| The Ranger |
[Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
WOMAN THINKS DIGIT FOUND AT WENDY'S IS ONE LOST TO LEOPARD
By Linda Goldston
San Jose Mercury News
The chili finger saga got a little murkier Wednesday.
In one of the strangest twists yet, a Nevada woman said she thinks the
partial finger found in a bowl of chili at a San Jose Wendy's three weeks
ago is the same finger bitten off her hand by a pet spotted leopard on Feb.
23.
The only problem is Sandy Allman doesn't know how the finger made it
from Nevada to San Jose, her attorney said.
"The last place she saw her finger and waved goodbye to her finger was
in a plastic bag in what used to be ice in the emergency room of Sunrise
Hospital in Las Vegas," said Philip Sheldon, an Encino attorney who said he
is a 20-year friend of Allman.
"They said to her, 'what do you want to do with the finger?'" Sheldon
said. "She said 'the finger is infected, you can't re-attach it and I don't
want a souvenir.'"
And the only problem with that -- one of many problems police are
having with the case -- is that Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center has no
record of a partial finger being left in its emergency room, said hospital
spokeswoman Glenda McCartney.
"We do have a record of her being treated at the hospital," McCartney
said. "She was treated on Feb. 23 and released."
However, she said, "there is no record that the patient presented with
a detached digit." She declined to say more, citing a federal medical
privacy law.
The woman who said she found a fingertip in a bowl of Wendy's chili
while dining in South San Jose on March 22 did not answer the phone at her
Las Vegas home. On Tuesday, 39-year-old Anna Ayala decided not to pursue any
legal action against Wendy's, saying the publicity has traumatized her and
her family.
Ayala's decision came on the same day the Mercury News learned of
Allman's accident which cost her the tip of a middle finger in Pahrump,
which is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.
Sheldon said he would bet his reputation that Allman is not involved
with the case in any way, except for her finger.
"I've known this woman for 20 years," he said. "She lives in a trailer
in the middle of Pahrump, Nev. . . . with at least 17 dogs and I don't know
how many cats. She never heard Anna Ayala's name until your newspaper
called."
Sheldon said Allman is willing to give a DNA sample and will cooperate
with police. San Jose police did talk to Allman on Wednesday afternoon but
did not ask her for a DNA sample, he said.
Police declined to discuss any details of the case that began when
Ayala -- a former San Jose resident who now lives in Las Vegas -- said she
found a human finger in her chili.
Five investigators are tracking down leads from across the country.
"We're exploring several avenues of investigation simultaneously,"
Capt. Dave Keneller said Wednesday. "I can't comment any further because it
could compromise the ongoing investigation."
Keneller declined to say whether police will ask Allman for a DNA
sample to compare with the chunk of finger found in the chili.
The Mercury News reported Tuesday that a leopard named Anthony bit off
part of Allman's finger while she was preparing to turn over the exotic cat
and other animals to a rescue group from an exotic animal sanctuary based
just outside San Antonio.
Carol Asvestas, director of the Wild Animal Orphanage, called the
Mercury News after first calling a tips hotline established by Wendy's.
Asvestas had gone to Allman's to rescue some exotic animals, including
Anthony the leopard.
Allman was showing the animals to Asvestas and several other people
when she turned "and Anthony decided he wanted lunch," Sheldon said. "He bit
off part of her finger."
"They then take this finger, put it on ice in a plastic bag and take it
to whatever medical center in Pahrump," he said. "They said you have to go
to Las Vegas. She was transported to Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas by
ambulance. They look at it and say, 'we can't re-attach it, maybe you should
go to Sunrise Hospital.'"
By then, he said, too much time had passed and it was no longer
possible to successfully reattach the finger because the risk of infection
was too great.
Allman had seen television news accounts of the finger found in a bowl
of chili but had not paid attention to the name of the woman who found it,
Sheldon said.
But on Wednesday, when Allman saw a picture of the finger found in the
chili on television, she realized it most likely was hers, he said. Police
say the Wendy's finger is 1 1/2 inches long and Sheldon said Allman's
detached digit was three-quarters of an inch long.
Otherwise, "it was a manicured finger, she manicures her nails," he
said. "We also know it wasn't cleanly cut, it was punctured."
"I'm dying for police to do the DNA," Sheldon said. "Once we know it's
Sandy's finger, then the real question becomes: How did the finger get
there? The answer is who knows somebody at Sunrise Hospital?"
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| Gal Called Jani |
One time on Usenet, "The Ranger" <cuhulain_-98@yahoo.com> quoted:
> [Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
<snip>
> "I'm dying for police to do the DNA," Sheldon said. "Once we know it's
> Sandy's finger, then the real question becomes: How did the finger get
> there? The answer is who knows somebody at Sunrise Hospital?"
How close is the company that supplies the meat in Wendy's chili
to that hospital? Reminds me of a butcher's shop in Central PA that
usually had a hearse parked out front...
--
Jani in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same
way that bricks don't" - D. Adams, HGTTG
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| jmcquown |
Gal Called Jani wrote:
> One time on Usenet, "The Ranger" <cuhulain_-98@yahoo.com> quoted:
>
>> [Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
>
> <snip>
>
>> "I'm dying for police to do the DNA," Sheldon said. "Once we
>> know it's Sandy's finger, then the real question becomes: How did
>> the finger get there? The answer is who knows somebody at Sunrise
>> Hospital?"
>
> How close is the company that supplies the meat in Wendy's chili
> to that hospital? Reminds me of a butcher's shop in Central PA that
> usually had a hearse parked out front...
ROFL! Did you ever see that obscure film "Eating Raoul"?
Jill
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| Nancy Young |
"Gal Called Jani" <jjsworldSPAM@BLOCKERzipcon.com> wrote
> How close is the company that supplies the meat in Wendy's chili
> to that hospital?
I think it's safe to say the woman came by it and
put it in the chili herself, as people said when it
first happened. Funny how suddenly she's no
longer in the mood for a lawsuit. Right.
nancy
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| Dog3 |
"jmcquown" <jmcquown@bellsouth.net> wrote in
news:2OI7e.66081$vL3.29713@bignews4.bellsouth.net:
> Gal Called Jani wrote:
>> One time on Usenet, "The Ranger" <cuhulain_-98@yahoo.com> quoted:
>>
>>> [Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> "I'm dying for police to do the DNA," Sheldon said. "Once we
>>> know it's Sandy's finger, then the real question becomes: How did
>>> the finger get there? The answer is who knows somebody at Sunrise
>>> Hospital?"
>>
>> How close is the company that supplies the meat in Wendy's chili
>> to that hospital? Reminds me of a butcher's shop in Central PA that
>> usually had a hearse parked out front...
>
> ROFL! Did you ever see that obscure film "Eating Raoul"?
>
> Jill
Did you see 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover'? What a scream.
Michael <- has it on VHS and has not looked too hard to find it on DVD
--
Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest
violence.
-- Hebrew proverb
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| Doug Weller |
On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 10:05:42 -0700, in rec.food.cooking, The Ranger wrote:
>[Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
>
>WOMAN THINKS DIGIT FOUND AT WENDY'S IS ONE LOST TO LEOPAR
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-fing15.html
Authorities find no link between Wendy's finger, one lost in attack
"Sandy Allman, 59, lost a 3/4-inch fingertip Feb. 23 in the attack by a
spotted leopard being kept at her home in rural Pahrump.
Las Vegas resident Anna Ayala claimed she found a 1-1/2-inch fingertip on
March 22 while eating at a Wendy's in San Jose"
It grew?
Doug
--
Doug Weller -- exorcise the demon to reply
Doug & Helen's Dogs http://www.dougandhelen.com
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
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| Gal Called Jani |
One time on Usenet, "jmcquown" <jmcquown@bellsouth.net> said:
> Gal Called Jani wrote:
> > One time on Usenet, "The Ranger" <cuhulain_-98@yahoo.com> quoted:
> >
> >> [Another twist in that finger fiasco... The Ranger]
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> >> "I'm dying for police to do the DNA," Sheldon said. "Once we
> >> know it's Sandy's finger, then the real question becomes: How did
> >> the finger get there? The answer is who knows somebody at Sunrise
> >> Hospital?"
> >
> > How close is the company that supplies the meat in Wendy's chili
> > to that hospital? Reminds me of a butcher's shop in Central PA that
> > usually had a hearse parked out front...
>
> ROFL! Did you ever see that obscure film "Eating Raoul"?
Heh, yes I have -- it's been a long time, but I remember it being quite
funny...
--
Jani in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same
way that bricks don't" - D. Adams, HGTTG
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