SEWARD _ A town of Seward girl missing since Monday was found dead near her home on Friday, Schoharie deputies said.
The cause of death and the "entire incident" is under investigation, deputies said in a media release.
The body of Thereasa A. Raggi, 17, was located late in the afternoon, deputies said.
She was believed to have left her residence sometime on Monday, and there had been no contact with her since, according to a release received on Tuesday from Schoharie deputies.
She was described as a white female, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds, with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, deputies said. Deputies did not return a call for further information, including when an autopsy was scheduled.
{"headline18"/}Walton garage in blaze
WALTON _ A fire caused extensive damage to an unattached garage on Friday at 32 Mount Pleasant Road in Walton, a fire official said.
It apparently was caused by firewood being stored too close to a wood stove inside the two-story concrete block building, First Assistant Fire Chief Robert Brown said.
The owner, Joseph Cuomo, was picking up his wife from work and returned to find smoke coming out of the building, which is about 50 feet from the house, Brown said. A passerby called in the fire, he said.
The department received mutual aid from the Trout Creek Fire Department with Downsville on standby, he said. While at the scene, a Walton firefighter slipped from a ladder and was taken to Delaware Valley Hospital in Walton, where he was treated and released, Brown said.
{"headline18"/}Forgery charges filed
DELHI _ A New Lisbon man was arrested and charged Wednesday in two counties on allegations of forgery.
Mikal A. Thies, 31, a former town of Franklin resident, is accused of stealing and forging personal checks taken from a Franklin residence during the summer of 2008. He also allegedly possessed forged checks at a town of Oneonta banking institution, according to a media release from Delaware County sheriff's deputies.
Thies was charged in Delaware County with five counts of second-degree forgery, four counts of petit larceny and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, deputies said.
He was arraigned on those charges in town of Delhi court and sent to county jail on $5,000 bail/$10,000 bond to await further court proceedings.
Thies was also charged in Otsego County with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. He was arraigned in town of Oneonta court.
Delaware and Otsego deputies conducted the investigation and were assisted by the Otsego County Probation Department, the release said.
