SAN MARCOS, Texas

The discovery of a human molar and of stone tools more than 1 million years old in South Africa might lead to a better understanding of human evolution, according to a Texas State University archaeologist.

These discoveries, published last month in the Journal of Human Evolution, are believed to reflect the time when humans became biologically different in South and East Africa. The molar shows this happened earlier than previously thought, well before 1 million years ago.

Texas State University professor Britt Bousman said the discoveries help fill gaps in scientists' understanding of human evolution because little is known about humans who lived between 200,000 and 1.5 million years ago.

Combined dispatches