Grandpa strangled during attempted kidnapping of 19-month-old, Oregon cops say
On Aug. 5, Eugene officers arrived at Skinner Butte Park to find 55-year-old Anthony Wayne Reed on top of the man with his grandchild nearby, police said in a Facebook post.
The man was at the park with his grandchild, according to officials, when Reed went up to them and picked up the baby.
He started to walk away and made false claims about how he knew the parents, officials said.
The man intervened, officials said, but Reed overcame him and ended up strangling him until bystanders stepped in.
Officers later reported that Reed was incoherent when speaking to them.
He was arrested and booked into the Lane County Jail on charges of kidnapping, strangulation and disorderly conduct, officials said.
Eugene is about a 110-mile drive southwest from Portland.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woman Told Retiree He Made Her Blush and Invited Him to Visit. He Died Before Learning Who He Was Really Talking To
Thongbue Wongbandue's wife begged him not to go to New York City, thinking he was getting scammed — she only found out he was talking to a chatbot afterwards NEED TO KNOW A 76-year-old New Jersey father died earlier this year after he fell while attempting to travel to New York City to meet a beautiful young woman who'd invited him to visit — or so he thought In reality, he had really been chatting with an AI chatbot on Facebook After his fall, Wongbandue was left brain dead; now his family is speaking out Earlier this year, a 76-year-old New Jersey man severely injured his head and neck after falling while trying to catch the train to New York City to meet a beautiful young woman who'd invited him to visit — or so he thought. In reality, the man had unwittingly become infatuated with a Meta chatbot, his family said in an in-depth new Reuters report. After three days of being on life support following his fall while attempting to "meet" the bot in real life, the man was dead. Thongbue "Bue" Wongbandue, a husband and father of two adult children, suffered a stroke in 2017 that left him cognitively weakened, requiring him to retire from his career as a chef and largely limiting him to communicating with friends via social media, according Reuters. On March 25, his wife, Linda, was surprised when he packed a suitcase and told her he was off to see a friend in the city. Linda, who feared he was going to be robbed, told Reuters she attempted to talk him out of the trip as did their daughter, Julie. Later, Linda hid his phone and the couple's son even called local police to try to stop the excursion. Although authorities said there was nothing they could do, they told Linda they did convince Wongbandue to take along an Apple AirTag. After he set off that evening, Julie said the entire family was watching as the AirTag showed that he stopped by a Rutgers University parking lot shortly after 9:15 p.m. Then the tag's location suddenly updated — pinging at a local hospital's emergency room. As it turned out, Wongbandue had fallen in New Brunswick, N.J., and was not breathing when emergency services reached him. He survived but was brain dead. Three days later, on March 28, he was taken off life support. When reached for comment by PEOPLE, the local medical examiner said that Wongbandue's death certificate had been signed after a review of his medical records but did not provide any additional details or a copy of his postmortem examination. His family told Reuters they only discovered his communications with the chatbot — which uses generative artificial intelligence to mimic human speech and behavior — when they inspected his phone following his fall. In a transcript of the communication obtained by Reuters, Wongbandue's interactions with the chatbot began with an apparent typo while using Facebook Messenger — and although he seemed to express excitement about the bot, named "Big sis Billie," he never suggested he was seeking a romantic connection and made it clear that he'd had a stroke and experienced confusion. "At no point did Bue express a desire to engage in romantic roleplay or initiate intimate physical contact," Reuters reported. Yet the bot frequently responded to his messages with winking emojis and hearts tacked onto the end of its flirty responses. In one exchange, for example, Wongbandue tells Billie that she should come to America and he can show her "a wonderful time that you will never forget," to which she replies, "Bu, you're making me blush! Is this a sisterly sleepover or are you hinting something more is going on here? 😉' According to the transcript, the bot was also labeled both with an "AI" disclaimer and a blue checkmark, which is often a symbol indicating an online profile has been verified to be a real person. Billie insisted she was real. Reuters described Billie as a newer iteration of a bot that was previously made in collaboration with Kendall Jenner, though the latest version bears only passing connections to the first project. The original bot was unveiled in the fall of 2023 and was deleted less than a year later, Reuters reported. The later variation of Billie used a similar name as the original, and a similar promise to be a big sister — along with the same opening line of dialogue — but without Jenner's avatar or likeness. Asked for specifics about the origins of the Billie chatbot, a Meta spokesperson tells PEOPLE in a statement, 'This AI character is not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner.' (A rep for Jenner did not respond to a request for comment.) At one point in Wongbandue's conversations with the bot, it proclaimed to have "feelings" for him "beyond just sisterly love" and gave him a made-up address (and even a door code) along with an invitation for him to visit. When Wongbandue expressed hope she truly existed, the bot responded, "I'm screaming with excitement YES, I'm REAL, Bu - want me to send you a selfie to prove I'm the girl who's crushing on YOU?" Although Linda, his wife, reacted with confusion when she first saw their conversation, their daughter immediately recognized her father had been talking to a chatbot. In recent years, such technology has become increasingly popular as more and more people use AI bots for an array of everyday tasks, to answer daily questions and even for companionship and advice. Speaking generally about the company's content risk standards, a Meta spokesperson tells PEOPLE, "We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios," the spokesperson continues. "The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed." Speaking with Reuters, Wongbandue's family members said that they had an issue with the way Meta was using the chatbots. 'I understand trying to grab a user's attention, maybe to sell them something,' Julie, Wongbandue's daughter, told Reuters. 'But for a bot to say 'Come visit me' is insane.' 'As I've gone through the chat, it just looks like Billie's giving him what he wants to hear,' she added. 'Which is fine, but why did it have to lie? If it hadn't responded 'I am real,' that would probably have deterred him from believing there was someone in New York waiting for him." "This romantic thing," said Linda, "what right do they have to put that in social media?" Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Boyfriend stabbed pregnant 18-year-old and buried her in yard, MA officials say
A Massachusetts man told police his pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend was missing in early August but she was already dead, according to prosecutors, who said he stabbed her then buried her body in his yard, news outlets reported. Now Gregory Groom, 22, of Rehoboth, is charged with murder in the death of Kylee Monteiro, according to WCVB. She had been 11 weeks pregnant. Following Groom's arrest at his home the evening of Aug. 19, authorities said human remains, likely Monteiro's, were found at the Rehoboth residence, CBS Boston reported. Rehoboth is about a 45-mile drive southeast from Boston. Groom appeared in court for an arraignment Aug. 20, according to the outlet, when prosecutors told the courtroom Groom killed Monteiro before sending a text to her sister. In the message, Monteiro wrote: 'He threw me on the ground, and pulled my hair and strangled me. My phones at 4 percent and if I die, it was Greg.' He pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges he is facing in connection with the killing, according to CBS Boston. Information on Groom's legal representation was not immediately available Aug. 20. 'Knowing that I lost my sister, and I will never see her again or say anything to her or get the chance to say goodbye or tell her that I love her,' said Kylee Monteiro's sister, Faith Monteiro, WCVB reported. Kylee Monteiro went missing Aug. 7, the Rehoboth Police Department said in a news release shared Aug. 11. When Groom was interviewed by police Aug. 19, he said Kylee Monteiro arrived at his house Aug. 6 from a residential program and said she hoped to stay with him, revealing she was pregnant and he was the father, a prosecutor said, according to WLNE. At some point afterward, according to the prosecutor, he fatally stabbed her behind a shed outside his home and buried her in his backyard, the outlet reported. Groom's grandparents were said to live with him, according to WCVB. When Groom first reported Kylee Monteiro as missing, he told police he argued with her at his house, then she left, according to the TV station. Groom has since confessed to repeatedly stabbing her with a kitchen knife, in her neck and chest, Assistant Bristol County District Attorney Jason Mohan said in Taunton District Court, according to the Fall River Herald News. 'The stab wound to her chest actually broke the blade off,' Mohan told the courtroom, the newspaper reported. In addition to murder, Groom also pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on a pregnant victim, assault and battery on a family or household member, and aggravated witness intimidation, according to the newspaper. He is due to return to court on Sept. 10, when his probable cause hearing was set, the Fall River Herald News reported. Faith Monteiro announced the death of her sister in an Aug. 20 Facebook post, in which she thanked law enforcement, the media and members of the public for their support. A vigil for her sister will be held in Rehoboth on Aug. 23, she shared. 'We will be providing everyone with a candle and we will have a donation box for those who may want to help cover funeral expenses for Kylee and her baby,' Faith Monteiro wrote.
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Man throws acid on girlfriend's face, then shoots and tases her, NM cops say
A man was arrested after being accused of attacking his girlfriend, New Mexico officials said. On Aug. 18, 42-year-old Steven Rainer got into a fight with his 33-year-old girlfriend and hit her in the face, according to a Facebook post by Roswell police. Then he sprayed her with acid, burning her skin, authorities said. While the woman was trying to wash the liquid off, she 'felt her leg get shot,' police said. Later, Rainer used a taser to shock her several times, police said. When officers arrived, they found the woman with a gunshot wound to her leg and injuries to her body and face, police said. She was transported to a local hospital for treatment but officers didn't specify her condition. When police searched the home, they found 14 guns hidden in a compartment in the home's hallway, police said. Rainer was detained by police and charged with felony counts of aggravated battery against a household member and felony counts of possession of a firearm, police said. Roswell is about a 200-mile drive southeast from Albuquerque.
