Missing Coast Guardsman Russell Matthews’ Mysterious Return After 4-Months Missing

Petty Officer First Class Russell Matthews, a 17-year-veteran of the Coast Guard (rescue swimmer), disappeared nearly four-months ago. Matthews’ car was found by police at a Kaena Point parking lot in a remote area of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, after he was reported missing back on Oct. 9, 2012. An all-out search for the missing 36-year-old man was launched by both the Coast Guard and the fire department, with searchers scouring the north and south shores of the point in search of him. The three-day search went cold, however, as did the investigation into his whereabouts. At the time of his disappearance, Matthews was under investigation for using marijuana.

Mysteriously, Matthews (a father of two) showed up at his wife’s Oahu house, but nobody was home. Today, Honolulu police said that Matthews appeared incoherent, and he was taken to a hospital for observation. Coast Guard investigators confirmed his identity after he called his command from Castle Medical Center in the Honolulu suburb of Kailua. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Gene Maestas commented on the case, saying that Matthews has not indicated where he had been for the past four months, or why he ceased to be in contact with family, friends or the Coast Guard. Police have closed the case, as it is not illegal to be a missing person. He is currently being evaluated at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. Military investigators are scheduled to talk to Matthews when he gets out of the hospital.

Couch Humper’s Attorney Working on Plea Deal

Gerard Streator, the man who gave the “love seat” a new meaning, is due in Waukesha County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing on February 25, 2013. Streator, a 47-year-old hotel worker from Waukesha, Wisconsin, was arrested last September for lewd and lascivious behavior; apparently for humping a curbside-couch. As detailed in a criminal complaint, Streator’s 11:00pm furniture rendezvous was interrupted by an off-duty police officer out for a jog. The cop, Ryan Edwards, reported spotting “a subject leaning over the couch facing down and it looked like he was having sexual relations with someone on the couch.”

Streator’s attorney, Jonathan LaVoy, claimed that he and prosecutors are working on a plea deal, according to thesmokinggun.com. Streator’s punishment might wind up being nothing more severe than probation, a work release, or a fine. The man who became famous for getting “sexual with a sectional” is currently involved in treatment. LaVoy says that he plans to present the judge with a doctor’s assessment of Streator’s mental condition at the hearing.

More Evidence that Stand-Your-Ground is Losing Ground

Another horrific shooting occurred this past Friday night in Florida, similar to the TrayvonMartin case, in which a White male adult killed a Black male teenager. The incident took place in a gas station parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida. 

According to the statement from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Forty-five-year-old, Michael Dunn (White man) of Brevard County, was sitting in the gas station parking lot while his girlfriend, who was returning with him from his son’s wedding, went inside the gas station to make a purchase. Dunn told authorities that he then approached a sport utility vehicle (SUV) adjacent to his in which several teenagers were seated and asked them to turn down the loud music coming from the SUV. 

Dunn told police he felt threatened by the response from the teens, after having words with Seventeen-year-old, Jordan Davis, who was still seated in the vehicle. Dunn reacted after having allegedly seeing a gun barrel in the window of the teens' car, firing eight shots into the vehicle, striking Jordan Davis twice and killing him. There were, however, no guns found inside the teens’ car, the statement said.

Dunn and his girlfriend fled the scene after the shooting, claiming that they feared that they had encountered gang members and that more would follow. The couple went to a local hotel for the night, and saw the news the next morning that Davis had died. They returned to Dunn’s home in Brevard County, where local police arrested him Saturday on an out-of-county warrant. Dunn’s attorney, Robin Lemonidis, told CNN Monday that, “When all the evidence has been flushed out, I believe that it will be extremely clear that Mr. Dunn acted as any responsible firearm owner would have under the same circumstances.”

Would Mr. Dunn have approached the teens if he was not packing? Probably not! Certainly he felt secure that if they gave him any trouble he could shoot first and ask questions later; maybe the stand-your-ground law bolstered that feeling of security. Moreover, the fact that he thought that the teens were in a gang, probably because they were black, raises other concerns about Mr. Dunn’s character and intent. Even if Dunn had legitimately fled the scene out of fear of gang reprisal, wouldn’t it have been the decent, “responsible” thing to at least contact the police? “Responsible firearm owners,” as Dunn’s attorney Mr. Lemonidis called him, just don’t act in this way.

Davis’s mother, Lucia McBath, is calling the act that killed her only son a “Hate Crime.” 

Dunn was arraigned Monday afternoon and pled not-guilty.