An AMBER ALERT was issued in Iowa at 3:33-p.m. Saturday, March 7th, for 9-year old Brianna Christine Elise Crane, who was allegedly abducted in Solon at around 2:30-p.m.

Brianna Crane

Brianne is hearing impaired, 4-feet tall, and weighs about 85 pounds. She was brown hair, hazel eyes, as was last seen wearing blue jeans, black high top shoes and an unknown color/style blouse.

It’s believed she and the suspect, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns, are in a gray 2014 Ford Focus, with license plate CKJ 484. He is described as being a 48-year old white male, 6-feet tall, weighing 210 pounds. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, and is clean shaven. He was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and gray, Ocean Pacific shoes. The suspect is possibly armed and dangerous.

As of 4:45-p.m., it was believed the pair may be in or near southeastern Iowa.

Kenneth Eugene Johns (Alleged abductor)

If you see the suspect or have any information about the child’s location, call 9-1-1 or the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 515-443-3014. Do not attempt to confront the suspect!

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man who fell through the ice of a western Iowa lake is recovering after being rescued. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that rescue crews were called to Big Lake at Council Bluffs around 3 p.m. Friday. Authorities found the man in the water about 70 feet from shore.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad Nocita says workers used a boat to get to him and pull him from the water. The man, whose name has not been released, was treated at a local hospital. A witness says the man was fishing with two boys on a dock when he walked on the ice. Both boys tried to help pull the man out.

Nocita says one of the boys was treated at the scene; the other didn’t need treatment.

The driver of  a pickup truck fell asleep at the wheel Saturday morning, causing his pickup to crash. The Iowa State Patrol says 19-year old Zachary Thomas, of Council Bluffs, was driving a 2007 Ford Ranger northbound on Interstate 29 in Fremont County, when he fell asleep just before 7:30-a.m.. The pickup veered off the road and into the median.

Thomas woke up and took corrective action that caused the pickup to fishtail around and roll numerous times before re-entering I-29. The vehicle rolled across both northbound lanes of traffic before coming to rest in a ditch upside down on top of a fence. Thomas, who was wearing his seat belt, was transported by Tabor Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs.

With St. Patrick’s Day approaching March 17th, the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is putting out advance notice that a Special Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) will take place in the days leading up to the holiday. Extra law enforcement officers will be on the roads March 13-17, 2015, to keep Iowa motorists safe. 

Officials say the weekend leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and the day itself, is a particularly deadly time, with a dramatic spike in drunk-driving fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2013, 40-percent of all crash fatalities during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend involved drunk drivers, and that number rose to 55-percent in the post-party hours of midnight – 6:00 a.m., of March 18th. Almost 75-percent of those fatalities involved drivers who were twice the legal limit. Over the last four years, nationwide, drunk driving kills on average 68 people each St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Authorities say before you take your first sip of green beer, make a plan. If you become impaired and don’t have a designated driver, call a friend, relative, cab or use public transportation to get home safely. If you think a cab fare is expensive, consider the average $10,000 expense of getting an OWI, including higher insurance rates, attorney fees, court costs, towing fees, lost wages, and other unanticipated expenses. Above all, they say “Be safe and smart this St. Patrick’s Day holiday! Whether you’re buzzed or drunk, it doesn’t matter. Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving – drive sober.”