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The search is on for Airman’s lost pet cat By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com A Millbury woman is searching for her family’s elderly orange and white cat, which has been missing since July 22 from her home in the 2900 block of Millbury Road. Keri Drain said the cat slipped out of her house when she opened the door to go to work that morning, which also happened to be her birthday. The cat, named Sharky, has sneaked out on previous occasions, but always returned, she said. “He would always stay to the left or right of us. He wouldn’t go further than one house away,” she said. If he got out at night, he was on the front porch by the next morning. “Sharky has never disappeared before. That’s why this is so devastating,” she said. Sometimes when Sharky got out at night, it would jump up on her bedroom windowsill crying to come in. “So he never went far,” she said. “This time, he went out and just didn’t come back. We never saw him again,” she said. When she got home from work that night, she started searching for him in the neighborhood.
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We’re following up on some leads that were called in and we’re waiting for evidence to come back.
Chief Mark Hummer See page 3
Sharky “We thought it was weird he hadn’t come back yet. We looked for him all weekend,” she said. “We made fliers, put them in mailboxes all over the neighborhood. We’ve put fliers at area businesses – Mel-O-Creme, Subway, Woodbury Market, Pub 51, East Suburban Animal Clinic, the post office – pretty much any place we were allowed to put up the flier.” She went to the Wood County Humane Society and the Toledo Area Humane Society, and posted on Internet sites such as the popular K-100 Lost and Found Pet Page, Facebook’s Toledo Area Lost and Found Pets, and other online sites for owners looking for their missing pets. She also set a live trap on her porch. “But I caught another kitty cat in the trap,” she laughed. Friendly cat Sharky was adopted as a kitten 10 years ago, she said, and was the constant companion of her son, Ethan, who was Continued on page 2
Demo derby
The Wood County Fair featured a variety of demo derbies. Top photo, soupedup farm equipment crashes at the Combine Demo Derby. Bottom photo, a lawn tractor takes a spill at the Lawnmower Demo Derby. (Press photos by Russ Lytle/Facebook/Russ Lytle/RHP)
More charges expected in child rape case Lake Township police and the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office are asking anyone with information about a township man who’s been indicted on two counts of rape against victims under 10 years old to contact them. The Ottawa County Grand Jury on Aug. 3 issued a secret indictment against Earl H. Weidner, II, 39, on the rape charges. Authorities sought the secret indictment because Weidner allegedly threatened victims and their families if the victims told.
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We do have some concerns this could be further reaching.
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By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
He is being held on an $800,000 bond in the Ottawa County Jail. “We do have some concerns this could be further reaching,” Mark Hummer, Lake
Township Police Chief, said Wednesday. According to the sheriff’s department, other alleged victims have come forward with one stating he would disclose details of abuse after Weidner was incarcerated. Weidner has lived at 6817 Fremont Pike, Apt. 1 in Lake Township. He was arrested without incident at the sheriff’s office Aug. 8 where he went after being contacted by investigators who told him they wanted to speak with him. Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said the charges allege Weidner engaged in sexual conduct with two minors over the past 4 ½ years. If convicted, Weidner faces life impris-
onment without parole. “The victims just recently disclosed the abuse to family members, who, in turn contacted authorities. The young victims, who described similar events which took place over three years apart, indicated that the abuse took place at a relative’s home in Ottawa County,” Mulligan said. A pre-trial hearing is set for Sept. 12 and a jury trial is set for Nov. 1. Children Services agencies from Wood and Ottawa counties are assisting in the investigation. To contact the sheriff’s office call 419734-4404. Lake Township police can be contacted by calling 419-666-5500.