Husband charged with murder of wife found dead in Oregon wilderness
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office
(WELCHES, Ore.) — A man has been arrested and charged with murder after his estranged wife was found dead in the Oregon wilderness.
Michel Fournier, 71, was taken into custody Friday on second-degree murder charges. He is now being held without bail, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier Friday, Susan Lane-Fournier was found deceased in Welches, a remote part of Clackamas County, after a multi-day search. An autopsy ruled her manner of death as homicide, according to authorities.
Lane-Fournier, 61, had been reported missing one week earlier, on Nov. 22, after failing to show up at work, according to officials.
She was also known as “Phoenix,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officials previously said she was believed to have been in the wooded area hiking with her two dogs.
The two dogs, which had also been considered missing, were also found dead on Saturday, the sheriff’s office said.
Weeks before she disappeared, according to The Oregonian, Lane-Fournier filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The two had been married for 12 years.
(NEW YORK) — Americans are going to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the historic election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Surveys ahead of Election Day found the two candidates in a virtual dead heat nationally and in several key swing states.
Broad economic discontent, sharp divisions about the nation’s future and polarized views of the major-party candidates mark voter attitudes nationally in ABC News’ preliminary exit poll results.
The state of democracy prevailed narrowly as the most important issue to voters out of five tested in the exit poll.
The country and democracy
Voters broadly express more negative than positive views about the country’s direction: Just 26% are enthusiastic or satisfied with the way things are going, versus 72% dissatisfied or angry.
More voters see American democracy as threatened than say it’s secure, 73% to 25%. Still, about six in 10 in these preliminary exit poll results say the country’s best days are ahead of it, versus about a third who say the country’s best days are in the past.
Extremism and candidate favorability
Fifty-five percent call Trump’s views “too extreme,” and he’s underwater in personal favorability, 44%-55%. Fewer call Harris’ views too extreme (46%), though she’s also underwater in personal favorability, albeit slightly, 48%-50%.
Favorability isn’t determinative: Just 40% saw Trump favorably in 2016, when he won the Electoral College (albeit not the popular vote). One reason is that almost as few, 43%, had a favorable view of his opponent that year, Hillary Clinton. (In 2020, Trump’s favorability rating was 46%; Joe Biden’s was 52%.)
Underscoring the emotion associated with the contest, preliminarily 36% of voters say they’d be “scared” if Trump were elected, while 29% would be scared by a Harris win.
The economy and Biden
The economy remains a key irritant. Voters say it’s in bad shape by 67%-32%. And 45% say their own financial situation is worse now than four years ago, versus 30% the same, with just 24% doing better. The “worse off” number exceeds its 2008 level, then 42%, and far outpaces its shares in 2020 (20%) and 2016 (28%).
Biden takes the heat, with just a 41% job approval rating (58% disapprove). It’s been a challenge for Harris to persuade voters she’s taking a new direction from Biden’s. (Biden’s approval rating is the lowest for an incumbent president in exit polls since George W. Bush’s 27% as he left office in 2008. Trump managed 50% job approval in 2020, yet Biden beat him anyway).
(DALLAS) — Bishop T.D. Jakes is stable after suffering a medical emergency during a sermon on Sunday, according to the megachurch Potter’s House of Dallas, where he serves as pastor.
Video of the incident shows the renowned Christian pastor lowering his microphone and shaking in his seat before people around him rushed to his aid.
In a statement, the church said Jakes “experienced a slight health incident and received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour long message.”
“Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals,” the church said. “The entire Potter’s House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community.”
Jakes founded the 30,000-member megachurch in southern Dallas, Texas, in 1996.
(GALLATIN COUNTY, MT) — Investigators are asking for help solving a “vicious” murder that was so brutal a 911 caller had reported it as a possible bear attack, according to the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.
A friend found 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem dead in a tent on Saturday morning about 2.5 miles up Moose Creek Road, in a fairly remote camping area in Montana, according to Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer.
Kjersem was last heard from on Oct. 10 as he was leaving to go camping for the weekend. He had plans to meet with a friend on Friday afternoon, according to the sheriff’s office.
After he did not make it to the meetup location, Kjersem’s friend went looking for him and ultimately found him dead.
When investigators responded to the scene of the crime, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks agent with expertise in bear attacks did not find any signs of bear activity at the scene, prompting investigators to treat the incident as a murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
This was further confirmed through evidence gathered during an autopsy which determined multiple wounds led to his death.
Investigators are not sure what the murder weapon was, but the weapon was something “hard enough to cause significant damage to the skull as well as some flesh areas of the body,” Springer said at a press conference Wednesday.
“This incident was a vicious attack, and detectives are working hard to develop and track down leads. A suspect has not been arrested at this time,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
It has not yet been determined what time he was killed and investigators have not identified any suspects in the murder.
Kjersem had lots of equipment at the campsite with him and it was “very well kept,” according to Springer.
The remote location of the murder makes it difficult for the investigation due to limited cellphone services, which typically can be very helpful to investigators, Springer said.
“If you are out in the woods, I need you to be paying attention, you need to remain vigilant. Please, just call us,” Sheriff Dan Springer said at a press conference Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office said people have reached out to them already, giving them multiple leads that they will explore as the investigation into what happened continues.
“If you were in the Moose Creek area, or anywhere in Gallatin Canyon, between Thursday afternoon and early Saturday morning and noticed anything unusual — whether you saw Dustin, Dustin’s truck, noticed suspicious activity, have footage from game cameras or in-vehicle cameras from the area or observed something out of place — please come forward. Even the smallest detail could be crucial to the investigation,” the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.
