Runway Devon tortoise found after 16-day adventure
Shelley returned home in good spirits, although with a suspicious lack of appetite."We tried runner beans, cabbage, cucumber, the full Monty," Mr Phillips said."She wasn't interested. I've no idea what she's been eating, but clearly it wasn't salad."The escape route had now been reinforced."There was a little chink in the armour, just some chicken wire," he said."That's all patched up now. If she wants out again, she's going to have to give it some really serious thought."
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Daily Record
7 hours ago
- Daily Record
Woman exploring abandoned funeral home calls police after terrifying discovery
The Swanson Funeral Home in Flint, Michigan, US, was shut down in 2017 after inspectors found maggot-infested corpses stacked up in cardboard boxes – but five years later another chilling secret was found A group of urban explorers' trip to an abandoned funeral home in the US ended with a chilling discovery, leading to police being called. The Swanson Funeral Home, located in Flint, Michigan, had been shut down by officials after unrefrigerated human bodies were discovered in squalid conditions during a 2017 inspection. Local residents had previously complained about a persistent odour of decay emanating from the premises. When inspectors from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) visited the site, they found maggots crawling over floors and work surfaces, and nearly a dozen human corpses left unrefrigerated, stacked against the walls in cardboard boxes. Five years later, in June 2022, three explorers ventured into the derelict building and stumbled upon something that sent shivers down their spines. Abandoned sites often attract explorers, like one Scottish mansion that had been reclaimed by nature. But photographer April Vertucci will never forget the time she stepped into a deserted funeral home. April, who goes by the name on TikTok, told the Mirror: "A lot of people knew about the funeral home so we thought we wouldn't have luck... But I walked up to the door and pulled and the door opened. Lock had been previously cut it looked like. I walked back to the car and told the guys the door was open." When the funeral home finally ceased operations, staff left behind embalming chemicals and equipment, and even a Cadillac hearse parked in the garage. Over the years since its closure, vandals had broken in, leaving graffiti on the walls and looting the various syringes and sets of PPE left behind by the former staff. But on the day they visited April and her friends Nick and Matt believed they were alone in the building. So when they came to a creepy stairwell that appeared to lead into the building's basement, it seemed safe enough to venture down into the gloom. "Matt is ahead of me going down the stairs," April recalled. "He yells out 'Is that real?' And calls for Nick and he comes from around the corner." In the centre of the otherwise virtually-empty basement stood a metal structure that resembled a jail cell. And lying crushed beneath it was the body of a man. "I am standing above the casket lift next to the stairs and hear them confirm that the body is in fact real and dead." The "jail cell" was in fact a large goods lift used to ferry coffins from the basement to the ground floor. The dead man is believed to have been a scavenger who had been trying to steal scrap metal from the site. A mobile phone lay just inches from the dead man's outstretched arm. April told the Detroit Metro Times: "You could see he had tried to crawl out from underneath [the lift]. "I've done some crazy s***, but I never expected to come across a dead body, and especially not one crushed to death by a lift. We were all pretty freaked out." The stunned urban explorers immediately contacted the authorities. April revealed to the Mirror: "We were interviewed by police and during that time the coroner came and stated the body had been there for six days making us impossible of having anything to do with the incident and we're sent on our way." Police declined to reveal the identity of the accident victim, who was thought to have perished several days before the grisly find. O'Neil D. Swanson II, proprietor of the funeral home, informed reporters that the man had been "crushed because he cut a cable" whilst attempting to pilfer metal wire from the premises, resulting in the lift plummeting onto him. "It's unfortunate that this happened," he continued. "But he had no business being in my facility." He revealed that since the business had shut down, the building had been pillaged by trespassers: "Unfortunately, criminals and thieves have come into that building, and they destroyed the electrical system, destroyed the plumbing system, took out wire took out, copper piping." Swanson went on to say he hoped to pursue legal action against the three explorers who had found the corpse, stating: "They're trespassers, they broke into my funeral home, and they had no business being on my property." April emphasised that – like all conscientious urban explorers – they hadn't inflicted any harm and had accessed the building via an open door. Several other urban exploration teams, including a group from the Abandoned Central YouTube channel, have followed April and her mates into the chilling Swanson Funeral Home. She's also revisited the spooky site, stating: "I went back. I know it's nuts but I did. It was open just like the last time." Swanson has publicly disputed the findings of the LARA inspectors. "We didn't have a bunch of decomposing bodies inside of our facility when the state came in," he said. "They absolutely were not decomposing. They were absolutely unrefrigerated, but waiting to be processed." A family member of Swanson, who runs a nearby funeral home, emphasised that his business, which also carries the name Swanson Funeral Home, had no ties with O'Neil D. Swanson II.
Daily Mirror
11 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Woman walks into abandoned funeral home and immediately calls police after what she finds
Years after the closure of a funeral home, three friends ventured into the grimy, dilapidated building to find a grisly scene of death A group of urban explorers' visit to an abandoned funeral home ended with police being called after they made an horrific discovery. The Swanson Funeral Home in Flint, Michigan, US had been closed by the authorities after unrefrigerated human bodies were found in filthy conditions during an inspection in 2017. Neighbours had been complaining about a general smell of decay from the building. When inspectors from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) visited the facility they found maggots crawling over floors and work surfaces and nearly a dozen human corpses that had been left unrefrigerated and were simply stacked up along the walls in cardboard boxes. When the three explorers ventured into the dilapidated building five years later in June 2022, they found something that chilled them to the core. Photographer April Vertucci, who uses the name when she uploads videos of her exploring adventures to TikTok, told The Mirror: 'A lot of people knew about the funeral home so we thought we wouldn't have luck… But I walked up to the door and pulled and the door opened. Lock had been previously cut it looked like. I walked back to the car and told the guys the door was open.' When the funeral home had finally closed its doors, staff left behind embalming chemicals and equipment and even a Cadillac hearse in the garage. Over the years since its closure, vandals had broken in, leaving graffiti on the walls and looting the various syringes and sets of PPE left behind by the former staff. But on the day they visited April and her friends Nick and Matt believed they were alone in the building. So when they came to a creepy stairwell that appeared to lead into the building's basement, it seemed safe enough to venture down into the gloom. 'Matt is ahead of me going down the stairs,' April recalled. 'He yells out 'Is that real?' And calls for Nick and he comes from around the corner.' In the centre of the otherwise virtually-empty basement stood a metal structure that resembled a jail cell. And, lying crushed beneath it was the body of a man. 'I am standing above the casket lift next to the stairs and hear them confirm that the body is in fact real and dead.' The 'jail cell' was in fact a large goods lift used to ferry coffins from the basement to the ground floor. The dead man is believed to have been a scavenger who had been trying to steal scrap metal from the site. A mobile phone lay just inches from the dead man's outstretched arm. April told the Detroit Metro Times: "You could see he had tried to crawl out from underneath [the lift].' 'I've done some crazy s***, but I never expected to come across a dead body, and especially not one crushed to death by a lift. We were all pretty freaked out.' The shocked urban explorers immediately called the authorities. April told the Mirror: "We were interviewed by police and during that time the coroner came and stated the body had been there for six days making us impossible of having anything to do with the incident and we're sent on our way.' Police did not release the name of the accident victim, who was believed to have died several days before the gruesome discovery. O'Neil D. Swanson II, owner of the funeral home, told reporters that the man had been 'crushed because he cut a cable' to steal metal wire from the building, causing the lift to fall on top of him. 'It's unfortunate that this happened,' he added. 'But he had no business being in my facility.' He said that since the business had been closed the building had been ransacked by intruders: 'Unfortunately, criminals and thieves have come into that building, and they destroyed the electrical system, destroyed the plumbing system, took out wire took out, copper piping,' Swanson added that he hoped to take action against the three explorers that had discovered the body, complaining: 'They're trespassers, they broke into my funeral home, and they had no business being on my property.' April stressed that – like all responsible urban explorers – they hadn't caused any damage and had entered the property through an unlocked door. Several other teams of urban explorers, including a group from the Abandoned Central YouTube channel, have followed April and her friends into the eerie Swanson Funeral Home. She's also returned to the eerie location, explaining: "I went back. I know it's nuts but I did. It was open just like the last time." Swanson has also gone on record to reject the findings of the LARA inspectors, claiming: 'We didn't have a bunch of decomposing bodies inside of our facility when the state came in," he says. "They absolutely were not decomposing. They were absolutely unrefrigerated, but waiting to be processed.' A relative of Swanson, operating a nearby funeral home, stressed that his business, which also bears the name Swanson Funeral Home, had no connection with O'Neil D. Swanson II.
ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Nigel Farage hits back at Jess Phillips' Jimmy Savile comments
Nigel Farage has hit back at Jess Phillips after she suggested the Reform UK leader's pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act would empower 'modern-day Jimmy Saviles'. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Farage said the comments were "sinking to the gutter of politics." It comes after Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said Farage was putting himself on the side of 'extreme pornographers' and people like Savile by opposing the law. Farage said the comparison was "inappropriate" because Savile was "famously never online". He added that he would "love to see effective legislation that protected young children from harmful and dangerous material"; however, he argued the Online Safety Act does not do that, and rather "extends right into the area of free speech". He said he would be "very happy" to engage in a public debate with Phillips over the legislation and "work with them on trying to find a tech solution that works". Under rules that came into effect on July 25 as part of the act, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children from accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide. Writing in The Times, Phillips, the Home Office minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, appeared to accuse Farage of being more concerned about 'clicks for his monetised social media accounts' than children's safety online. She said: 'Farage said it's the biggest threat to freedom of speech in our lifetimes. 'My colleague Peter Kyle said he was siding with modern-day Jimmy Saviles preying on children online.' She said she would like to speak to Farage about 'one of those modern-day Saviles, Alexander McCartney'. McCartney, who posed as a teenage girl to befriend young females from across the globe on Snapchat and other platforms before blackmailing them, 'just needed a computer' to reach his targets, Phillips wrote. Believed to be one of the world's most prolific online offenders, McCartney abused at least 70 children online and drove one girl to suicide. Phillips said the Online Safety Act exists to try to provide a 'basic minimum of protection, and make it harder for paedophiles to prey on children at will'. She said police have told her that paedophile networks use 'normal websites where their parents assume they're safe' to coerce and blackmail young people. 'Perhaps Nigel Farage doesn't worry about that — there's no political advantage in it, and no clicks for his monetised social media accounts. But I do." Her comments echo those of Kyle, who said last week: 'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.' Farage demanded an apology from the technology secretary, who refused to withdraw his remarks.
