News Briefs

January 16, 1996
Web posted at: 2:30 p.m. EST

Hunt for kidnapped Texas girl, 9

ARLINGTON, Texas (CNN) -- The FBI has joined Texas authorities in the search for a kidnapped nine-year-old girl. Amber Hagerman was grabbed from her bicycle on Saturday in the parking lot of a closed supermarket. Police are conducting door-to-door searches and checking known sex offenders and owners of black pickups, the type of vehicle used by the man seen abducting the girl. A witness says Amber was kicking and screaming.

For Amber's father, Richard, the kidnapping is the second family nightmare in five years. His newborn granddaughter was kidnapped from a Fort Worth hospital but was safely returned to Hagerman's daughter about 11 hours later. Police said they don't see a connection because the kidnapper in that case, a woman, is institutionalized. Authorities and businesses have offered a $1,500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the latest case.

Related Sites

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Hemophiliacs warned about tainted clotting agent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A risk of hepatitis A has led federal health authorities to warn hemophiliacs against using several batches of clotting factor. The Food and Drug Administration said two cases recently uncovered mark the first time a U.S. plasma product has been found to be transmitting Hepatitis A, a usually mild disease

A batch of Alphanate Factor Eight, made by Alpha Therapeutics, was genetically linked to two cases of hepatitis A, and doctors suspect it also caused a third infection. A fourth patient came down with hepatitis A after taking a second Alpha clotting factor, called Factor Nine, made from the same pool of blood plasma.

The affected Factor Eight lot is number AP5014A. The four lots of Factor Nine being quarantined are numbers CA5410A, CA5412A, CA5413A and CA5421A.

Car thieves go for Cutlass Supremes

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- For the fourth year in a row, the Olds Cutlass Supreme wins the dubious honor of most-stolen car in the United States. In fact, Cutlasses captured the top three spots on the 1995 list compiled by CCC Information Services Inc. The 1986 Supreme was No. 1, the '87 model second and the '84 third.

The top 10 also included the 1994 Toyota Camry, the 1987 Chevrolet Caprice and five Honda Accords. "You're looking at vehicles that are popular not only with consumers, but with thieves ... most importantly because their parts are in great demand," said CCC senior vice president Bill Geen.

Geen said the rankings have little to do with how easy a car is to steal. "If there's a need and desire to have (a particular vehicle), a thief is going to get it." Chicago-based CCC is hired by insurance companies to set the value on cars and trucks that are stolen or destroyed in accidents.

Survey: Women earn 5-15 percent less

NEW YORK (CNN) -- In general, women have narrowed, but not closed, the pay gap with men who do comparable work, Working Woman magazine reported Tuesday. A survey found women typically earn 5 to 15 cents less on the dollar than men in similar jobs, though in some cases their salaries are catching up to and even surpassing men's pay.

The magazine reports the gender gap in pay narrowed significantly in 1995 in some jobs, such as computer analysts. But it widened in others: Women bank tellers, brokers and other financial service representatives made 55 percent of what their male counterparts earned, down from 66 percent in 1994.

The survey, which used figures provided by professional associations, pay consultants, trade publications and the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics, looked at 28 fields for which salaries were available by gender.

Feedback

Send us your comments - Selected responses are posted daily.