Lawrencia Ann Bembenek was a tall, striking young woman. She could have chosen nearly any career, but she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. He had briefly worked for the Milwaukee Police Department, and from a young age she wanted to become a police officer.

The youngest of three girls, she grew up Catholic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1960s. She ran the hurdles on her high school track team and took up the flute, graduating in 1976. For a couple of years, she attended junior college before working as a waitress and model. …

SHORT READ

Kore Bommeli and Talina Galloway were roommates, sharing a home in Wagoner, Oklahoma, a lakeside community an hour east of Tulsa.

When Galloway went missing last spring, Bommeli, 59, was the one who told authorities she disappeared. Galloway’s family and friends knew something was wrong a month earlier, however.

Records show Galloway contacted her boss on March 27, 2020. A Microsoft employee, the 53-year old worked from home. Despite the message to her boss, at least one friend reported that her phone had been off since March 7th and he’d been trying to reach her.

Talina was a conscientious person who stayed in touch with friends and family. On April 7, a post appeared on her Facebook page, stating she thought she had COVID-19. The post — now increasingly suspicious —explained she was planning to take care of herself at home, and would definitely not go to the hospital. …

Did Aeileen Conway, a happily married, 50-year-old housewife living in Lawton, Oklahoma, get into a fatal crash one April day? Did she run off with a lover, or was she abducted and murdered?

Many sleuths have tried to crack this case, only to find themselves with many more questions than answers

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol initially believed Aeileen to be just another motor vehicle accident statistic. They responded to reports of a burning car embedded in the guardrail of a one-lane bridge on a rural dirt road. …

SHORT READS

7. Cemetery

I always want to put an “a” in there. A reader told me, “three Es are buried in cemetery!” When you write True Crime, you better know how to spell graveyard.

6. Rhythm

It’s a two-syllable word with no vowels. How?

5. Bechamel

This is French for a sauce that I can’t distinguish from a roux. A white, smooth sauce made from butter and flour. I hardly ever say it, spell it, or cook it.

4. Carburetor

When I worked as a mechanic I was warned, “It’s a French word that means ‘leave it alone’.”

3. Ferodyne

This was a terrific band my friend played in and he begged them to change their name. There are 437 possible ways to spell Ferodyne. I know, because my co-worker John and I tried to find the band online. We failed, and John is a doctor so theoretically very smart. For example, Ferrodine. Also, Pharodine. …

Five people died when hundreds stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The mob pepper-sprayed Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick twice, and some reports say he was struck with a fire extinguisher. He collapsed after returning to his division and died later that day at the hospital.

Less than a week after the riots a second officer who guarded the Capitol, Howard Liebengood, committed suicide.

Nine women were among the nearly 90 arrests. Some were known agitators, while others lived quiet lives outside the limelight. This is what is known about them.

Simone Melissa Gold, California

Gold, 55, was arrested in her home state of California on Jan. 17th. She’s been charged with entering restricted buildings or grounds, violent entry, and disorderly conduct. …

Idaho is a sparsely populated state. In Kootenai County, the gateway to Idaho’s panhandle, a man called Joseph Duncan was arrested in a Denny’s restaurant. With him, Shasta Groene, eight-years-old, was rescued.

Duncan had killed most of Shasta’s family in the preceding weeks, then kidnapped her along with her younger brother, Dylan.

Joseph Duncan was first locked up at the age of 15. He was arrested the second time at 17 for raping a 9-year-old boy at gunpoint. The next twenty years of his wretched life, with a few brief periods, would be spent behind bars.

After the rape conviction, he was sent to a juvenile facility called Dyslin’s Boys ranch. He confessed to a therapist at Dyslin’s that he estimated he’d raped a dozen younger boys by the time he turned 16. …

My sister sleeps in and feels refreshed. She is perplexed as to why I can’t have an occasional lazy morning.

If I am foolish enough to hit the snooze button and doze for another fifteen minutes, I pay a hefty emotional price. I wake up sluggish, cranky, tired, and convinced I am the worst person on earth.

If I sleep in for more than a few days in a row, I fall into a state of depression. I didn’t figure out the sleep-depression connection by myself and it took decades. It was a pattern my husband noticed.

My bout with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) lasted for decades. I tried meds, intense exercise, and all sorts of wacky diets. …