Well, I think if she stayed out of trouble this long, hence the words this long... was it a serious enough offense that she committed, to have the search investigation be put on hold. The officials obviously weren't looking to hard or they would have found her. My goodness, they can track a car, a phone, a library book, now adays. I believe if she made it this long with out doing anything wrong, obviously the stint she did serve was a well learned lesson (even though she escaped), that taught her to not get in trouble anymore. Give her a break. She learned her lesson. Maybe the criminals now need to go to where she was. It was obviously bad enough for her to clean her act up, assuming she was guilty.

I too do not think it is a joke.

Beth committed a crime, BUT how many drug heads, child molesters, and even murders go to prison... serve a few years....then are called rehabilitated...they are released...they get out and within a year's time and they commit the same damn crime again, or even a worse crime than the one before??

So actually Beth just kinda skipped a part and saved the tax payers a bundle of money. She rehabilitated herself at her own expense and did a fantastic job of doing so. She worked her ass off in the fields and did other jobs that she could. She made her own way.

No one knows why she commited the forgery, but it could have very well been to support her family.

What she did was wrong, BUT, all these years she has lead a good and law abiding life. That should count for something and in my opinion anyone who can live the life that she did for 40 years deserves to be forgiven. She really cared for people and she showed her love in many ways.

She made a mistake and compounded it by escaping but until you are in those shoes she was in don't judge her so harshly.

Beth is a good hearted and kind person and I hope that the law will take all that in consideration and let her off with a light punishment such as probabtion.

Also I for one can not believe that you are making a joke out of this and find it so humorous.

Your comments were just on the little side of being a smart mouth teenager who needs attention.

I wonder if you are ONE of the FEW who may have had a dislike for Beth and that is why you find it humorous that this is happening?

Not that it matters to you I am sure...but you sure went down a notch or two with your write up on this.

I agree. And maybe she has been a good abiding citizen (since her last escape)or maybe she has not (who is to make this decision anyway) that does not excuse the crime she was charged and convicted of. I would hate to think what this country would be if we started "OK'ing" the law with assumptions of behavior and just throwing out our justice system. The old saying you can run but you can't hide seems to be a good fit here. Now on the other hand had she turned herself in after escaping from prison, that would be a sign of some kind of remorse, otherwise.....its still dishonesty. Actions really do speak louder than words.

"I would hate to think what this country would be if we started "OK'ing" the law with assumptions of behavior and just throwing out our justice system."

This is happening EVERYDAY right NOW everywhere....and with much, much worse crimes than forgery!!

Ask any cop in a big city what they think of the judicial system. They catch the bad guy...he is sent to jail...serve less than half the time they were sent for..gets out and starts all over again.

A rapist goes to jail and gets out for "good behavior" in a short time...much shorter than the 4 years that Beth spent for forgery and turns around and rapes again... except this time he kills his victim...

A mother murders her 5 children..chases them down and drowns them one by one and she is said to be insane and within 2 years she is out!!

The list can go on and on about horrendous crimes and the criminal gets out in a few years and they are not rehabilitated and they do the same thing again.

I am not saying Beth did not commit a crime...for she did, BUT, she has been the model citizen for 40 years in Senath and the surrounding area and she spent 4 years in the pen so why shouldn't she be pardon and forgiven and let off. It is done all the time for the hard core criminals so why can't a criminal who has committed a crime such as forgery and has changed their ways be given a pardon?

You asked....What decent, moral, and mature adult would back this kind of action up? I am decent, I have morals, and I am very mature of 60 years and I would stand by her and ask for her to be forgiven and be given a full pardon for TIME already served and for good behavior that she has lived by the past 40 years. I bet Jesus would too.

No matter how you print it and explain it, I would not find this situation humorous and I am sure her family who is in shock over this does not find it humorous either.

I would be willing to bet you and anyone else who thinks like you do would have a different opinion, if it was someone you were close to, or, if it was YOUR mother or a family member. No I am not a family member, BUT yes, I do know her and know what type of person she has been while living in Senath.

Do not think that just because you teach your child the rights and wrongs of life they will always abide by your teachings.

You just may find yourself in a situation that you can not believe is true and others find humorous but you find it heartbreaking and then and only then will you understand what I am trying to say.

I regret that you can not find understanding and compassion for some one who made a big mistake when they were young and for ever reason...maybe fear....did not turn themselves in, but, that person went on made a very productive and caring citizen out of herself and NEVER broke any laws after the mistake.

Unless you walk a mile in someone shoes you don't know what you would do .

Why not give her a break. We have twelve to thirty million illegal aliens here breaking the rule of law while openly flaunting their illegality, and the legal system doesn't give a tinker's dam about bringing them to justice.

Oh, silly me, I forgot, she is an American citizen, so off with her head.

GOOD POINT, LIVED THERE ONCE! Not to mention the fact that over half of the ones that are causing the issues in this country have immunity! Poor woman in on up there in age and probably wouldn't survive in prison these days. Not to mention the fact that they are overcrowded now. I believe that she has carried the weight of what she did or did not do all these years and that is something that she and God will have to work out. As for our laws, if the ones who create them won't follow them, i.e. the illegal immigrants, 3x more felonies still walking, etc, then how could we, as humans, demand them to throw an elderly woman back in prison. How is it, we could find Sadam Hussein when we wanted him, but a woman that broke out of prison was unfound for more than 40 years??? Something tells me they didn't want her in the first place, and now our sick, twisted minds want and crave the miry clay, and the thoughts of 'justice served' so much that we would accept it at any cost. I have issues with that. What about the drug dealers living in the city that my elderly grandmother lives in? Selling drugs on the street corner and the cops are the number one buyer!!! What about the child molesters that park outside of school grounds and claim they are having vehicle trouble just so they can envision their next victim? And what about all the veterans who need so much and but receive so little? I think there are so many more issues that we need to face and deal with than this poor woman who was trying to move on. She didn't kill anyone! People who commit murder get off easier than someone with a traffic violation. I think the general public should re-prioritize their standings!!

Very good point 'lived there once'. All the illegal aliens we have here and no one is trying to fight to make sure they are punished for breaking the law. Or how about all the people who are giving them jobs... ILLEGAL yet they are getting away with it. OMG, I'm so glad you made the observation!!!

Forgery - illegal aliens - hiring illegal aliens.

Deanna maybe you could do a story on people who break the law by hiring illegal aliens.

Re:deannacoronado

As to what can be done about illegal aliens? Simple, enforce existing laws on the books. Under the constitution we are all supposed to be equal under the law, but when it comes to illegal aliens, that concept today is turned on it's head and naught but a sick, sick, joke.

Pearl Elizabeth Martin's original crime was forgery, and for that she was convicted and sentenced. Illegal aliens forging documents is commonplace, not once, but for some, multiple times. When illegal alien's steal an American citizen's SS number and ID, it often results in said citizens life being destroyed, their credit ratings go into the tank, having to prove their innocence when accused of crimes actually committed by the thief etc, etc.

But instead of enforcing immigration laws, we get this nonsense by our illustrious politicians. Under stimulus package, illegal aliens to get tax rebates, whether they paid taxes or not.

This means, the government knows who these criminals are, where they live, where they work, and who their lawbreaking employer's are. Instead of enforcing the law, we give these criminal's rebates. Even the illegals that filed, but paid no taxes, will now get free money, paid for by legal US citizen taxpayers, is this not a great country or what?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=illegal+alien...

Notice, they sneak into the US and live here without documents, but they can't go back home to live in their own country without documents. The irony of it all is astounding.

John McCain and the amnesty crowd must be deeply saddened.

As per: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,329829,00.html

"Illegals Begin Leaving Arizona as New Law Approaches

AGIA PRIETA, Mexico -- For the first time, Mexican officials in Arizona admit there is hard evidence illegal immigrants are preparing to leave the state because a new employer sanctions law is making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to keep a job.

Illegal immigrants are flooding the Mexican consulate in Phoenix for documents that will allow them to return to Mexico to enroll their children in school, the consul to Arizona, Carlos Flores Vizcarra, told FOX News. They are also requesting a document called "menaje de casa," which allows illegal immigrant families living in the U.S. to cross into Mexico without paying a tax on their furniture and personal belongings."

The whole social security situations deserves much needed reform all around anyway. It is a lose-lose situation for all tax payers.

rddogoli: I must agree with you when it comes to a great population of farmhands seemingly being illegals. It comes off as a tough situation for some because of how prevalent farming is in this and neighboring communities. We depend on them. It is what the Bootheel and much of Southeast Missouri is all about really. But you know this right?! Perhaps that is why you did not get the response you wished for in the above mentioned incident. Something does need to be done to resolve the issue. I wish I had an answer that could help our community better enforce the laws and yet at the same time protect our agricultural livelihood.

rddogoli: all good points as well. So true, especially the point you made regarding unfairly compensated college educated individuals. Sad, but true.