Author: CNN Newsource

By SHELBY COUNTY, Alabama

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    SHELBY COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — 12 years ago, Peter Jackson faced one of the hardest days of his life after losing his wife to a stroke.

“I lost my wife due to a sudden and massive hemorrhagic stroke. That was on a Monday evening. By Friday, we had to disconnect and let her go,” said Jackson.

Grief support classes with GriefShare helped him navigate that loss.

“I attended the program, went through all the classes, and it pretty much saved my life in more ways than one,” said Jackson.

GriefShare started in Wake Forest, North Carolina and now helps those who are grieving all across the country and right here in Alabama.

For the last 10 years, Jackson has been a leader and facilitator for GriefShare.

“What the program will enable them to do is manage and control their grief. It’s something that doesn’t go away entirely, but they are able to manage and control it, rather than the grief managing and controlling them,” said Jackson.

The 13-week series for the grief classes kicks off on Thursday.

The classes are freestanding, so if you experience a loss now or later on in the series, GriefShare invites you to join.

You can also attend the classes if you are struggling with grief from a less recent loss.

To get connected with GriefShare in Shelby County you can reach out online, by phone at 205-908-6529 or by email at FromMourningToJoy@gmail.com

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By Hannah Hilyard

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    GREEN LAKE, Wisconsin (WISN) — For the first time, we’re hearing from Ryan Borgwardt in his own words. The man, once known as Green Lake’s missing kayaker, told investigators during a three-hour recorded conversation how he faked his drowning and ran away to eastern Europe to meet a woman he’d met online.

And 12 News Investigates obtained it through an open records request.

From his final text exchange with his wife to the first dispatch call, it’s all revealed in the newly released video and documents.

“He was on a kayak,” the dispatch call stated. “And she woke up, and he is not home. And she can’t get a hold of him.”

“Oh dear,” the other person on the call responded.

Body camera footage, time-stamped August 2024, then showed the moment deputies found his van and overturned kayak in Green Lake.

Investigators initially believed Borgwardt’s disappearance was a drowning, but a deep dive into his laptop revealed he was actually alive.

“Ryan, I beg you, give me a call,” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a video to Borgwardt.

After 54 days of searching the lake, the sheriff’s office turned to an all-out blitz to reach the missing kayaker through video messages, news conferences, and emails to the European girlfriend with the subject “Call us. Very Important.”

It worked.

“I’m in my apartment. I am safe, secure, no problem,” Borgwardt said in a video message sent to detectives and eventually released publicly.

WISN 12 News even obtained Borgwardt’s video proof of his flight back to the United States. All of this evidence led up to his first sit-down with investigators in December 2024.

During the interview, Borgwardt described his late-night kayak ride and elaborate plan. “Countless times, I said, ‘Why am I doing this?’ But I kept going,” he said. “The amount of hours that I spent trying to disappear would blow your mind.”

He explained how he used an inflatable boat to reach shore, rode an e-bike to Madison, and took a Greyhound to the Canadian border. It’s at the border he met with agents suspicious because he showed up with a dead phone and no license.

“I think he started to wonder if I was trying to run away from something because he started to ask questions like ‘Are you married? Is everything OK?'” Borgwardt said.

Borgwardt eventually made his way to Georgia in Eastern Europe, staying there until he received the email from detectives that made his “heart fall through the floor.”

The email exchange with detectives lasted a month before he returned home to face the consequences.

“Everybody’s a bit perplexed as to why you took this path,” a detective said during the interview.

Borgwardt responded, “I guess, in the end, it came down to the feeling of failure in about every aspect of your life.”

After returning to the U.S., he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor obstruction charge. Last month, a judge sentenced him to three months in custody, and he has already paid $30,000 to Green Lake County to reimburse them for the costs incurred.

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By Joyce Ogirri

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    NEW ALBANY, Indiana (WLKY) — From discarded plastic bags to something that brings comfort and hope, a new ministry at Trinity United Methodist Church is transforming everyday trash into a lifeline for people facing homelessness and recovering from disasters.

Inside the church’s “Mission Depot,” volunteers gather every Tuesday morning to cut, stretch, and weave thousands of grocery bags into durable sleeping mats.

“To be able to offer something that brings some comfort and protection from the elements,” said volunteer Carla Roth. “We felt like it was a simple thing to do, and it could make a difference.”

Each mat takes about 1,000 plastic bags and up to 20 hours to complete, from sorting and preparing to weaving on a loom and adding a carrying strap. The group has already finished more than 50 mats.

“We’ve produced the products that’ll help keep them dry. Our mats are woven tight enough that they’re waterproof,” said volunteer Joris Kramer.

Once completed, the mats are rolled up, tied with handles, and donated. Some stay in southern Indiana, while others are shipped around the world.

“It’s magical to see their faces, to see them carrying them out of the facilities with the mats on their back. I hope they appreciate them. I know they do,” Kramer said.

For Roth, the mission is personal and ongoing.

“Until every person can have a safe place to sleep, I feel like it’s my responsibility to do what I can to change that,” she said.

If you’d like to volunteer or donate plastic grocery bags, call Trinity United Methodist Church at (812) 944-2229.

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By Katrina Markel

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    GLENWOOD, Iowa (KMTV) — Construction workers are being hailed as heroes. They were driving by a house when they noticed it was on fire. Without thinking, they entered, helped save a family and even used a trampoline to get a teenage boy out of the top floor window.

John Lewis is the general manager for Leick Construction. He was the first person in the door.

Katrina: “So, what happened, what did you see when you were driving?”

John: “I stopped there at the stop sign, I looked to my right for traffic and I seen smoke coming out of the front porch window.”

Lewis, along with colleagues Gabe Record and Damian Pond, rushed inside and helped a mother, grandmother and 4-year-old girl escape. Then, they experienced something that seemed like an explosion.

“But when it exploded, it blew flames out toward the back of Gabe and burned him on his back and on his arm. And got Damian on the side of the face,” said Lewis.

Next door, mechanic John Vandevoorde came out to help and saw the boy in the second story window.

“Once I saw him, I knew what was happening and he was in trouble. Big trouble,” Vandevoorde said.

The men couldn’t reach the boy upstairs.

“I looked over and seen a trampoline, so I grabbed the trampoline, pulled it out of the ground and started dragging it to the window,” said Lewis.

The young man couldn’t see through the smoke and, with flames spreading Lewis, and the others shouted for the boy to jump.

“He hit the trampoline and I caught him and got him out over here to the stop sign,” Lewis said.

The Leick Construction employees were treated for burns and are expected to recover.

“I mean, they’re heroes. This could have been a totally different outcome if they wouldn’t have stepped up and done what they did,” said Glenwood Fire Chief Matt Gray.

The family is healthy, but now without a home. One family member, Ben McGhee, told me he feels “really defeated” and is worried about finding housing.

Chief Gray says the three employees of Leick Construction will be honored at a later date.

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By Ashley Loose

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    DOLAN SPRINGS, Arizona (KNXV) — Mohave County Sheriff’s officials say new DNA testing and a public tip helped identify a man who was found dead beneath a concrete slab in northern Arizona.

In August 2021, a Dolan Springs resident discovered human remains underneath a concrete slab that he was breaking up on his property.

Investigators believed the body had been buried underneath the concrete for at least 10 years and that the victim, a man, had died from a gunshot wound to the head. However, officials were unable to identify him.

Over the last few years, Othram Inc., a genetic testing lab, made attempts to identify the victim, but there were “no significant leads,” officials say. MCSO says investigators posted a social media request urging anyone with information to come forward.

At the end of July, investigators received a message from a woman who said her parents lived at the property where the remains were found. She said a man named Chett Williams lived with her parents in 1998-1999 and suddenly disappeared.

“When she asked her parents about him, they said he had just gone and left. She thought it odd because all his personal belongings were left behind,” MCSO said. “She also said that shortly after his disappearance, her parents poured a slab of concrete at the location.”

The woman’s parents, identified as Alvin and Bea Hamilton, died in 2006 and 2018, respectively.

Investigators located the possible family of Williams, who confirmed that he had gone to live with Bea Hamilton in Arizona.

Earlier this week, a familial DNA sample was completed and matched, positively identifying the victim as Chester “Chett” G. Williams III.

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By Madison Myers

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    MCGREGOR, Texas (KXXV) — For years longtime Central Texas artist Jon Brown dreamed of becoming a published cartoonist.

Now—thanks to “The McGregor Mirror”—that dream is finally a reality.

“It’s the way to learn to appreciate art, start off with cartoons,” said local artist Jon Brown.

“The McGregor Mirror” is giving Brown the chance to show off his art all while engaging with our community.

“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like cartoons, everybody likes cartoons,” said Brown.

Each week, Brown shares a brand-new cartoon with readers—but there’s a catch:

Each comic is printed without a caption.

Then, it’s up to our community to get creative.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist. I wanted to draw my own cartoon strip and publish it in the paper but I never felt like I was witty enough,” said Brown.

So neighbors send in their funniest captions.

The winner gets printed the next week—alongside Brown’s illustration.

A way to spark laughter and bring our community together.

“A comic in the paper was intriguing to me and the opportunity to help Jon fulfill one of his dreams was certainly a draw for me,” said owner of “The McGregor Mirror” James Lenamon.

And while Brown may be living out a lifelong dream, he hopes his art offers something more for those who see it.

“There is still joy in the world, as divided as we get there is still happiness and love,” said Brown.

Each week’s winning caption also wins a free ice cream cone from Dairy Queen!

For more information on how you can enter your own captions, you can reach out to Jon Brown at J.hansdrough.brown@gmail.com

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