• US soldier's remains come home 62 years after Korean War death

    By Reuters

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A U.S. soldier who left his family farm in Tennessee to volunteer for the Korean War is finally coming home more than six decades later to be buried next to his mother and father, authorities said on Friday.

    With the help of DNA samples provided by his siblings in 2004, the U.S. military identified remains recovered in North Korea as Private First Class Glenn Schoenmann, who was 20 when he died in December 1950.

    Schoenmann was among the nearly 8,000 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 until 1953. His remains are due to be brought back to Tennessee's Grundy County on Jan. 10 and he will be buried after a memorial service two days later.


    Schoenmann died just weeks after he was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, according to the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.

    His four surviving siblings never had the opportunity for closure until they were notified by military officials in December that his remains had been identified. It was an occasion for tears, said his brother Raymond Schoenmann, 80, who still lives in rural Grundy County, about 100 miles southeast of Nashville.

    "It was just like it actually just happened," said Schoenmann. His brother Ernest, an Illinois resident who was one of the siblings who provided the DNA samples, told him the news.

    "My brother said he turned away and had to cry when he found out," Raymond Schoenmann said. "I broke into tears when he told me."

    Schoenmann said the family never gave up hope that Glenn's remains would be found, especially after the U.S. government took the DNA samples eight years ago as part of an effort to identify remains buried at POW camps in North Korea during the war.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offers olive branch to South in rare address

    U.S. officials believe major concentrations of remains are located at POW camp burial sites and the Chosin Reservoir area in North Korea.

    Joint recovery efforts to recover soldiers' remains halted in 2005 after the United States cited the uncertain environment created by North Korea's nuclear program.

    'He died for his country'
    Raymond was two years younger than his brother, "but we grew up like twins. We even went to school together. He started a year before me, but he didn't like it. He told my mom and dad 'I ain't going back until Ray starts.' We went all the way through the ninth grade of high school together, then he volunteered and went into the military."

    Raymond Schoenmann recalled when the ominous wartime telegram was delivered to the family's farmhouse.

    "I was still at home and I was over at the barn and I seen the car and knew something was up. I went up to the house and Mom told me she got the telegram that he was missing in action," Schoenmann said. "And she was tore up so bad that I just turned and went back to the barn by myself to cry."

    He volunteered for the Navy the next year.

    "It was pretty hard to leave Mom and Dad after losing a son, but I wanted to get my time over," Raymond Schoenmann said. "I didn't want no part of the Army because it was so quick (between the time) he was in boot camp and he died in Korea."

    North Korea hands over remains of British pilot shot down in Korean War

    Raymond Schoenmann said he used his Navy liberty time to wander around Korea looking for his big brother. "I thought he might run up on me if he was still alive."

    The family had talked in recent years about holding a memorial service and installing a marker over an empty grave near the graves of his parents and grandparents at Brown's Chapel Cemetery near the city of Palmer where he was born.

    Instead, Glenn Schoenmann will be buried there on Jan. 12, his remains placed in a uniform inside the casket.

    "We always were a close family," Raymond Schoenmann said, adding that he feels much better that his brother's remains will be returning to Tennessee.

    Schoenmann said he always thought of his brother as "a war hero, big time. And more so lately."

    "He died for his country," Schoenmann said.

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Bomb threats force evacuations at multiple Tennessee courthouses

    By NBC News staff

     

    Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET 

    Tennessee state officials were responding to a rash of bomb threats called in to county courthouses and government offices in 29 counties on Tuesday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said.


    The calls — many directed to county clerks — started coming in about 10:15 a.m. CT (12:15 p.m. ET), prompting closures and evacuations while law enforcers searched the facilities. The FBI was also involved, Knoxville, Tenn., NBC-affiliate WBIR reported. 

    By 2:00 p.m. CT, TEMA reported that buildings had been searched in 18 counties, and no explosives had been found.

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    The source of the calls is still unknown.

    A similar rash of bomb threats against courthouses and other government buildings has affected Oregon, Washington and Nebraska since the beginning of November. None of these threats resulted in discovery of explosives. 

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  • Teacher finds meth lab remnants on Tennessee playground, authorities say

    By NBC News staff

    A Tennessee teacher discovered the remnants of a mobile methamphetamine lab on a playground when she took her class out for recess, WSMV.com reported.


    "Meth-making material that was part of a shake-and-bake meth lab was discovered on the school playground," Sgt. Kyle Evans, Murfreesboro, Tenn.,  police spokesman, told WSMV.

    Children did not come in contact with the drug-making paraphernalia -- a soda bottle and plastic tubing -- but the area was decontaminated as a precaution, WSMV said. No drugs were found inside the bottle, which had a hole poked in the top.

    According to the report, one of the ingredients used to prevent grass from growing in the mulch can also be used to make meth.

     

    "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time we've had anything like this happen on one of our campus," Lisa Trail, Murfreesboro City Schools spokeswoman, told WSMV. "We hope it's the last time, but this is a learning experience."

    Police said they have no leads yet as to who left the materials at the playground, News Channel 5 reported.

    "Our teacher and our assistant principal handled it wonderfully," Trail told News Channel 5. "We did reach out to our parents, to let them know in advance what was found here, and how it's been taken care of."

    The Mitchell Neilson Primary School in Murfreesboro is home to kindergarten, first grade and second grade students, according to News Channel 5.

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  • Brad Staats, US congressional candidate, says Facebook gun post not a threat against Obama

    Facebook

    Photo on Brad Staats' Facebook page

    By James Eng, NBC News

    A Republican candidate for Congress says his Facebook post featuring a photo of his gun and a “Welcome to Tennessee” message for Barack Obama was in no way meant as a threat to the president.


    “Good Lord, no,” Brad Staats told The Tennessean in a telephone interview on Monday. “Absolutely not. I’m not one of those that would ever threaten the president. He’s probably got enough of his own stuff to worry about without me.”

    Staats, who is challenging five-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, says the Facebook post was in reference to the recently passed U.N. Small Arms Treaty, an international agreement aimed at keeping firearms from terrorists and rogue regimes. The treaty was opposed by gun-rights advocates who fear it could encroach on civilian gun-ownership rights at home.

    "I do want President Obama to know as well as the rest of Congress and everyone else regarding our constitutional rights, don't tread on America's constitution," Staats told WKRN-TV. "I think that your liberties, your life can be defended by the proper instructed use of a handgun."

    The controversy is over a Sept. 27 post Staats made to his "Brad Staats for Congress" page on Facebook. Along with a photo of a black Colt 911 semi-automatic pistol, Staats wrote:

    “Many people in Tennessee keep asking me about my opinion on Second Amendment rights. Apparently Tennesseans are part of that crazy crowd that Obama says 'cling to their religion and guns.' Well, then I must be part of that crazy crowd. Here is something that I usually have with me. Welcome to Tennessee Mr. Obama, where we appreciate our 2nd Amendment rights and the Constitution that was wisely given to us by our founding fathers.”

    Staats told The Tennessean he is a member of the National Rifle Association and carries his gun for protection.

    “There are just a lot of law-abiding citizens here that carry their guns,” Staats was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “There are a lot of people in Tennessee that believe in their Second Amendment rights.”

    Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

    The post picked up dozens of “Likes.” One woman wrote: "All I have to say to your statement is AMEN BROTHER!! I also totally agree with you on Obama 100%, get that socialist out of here before it's too late. You have my backing sir for congress. Best of Luck to you.”

    Staats followed up with another post on Monday referring to the WKRN story:

    "Special thanks to WKRN for their story regarding my Facebook post. I wonder what picture I will have to post tomorrow for Congressman Cooper to accept my debate challenge?"

    Not everyone was as gung-ho about the gun post.

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    “Your vitriol and gun waving is really a sad commentary for a civil society. It translates to bully behavior. Nothing more,” one commenter wrote.

    “You've had your fifteen minutes, Brad. It's too bad you couldn't have found something more positive to have become infamous for,” another said.

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  • Horse trainer Jackie McConnell fined for caustic chemical cruelty

    Jake Daniels / AP

    Keith Dane, center, representative for the Humane Society of the United States, and Joe Tydings, right, a former senator from Maryland who authored the original Horse Protection Act in 1970, speak to the media on the steps of the federal courthouse, Tuesday.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Former Tennessee walking horse hall of fame trainer Jackie McConnell was fined $75,000 and sentenced to three years’ probation in federal court on Tuesday for using a banned and abusive practice on show horses that involving putting caustic chemicals on their ankles.

    McConnell faced 52 counts of transporting and showing abused horses and had pleaded guilty in May to a single charge of animal cruelty in an agreement with prosecutors that called for probation and a fine.

    U.S. District Judge Harry Mattice Jr. accepted McConnell's plea, imposing the fine, which could have been up to $250,000, and probation at a federal court hearing in Chattanooga on Tuesday. McConnell faced up to five years in prison if the agreement had not been accepted.

    McConnell was required by the court to write a letter about the soring of horses, the pain it causes and the long-term effects, The Chattanoogan said. He was also asked to say how widespread soring is in the letter.

    McConnell was banned for life from the Tennessee Walking Horse organization's biggest event and stricken from its hall of fame along with written and photographic mentions after ABC News showed the video in May of him abusing horses.


    Secretly filmed
    The federal charges stemmed from a banned practice called "soring" in which the front legs of walking horses, known for their high-stepping gait or “big lick,” are slathered with caustic chemicals to induce pain that causes them to kick even higher.

    An animal rights activist working undercover in a horse barn secretly recorded McConnell and some colleagues abusing horses in March and April 2011. The video was used as a basis for the prosecution.

    The video showed horses being beaten with wooden sticks and poked with electric cattle prods. The horses' ankles were covered with caustic chemicals and then wrapped with plastic to increase their pain.

    Keith Dane, director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States, said he wanted a tougher sentence but that McConnell's case still would send a message that soring would not be tolerated.

    "It was our hope that McConnell would do prison time for these terrible crimes but there are gaps in the federal law that need to be strengthened," Dane said.

    On its website, the Human Society said a federal bill had been been introduced by Representatives Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican, and Steve Cohen, a Democract from Tennessee, that would amend the Horse Protection Act "to end the failed system of industry self-policing, ban the use of certain devices, strengthen penalties, and make other needed reforms to finally end this torture."

    YouTube/Humane Society of United States

    NOTE: Contains graphic footage. A video made by the Humane Society of the United States after an undercover investigation into the walking horse industry, posted to YouTube.

    Dane told The Chattanoogan that McConnell "has shown no remorse. For decades his income was based on the torture of horses."

    Former Senator Joseph Tydings, the sponsor of the Horse Protection Act in 1970, told the paper that horse owners in Tennessee and Kentucky had for decades "tortured horses by altering them with a phony gait that is based on violent cruelty to the horses. In Tennessee, the officials have known what is going on, but they have done nothing about this ‘big lick.’”

    "It's been about the culture, the money, the celebration. They don't give a d*** about the poor horses,” he added.

    Two other men pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the case and were sentenced to probation as well.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Tennessee county loses battle over newly built mosque

    AP Photo/Erik Schelzig

    A worker walks out of a mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on June 21, 2012. The mosque has been the subject of a lawsuit since 2010.

    By NBC News and wire services

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge has ruled that Muslims in a Tennessee congregation have a right to occupy their newly built mosque, overruling a county judge's order that was keeping them out.

    The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro sued Rutherford County on Wednesday and U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell granted the mosque an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown Thursday. Federal prosecutors also filed a similar lawsuit.

    But a county building codes inspector announced Thursday the mosque would not be ready for occupancy for at least two weeks, reported Tennessean.com.

    Septic facilities need to be installed, and approval needs to be obtained from the state Department of Environment and Conservation, the fire marshal, and other entities, said Rutherford County Building Codes Director David Jones after he inspected the Islamic Center on Thursday morning. There's also exterior work that needs to be done before the building is ready for its final inspection, he said.

    The future of the mosque had been in question since May, when a local judge overturned the county's approval of the mosque construction. This month, he ordered the county not to issue an occupancy permit for the 12,000-square-foot building.

    In past years, community members have gathered for Eid-al-Fitr -- the breaking of the fast for Ramadan -- in the parking lot of the rented worship space that they outgrew, the Tennessean.com reported. 

    The contentious fight over the mosque stems from a 2010 lawsuit filed by a group of residents who made repeated claims that Islam was not a real religion and that local Muslims intended to overthrow the U.S. Constitution in favor of Islamic religious law.

    Those claims were dismissed, but opponents won with a ruling that overturned the approval to build the mosque on the grounds that county didn't give adequate public notice of the meeting.

    Previously on this story: Mosque work continues after judge voids building permit

    Although the county advertised that meeting in the same way it has advertised others, the judge said extra notice was needed because the mosque construction was "an issue of major importance to citizens."

    'The Muslim community ... has been under siege'
    In court Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin said the chancery court judge, in essence, created a separate "mosque standard" applicable only to someone who wants to build a mosque.

    Citing acts of vandalism, arson and a bomb threat against the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Martin said, "The Muslim community in Rutherford County has been under siege for the last two years. Now, after doing everything right, they are told that they can't move in."

    Martin asked the federal judge to fulfill a promise made by the congregation's religious leader, Imam Ossama Bahloul, to the children of the congregation that justice would be done and they would be allowed to worship in their new space.

    The congregation is being represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and local civil rights attorney George Barrett. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville alleges violations of federal law and the constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and equal protection.

    "If ICM were a Christian church, it would have been granted a certificate of occupancy and would be worshipping in its new facility today," a memorandum to the federal court reads, citing 20 instances of Christian churches that have been allowed to build since 2000.  "... The discriminatory treatment of the mosque also sends a powerful message to the Muslim community that they are second-class citizens, not worthy of the same rights or protection as Christian churches."

    Attorneys for Rutherford County did not oppose the temporary restraining order. County attorneys have argued in chancery court hearings that treating the mosque differently from other applicants was discriminatory and a violation of their rights.

    County Attorney Jim Cope said after the hearing that he felt vindicated by Campbell's ruling.

    Mosque leader Bahloul said he had been reluctant to involve the mosque in the lawsuit but felt he had no choice after the certificate of occupancy was refused.

    He said Campbell's ruling means a lot to Muslims in Tennessee and their supporters.

    "We are here to celebrate the freedom of religion and that the concept of liberty is a fact existing in this nation," he said, reported WBIR.com in Tennessee. "The winner today is not an individual, the winner today is our nation and the fact that our Constitution prevailed."

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Tennessee tattoo artist arrested for allegedly killing, decapitating adoptive father

    By NBC News staff

    A tattoo artist in Tennessee was arrested Friday for allegedly murdering, then decapitating his adoptive father. 

    Henry James Baxter, 37, was charged with criminal homicide in the death of Erman Thompson, 49, the man who raised him. Baxter also allegedly was sleeping with Thompson's wife.

    Police say Baxter confessed to killing Thompson and then decapitating the body before dumping it in a field near their home.

    “During the argument, Mr. Baxter said he retrieved a pistol, shot the victim in the head, then took the body and placed it in a large trash can behind the home,” Metro Police Spokesman Don Aaron told NewsChannel5.com.

    “On Monday night, according to Baxter, he retrieved the body from the trash can, borrowed a shovel, and in the cover of darkness decapitated the body,” Aaron said. 

    Henry Baxter, 37, is charged with criminal homicide for allegedly murdering, then decapitating his adoptive father in Tennessee last week.

    Police believe Baxter wheeled the trash can to a nearby field, then dumped the body. A mail carrier on his lunch break discovered Thompson's decomposing corpse, which was later identified by tattoos. When police when to Baxter's address, he confessed to killing Thompson the previous Sunday.

    Thompson’s wife, Ashly Thompson, said he began taking care of Baxter when he was a child. Baxter lived with Thompson, Ashly and three children – one of whom was fathered by Baxter. Police investigators suspect the two men were fighting over Ashly.

    Police said Baxter told Ashly that her husband had abandoned the family. 

    Neighbor Gina Eubanks found Thompson's head and told NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville that it came “rolling out” of a trash can when she went to take out the garbage.

    “I’m angry, very, very angry and sad at the same time,” Ashly Thompson said. “I think the worst part of this is telling my kids they don’t have a daddy no more.”

    Baxter is currently being held on $750,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for the first time Wednesday. 

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  • No charges for mother who abandoned severely disabled daughter at bar

    An Illinois mother won't face charges after she left her severely mentally disabled daughter at a Tennessee bar. WBIR's John Henry reports.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A mother who drove to a bar in Tennessee and left her severely mentally disabled daughter there before zipping back home to Illinois is not expected to face any charges, police said Wednesday.

    Eva Cameron, of Algonquin, Ill., stopped in Caryville, Tenn., on June 28 and left 19-year-old Lynn, whose vocabulary and mental capacity is no more than that of a 3-year-old, at The Big Orange Bar with no money, ID, or other belongings.

    "[Lynn] couldn't tell us anything. She couldn't tell us her name," Caryville Police Chief Johnny Jones told msnbc.com on Wednesday. She was physically healthy and showed no signs of abuse, but Jones said Lynn was nervous and "scared to be thrown out at the bar."

    "People at the bar said it looked like the door opened and somebody pushed her in," Jones said.

    Police plastered Lynn's photo everywhere, hoping someone would be able to identify her. She wasn't a known face in Caryville, a town with a population of about 2,300 people about an hour outside of Knoxville.

    In the meantime, not knowing Lynn's age -- investigators estimated she was between 15 and 20 -- the state's department of child services took custody of her.


    More than 200 tips were called into Caryville's five-officer police department. On Monday, an Illinois bus driver who used to shuttle kids to a school for children with developmental disabilities contacted officials to say she recognized Lynn.

    Police then contacted Eva Cameron, who returned to Caryville on Tuesday to acknowledge abandoning her daughter.

    "The mother comes here yesterday and says, 'I don't want her. Do what you want to with her,'" Jones said. "She told my assistant that if the state of Tennessee doesn't want her, she'll be Kentucky's problem."

    A hearing held on Tuesday in Campbell County determined no criminal charges were applicable in the case due to the fact that Lynn, despite having a much younger mental capacity, is an adult at 19, and therefore her mother no longer technically has legal guardianship over her. Lynn was handed over to the state of Tennessee; Eva drove back home to Illinois, where she has other children.

    Jones said the prosecutor's decision came as a shock.

    "We had all planned on charging the mother. Then I checked with the district attorney, and she said she didn't violate any Tennessee laws," he said.

    Lynn is now with adult protective services.

    "I have not been able to sleep worrying about the girl," he said. "She's in real good care now. That's the only good thing that came out of this: I know she'll be taken care of."

    A loophole in the law
    It's not clear why Eva chose to drop her daughter off in Caryville. She initially told police she stopped at the bar to let Lynn use the bathroom, but security footage from a nearby Waffle House earlier in the evening shows Lynn entering the Waffle House's restroom. 

    Eva, who couldn't be reached by msnbc.com, told Illinois' Northwest Herald on Tuesday that her church had directed her to Caryville because it had a large concentration of Baptists. She also said Tennessee "has the No.1 health care system in the United States of America," and she wanted Lynn to have the best care.

    She added that she thought all the attention was "just a big hoopla out of nothing."

    Jones disagrees, and said he's trying to get Tennessee laws changed so nothing like this can ever happen again. 

    "Something needs to be done. These people need to be taken care of," he said. "I'm going to check with the U.S. Attorneys' office and see if there's any violation that she may have done by taking her from Chicago to Tennessee with her being mentally handicapped, see if there's any federal laws."

    Ben Harrington, executive director of the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, told msnbc.com that the Tennessee community is "just livid" that Eva isn't being punished for leaving Lynn.

    "The law has been exposed as a problem," Harrington said. "This is a loophole in the law: If she were a minor child, I'm assuming legal charges would be filed."

    Harrington said it's "not unheard of" for people caring for developmentally disabled family members to walk away from them, but he said they usually drop them off at a state hospital or institution -- not a bar.

    Police have not said whether Eva's other children have disabilities. The Northwest Herald reported she doesn't have a criminal background in her county other than traffic tickets.

    Harrington said there are ways to prepare adequate care for loved ones with disabilities as they age out of being minors: For example, one can assign a health care proxy or guardianship to someone else, similar to what families of an aging parent with Alzheimer's might do if the parent no longer has the capability to make important decisions.

    Communicating with the appropriate state authorities to come up with a plan before a developmentally disabled child reaches 18 is crucial, he said.

    "There are state dollars here in Tennessee that are allowing home health aides to come in and help with hygiene, health care, feeding, dressing," he said. "It's not 24 hours a day, but it might be a very valuable respite for the family for an eight-hour period."

    Illinois, where Eva Cameron lives, has an array of services available too, he said.

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  • 2nd boy dies after shock incident in Tennessee lake

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    A second boy has died after a group of children were shocked by an electrical current as they swam at a marina in a Tennessee lake.


    Grainger County Sheriff Scott Layell said 11-year-old Nate Lynam of Morristown was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m. Thursday at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, NBC station WBIR reported.

    Another boy, Noah Winstead, 10, of Morristown died Wednesday at the German Creek Marina on Cherokee Lake in Bean Station, WBIR reported. 

    Officials said the two boys and an 8-year-old girl were swimming between two houseboats when they were shocked. The adults and a 12-year-old boy were shocked when they tried to get the three children out of the water. The two children who survived were siblings of the boys who died, officials said.

    Grieving father fights invisible killer of swimmers 

    "At first, everybody thought maybe they were being stung or snake-bitten and everyone began to jump in to attempt to save them," said Layell.  "When they hit the water, of course, they became [victims of electric shock] as well and paralyzed for some period of time.  So many people coming to the rescue, jumping in, risking their lives, not knowing what they're getting into; that's just pure heroism.  That's what true heroes are made of."

    The incident was one of two on the Fourth of July involving deaths of children who were shocked while swimming. In Missouri, 13-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother,  Brayden, were killed when they were shocked around noon by an unknown source of electricity while swimming near a private dock in the Lake of the Ozarks, KSHB-TV reported. 

    Read the full report at WBIR

    Nate Lynam's family released the following statement after his death:

    The family of Nate Lynam is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from family, friends, and the community.

    It is the family's wish that the tragedy that claimed his life not be what defines it. Nate was a loving son, a loyal brother, and a kind and respectful young man.

    If there is anything newsworthy in this tragedy it is this: Nate and his friend, Noah, loved Jesus and trusted in Him. The family finds great comfort in knowing that they will be reunited one day in Heaven.  

    The First Baptist Church in Morristown, Tenn.,  has set up the Fund for Our Two Families to provide financial support for the victims' relatives, WBIR reported. Donations may be sent to the First Baptist Church; P.O. Box 1899; Morristown, TN 37816.  The church finance director said a method to donate online is being established.

    Saul Young / AP

    Evidence tape covers an electrical meter near two houseboats at German Creek Marina in Bean Station, Tenn., on Wednesday after a fatal accident involving electricity and swimming.

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  • 4 dead as Tennessee storm tosses boats, topples trailers, downs trees

    Several buildings and a marina were badly damaged by storms in eastern Tennessee. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    A storm that tore through Tennessee killed at least four people while tossing boats, tipping over trailers at a campground and toppling hundreds of trees with winds up to 70 mph.


    A child and her grandmother died when a double-decker pontoon boat on a Chattanooga lake capsized after being hit by a strong gust, Dan Hicks, a spokesman with the state's Wildlife Resources Agency, told msnbc.com. The grandmother had been hospitalized but later died of her injuries.

    The storm "came up really quick ... they were trying to get back to the bank," said Hicks, who noted the high profile of the boat probably contributed to the accident.

    "It was the fastest storm I've ever seen," witness Stan Crawley told The Chattanoogan. "It was fine, then two minutes later the storm was here. The waves were three and four feet high. We saw the pontoon boat flip on its top."

    The other two deaths, and eight injuries, were at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

    Teams on Friday were searching for more victims from the Thursday evening storm, but felt confident the toll would not rise. While rangers "have not walked all trails," spokesman Carey Jones told msnbc.com, all visitors "appear to be accounted for" based on a search of main roads and public areas.

    Jeff Farrell / The Mountain Press via AP

    The roof of the Carl Ownby & Co. hardware store, background center, sits on the Juvenile Detention Center, foreground right, in Sevierville, Tenn., on Thursday after winds ripped it off and hurled it across a five-lane street. No injuries were reported.

    A man riding a motorcycle died when hit by a tree limb and a woman was crushed to death by a falling tree that injured three others, the park said in a statement. A girl, 7, and her father were airlifted to a hospital. Their conditions were not known. The girl's mother suffered minor injuries.

    Much of the damage was at the popular Cades Cove.

    Staff from other parks were being brought in to help with the search and cleanup, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. "We're calling all hands on deck," said Deputy Park Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald. "The most important thing right now is to get crews safely in there to assess what's going on."

    Many roads inside the park were blocked by trees, and access into the park was blocked on the highway leading out of Townsend.

    On nearby Douglas Lake, many boats at Mountain Cove Marina were destroyed or damaged.

    Mark Northern said he was in his houseboat at the marina when the storm hit.

    "It just took me and everybody on that dock like we were just toys," he told NBC affiliate WBIR-TV. "It happened so fast that I didn't even know where I was until I walked out to the front of the houseboat ... there was wreckage as high as you could see."

    Several trailers were knocked over at a campground in Wears Valley, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported

    The storm cut power to some 56,000 households in eastern Tennessee, including parts of Knoxville. The local utility said it could take several days for power to be restored to everyone.

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  • 3 children electrocuted while swimming in lakes; 3 drown in river

    Saul Young / AP

    Evidence tape covers an electrical meter near two houseboats at German Creek Marina on Cherokee Lake in Bean Station, Tenn., on Wednesday. One boy died and another was critically injured after an apparent electrocution.

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    Updated at 8:40 p.m.: Three children died -- two in Missouri and one in Tennessee -- after they were shocked by electricity while swimming in lakes, authorities said.


    In another tragedy, three children drowned in the Iowa River, police said.

    In Missouri, 13-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother Brayden of Ashland were killed when they were shocked around noon by an unknown source of electricity while swimming near a private dock in the Lake of the Ozarks, KSHB-TV reported. 

    Several adults got the siblings out of the water but couldn't revive them. They were pronounced dead at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach.

    The Missouri Highway Patrol said investigators were looking at electricity powering lights and a pump that supplies water to a slide children use at the dock, but they had not determined what had caused the electrocution by Wednesday evening.

    The accident in Tennessee happened near the German Creek Marina on Cherokee Lake in the town of Bean Station. Two boys were swimming in the lake between two house boats when they were shocked, the Grainger County Sheriff's Office said, WBIR-TV reported.

    Saul Young / AP

    The scene at German Creek Marina on Cherokee Lake in Bean Station, Tenn., on Wednesday after a boy died and another was critically injured in an apparent electrocution.

    Both boys, whose names were not released, were originally reported dead, but Sheriff Scott Layel said one child was revived on a medical helicopter flight.

    The sheriff's department said several other people were taken to the hospital in Morristown to be checked out because bystanders trying to rescue the boys were shocked as well.

    The marina was evacuated as a precaution. Authorities were searching for the source of the electric current. 

    Layel told the Knoxville News Sentinel that wiring in the bottom of one of the houseboats might have caused the shocks.

    It was uncertain whether the boys were shocked in the water or when they touched the metal ladder of one of the houseboats, Layel said.

    A visitor from California, Paul Worley, told WBIR that he was temporarily paralyzed when he jumped into the water to try to rescue one of the victims.

    "We heard the screaming, and we ran down there and saw a kid and a lady in the water," Worley told WBIR from his hospital bed in Morristown.

    He said he jumped into the water not knowing it was electrified.

    "I went down about 3-4 feet, and I figured 'I'm dead' because by then, I knew what it was."

    He said despite the shock he tried to get one of the children to a nearby jet ski.

    "I know when they cut off the electricity from the boat. I didn't feel the electricity anymore," he said.

    WBIR said Worley was expected to be released from Lakeway Regional Hospital Thursday.

    Drowning claims three other children
    In another incident, the bodies of three children were found in the Iowa River Wednesday night near Marshalltown, NBC station WHO of Des Moines reported.

    The station said the children were reported missing around 6:30 p.m. and the bodies of two girls and one boy, ages 6-10, were found just before 9 p.m. Police say the children were swimming in the river. 

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  • Dry ice fumes killed cafe owner trapped in cooler, autopsy concludes

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A Tennessee café owner died of inhaling fumes from dry ice within minutes after he was accidentally locked inside his restaurant’s cooler on Sunday, an autopsy has determined.


    Germantown East Café in East Nashville had closed on Friday because of a planned power outage in the building, NBC station WSMV-TV reported. Because of the outage, dry ice was being used in the cooler to keep food from spoiling.

    Co-owner Jay Luther, 47, went to the popular eatery on Sunday night to check on the cooler. He then became locked inside, police said.

    On Sunday night, police responded to a robbery alarm at 8:29 p.m., but officers left after they concluded power surges caused a false alarm.

    Watch video, read about the case on wsmv.com

    On Monday, Luther's body was found in the freezer by the other co-owner, Chris Lowry. 

    Police later found out that the mechanism to unlock the cooler door from the inside was broken. Part of the device was sitting on a shelf outside the cooler.

    According to the medical examiner in Nashville, Luther would have been overcome by carbon dioxide gas from the dry ice found in the enclosed cooler.

    “I think it’s just a tragic accident, an unfortunate coming together of circumstances for this poor gentleman that got trapped inside the freezer, at a time there was carbon dioxide there, and he was overwhelmed by the vapors,” Adele Lewis, deputy chief medical examiner for Nashville, told the Tennessean on Tuesday.

    Police said they would review their response to the Sunday night call.

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