Re: Dunaruna, Kiwi Phil & Get Reel
Missing Australian found in jail<br /><br />08sep05<br /><br />A MELBOURNE man feared missing in the hurricane-devastated US city of New Orleans has been found safe and well in jail. <br /><br />Tourist Ashley McDonald, of Narre Warren, was arrested in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit last week. then was transferred out of the devastated city, his sister Jasmine Mutnansky said today. <br />"They evacuated the prisoners and they were scattered all over...," she said. <br /><br />Her brother has since turned up in Huntsville, Alabama. <br /><br />"It's not the most classy ending, but I'm glad he's safe and sound and it's over," she said. <br /><br />Police had earlier recovered Mr McDonald's credit cards and driver's licence in a hotel room in Baton Rouge, and fears for his safety increased when they were unable to find him. <br /><br />Overnight, Australian federal police tracked Mr McDonald to the jail. <br /><br />They were this morning on their way to determine the nature of the charges against him and to find out if he could be released. <br /><br />Ms Mutnansky believed he was arrested in New Orleans on August 27, almost as soon as he arrived in the city. <br /><br />She said he was most likely arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. <br /><br />"He probably had one too many and got loud ? it wouldn't have been anything serious," Ms Mutnansky said from her home in Tennessee. <br /><br />Ms Mutnansky said her brother appeared to have lost his wallet in a mugging before his arrest. <br /><br />She said police discovered three people at the Baton Rouge hotel had used Mr McDonald's credit card. <br /><br />But no charges were laid because the three told local police Mr McDonald had given them his wallet voluntarily while they were drinking at a bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on August 27 - the day he arrived in New Orleans and was arrested. <br /><br />Mr McDonald, 30, was the last Australian tourist believed missing on the US Gulf Coast. <br /><br />A further five Australians who remain unaccounted for are all long-term New Orleans residents. <br /><br />Mr McDonald had planned to start his US holiday in the French Quarter of New Orleans before visiting his sister in nearby Tennessee. <br /><br />He had not made contact with his family since arriving in the city. <br /><br />Mr McDonald's parents, Sharon Thomas and Doug McDonald, rushed to the United States earlier this week and began searching the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. <br /><br />The family feared the worst when Mr McDonald's credit cards and identification were traced to the hotel, but Australian and local police and a consular official did not find him there. <br /><br />Ms Mutnansky said her parents had given up the search in despair and decided to fly to Tennessee to be with her and grieve. <br /><br />"We honestly thought he was dead when they found his credit card and spoke to those three," she said. "My parents thought there was no point staying in Houston." <br /><br />"But then a federal police officer called me and said he had good news - (Ashley) got arrested. <br /><br />"It's a real happy ending, but it's not a glamorous ending." <br /><br />Ms Mutnansky said she would break the good news to her parents when they arrived in Tennessee today.
Only the weather can save the Poms at the Oval! 
