Investigators across the country are trying new tactics to crack down on the old problem of auto insurance fraud.

The tools to combat the crime, from health insurance fraud mills in New York to “swoop and squat” schemes in California, include wiretaps, undercover agents and prosecutors who view such fraud as organized crime.

In 2001, New York Gov. George Pataki appointed state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as special counsel to investigate the fraud that has helped drive up New Yorkers’ auto insurance premiums to second highest in the nation, second only to New Jersey.

New York Deputy Attorney General Peter Pope, who oversees 100 lawyers and 100 investigators statewide as the head of the office’s criminal division, said simply going after street-level perpetrators isn’t enough.

There are over 3.6 million persons over the age of 65 in the state of California. Researchers estimate that four to five percent of the elder population in California suffers from one or more episodes of elder abuse in their lifetime.

Unfortunately, only one out of every 14 cases of elder abuse is reported. Up to 100 suspected cases of elder abuse are reported each year in the Fallbrook Command, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow and De Luz). Let us hope that the one-in-14 rule does not apply here in the Friendly Village of Fallbrook.

Abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, neglect or financial. The abusers can be anyone in a position of trust: a caregiver, neighbor, personal advisor, befriending stranger or family member. Abuse in any form is wrong and illegal.

Only a small percentage of the population is ever touched by the unexplained disappearance of a loved one.

That’s not the case for Michele Long of Coushatta, who has suffered not once but twice.

For seven worrisome months in 2001, the Long family agonized over the whereabouts of Wendi Long, 21, of Martin. Wendi Long was Michele Long’s niece “” the daughter of brother-in-law Luke Long and wife Karol. Wendi Long left a party in Shreveport on April 13, 2001, and never made it home.

Investigators across the country are trying new tactics to crack down on the old problem of auto insurance fraud.

The tools to combat the crime from health insurance fraud mills in New York to “swoop and squat” schemes in California include wiretaps, undercover agents and prosecutors who view auto fraud as organized crime.

In 2001, New York Gov. George Pataki appointed state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as special counsel to investigate the fraud that has helped drive up New Yorkers’ auto insurance premiums to second highest in the nation, second only to New Jersey.

A Knoxville man wanted for ripping off customers who paid to cremate their pets is back in jail.

Bail bondsmen found Mikel Bradley in Miami Wednesday.

But Bradley, who missed a court appearance eight months ago and spoke publicly for the first time Thursday, said he didn’t know he was a wanted man.

He said his lawyer was supposed to take care of everything.

EX-COMVERSE HEAD, SOUGHT IN SCANDAL, DROPS FROM SIGHT

In the unfolding saga of stock-option fraud, few characters are more curious than an Israeli entrepreneur named Jacob “Kobi” Alexander.

The 54-year-old entrepreneur, who nurtured Comverse Technology from a penny-stock, high-tech wannabe to a leading producer of voice-mail software with 5,000 employees, fled the United States this month rather than face charges of scheming to manipulate stock options.

Israeli newspapers reported Thursday that a private investigator had sighted Alexander in a fishing village in Sri Lanka. U.S. authorities had little to say about the reports, except that they are continuing their efforts to reel him in.

Every year images of teachers are plastered all over televisions and news stands and it’s not because they are being given some prestigious award.

In fact, it’s just the opposite. They are being accused of what many consider the worst crime in this country: sexual assault against a child.

Pamela Rogers, an elementary school teacher was charged with having sex with one of her 13 year old students. She was sentenced to 9 months in jail but was released in six months due to good behavior. However, she got into trouble again for violating her probation when she used the internet to contact the 13 year old boy and his family. She also sent him a home video of herself doing a striptease. When Rogers appeared in court on July 14, 2006, she told the judge., “I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s clear I wasn’t thinking. I was blinded by emotions that I’m ashamed that I had.” The judge sentenced her to seven years in prison for probation violation.

Armin Brott: Ask Mr. Dad

Dear Mr. Dad: How can I find a baby sitter or nanny on the Internet? And once I’ve found someone who sounds decent, how can I investigate her background and qualifications?

A: When it comes to baby sitters and nannies, nothing beats using someone you know as a reference. Start with friends and acquaintances who have kids, then check with local schools, churches and synagogue groups.

If you’ve already exhausted those resources, there are plenty of other Internet options. Start your search with local Web sites — you’ll have a much better shot a finding someone who leaves nearby, and it’ll be a lot easier to check references.

Ninety-nine percent of Steve Hedrick’s job is sheer boredom - lounging in a car, drinking stale coffee and smoking cigarettes.

“You’re just sitting there watching a house, waiting for someone to pop their head out,” said the 49-year-old private investigator who tracks down bail jumpers for Allied Bail Bonds.

But the other one percent of the job is sheer terror, because you never know how someone is going to react.”

Despite media portrayals of the profession, the job, he states, is nowhere near as exciting as that of, say, Duane Chapman, the flamboyant star of the A&E reality series “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” (Last week, Chapman had a lawsuit filed against him for an arrest gone awry.)

The recent allegation that 104-year-old Brooke Astor, a multimillionaire who for decades was one of New York’s foremost socialites and philanthropists, was living in squalor made for juicy media headlines.

But few reporters went beyond the headlines to focus on the bigger story: The growing elder-abuse crisis. Some facts:

As many as 5 million elderly Americans are injured, exploited or mistreated every year by someone on whom they depend for care or protection, according to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.

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