I think you're right about that. Totally brazen.

Hang 'em high..........

I've seen everyone of the Saw movies. And let me tell you, every new contraption or device to destroy a body that was introduced into the movie made me wonder how anyone could seriously come up with these absolutely horrific situations.

I am very glad to hear that she is safe. Poor girl, that had to have been quite tramatic.

Did the Saw movies predate this similar situation in Erie, Pennsylvania? I cannot remember the year but it had to do with a pizza delivery man - and he died.

"made me wonder how anyone could seriously come up with these absolutely horrific situations."

and I wonder, how can normal rational people watch ANY of those movies?

seriously, it takes a sick person to think it up...and an equally sick person to find that as entertainment. I know, its fake...and thats not the point.

I dont watch movies about kids being raped and molested, just because its "fake"...and call that entertainment.

My guess, this guy watches criminal minds.

They are still working to get the device off. It's not over yet.

yes, i agree totally. who would have the guts to be so cruel? being killed isnt why we were put on this earth!

I agree with you!

Nah, Battlefield Earth beat Saw to the punch on the exploding collar thing. My question is how did this not wake the girl up? No way I could sleep through having a collar put on unless I was drugged.

I want to know how you wear baklava!

This actually happened in real life before already. Unfortunately I don't remember many details, but somewhere in the US, I think in the south, a group of bank robbers did this to a guy. He was actually in on it and thought the bomb was fake, but was double crossed and they actually detonated while still on him. Still unsolved as far as I know.

Find the SOB and put it on him. Make sure it works.

Jason:

It was in Erie, PA. People posted about that further down in the comments. Post 11 talks about it.

This reminds me of the strange story of the guy just N. of Pittsburgh @ Erie who had this happen to him. He was a kinda loner who delivered pizzas for a living & was helplessly killed while the police watched as his "neckbracelet' exploded, killing him after he warned them there was a timer on it. He was not in on it!

Poor Soul! Glad this turned out much better. I've known the area she lived in & it is definately upper-class, so this probably is extortion & likely a "kid" who knew her. Hopefully, he/she or the "gang" will be caught soon. It saddens me to see Oz. going the way of the U.S. They have been sheltered for so long.

chochabalua - wasnt aware that people are incapable of having multiple trains of thought regarding a singular topic.

sorry that you are not as handicapable.

you can always refuse to read anything that doesnt seem on topic...no one has a bomb strapped to your neck or anything, ya know.

The perp was wearing BAKLAVA on his head...

they should be on the lookout for a GREEK PASTRY CHEF!

P.S. Glad she's okay!

I was just thinking the same thing. Straight out of the movies. Scary when stuff like that becomes reality.

Nowadays copycats emulate real life situations for the media coverage, and it shouldn't be long before these come out of the woodwork.

New form of personal terror...

Hey T.Fargo: It must have been Jigsaw himself????

People, it's balaclava, not baklava. Does anyone actually pay attention to what they read? Glad the girl is okay. Gotta wonder why there are so many sick people out there.

Some people just can't read. It's a balaclava not a Baklava. A balaclava is a mask that covers pretty much all of the head, neck and face except for the eyes. Also you can't blame it on Obama, we all know, he would blame it on Bush. After all, he has blamed everything else on Bush, why should we expect him to change his tune now? All said, I'm glad the Australians were able to free the girl. Now they just have to hunt down the guy that did it and save the tax payers the price of a trial with a 50 cent bullet between his eyes. Nothing like a lethal dose of lead poisoning for the creep.

lacy, they are joking on the sound of the word. Come on now.

I myself prefer to tape Gyros on my head.

hey key2joy; how many times are you going to make the stupid baklava comment? learn to read please.

Baklava Balaclava...........why so fancy schmancy why not just mask or ski mask??

My wife also said the same thing about knowing what Baklava is but what the &*^% is a balaclava................fancy fancy.

But Tony, doesn't the cucumber sauce run down into your eyes?

I love it. Sally deletes a comment that led to a derail and the next post states, "doesn't the cucumber sauce run down into your eyes?" I know that it is on topic but those two posts are hillarious next to eachother.

LOL, you are right Jackal. It will make someone wonder what that post said.

The sauce is part of the disguise Bubba, and also delicious.

Jessica, your train of thought is like the high speed trains in china!

We are living in a sick sick world.....

To JustAFlier....on the thighs honey....on the thighs. :O)

GeddyLee, it is fashionable to say something like that, but it is a specious argument.

Be grateful you did not live at pretty much anytime in the past. An examination of pretty much any time period in the past would reveal it to be far more cruel and inhuman than today. Everything is relative.

That being said, Rush rocks.

As one cynic pointed out: "Shall we arm ourselves to the teeth to battle off enemies in our minds?"

So if society is churning out so many mentally-ill, murderous and twisted, "sick minds" willing to terrorize and kill innocents for political, religious, emotional reasons, and in inventive, covert and creative ways -- other than pointing out the obvious -- just WHAT do we do about it?

Bakula? Isn't that the dude from Quantum Leap & Men of a Certain Age?

Or was it BLACKULA? Maybe the vampire thing is big DOWN UNDER.

People, GET A GRIP...I know the difference between Bakula, Baklava, Blackula & Balaclava. Just trying to be PUNNY! For gods sake...LIGHTEN UP WHY DON'TCHA!!!

I was going to add a work that begins with B that also sounds that way but could be considered inappropriate so I won't.

Triple Dog Dare You!!!

Wow. Sickos in Ozz.

SuperSonic Head ? Sheesh.

No thanx; I'm trying to cut back...

And balaclava sounds so hoodie chic. I bet Paris Hilton is involved in this somelhow

Those fun loving Aussies. Wait a minute. Anybody seen Paul Hogan lately? The last movie I saw him in he was watching one of those stupid-looking watch caps. A balaclava isn't too far away...

Isn't balaclava a flaky pastry desert? Or is that baclava?

Z1P2. I was thinking the same thing. What the hell is a balaclava anyway?

It must have been the word of the day on dictionary.com.

Could they just not have said ski mask?! (rolling eyes)

Thank god for wikipedia or I'd be up all night wondering what this guy was wearing. Turns out I've been known to don a balaclava from time to time, but only when I'm skiing, never extorting. Good thing I live half way around the world.

I work for a racing safety company and had never heard that term until I started here years ago. It is used for the fire-retardant soft cloth piece worn underneath a helmet to give one more protection. They look just like a ski mask. And that's probably the most useless and random information you'll get today.

Hey Up Uranus....Up Uranus!!!!!!!!!!!! That's from a smart American! And, I have to say...a bit of irony there, calling American's Dumb A$$es with a name like yours yah??? LOL rolling eyes

Uranus . . . I bet you dollars to donuts you too had to look up the word, no matter what part of the world you're gracing us from.

I thought it was like a Tutu

sandman-2135004

I work for a racing safety company and had never heard that term until I started here years ago. It is used for the fire-retardant soft cloth piece worn underneath a helmet to give one more protection. They look just like a ski mask. And that's probably the most useless and random information you'll get today.

And I swear to you that if you look me up 5 years from now it'll be the only information I remember from this article. For some reason my brain hangs on to useless information forever lol My husband calls me the "Queen of useless info"

I am the same 1SGFitzs. For some reason some info gets my attention and it gets saved in memory, while others gets dismissed as non important so I don't remember it later. Like faces I never forget, but if you intruduced yourself to me I would forget your name seconds later.

Most of the time MSNBC writers produce the worst-written stories, and now this one feels we all need to know what a ski mask is called. Go figure.

@ Uranus: I have a graduate degree and I've never seen the definition of this before today! So call me the 'dumb' American if you must. Anyone else out there also in the dark?

Yup, I had to look it up. Not exactly an everyday item.

As I said in a comment above, the authors for lack of anything sensible to say had to challenge our grammar in this test of what is another word for "SKI MASK" that is not edible although it sounds like it may be

The author just wanted to test out his new thesaurus. I was at a football game once and the announcer had a thesaurus in the booth with him so he could get different words for tackle. It made it a little more entertaining.

Thank you for our factiod of the day, Sandman.

I actually knew what a balaclava was ... points for me. However I did not know what a baklava was until today .... so there you go. I think the author of this article is averse to criticism though because the story now mentions a ski mask.

I also know what a balaclava is - but only because I've been reading "thrillers" or whatever you call them (definitely not for the intellectuals among you) set in London - the bad guys are always wearing these things! Apparently not a word our side of the pond uses much.

The Canadian side of the pond is familiar with balaclava, but then we're also familiar with winter too. :)

Tony I'm worse then that names? AS IF! Faces yeah I wouldn't count on me in a line up, BUT if you needed to know that if they built a computer that could hold as much info as our brains do then it would be 12 stories high and the size of Texas, I'm all over it! My husband's always telling me I should go on Jeopardy I'd make a killing.

Though I should thank my mother for my "advanced vocabulary" considering when I was between the ages of 6 and 18 when I'd get in trouble my punishment was writing words and definitions out of the dictionary and once I finished the dictionary it was on to a thesaurus etc etc..

BTW glad to see you! You always make me laugh.

lol Polar Bear 7! My Canadian friends always say in Canada you have winter and 3 months of bad skiing.

However I did not know what a baklava was until today

they're pretty tasty actually, I get them at Greek restaurants

They're still working on it.

Are you serious? Please try reading the article. Pay particular attention to all the words in the present tense.

"...A young woman held captive by what was reported to be a "collar bomb" is now safe after being released from the device..."

WOW! Some people are just clueless. How could you not figure it out from the HEADLINE! America continues to sink into stupidity.

Rooster, when the article was originally posted, it didn't have that headline. The teen hadn't been freed yet when the story was originally posted, and the article ended very abruptly without saying if it was ongoing or not. I read the original article, and it had very little information in it.

MSN does this a lot. They post an incomplete article, and then they update it when they get the information about the story.

Easy rooster! The story has been updated to reveal that.

hmmmmmmmmmmmm Please read the Caption.. then read the very first paragraph of the story and it will tell you.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm The caption and the story absolutely do not say if the device was diffused. Maybe all you piling on this guy need to look up what diffused means?

It says they "separated" it from the girl and "The device was still intact upon its removal from the girl" but it does not say it they successfully diffused it.

Reading comprehension, when you call someone on it, don't be guilty at the same time on the same story!

The 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy Australian businessman was reunited with her family Wednesday night after police freed her from a suspected bomb that a ski-mask-clad intruder left around her neck, authorities said. Does that answer your question enough kibblbits7 ?

The updated article states that the device actually contained no explosives, but was an elaborate hoax.

I know the police have to keep certain things confidential, but there must have been a reason. Did the ransom note actually ask for a ransom? Did he seriously want money, or did he just want to scare the girl and her family?

I truly hope they find the monster that did this to that poor girl. And even if he/she is never caught, karma can be a real bitch!!!
On a side note,@ Sirlafalot: There was a joke back in 1986 that began making the rounds after the Challenger explosion. Depending on your age, you might know of it. It goes something like " Did you know that Christa McAuliffe was blue eyed? Yeah. One blew one way and the other blew another."

"Maybe all you piling on this guy need to look up what diffused means?"

How ironically funny!

The collqar bomb pre-dates the saw movies by quite a few years. I have read about the concept in Sci-fi stories, seen it in Sci-fi movies, and seen it on TV all before the Saw movies came out.

Chances are good this person has been arrested before most likely after hurting a girl or women but the judges these days seem to have more sympathy for the criminals than their victim. Chances are he was released with a slap on the wrist if that. How often have you read where one of these bleeding heart judges after having released someone with a history of violence committing another crime usually more violent than his original crime sometime leading to someones death. That is what the death penalty is for how many murders have been released only to kill again.

Running man is probably the first american reference for such a device (in film), but in literature? when did Battle Royale come out? still freaky story... (as far as i know, all the people thought to be involved in the Erie Pa case are dead...?

Either that or the Rutger Hauer movie Deadlock/Wedlock where his character is in a prison where the prisoners are wearing collars that detonate when two (no one is supposed to know who their partners are) seperate by more than 100 yards or tries to take their collar off. The prison has no walls and with this system, it does appear to work. I'll settle with a tracking/shocking device placed around their neck anyway, something that prevents anyone from escaping or blending in public (it will be big) and with a remote it can at least knock them out with a shock when they get out of line.

At least in Running Man it blows their head off, not split their head open or forces their jaws wide open or rotates their head 180 degrees.

You aren't serious, are you? You think this bomb is going to blow up if she "says the wrong thing"? It has some sort of speech recognition built into it? This has nothing to do with someone disagreeing with something. READ THE ARTICLE! This 18 year old girl is part of Australia's richest family. This is an extortion attempt.

So glad you're not OK with shooting someone. You criticize the article for saying the obvious, and you give us this trash? Look in the mirror next time before you complain.

As far as I know, they're still working on it.

READ THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE!! Did you skip that, or what??

Gsgal, if you READ THE TIME HE POSTED THAT it shows 7:32 AM and the story at the time said bomb on teens neck, and nothing more.

Story was continually updated. MSNBC does this a lot without re-initializing the comment pages (that's not a complaint).

As long as people understand this, it is good Steve. I would hate to have to go through different comment pages for each update.

So would I.

A very similar thing happened here in Erie, PA a few years ago. The guy with the bomb strapped to him had originally entered into a conspiracy to rob a bank. The plan he entered into said the bomb would be fake. Well, the other two people decided to get rid of him and strapped a real bomb to him instead. He tried to back out of it - but they physically forced the bomb on him. You're right - they didn't get the bomb diffused here in Erie quickly enough and the man died. The two people he conspired with were caught and sentenced to many years (I can't remember if it was truly life or just long enough that it will most likely be a life sentence - and I don't believe there was any parole possible).

I just posted about this upthread. Wasn't he a pizza delivery guy or something?

biteme: Yes, he was a pizza delivery guy.

Isn't this the premise for the new Danny McBride comedy coming out? "30 Minutes or Less"

The story I read about it also said that the overall plan and bomb were too sophisticated for the 2 people that were convicted. The story had talked about some other mastermind involved, but I think he died at some point too without ever being fully implicated. This story was in Esquire or Maxim, I forget.

Jawson: We were living in Pittsburgh at the time & the papers & T.V. ( KDKA) reported what you said about the sophistication of the bomb & how neither convicted could have been that sophisticated in their bomb making abilities-i.e. not just some modified pipe bomb offa the Internet. And although he, the victim, supposedly knew them, they finally said he wasn't implicated. The impression I got was that they might have picked someone with a lower, but functioning, I.Q. to be their patsy.

Diabolical, if true!

I wondered at the time, if the movie, "Saw," might have inspired some truly demented individual to do this. I honestly can't see how anyone could watch the rest of the series; I couldn't.

"...had originally entered into a conspiracy to rob a bank"

I'm not convinced what he was in on it. The police can only site one questionable "link" between him and the robbers and the coerced testimony of one of the planners. And the fact that they sat around and watched him die gives them motive to do everything they can to make him one of the criminals to cover their own buts.

Aghh, I keep trying to post a reply and it keeps having errors. Anyway - what I was going to say is that I was only going by the information the US attorney prosecuting the case said. Could've Wells' been a patsy - absolutely.

Yes, still working on it.

Sounds like an episode of Outer Limits.

The Twilight Zone.

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone.
—Rod Serling

sad only because of sin. if people would realize the Lord God surely lives they may see the hope in His law and His grace and truth. there is life beyond this earth and restoration can star today, this world is wonderful refection of Gods creationYHWH Father Creator who dwelt among human Yeshua the Word become flesh, this world is torn and tainted by sin and that is why death and acts like these occur, we can live again and have freedom in Christ God is love but love will take action. People need born again of Spirit to see the real truth of the law and the Spirit of law which gives the freedom and liberty to do Gods work and conquered the grave .

I last read that they're still working to defuse it.

Crystal-1845330

This is happening in real life and real time. This is not a CSI or 24 TV show so it can't be packaged in a 30 minute episode. We have to wait for the conclusion so think of it this time as a commercial break and go grab a snack out of the fridge.

ivoice:

No one is thinking this is a TV show, but the article stops very abruptly without saying if they're working on it or not. I assumed by the fact that there was no conclusion in the article that it was still ongoing, but I think stating that in the article would avoid a lot of confusion.

lol ivoice.

Crystal, you sound like a spoiled brat with your ranting. I don't want to work. I want more information. The writers don't give ME enough information blah blah blah.

I can't resist saying...

Crystal, you sound like a spoiled brat with your ranting.

lisa-3322183 you sound like something that rhymes with "judgmental witch".

Read the title. She's free. Read the article. They don't know who did it or at least aren't saying publicly.

mommy:

The article changed after these posts were made. They updated it with that information long after some of us had read it. I read the article at 8am, and she wasn't freed yet, and it contained very little information.

Thank God! She is safe now. And bless the men who risked their lives to save her.

With the new revalation that the bomb was a fake... one can't help but wonder about the possibility that the girl arranged it all to get some attention...or for her own amusement...