According to St. Louis police records from July, 2005, three men chased Brothers through the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood in North St. Louis. Every time they caught up with him, Brothers got a beating.

After evading his attackers for a short while, Brothers was cornered on the 6100 block of Martin Luther King Drive in Wellston. This is where police say the beating intensified. One of the three men began pounding away at Brothers head with a tree limb.

Alice Payne says she still remembers seeing her beaten brother in a bed at Barnes-Jewish Hospital that night. She says the beating was so bad, his face was unrecognizable.

"By us knowing it was him, we knew it was him," she said in an interview in her North Side home. "But it was like... it really didn't look like him."

The next evening, Brothers died.

But according to crime records maintained by the Missouri Highway Patrol, this never happened.

According to crime statistics complied by the Missouri Highway Patrol, no one was murdered in Wellston in 2005. Or 2006. Or 2007.

As we discovered, those statistics are dead wrong -- and Wellston Police are to blame.

State law requires local police departments to file detailed crime reports with the Highway Patrol every month. This allows police managers to accurately track crime and helps lawmakers allocate money to police forces that need it most.

Wellston Police have failed to submit those reports since at least 2005. As a result, Brothers' murder -- and at least six more from those three years -- were never counted.

According to Wellston's mayor, this failure to comply with state law is the result of a pile of problems.

Mayor Frank McNeil said a police chief was terminated in 2006 for failing to file reports with the Highway Patrol. In 2007, a new chief was appointed and ordered to fix Wellston's crime reporting problem. Yet the backlog of unreported crimes continued to snowball. Later that year, a civilian employee in charge of crime reporting was terminated for failing to do her job.

Not until March, 2008 did Wellston begin to address its crime reporting problems. According to Mayor McNeil, an assistant chief is now managing the city's crime reporting program. He expects the department to be in full compliance with the law by the end of July.

In the meantime, Wellston's failure to file crime statistics is holding back police efforts to crack down on crime in the north county community. Until the city is in compliance, Wellston is ineligible for state and federal funds that could be used to hire more officers or purchase better equipment.

Now, the yucky part of the lab results. There were high levels of types of bacteria that like to feast on blood. That means anyone wading through the water who has a cut or a scrape is at risk of walking out of that water with bacteria that can make them really sick, crawling all over that open wound. That's a real risk for anyone who evacuated through the water, worked on sandbag walls or just plays around in the floodwater. And the level of fecal coliforms, the bacteria found in fecal matter, was sky high. That's not a big surprise considering that the sewage treatment plants in Cedar Rapids and a couple of other Iowa towns were flooded at one point and may still be operating at less than 100% of their ability to treat the raw sewage. Plus, sewage from flooded septic tanks and animal droppings have been swept down the river. If floodwater gets into the water table, it could contaminate the wells that people use for their drinking water. And there's a potential that the next crop of vegetables grown on the flooded fields could be contaminated.

St. Louis gets its drinking water from the Mississippi River. So, News4 Investigates contacted Curtis Skouby, acting director of public utilities for the City of St. Louis about the level of contamination in the water, detected by our lab tests. He explained that the treatment process is designed to remove microbes, even at this higher level caused by the flooding. Skouby says St. Louis water, the #1 tasting municipal water in the country, is as safe as it's always been. But anyone living in or near the flooded areas, who use well water, need to have their well tested.

St. Louis Singles is owned by the Dallas-based company called Ultimate Introductions and Jason Breakey is listed as the company president. News4 Investigates learned that Breakey ran the matchmaking service, Ultimate Singles, which was sued for advertising itself as a Christian dating service, when it wasn't a Christian organization. As a part of the settlement of that lawsuit, Breakey agreed that his company would go out of business. We've also learned that the website stlouissingles.com is registered to Visesh Infotecnics Ltd. of Gujarat, India, according to Better-Whois.com.

The BBB advises singles to avoid dating services that require you to sign up and pay a fee before you can learn more about the company. And that any legitimate company will give you the time to go home and think about the service, before signing a contract.

When you think of scrap metal thefts the first thought is of copper plumbing and gutters ripped from homes. But In recent weeks, News 4 has reported on thefts of air conditioners from a daycare and a church, and of catalytic converters cut from underneath cars. Our report featured the case of a man who was charged with unbolting heavy steel hooks from more than 500 city trash dumpsters.

Those kinds of thefts continue in spite of a new City of St. Louis law designed to make thieves think twice before selling stolen metal to dealers located in the city limits. The law went into effect last April and requires scrap dealers who pay in cash to keep meticulous records. When someone goes to a scrap yard to cash in a small amount of metal, the dealer is requited to photograph the seller, photocopy his drivers license, and record his license plate number.

Sgt. McLaughlin praised the tougher law in a News 4 Investigates report in February, 2007.

But is it doing any good?

Our check of police and court records shows in the 14 months since the law took effect, only three cases have been brought against scrap dealers. One was dismissed, one resulted in a guilty plea and a fine of only $48.50, while the most serious case is still being prosecuted.

Sgt. McLaughlin says the small number of cases don't tell the whole story.

Closing the Gap?

"We're starting to close the gap, the loopholes," he says, "where these guys can go sell these items."

"You have to start from somewhere and this ordinance will give us a chance to see how it works and if it needs to be adjusted or needs to be strengthened then we'll go forward with that."

Sgt. McLaughlin believes the new law is making an impression on scrap metal thieves as well as the dealers.

"Even the people selling these items are now aware... 'hey, you gotta have proper I.D., they're going to look at the car you're driving.' So I think that effect has been positive for us to try to curb part of these thefts."

"I think it gives us another tool to investigate these metal thefts."

And that, says Sgt. McLaughlin, is one of the most important elements of the new law. The skyrocketing value of scrap metals, due largely to growing demand in China and India, makes scrap irresistable to thieves. Sgt. McLaughlin says the stricter identification requirements in the new law give police additional clues to help track down thieves.

Call it baby steps if you want. But after hearing Sgt. McLaughlin speak, one might recall the old saying that each journey starts with a single step.

He thinks police and scrap dealers -- working together -- are making a difference.

"It's been a learning experience for both the police department and the dealers" says McLaughlin.

Missouri and Illinois Follow Suit

Sgt. McLaughlin is especially pleased that after St. Louis City passed its tougher law on the purchase of scrap metals, the states of Missouri and Illinois passed similar versions. With stronger laws all over the metro area, metal thieves should find fewer places to sell their stolen goods.

He admits to feeling a certain sense of pride in helping to develop the city ordinance, while passing kudos on to St. Louis alderwoman Lyda Krewson, who was the lead sponsor of the bill.

The bowl also has a natural drain, a sinkhole that's supposed to funnel excess water out of the neighborhood through caves below the street. But the drainage apparently can't get the job done. So, it backs up and flooding occurs.

Sometimes, the water is deep enough to block access to several homes. The flooding has also created other problems, including backing up the sewage system and forcing raw sewage into basements.

Everyone agrees that it's a mess.

The question is: Who is responsible and how can it be fixed?

The problem shouldn't have surprised the builder or the city of St. Charles.

Three decades ago, a geologist for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources warned against developing the area because it was "inevitable that the ponding and flooding problems will increase." He conducted the study at the request of St. Charles County.

Twenty three years after that study, the area was within the city limits of St. Charles, which approved development for the same area. Mayor Patty York says she didn't know about the study until we told her during our on-camera interview.

Almost immediately after building the first homes, residents complained about flooding.

In 2000, the city sent the first in a series of letters to builder Easton Wade. The letters became increasingly confrontational.

In 2003, the city began filing charges against Wade for violating city ordinances. Court records show Wade paid $950 in fines.

The city's effort to fix the problem has been held back by turnover on the city council. Mayor York says the turnover lead to different plans on how to deal with the Pearl Ridge drainage and despite spending about $300,000 the city has not been able to eliminate flooding there.

The residents sued Wade and settled for court costs and some money to pay for damages to their homes.

The city and Wade are still involved in a lawsuit. Wade declined to talk to us about the flooding, the drainage or the lawsuit.

Mayor York and Laurie Feldman, the Councilwoman for that part of St. Charles, insist the city will do what it can to prevent sewage backup problems. The city may raise the lift station so that flood water can't get in it, which would probably prevent much of the basement flooding farther away from the sinkhole.

However, it appears city officials are against spending a load of money to blast in the sinkhole in an effort to create better drainage. The city blames Wade, who faults the city for approving his plan, which means the legal stalement continues and so does the problem.

Three years ago, the Missouri DNR told the city it needed to fix the problem. Last week, DNR sent the city another letter demanding that St. Charles come up with a plan to fix the drainage problem within 30 days.

So, are the folks on Pearl Ridge finally going to get the problem solved?

Mayor York admits "the biggest problem is we can't guarantee we can fix it."

Place your bets.

Envision admits that the two hospitals have gotten behind on their bills. But companies which sell supplies or provide services to the hospitals will tell you that's an understatement. The hospitals' electric bills went unpaid for so long that the total past due amount owed to Ameren UE topped $800,000. It got so bad that Ameren notified Forest Park Hospital and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that unless the bill was paid, it would turn off the electricity. A drastic measure to get the company to pay its bill. The hospitals are now making payments. The past due amount on Forest Park's water bill topped $57,000. In March, the hospital agreed to a payment plan, but after missing the first payment, wouldn't take call nor return calls to representatives from MSD. The hospitals are currently adhering to a subsequently arranged payment plan. Because the hospitals weren't making payments or were far behind on payments, some companies refuse to do business with them and others will only deliver medical supplies needed for scheduled operations and daily medical care, if those supplies are shipped, cash on delivery. Hospital officials say they've adopted a "just-in-time" policy for ordering supplies to keep costs down. Envision admits that its total debt for both hospitals, owed to vendors is $24 million. Lawsuits from companies that have gone unpaid have piled up and those companies that have agreed to a settlement usually got 50-60% of the full amount owed. The situation begs the question, Is this anyway to run a company? Well, those who have dealt with Envision, in another city, say that all of this is by design. In fact, they describe it as the company's business model.

Envision's rocky tenure as owner of Greater Southeast Community Hospital in Washington D.C. was well documented. The company was forced by the D.C. city council to sell the hospital to a hand-picked new owner. Envision was criticized for draining Greater Southeast Community Hospital of its resources and leaving it to degenerate slowly to the brink of shutdown. The company's owners were accused of taking home multi-million dollar salaries while employees and vendors were not paid and equipment was badly in need of repair or replacement. Envision says the criticisms are off the mark and were politically motivated. But some look at the current operations of Forest Park and St. Alexius and see a pattern.

The fear is that Envision's way of running a hospital is causing conditions to degenerate at Forest Park Hospital and St. Alexius Hospital, reducing the quality of care and putting patients at risk. In a statement released by the company regarding Forest Park Hospital, it says that the hospital continues to meet all Joint Commission and Department of Health standards. But here are two clues that there are troubling changes happening at Forest Park Hospital. After 20 years, cardiologist Dr. Wendall Williams recently left, saying he no longer thought it would be safe to have his patients treated there. And malpractice attorney Keith Short says he's seen a sharp increase in the last couple of years, from people approaching his firm wanting to file a malpractice lawsuit against Forest Park Hospital. He says referrals from other law firms for these kinds of cases, which involve Forest Park Hospital, far outnumber referrals involving other hospitals.

Envision executives say they're working to secure new financing that will turn things around at Forest Park Hospital and St. Alexius Hospital. But that financing comes with stipulations that make sure the money doesn't end up somewhere else in the company besides the St. Louis hospital. Envision says it rescued the two hospitals from almost certain closure and that better days are ahead. Hospital employees, patients and the community are hoping that's true. But the company's actions to date, leave many with serious doubts.

On March 21, 2005, his stepdaughter died in a house fire near North Grand Ave. and Interstate 70.

More than three years later, Slay has no idea why she died. Was it murder? Was it an accident? He still doesn't know... and the people responsible for making that determination appear to be nowhere near coming up with any answers.

As we discovered, it's not for lack of evidence... it's because two teams of fire investigators see the evidence in two different ways.

Monique Penermon was found cowering under a bed on the second floor of a building in the 2000 block of East Gano Ave. Everyone else made it out alive.

That house -- and an abandoned building one house away -- both began buring around 11 that March morning. The St. Louis Fire Department responded with two alarms and dozens of firefighters. Despite their best efforts, both buildings were a total loss.

In the wreckage of those two burned-out buildings, fire department investigators managed to piece together a cause. In the house where Penermon died, they said the fire was intentionally set on a rear porch. In the abandoned house a building over, they found evidence of an "ignitable liquid" along a kitchen wall. The burn patterns, investigators wrote in a report, "were not consistent with damage expected from natural fire progression."

The Fire Department's conclusion... both fires were set intentionally. Monique Penermon died because someone set her house ablaze.

But no one is looking for Monique Penermon's killer because St. Louis Police have never ruled her death as a homicide.

In St. Louis, two different teams are responsible for investigating suspicious fires -- the Fire Department's Office of Fire Investigation and the Police Department's Bombing and Arson Squad. Both play important roles in collecting and examining evidence, but police have the most important job of all. Only a police investigation can rule a fire an arson. If police don't do that, the fire is not a criminal act and there is no criminal investigation.

That's exactly what happened with the case of Monique Penermon's death.

When Bombing and Arson Squad detectives did their investigation, they found evidence both fires could have been accidents.

Police point to two possible accidental causes for the fires. One is based on the theory embers drifted to the houses from a small trash can in the backyard used for burning paper. The man who did the burning that morning told police he set a fire to keep warm around 2 a.m. The buildings caught fire around 11 a.m. The second theory points to an illegally installed electrical box on the rear of the house where Penermon died. If that electrical box sparked, it could have set the back porch on fire and then spread to the house down the block.

Because those possibilities exist, police were unable to call the fires arson. The case is listed as unsolved and open, but it's growing colder by the day.

Reginald Slay acknowledges either series of events is possible. Which does he think is more likely to have happened?

Based on the neighborhood, the crowd his stepdaughter ran with and rumors he's heard on the street, Slay is convinced his daughter was murdered.

A conviction only strengthened by one more piece of evidence from the Fire Department's investigation. The building between the two that burned... was untouched by fire.

Yates, who runs the Precision Driving Unit for his department, is talking about the lack of behind the wheel driver training for police officers. Many police departments, including some of the largest in our area, do not require officers to get ongoing training in a vehicle after they graduate from the police academy.

"I routinely talk to officers who haven't had training in decades," Yates told me during a break at The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association conference in Chicago.

"The one thing officers do every day is drive," said Yates.

How scary is that?

"It should be scary to everybody," he told me.

The metro-east crash that killed the Uhl sisters clearly shows the risk facing the community if a police officer is driving too fast and loses control behind the wheel.

Police pursuits are also dangerous for the officers involved in the chase.

Vehicle crashes have replaced shootings as the leading killer of police in the line of duty, according to a report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

During my visit to the ILEETA conference in Chicago, I used a simulator designed to re-create potentially dangerous conditions facing officers on the road. The simulator made me feel like I was driving on wet, even icy pavement. Vehicles moved in every direction and at different speeds as I pursued a suspect.

I failed every test.

I drove too slowly. I drove too fast. I failed to see the car behind the tractor trailer until it crashed into the side of my cruiser.

Clearly, it's not the same as driving a real car with a scanner and two-way radio blasting in your ear, traffic moving around you at a high speed and your adrenaline level off the charts.

But it gave me a feel for the challenges facing police who are in the driver's seat during a pursuit where many lives are at risk.

It's intimidating and I'm sure many officers get scared in those situations.

It would scare me.

The time I spent in the simulator also reinforced my belief that even officers who are good drivers need continuing training behind the wheel.

"The most dangerous thing to an officer right now in America is driving," Yates told me.

As we discovered in the crash that killed Jessica and Kelli Uhl, it can be dangerous, even deadly for the rest of us too.

The station was covering a bizarre sex abuse case that involved a 51 year old man and his 16 year-old bride. The man was charged in a sex abuse case that included his wife and another girl as victims. The marriage took place a year ago in Missouri, which means the bride was 15 at the time. A news manager at the station asked if we could help them track down the Missouri angle to their story.

We looked at a map and quickly determined that Jasper County, Missouri was the closest county that would allow them to get married without a court order. The girl still needed proper identification and the approval of her parent.

That was easy.

Last year, the girl, her mom and 50 year old Donald Leacock drove more than 1,100 miles from Ash Fork, Arizona to Carthage, Missouri to fill out the paperwork needed for the marriage. Leacock and the girl returned a month later and were married by a local pastor.

Once we got the police reports, we started investigating how Missouri's marriage law compared with those in other states.

We were shocked.

In Massachusetts, a 12 year old girl can marry a 14 year old boy as long as a judge will approve the marriage. In New Hampshire, a 13 year old girl can marry a 14 year old boy, but a court order is also required there. Both states require a court order for the marriage of anyone under the age of 18.

It soon became clear why Leacock brought the 15 year-old to Missouri. This is the only state in the country where a 15 year-old can get married without a court order. The only thing standing in the way of the marriage was the girl's mother and she had no problem with it.

The marriage offended some employees at the Jasper County Recorder of Deeds office so much that they wanted to "hotline" their concerns to state officials for a possible child abuse investigation. However, since the marriage was legal the workers decided against it.

They were even more upset when I shared some of the allegations described in the 146 page investigative report on the Arizona case, including the disturbing allegations involving sex abuse, child pornography and prostitution. Police alleged that Leacock had his wife and a younger girl sign "contracts" allowing him to use them as sexual slaves. Investigators say Leacock setup "sex dates" for the girls with groups of older men.

Even though his final term expires before the next legislative session, State Senator John Louden promises to work with other legislators and write a bill that will change the law.

Ironically, at the time Leacock married the 15 year old girl there was a three day waiting period for a marriage license. The waiting period is no longer required.

I can't imagine anyone getting married at the age of 15. However, I suppose you could make an arguement for a pregnant 15 year-old to marry the father of her child. Still, it seems way too young for me, even under those extreme circumstances.

Loudon believes 15 is too young too, but he's clearly willing to compromise to make Missouri's law more restrictive. What would change? It's too soon to tell, but Loudon says he'll work with legislators to write a bill that would require a court order for a 15 year old to get married. He'd like the minimum age to be higher, but he's not sure it would pass the legislature.

What seems obvious to every state except Missouri is that a parent's permission should not be enough for a 15 year-old to get married. At the very least, every state should require the careful consideration of a judge who would review the case, ask questions and collect enough evidence to make a responsible decision about the marriage of someone so young and vulnerable.

The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation was dissolved by the State of Missouri last December because required paperwork was not filed with the state.

State law requires foundations to file annual reports. Despite a warning letter dated October 3, 2007, the required paperwork was not filed by the December 2, 2007 deadline.

In a form letter dated December 27, a representative of the Secretary of State's office informed the foundation's attorney it had been dissolved for failing to comply with the law.

The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation was created in 2003 by Pam and Craig Akers, Shawn Hornbeck's parents. Its mission is preventing child abdcutions and helping find missing children. Hornbeck was abducted from Jefferson county in 2002 and was found alive with another missing boy in 2006.

In an interview outside his workplace Wednesday morning, Craig Akers was apologetic for the oversight that led to the dissolution of the foundation.

"That's the way it is," Craig Akers said. "Sometimes these things slip through the cracks, especially when you don't have a dedicated, paid adminstrative staff."

The foundation was also dissolved by the state in 2006 for the same paperwork problem. It was eventually reinstated retroactively, protecting the foundation's work during the period it was not recognized as a Missouri not-for-profit organization.

The registered agent for the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation is Hillsboro attorney Randall Sherman.

A spokesperson for Sherman said Pam Akers did sign the 2007 paperwork and returned it to Sherman's office, but it was received several days after the deadline to file. Because the foundation missed the deadline, the only option was to proceed with reinstating the foundation as a not-for-profit organization. The spokesperson was not familiar with the 2006 incident.

Craig Akers said the reinstatement process will be handled by the foundation's new attorney. Akers expects a member of the Bryan Cave firm in St. Louis to assume duties as the foundation's registered agent. Until then, he says foundation events will continue as scheduled.

"We will continue on," Akers said. "We have already sent in for a tax clearance letter, we're waiting for the form to be sent in to the Secretary of State. We anticipate having that here in the next day or so, and this will all be behind us by the end of the week."

Dissolutions of corporations are quite common in Missouri, said a spokesperson for the Secretary of State. Approximately 3,000 not-for-profits were dissolved in 2007 for failing to file paperwork in time.

Because they can be reinstated retroactively, not-for-profit operations are allowed to continue as long as steps are taken to quickly submit their required papers.

While the state dissolved the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation in December, it came to light Wednesday because of a St. Louis television station.

KSDK-TV began airing a promotional spot for a piece that would tell the story of why Missouri "...shut down the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation."

In that promotional spot, a tearful Pam Akers is heard saying how she had let people down as a result of the paperwork problem.

"It was a shock," Pam Akers said in a joint interview with her husband Wednesday morning. "I didn't think it was going to be portrayed like that."

Craig Akers was critical of KSDK's portrayal of his wife and the station's story in general.

"How is a paperwork oversight, after five months adminstratively dissolved, how is that headline news," he said.

Akers said he complained to KSDK management after the spot begain airing. By late afternoon, KSDK had altered its promotion. The shot of a crying Pam Akers had been removed.

Commercial vehicle enforcement officers say most trucking companies have safe trucks and drivers, but not all of them. There are enough dangerous trucks and drivers on the highways that crisscross the St. Louis area that officers will tell you they get nervous driving alongside an 18-wheeler and when they're driving with their own families they always give trucks lots of room.

The Missouri Legislature just passed new rules for truckers in Missouri that are designed to make the state's highways safer. If the bill is signed by Governor Matt Blunt, among other things, it will prohibit trucks from using the left lane on highways with three or more lanes. And the new legislation will require that drivers must be able to read, write and speak English to get a Missouri Commercial drivers license. State Representative and Transportation Committee chairman Neal St. Onge explains the legislation further in this interview.

Saturdays are an especially dangerous time on I-44 in St. Louis. The St. Louis Police Department's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers regularly see trucks carrying produce from California farms racing to get to the east coast by Monday morning. By the time they hit St. Louis, many have been driving 30 hours or more without any rest. That's far beyond the limit set by federal law and officers point out that a drowsy driver is as dangerous as a drunk driver.

Officers encourage motorists to report dangerous drivers or big rigs that could be putting other motorists at risk because of something like rocks falling off or a load that's not tied down properly and is falling off a truck. On highways in Illinois or in the city of St. Louis, you should call 911 and on Missouri Highways call the Missouri Highway Patrol at *55. If you write down the DOT number that's on the side of a truck, you can look up that truck's individual inspection record or you can check on all of a company's trucks by searching for the business name at this Department of Transportation website.

A Jefferson County judge ruled a sales tax approved by the mid-Missouri city of Iberia in 2001 was invalid and unenforcable.

Tom Burcham filed the suit alleging Iberia's sales tax was higher than allowed under state law.

"This decision will save the taxpayers of mid-Missouri about $300,000 in the next three years alone," Burcham said in an e-mailed statement.

The attorney has similar suits pending against two other small communities. Burcham claimed the cities of Ellington and Arcadia passed taxes in excess of amounts allowed under Missouri law or did not follow proper procedure when enacting local ordnances which authorize the implementation of those taxes.

A lobbying group for Missouri municipalities called the Iberia ruling a "test case" that would likely be challenged before the state Supreme Court.

Richard Sheets of the Missouri Municipal League says the law surrouding the implementation and collection of certain sales taxes is unclear, but he believes communities like Iberia acted within their power in implementing their sales taxes.

An attorney for the city of Iberia did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Burcham's motives have been questioned by Sheets and a number of city attorneys. They said it would be almost impossible to refund taxpayers in communities where a tax was ruled illegal. Burcham's motive, they claimed, was collecting thousands of dollars in attorney's fees.

The suit against Iberia awarded Burcham $20,600 in fees. In his written statement, Burcham said that money would be divided between three charities.

"It's a win, win, win," the statement read.

In a February interview with News 4 Investigates, Burcham did not deny a desire to make money off these cases, but insisted he was mostly interested in repealing what he called "illegal sales taxes."

The suit was filed on behalf of Tonya Sheets. Sheets is not resident of Iberia, but is a resident of Jefferson county and an employee of Burcham's law office.

She was awarded no damages other than the $20,600 in attorney's fees.

I've posted several dozen comments on our blog. Many support Ms. Browne, many others dencounce her. I tried to be fair and publish as many as possible representing the views of Ms. Browne's critics and fans.

During my previous story, I reported that Craig Akers, Shawn Hornbeck's step-father, politely declined to be interviewed about Ms. Browne or her claims about Shawn, which was true. However, I knew that he was still angry about his experience with her on the Montel Williams Show four years ago.

He simply didn't want to make his views on-the-record, at least not then.

On Saturday, he changed his mind.

What happened?

First, Mr. Akers apparently had scheduling problems and wasn't available to talk with us. However, he had also seen our story about Ms. Browne on Thursday night and it seemed to spark the emotions he had tried so hard to supress.

On Saturday, our Supervising Producer Steve Perron learned that the Akers would be attending an event sponsored by the St. Louis school district. Sean would be there too. They were helping parents create identification kits for their children.

Steve decided to go and see if Mr. Akers would talk about Ms. Browne. And, as you know, that's exactly what he did.

"it's obvious she doesn't know what she's talking about, Mr. Akers told us. "It's all fake stuff, it's a fraud. I think she should be ashamed of herself for putting parents through the agony she puts them through. She's a horrible person."

As we reported in our story, the Akers agreed to go on the Montel show mainly to gain national exposure for Shawn's case.

Clearly, the case gained even more attention, but Brown's claims about the case, with the exception of the kidnapper's first name, were wrong.

"We've never heard from her again, never an 'I'm sorry' an apology or even, 'oh, gee, I guess I got that one wrong' - nothing at all," said Mr. Akers.

Steve's interview with Craig Akers ended on a positive note: Shawn is doing great.

In fact, Craig Akers says "he's made up all the ground he lost during those 4 and -a-half years, and he's just done incredible."

"We're really proud of him."

It's wonderful news in a nightmare that will never completely go away for Sean and his parents.

I've tried to include as many responses to our original story as possible. Many of you will never agree on whether Sylvia Browne is really a psychic.

But we can all agree on one thing: Shawn Hornbeck's parents have a unique point of view, one that has never been heard in public.

We believe it's a response that demands an audience.

But there's another related issue that's very important for buyers and sellers of used cars -- who is responsible for disclosing damages in a car that's up for sale?

Our story featured the case of Stephanie and Matthew Gehrs of Festus. Last December, they purchased a 2005 Jeep Liberty with 18,000 miles on the odometer. They bought their Jeep after seeing a Carfax vehicle history report showed no serious damage issues with the car.

They would soon learn that Carfax report was wrong.

After a minor accident in February, the Gehrs took their car to a dealer recommended by their insurance agent for repairs. The dealer discovered substantial twisting in the car's frame, indicative of a serious accident at some time in the past.

A little luck and some smart detective work on Matt Gehrs part led him to the Jeep's previous owner. She told him how she ran the car into a bridge pillar on Interstate 70 in North St. Louis County in the summer of 2007 -- just months before it was sold to the Gehrs.

So how did that 2007 accident not show up on the Carfax vehicle history?

The previous owner, who was leasing the car, was able to drive it home after the accident. At that point, the leasing company repossessed the vehicle and sold it at auction. A dealer purchased it and sold it to Matt and Stephanie Gehrs.

It's not clear who repaired the damage but what is clear is that all this took place without a police report ever being filed or an insurance claim being filed. In other words, there is no record -- at least no public record -- of the 2007 accident, the damages or the subsequent repairs. That's why the accident and the damage is not on the Carfax vehicle history for the Gehrs' Jeep.

A Carfax spokesperson was quite emphatic in stating to the obvious... that Carfax can not report information that doesn't exist. By the way, Carfax does not get any records from insurance companies.

Who's Responsible?

So, in cases like this, who is responsible for disclosing damage like this to a potential seller?

David Griffith, the public information officer for the Missouri Department of Revenue has a simple answer. The responsibility lies with the seller. And that applies whether the car is being sold by a licensed dealer or a private individual.

So if you take out an ad in the local paper, or stick a "for sale" sign in your car window, then you are required to tell the buyer if you know of any accidents or other conditions that may negatively impact the performance of that car. While previous accidents are the most common example, our recent flooding suggests another scenario that bears mentioning. It is not unheard of for flood cars to be cleaned up and dried out to such an extent that the water damage is not immediately detectable. But of course, flood damage is a serious issue and as such must be disclosed.

And it doesn't have to be serious damage. Griffith points out that if a potential buyer asks if a smoker used the car, then you have to disclose that.

Weak Laws?

So the law is clear. Unfortunately for consumers, it is weak.

Griffith says violations of the disclosure requirements are not criminal offenses. So consumers who discover undisclosed problems after purchasing a car have to seek remedies on their own and at their own expense.

And soon, it could be much harder for Missouri consumers to take any kind of court action in cases like this. A bill recently passed by Missouri legislators would make it harder to sue some dealers for selling cars with undisclosed damages.

Supporters of the bill say it protects both dealers and consumers, but critics say it serves only to shield dealers from legitimate suits.

The bill is awaiting Governor Matt Blunt's signature.

News 4 Investigates producer Steve Perron contributed to this edition of the Daily Briefing.

But if you buy it and use it, keep in mind that you may be breaking the law, and here's why.

1) 2-party-consent electronic eavesdropping laws in Illinois and 10 other states (including important states like California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland) prohibit listening to or recording conversations by anyone who is not a party to the conversation.
2) Even 1-party-consent electronic eavesdropping laws, like those in Missouri and most other states, would probably be violated, if a phone that A used to call B were manipulated such that non-parties to the conversation like C could hear it or record it.
3) The federal eavesdropping act, sometimes called Title III, includes some special provisions such as prohibitions on listening or recording, even by a party, when there is a criminal or tortious purpose.
4) The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, prohibit interception of so-called "stored communications" which might include email and text messages that have been stored on a cell phone or a service provider's servers.
5) The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and many state counterparts prohibit unauthorized access to a computer system, or access beyond the scope of one's authorization. The definition of a protected computer might well include modern cell phones.
6) State common law (judge-made) doctrines of the right of privacy protect individuals from intrusions into areas where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

If you want to read more about the software, here's the company's website:
http://www.flexispy.com/