Newspaper Page Text
Elaborate virtual scam targets local sisters
Jill Helton
publisher@tribune-georgian.com
You might think you are too
smart to fall for a scam. That’s what
Sarah Wood thought until a phone
call from her sister on Tuesday that
suddenly turned into a life-and-
death situation.
At least she had thought it was.
And she almost cashed out thou
sands of dollars in pre-paid credit
cards as ransom before she realized
the truth.
Wood was the victim of a virtual
kidnapping scam and was led to be
lieve her sister was in grave danger.
At the same time, her sister had
been the target of a jury duty scam,
where callers are told they will be
arrested for missing jury duty unless
they follow a specific set of instruc
tions. It was an elaborate scam with
two parts, and it almost worked.
“I have officially had the scariest
thing happen in my life today, and
I am still kind of numb from it,”
Wood wrote on her Facebook page
later that night in a post that has
gotten thousands of shares.
She said during an interview
Wednesday morning that she was
still coming to grips with how the
day’s events unfolded.
“Now I’m kind of piecing it to
gether and figuring out how they
got this information,” she said.
See SCAM, page 8A
417 sites. 10 years. 1 last stop.
Submitted photo
Ohio resident Tom Wright visited Cumberland Island National Seashore earlier this month to finish up his 10-year ad
venture to see all 417 national parks, seashores, monuments, sites and preserves. Now he’s trying to see as many as
he can twice. “I’m going to keep doing it until I die,” Wright said.
Seeing America, one park at a time
Johna Strickland Rush
iohna@tribune-georgian.com
Tom Wright didn’t start out plan
ning to visit every site managed by
the National Park Service but there
he was, 10 years later, finally stand
ing in park No. 417, Cumberland
Island National Seashore, in early
December.
He brought cookies for the park
rangers and had someone take his
photo with the park sign.
He’d made it, joining a small group
in the National Park Travelers Club,
a nonprofit social club, of members
who have achieved platinum status
by visiting every national park site.
And like a true superfan, Wright
was off to see more national park
system sites that day, visiting Fort
Caroline and Kingsley Plantation
in Jacksonville, Fla., and Castillo de
San Marcos National Monument in
St. Augustine, Fla. The next day he
stopped by even more sites on his
way back home to Ohio. With the
list complete, Wright figures he’ll
see how many he can visit twice or
more. He’s already visited about 250
sites more than once.
“I’m going to keep doing it until I
die,” Wright said.
See PARKS, page 7A
Marine center
due diligence
includes study
Jill Helton
publisher@tribune-georgian.com
The Camden County
Joint Development Author
ity, which is actively nego
tiating to attract an anchor
tenant for its St. Marys
Marine Center, approved a
marketing study as part of
its due diligence.
The authority will issue
a request for proposals and
estimates the study to cost
about $6,500. It will analyze
the market, relative to this
We need to have some
assurances from an
outside source that we
have a viable project.
Jeff Barker
JDA chairman
type of marine operation,
and provide data that can
guide future decisions, said
Jeff Barker, JDA chairman.
“We need to have some
assurances from an outside
See PROJECT, page 8A
Tribune & Georgian file photo
Situated at the edge of the old mill site, the St. Marys Marine
Center project includes building boat slips, yacht haul-out, dry
boat storage, marine trades and services, retail space, hous
ing, restaurants and manufacturing.
Looking back at
2017 in Camden
Johna Strickland Rush
iohna@tribune-georgian.com
January
In the first five days of
2017, two groups appealed
a hardship variance granted
by the county planning
commission in December
2016 that allows nearly 88
acres on Cumberland Island
to be split into 10 lots. The
owners want to build a few
houses for themselves. The
planning board’s vote kicked
off months of discussion on
both sides with the county
trying to reach a compro
mise before letting the Na
tional Park Service take the
lead in negotiations in June.
Kmart, an anchor retail
store in the Camden Woods
shopping center, told em
ployees that the store would
be closing.
Sonny Felix Michel was
arrested Jan. 12 and charged
with child molestation and
See YEAR, page 6A
'sf
Tribune & Georgian file photo
Hurricane Irma roared through Camden County in September, causing flooding, downing trees and sinking boats.
1
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Index
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Vote online at www.tribune-georgian.com and see
last week’s results on page 5A.
Obituaries
Crime report
Opinion
Upcoming events
2A Sports
3A Religion
4A Classifieds
5A Legals
1B
3B
5B
7B
Tribune &
Georgian
Volume 114, No. 52
© 2017, Tribune & Georgian,
Community Newspapers Inc.