WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: A beloved daughter with a big laugh was just 13 when the worst imaginable thing happened to her, and her mother was left reeling for months then years.

A mother’s worst nightmare came true when her 13-year-old vanished from a car park, while she was waiting for her to finishing her food shop.

On 19 October 1997, Maryann Measles’ disappearance horrified Connecticut. When her broken body was found, her community were devastated to learn she had endure months of abuse from older men culminated in the most horrific ending imaginable.

In July 1998, Maryann’s remains were found at Lake Lillinonah in Bridgewater wrapped in a blanket and weighed down with chains.

Maryann had been raped, tortured, assaulted, and drowned before her body was dumped into the Housatonic Rive. Maryann was not abducted and murdered by a stranger; instead, she was betrayed by those she had considered friends.

Maryann’s parents, Martin and Cindi loved their daughter deeply. Cindi, her mother, often said that holding Maryann for the first time was a feeling she had never known before.

Maryann grew up in New Milford with her three younger sisters, Jennifer, Victoria, and Chelsea. Maryann was known for her big laugh.

By the time she was 13, Maryann was spending a lot of time with a group of older teenagers and young adults.

This group were described as heavy drinking thugs by the owner of a nearby trucker business, according to the New York Times. Some of the girls in this group were dating older boys in their late teens or early 20s.

Cindi, watching her daughter’s new group of friends, grew increasingly worried.

By the start of October 1997, the situation had become serious. Maryann told Cindi that two of the older boys, Alan Walter, 19, and Keith Foster, 21, had been assaulting her, according to Tales From The Underworld.

Cindi went to the New Milford Police Department to file a statutory rape report. The first official complaint was lodged against Walter, and Maryann and her mother intended to return soon to add Foster to the report.

Walter and Foster were angry – but so were the girls in the group – as some of their boyfriends were involved with the 13-year-old. By mid-October, the group had completely ostracised Maryann. Some even threatened her.

On one occasion, Maryann found herself at the New Milford Town Green when three people from her former circle of friends, Maggie Bennett, Alan Walter, and June Segar, confronted her in Bennett’s minivan. As the van circled Maryann, they began to hurl insults and threats.

Maryann found a payphone and rang her mother for a lift. Cindi arrived and collected Maryann. They then headed to the Big Y supermarket in nearby Veterans Plaza to grab some groceries. While Cindi went inside the shop, Maryann stayed in the car.

The car park was bustling with shoppers and parents unloading their shopping. However, while Cindi was inside, one of Maryann’s ex-friends, 24-year-old Ronald Rajcok, parked next to her in his car.

Before Maryann could understand what was happening, he opened the door and grabbed her. Rajcok forced her into his car.

When Cindi returned to the car, she was shocked to find that Maryann was missing. Concerned, Cindi drove home and asked Maryann’s sister if she had seen her return.

Maryann was nowhere to be seen so Cindi went straight to the police station to report Maryann as missing. Initially, officers treated the situation as a runaway case, but Cindi was adamant that Maryann wouldn’t just disappear like that.

After Rajcok forced Maryann into his Pontiac Trans Am, he drove to a lay-by on River Road in New Milford near the Housatonic River. There, the rest of the group was waiting for them. This included Alan Walter, Keith Foster, Dino Dupas, Dorothy Hallas, Maggie Bennett, June Segar, and Jeffrey Boyette.

They raped her and hurled abuse at her. One participant later described how Maryann tried to resist, only to have her arms twisted as she was lifted against her will.

She was repeatedly raped by Walter, Foster, and Dupas, and physically and verbally abused by the girls present. As the attack drew to a close, some of the men moved Maryann closer to the river’s edge and forced her knees down into the shallow water of the Housatonic River, where Walter Alan held her head under for minutes, drowning her.

When Maryann stopped struggling and her body became still, the group then wrapped her body in a blanket and secured it with heavy chains and a padlock.

They attached a cinder block to weigh her down, ensuring her body remained beneath the river’s surface, and discarded her into the Housatonic River.

The search for Maryann Measles continued for nine horrific months. The Measles family posted hundreds of missing-person flyers all over New Milford, on lampposts, shop windows, and notice boards.

Law enforcement dedicated approximately 700 hours to the search, conducting over 80 interviews and following up on around 60 leads in the initial weeks and months.

Police interrogated those who had been close to Maryann, including members of her circle of friends.

Investigators discovered that several of the group had been near the supermarket around the time she vanished.

But getting a straight story was impossible. Some claimed they hadn’t seen her, while others had very vague timelines.

On 15 July 1998, nearly nine months after Maryann disappeared, her remains were found by a boater in Lake Lillinonah in Bridgewater, Connecticut.

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Due to the severe deterioration of the remains, Maryann was positively identified through dental records. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation, and the death was declared a homicide by the Litchfield State’s Attorney.

In December 1998, a £50,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest. Despite the discovery of Maryann’s remains, the investigation into her murder remained cold, and in July 2001, four years after she had been found, new detectives were assigned to her case.

In light of fresh evidence, in October 2002, officials from the Connecticut State Police declared that arrest warrants had been issued and carried out for eight people linked to the murder of Maryann Measles.

Seven were arrested in Connecticut, while Jeffrey Boynette, living in Texas at the time, was arrested there and extradited to Connecticut to face charges.

Some consented to plea agreements, admitting their involvement and accepting a predetermined sentence, while others opted to go to trial and let a judge and jury determine their fate.

In February 2004, when Alan “A.J.” Walter, seen as one of the group’s leaders, agreed to a plea deal. As part of this agreement, Walter pleaded guilty to felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault, and tampering with physical evidence, thereby avoiding the potential of the death penalty.

“I think they should die for what they did,” Cindi told the Associated Press outside the Bantam Court.

Instead, he received a life sentence. Prosecutors stated this deal helped to build the case against the others. Over the next few months more of the group accepted agreements that avoided full trials.

Jeffrey Boyette entered a plea in June 2004. He pleaded no contest to felony murder, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, and risk of injury to a minor.

This meant that he did not admit guilt but accepted that sufficient evidence existed for a conviction, and he was later sentenced to a 50‑year term, with half of that time suspended and a portion of the sentence served on probation afterward.

In September 2004, Dorothy Hallas pleaded guilty to felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and risk of injury to a minor. She was sentenced to 25 years with 5 years of probation.

Maggie Bennett was charged with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, tampering with a witness, and tampering with evidence. Because of her cooperation, she was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

In accordance with her plea agreement, June Segar pleaded guilty to felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and tampering with a witness. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Like Alan Walter, Deaneric “Dino” Dupas was also charged with capital murder, and like Walter, Dupas also accepted a plea deal to avoid a possible death sentence. He pleaded guilty to felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault. He received a 47-year sentence.

Ronald Rajcok, the man who kidnapped Maryann, was also offered a plea deal in which he admitted to felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, and tampering with a witness. In return, he received a 36-year prison sentence. However, not everyone accepted a plea.

Keith Foster rejected an offer and instead chose a trial. During his 2006 trial, Foster maintained he had not been present at the time of the murder. After considering the evidence, the jury found him guilty on all charges.

The judge handed him a 110-year prison sentence, by far the most severe punishment in the case. Despite this conviction, Foster continued to deny the court’s rulings, but in August 2009, the Connecticut Supreme Court dismissed his appeal and upheld the conviction.

Decades after Maryann Measles’ death, her family and community members continued to commemorate her.

On 19 October 2023, marking the 26th year since Maryann’s disappearance, her family arranged a candlelight memorial on the Town Green in New Milford to honour her memory.

This is the moment a man holding a knife bursts into a cafe in Bolton and attacks a customer.

Shocking CCTV appears to show an unsuspecting man sitting at a table in The Deli eating his breakfast completely unaware as to what will happen next.

A man walks in pulls out of a knife and appears to lunge at him in the chest.

The two tussle as the younger victim stands up and punches the suspected knifeman in the face.

A heroic cafe owner manages to wrestle the knife away before the attacker sits down in a chair, before police arrive.

The victim pats himself down and looks at his gilet which is said to have helped protect him from serious injury.

The cafe owner said he will ‘get free orders for life’ for protecting their staff.

The man’s injuries are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening.

Another man was stabbed outside the cafe, according to Great Manchester Police.

The attacks are being treated as linked and as mental health-related.

A man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of assault, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed on Wednesday.

In a Facebook statement, The Deli said: ‘Dear customers.

‘Regarding the incident that took place this morning on Tonge Moor Rd. This incident has followed down and spilled into our premises.

‘We would like to assure you all, our customers and staff are safe and helping GMP with their investigation. We would also like to thank our customer today who helped during the incident, keeping us safe. Of course he will receive free orders for life.

‘Due to the disruption we have closed for the remainder of the day and will let you all know when we are back open for business. We wholeheartedly apologise for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for understanding and we will see you all very soon! – Team Deli.”

Several police cars were seen parked on Tonge Moor Road afterwards with officers making house-to-house enquiries. The force confirmed officers. located two men with stab wounds. They were treated at the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Sharples from our Bolton District said: ‘We currently have a man detained and officers are conducting extensive enquiries as part of a comprehensive investigation.

‘We fully appreciate that the local community will be concerned but I would like to reassure them that there is no wider threat, and that this is being treated as an isolated incident.

‘We are aware of a video circulating online in relation to this incident, and we appreciate that people will have concerns and worries regarding it.

‘You will notice we have extra patrols in the area; I encourage anyone with concerns to please speak with our officers who are there to support.’

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Amber, a seven-year-old crossbreed, has been in the care of Dogs Trust Darlington since June last year after being rescued in February 2024.

She arrived in the charity’s care through its Chance of a Lifetime scheme, which transfers dogs from council pounds in Northern Ireland to Dogs Trust’s 22 centres across the UK.

Pawfect Amber (Image: Dog Trust Darlington)

Nikki Holroyd, manager at Dogs Trust Darlington, said: “Amber is a wonderful dog to be around as she lifts your mood and matches your energy, no matter how you are feeling.

“She is a happy girl who has a real zest for life.

“Playtime is her favourite thing, especially when it involves playing football or with toys.

Jumping for joy. Amber at Dogs Trust Darlington (Image: Dog Trust Darlington)

“Both are great ways to see her playful and affectionate nature at its best.

“She has a puppy-like spirit and nature.

“She believes life is for living, and she deserves to meet someone with a similar positive outlook.”

Amber spent a brief period in a home that wasn’t the right fit before arriving at the Darlington centre.

Sitting pretty (Image: Dog Trust Darlington)

Since then, she has become a favourite among the team, who are hoping this will be her year.

Ms Holroyd said: “As well as being a playful pooch, she also has an affectionate nature, so after playtime, she loves to get cosy and snuggle up beside you.

“When you are with Amber, you lose track of time as she is such a lovely dog to be with.

Beautiful Amber (Image: Dog Trust Darlington)

“If your dream dog is playful, affectionate, intelligent and with an enthusiasm about everything life has to offer, then you could be Amber’s person.”

Amber needs to be the only pet in the household so she can enjoy all the attention.

She would also benefit from a secure garden without neighbouring dogs, allowing her to play and relax in peace.

Amber enjoys car rides and would love to travel to quiet walking spots before returning home for snuggles on the sofa.

Dogs Trust currently has hundreds of dogs in its care.

The centre is open to the public five days a week without the need for an appointment.

Visitors can meet the dogs, get advice, or start the adoption process.

Amber’s story highlights the ongoing need for loving homes for long-term residents at rehoming centres.

Staff remain hopeful that her perfect match is just around the corner.

Ms Holroyd said: “Amber is a wonderful dog to be around as she lifts your mood and matches your energy, no matter how you are feeling.

“She is a happy girl who has a real zest for life.

“Playtime is her favourite thing, especially when it involves playing football or with toys.

“Both are great ways to see her playful and affectionate nature at its best.

“She has a puppy-like spirit and nature.

“She believes life is for living, and she deserves to meet someone with a similar positive outlook.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about Amber or the other dogs at Dogs Trust Darlington is encouraged to visit the centre during their opening hours.

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT – Wendy Duffy, 56, a former care worker from the West Midlands, has paid £10,000 to end her life at Pegasos, a Swiss assisted dying clinic, after losing her son Marcus, 23, four years ago

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A British woman with no terminal illness is travelling to Switzerland to end her life at an assisted dying clinic following the death of her only son – making her the first person to speak openly about making the trip before it takes place.

Wendy Duffy, 56, a former care worker from the West Midlands, has paid £10,000 to end her life at Pegasos, a Swiss assisted dying clinic, after losing her son Marcus, 23, four years ago. Despite years of therapy and antidepressants, she has been unable to come to terms with his passing, reports the Express.

Speaking just days before her death, Wendy said: “I won’t change my mind. I know it’s hard for you, sweetheart. It will be hard for everyone. But I want to die, and that’s what I’m going to do. And I’ll have a smile on my face when I do, so please be happy for me. My life; my choice.”

She added: “I can’t wait.”

Why is Wendy choosing to end her life?

In an interview with Daily Mail journalist Jenny Johnson, Wendy recounted the devastating circumstances surrounding Marcus’s death four years ago. He had nodded off on the sofa while eating a sandwich, hungover after a heavy night out. Wendy had been preparing her own lunch at the time – cheese and onion – when Marcus asked her to make him one too.

“Throw a couple of those cherry tomatoes on mine,” he said.

She obliged, halving them as she always did. When she walked back into the living room, she was confronted with every parent’s worst nightmare.

“He was purple,” she said. “I thought, ‘It’s his heart.’” Wendy, who has medical training, immediately got Marcus onto the floor and started CPR, crying out desperately for assistance. Paramedics arrived and raced him to hospital, where the devastating news emerged: half a cherry tomato had been discovered blocking his windpipe. Specialist equipment had been required to extract it.

“They think he must have fallen asleep when he still had food in his mouth. That’s the only comfort, that there was no struggle,” she said.

Deprived of oxygen for an extended period, Marcus was brain dead. Wendy remained by his side for five days before his life support was turned off. His organs were donated for transplant.

“Afterwards, I got a letter from the man who got his heart. He said that thanks to Marcus he was able to play with his kids again,” she said. Another recipient was a four year old child. “That was a comfort, but it also ripped at me.”

She visited the funeral home daily to be with her son, listening to his Spotify playlist.

“In the funeral home, I went in every day, and just sat with him, playing through his Spotify list. I broke when I saw him in there. My boy, on a metal table. You can’t come back from that, you know.

“That’s when I died too, inside,” she said. “I’m not the same person now as I was. I used to feel things. I don’t care about anything any more. I exist. I don’t live.”

Who was Marcus?

Marcus had been the centre of Wendy’s world from the moment she learnt she was expecting. Born into a large Irish family, Wendy never wed and spent a decade trying to conceive. Following years of fertility tests that showed damage to her fallopian tubes, she turned to specialist treatment.

“I told the consultant that I wasn’t greedy. If I could have one child, I would be the happiest woman in the world,” she said.

In 1998, she got her miracle. “The day I discovered I was pregnant with Marcus was the happiest of my life.”

After parting ways with Marcus’s father when the lad was about four, mother and son became inseparable. Wendy grafted hard and put money aside for his future. Marcus developed a love for music – hip-hop and grime – and was pursuing a career in recording.

“I’d give anything to be shouting at him to turn the music down today,” she said.

Did Wendy try to get help?

After Marcus’s death, Wendy received extensive NHS and private counselling and was given antidepressants. Nine months after his loss, she tried to take her own life with an overdose, planning it meticulously – “like a wedding” – getting her affairs in order. A friend sounded the alarm after she didn’t reply to messages.

Officers forced entry into her property to discover a note carefully fixed to the bedroom door. She endured a fortnight on a ventilator, temporarily lost function in her right arm, and continues to have no sensation in her little finger. She was told she risked locked-in syndrome – left dangerously close, in her own words, to being “a cabbage in a persistent vegetative state.

“I remember coming round and thinking, ‘I’ve f***ed this up’, and I don’t want to go through that again. That’s why I’ve gone for Pegasos,” she said.

Following her hospital discharge, she voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric ward but departed after a single night, likening the environment to a prison – a bed, a wardrobe minus its door, no toothbrush, a grimy beaker of tea.

“I did try to get better,” she said. “But you can take all the pills, you can go to all the counselling in the world – and I did. Ultimately, they can’t help you. They don’t have to live your life, and my life is agony. Even though I’ve got family, I’ve got friends, I’ve got my routines. I go to the park. I’m not lonely, but I still sit at night and I talk to Marcus, and I kiss the box I had made for his ashes and I say ‘goodnight, sunshine’ and I think ‘I don’t want to be in this world without you, Markie’. And I don’t. It’s as simple as that.”

What is Pegasos and how does it work?

Pegasos is a Swiss assisted dying facility that accepts cases based solely on psychiatric conditions – where no physical illness is present – as long as they satisfy stringent requirements. The condition must be serious, enduring and resistant to treatment. Numerous Swiss clinics, including the more well-known Dignitas, turn away such cases altogether.

Wendy first learned about Pegasos in 2024 when it was featured in an ITV investigation into the death of Alastair Hamilton, whose mother publicly branded the clinic a “cowboy clinic.” Despite the scathing coverage, Wendy’s response was instant.

“Wow. This is what I need,” she thought. She fired off an email requesting information and lodged a formal application in early 2025.

The procedure involved more than a year of correspondence – interviews, paperwork and the submission of her complete medical records and therapy history – carried out almost exclusively remotely via email and WhatsApp. A panel of specialists including psychiatrists examined her case and gave it the green light.

Under Swiss law, Wendy must administer the fatal medication herself.

“They put the line in but you’ve got to turn the doobra yourself to get it flowing. Then – ding, ding, ding – within a minute, you are in a coma, and a minute after that, you are gone,” she explained.

She opted to go out listening to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars singing Die With A Smile.

“You’ll never be able to hear that song now without thinking of me, will you?” she said. Wendy refused to end her own life in a manner that would leave others traumatised.

“I could step off a motorway bridge or a tower block but that would leave anyone finding me dealing with that for the rest of their lives,” she said. “I don’t want to put anyone through that.”

She held off until her two dogs had passed away from old age before booking a date at Pegasos. When the journalist suggested buying her a dog and leaving it on her doorstep to give her something to live for, she remained resolute.

“You could give me a house full of dogs. I’m doing this,” she said.

Her background working in the care sector, she explained, has given her a comfort around death that others might lack.

“Oh, I’ve seen death a million times. I’ve sat with so many people as they’ve gone. I’ve seen nice deaths, horrible deaths. I want a nice, gentle one.”

What does the clinic say?

Pegasos founder Ruedi Habegger confirmed Wendy had cleared her final psychiatric assessment, conducted earlier this week.

“Wendy is very decided. I saw her at her hotel today, I had a long talk with her and with the psychiatrist that is going to see her a second time before the VAD [voluntary assisted death]. He is very confident that we are doing the right thing letting her go, that we should not stand in her way. She is absolutely not in a depressive state. I’m very experienced in this field. There are no worries with Wendy, none at all,” he said.

He confirmed four of her siblings had been notified and given their approval. “Her family knew this was coming at one point or another. She is happy that she has their blessing. She feels content now, like a weight has been lifted,” Habegger said.

Wendy said: “I have told them all and they support me. They are sad, but they know what this has done to me.”

What has Wendy planned for her death?

Wendy has organised every single aspect. She has penned letters to those closest to her, picked out what she’ll wear and decided on the music to be played. She’ll be dressed in a t-shirt that belonged to Marcus – “it still smells of him” – and has requested the clinic’s large windows remain open so her spirit can escape freely. Her possessions, including her suitcase, will be given to an animal charity.

She’s unable to donate her organs and will be cremated in Switzerland. Her ashes will be sent back to relatives in the UK and scattered next to Marcus’s at a park bench dedicated to him.

“I hate funerals anyway and don’t want one. It’s all planned,” she said.

Wendy’s siblings – four sisters and two brothers – reportedly understood she’d applied to Pegasos but weren’t informed of the precise timing of her appointment, to shield them from potential legal consequences. Under UK law, anyone who helped her – even something as simple as giving her a lift to the airport – could face scrutiny or criminal charges.

Pegasos reached out to her family themselves. Wendy intends to ring them from Switzerland to say her final farewell.

“They will get it. They know. Honestly, 100 per cent, they know that I’m not happy, that I don’t want to be here,” she said.

Why is she speaking out? Journalist Jenny Johnson spent time with Wendy in the days leading up to her departure, finding a warm and funny woman who spoke about her approaching death with the calm composure of someone preparing for a holiday – bags packed, house vacuumed, already at peace.

Wendy said she chose to go public to contribute to the assisted dying debate, the latest stage of which is due to take place in the House of Lords imminently.

“I’m not breaking the law. I don’t feel I’m doing anything wrong. Yet for them, it’s a mess,” she said of her family’s position.

She is fully aware that her story will serve as “a grenade lobbed into the assisted dying debate” – yet remains utterly steadfast.

“My life; my choice,” she repeated. “I wish this was available in the UK, then I wouldn’t have to go to Switzerland at all.”

Her voluntary assisted death procedure is scheduled to take place on Friday.

If you are affected by issues discussed within this article, you may contact Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org