Take a good look at this picture. What you see is a smiling young six year old boy now caught in  the middle of a drug debt owed to a Mexican drug cartel, at least that’s what Las Vegas authorities believe.

FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE

I am being told that besides the nationwide manhunt for the grandfather and more importantly Cole, the investigation includes agents in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Located about an hour east of downtown Los Angeles, this area has been connected with the Mexican cartels in recent years. There is a possibility that Cole has been brought to that area and leads are being followed.

HERE IS THE LATEST THAT COMES FROM AUTHORITIES:

Metro Police are looking for the grandfather of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger, who was kidnapped Wednesday morning from his home in Las Vegas. During this news conference, police identified Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, 51, as a person of interest in the case.

Drug activity within the family has been linked to Cole’s abduction. Police said Tinnemeyer owns a sightseeing motorhome service and left the Las Vegas area on a sightseeing tour on May 21. He contacted a family member on Aug. 22 to say he was in Tennessee, but hasn’t been heard from since and might be still using the motorhome.He also owns a 2004 Dodge pickup truck, last seen bearing Mississippi License tag KA6 251.

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THE REST OF THE STORY

We first got the call early this morning after reports of the abduction became even more sinister. As the report goes, two or three men pretending to be police officers barged into the mothers home and then kidnapped Cole Puffinburger, at gunpoint about 7:15 am Wednesday morning.

Detectives say when the family opened the door, the men invaded the home, tied up the boy’s mother and her male friend and started looking for money. Nevada’s first nationwide Amber Alert has been issued for Puffinburger, who is 3 feet 11 inches tall and weighs approximately 48 pounds. He has blond hair, blue eyes, distinctly stained front teeth, an overbite and wears prescription, silver-rimmed glasses. He was last seen wearing a black, zip-up, hooded sweatshirt with white, black and blue stars on it; a black John Cena WWE wrestling shirt; dark jeans; a belt; white socks and black Vans sneakers.

The men are described as having Hispanic accents, in their early 30s. One man is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He has black, shoulder-length, slicked back hair. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

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8:40am pst      Breaking now….a small brush fire reported at Pt. Mugu State Park near Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County. That is also not far from the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station. Water drops have already begun.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The view looked the way it’s supposed to, coming over the mountain from the west side of Los Angeles at 4am. The gird of street lights in the San Fernando Valley void of any red glow from the mountains above. Our caravan of a satellite truck and two crew vehicles makes the way up the 405 and then transitions onto the 118 west. Again, from the high vantage point, no glow and no flames like we saw early yesterday morning. 

Our arrival in Simi Valley has us parked near fire crews from Northern California, all the departments raced down here early Sunday morning, these guys happen to be from the Sacramento Area. Everyone watching the hillsides striped black from burnt areas and yellow from the California drought. The Santa Anas are calm at this hour, a nice and essential break from the last few days. Firefighters made some great headway int he four hours since I went to sleep. At that time our local affiliate KTTV showed some dramatic flames racing up hillsides, take away the wind and those massive flames become tamable. Right now things are looking much, much better, but this is only our first visit from the Santa Anas this fall and it made things dangerous, hectic and busy for the last 4 days.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING UPDATE:  From our vantage overlooking the canyons that stretch down into Granada Hills, we can see helicopters, one after another, dive down into a bank of smoke. The wind knocks them around like a leaf in the wind, but somehow they emerge each time, their water and retardent dumped over the flames. It has been a tough firefight, as winds continue to howl. The Santa Anas are supposed to come late in the evening and then die off during the afternoon, but we are seeing a different trend so far, with winds gusting in the afternoons, only to calm just a bit until about 4am or so. While this massive fire has been knocked down to what appears to be two flanks, the flames from those two area continue to skirt the edge of neighborhoods which are home to thousands.

WATCH FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT TO SAVE A HOME

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TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE: As we transition from the 405 freeway onto the 118 westbound in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, we can see the glow in the hills above Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. It looks like a necklace of red Christmas lights leading to a massive red glow. Despite radio reports, the wind howls and rocks our cars as we pull alongside a curb in a ‘Wisteria Lane’ type of neighborhood, perched into the arid hillsides dry with brush and high grasses.

Helicopters hit the fire with water, but its more like throwing sand into a stiff wind, the water seemingly gets nowhere and the fire leaps from ridge to hillside. Most homes here have been evacuated, but you can tell who stayed because there cars are still here and backed into the driveway for a quick getaway if need be. Fire engines are parked every few blocks and we randomly see locals walking on sidewalks looking for clear views of the hills on fire through the trees.

Keep Reading …

  Some updates on the Metrolink Train Crash

Over the course of the last week and a half I have been involved in several conversations with sources close to the Metrolink investigation. One particular conversation includes the revelation that video from the engine of the Union Pacific freight train survived the crash and as investigators watched that video I am told, “you couldn’t see his face.” The quote referring to the engineer Robert Sanchez, killed in the crash and someone who had been texting up to 22 seconds or so before the deadly collision. I am also told investigators are still “extremely concerned” about the content of Sanchez’s text messages that day and early evening. Investigators are not only troubled by the text’s sent to the teenage boys at the train station (documented in previous reports), but also messages sent to at least one other Metrolink employee. This comes as some witnesses say they saw green lights at the Chatsworth Station just a few minutes before the train left and ultimately collided with the Union Pacific train. 

A Couple of More Notes:

Talked to crash survivor Kipp Landis (featured in earlier posts) today and his news is nothing but good. Since we last spoke, he had two hand surgeries to repair damage from the crash and he goes back for a check up this weel He is feeling better today and finally got to go home back on the 26th. Doctors say his back, ribs and lungs are doing better.

Also, I have been contacted by law firms looking to represent victims of the crash. This report came out a few days ago in several newspapers, but lawyers have actually contacted me looking for phone numbers and addresses of people injured or worse in the Metrolink Crash. That is a first for me on any tragic story that I have ever covered.

BREAKING NEWS ABOUT AVIATOR STEVE FOSSETT

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THURSDAY UPDATE:   Investigators now say that body parts have been found amongst the wreckage of the Fossett plane. There is enough for DNA. We first heard that wreckage had been found last night when a Preston’s wife called me from the fire station with the news. The area is rugged and rough and today the plan is to recover as much evidence from the plane as possible.

THE ORIGINAL BREAKING NEWS:   The call came Tuesday night. A story from a friend about hiker Preston Morrow, who was on a difficult trek in the mountains off trail above Mammoth Lakes California near the area of Minaret Lake and Minaret Mine. Apparently the man came across what appeared to be some papers lying in some remote terrain, but what he may have found wasn’t some wayward trash left by a careless camper.

Tattered and crumpled on the ground, the Mammoth Lakes local found what appears to be two FAA cards that listed the name Steve Fossett, both were apparently either issued or had some sort of connection to the State of Illinois. The two cards were found with some $100 bills and later, not too far away, a sweat jacket, also a bit worn and beaten up from the weather was found on the ridge above.

Morrow went and told his wife, who happens to be a local firefighter, and then the couple and a few close friends searched the area all yesterday afternoon, after the find and then got back into range and called local authorities, who then contacted the lawyers involved in this case. Will this find lead to a lost crash site of the missing millionaire aviator? More information about a possible renewed search effort to come. I did speak with a police sergeant in Mammoth Lakes and he confirms that the items had just been brought to the station. The Madera County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the ID’s were Fossett’s and the FAA says the information matched. A helicopter was searching the area by Wednesday afternoon and at least 30 search teams are being formed to scour the area in the coming days.

THE BACKGROUND: Steve Fossett has been missing since September 3, 2007, and was declared legally dead February 15, 2008. A good friend of fellow daredevil Sir Richard Branson, he was an avid American aviator, sailor, and adventurer who became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon.

Fossett was a fellow at the Royal Geographic Society and set 116 records (60 still stand) in 5 different sports. He originally made his fortune in the financial services industry and had dedicated his later years in life to challenging these various world records.

Fossett was reported missing after the plane he was flying over the Nevada desert failed to return back to the airport. Searches by a variety of volunteers on the ground and in the air, including help from the Civil Air Patrol, turned up nothing. Even after the official search and rescue was called off, people continue to look for the missing aviator.

I have posted 3 videos, all are full comments on this issue of whether political candidates can be supported or opposed from the pulpit. Here’s also my story that goes with the video.

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“According to my Bible and in my opinion, there’s no way in the world a Christian could vote for Barack Hussein Obama.” That definitive and decisive statement by Reverend Wiley Drake could set pit the IRS against his First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park California.

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Yesterday Wiley and about 40 others in 21 states, openly defied a tax law they claim is unfair and unconstitutional. As the video shows, he goes as far as to oppose Barack Obama, give lukewarm support for John McCain and then openly support American Independent Party Candidate Alan Keyes. As Wiley Says, “It is time for us to challenge the IRS and to challenge this law, that has been interpreted that a Pastor cannot personally endorse somebody, that is an interpretation and it is a wrong interpretation, in my opinion.”

The law against politics from the pulpit was introduced and supported by then Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson back in 1964. Opponents like Wiley claim it was only introduced at the time to silence Johnson’s critics; never meant to stop churches from supporting candidates. But not everyone agrees of course, arguing the separation of church and state should be absolute and parishoners are smart enough to decide about candidates on their own.

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“Houses of worship were never intended to be partisan political entities. They are places where people go for spiritual enlightenment and to get closer to god, they are not political action committees,” says Rob Boston from the group ‘Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

As you might imagine, churches and houses of worship across the country are watching this battle very closely. Many religious leaders admit, they walk a fine line every Sunday to ensure they keep their tax exempt status and not violate the law. Most we spoke with also say, they would see nothing wrong with political endorsement if it was legal.

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Pastor Dudley Rutherford from Shepherd of the Hills Church in Southern California says, “Maybe this is a way to get everyone’s attention and begin discussing this particular issue. And perhaps one day it will lead to us being able to stand and proclaim what candidate we feel best serves our country, but as it is now I am not able to do so.”

Americans United says they are filing formal complaints with the IRS against six churches involved in Sunday’s actions….called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” by some. Either way, it is clear, some churches and church leaders openly support and welcome another showdown with the IRS.