European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 0 the stars and stripes . Friday december 3, 1993parolee is prime suspect in Petaluma Calif. A police searching for a 12-year-old snatched from her bedroom said thursday that deputies questioned their prime suspect on oct. 1, the night Polly Klaas was kidnapped. 1 also Fri experts have linked the kidnapping to evidence found near the Remote country Road where the Man was stopped that night. The suspect a a parolee with two kidnapping convictions and a history of psychotic behaviour a was questioned about an hour after the kidnapping by deputies responding to a woman s report of a suspicious person on her property. Richard alien Davis had run his car into a ditch about 15 Miles North of Petaluma Sonoma county assistant sheriff Dale Moore said. Deputies checked his License and searched his car but found no reason to keep him. They helped pull out the car Ana let Davis go. Two months later on sunday the same woman called the sheriffs office to report Quot suspicious items Quot on her property police said thursday. Investigators searched the area and sent the evidence to Fri forensics experts in Washington , who determined it was related to the kidnapping. Police did not describe the items. The whereabouts of Polly who was kidnapped at knife Point from a slumber party remained a mystery Davis was arrested for parole Viola Polly Klaas missing for two months tons tuesday in a House on the Coyote Valley Indian reservation about 70 Miles North of Petaluma. The 39-year-old san Francisco Man has not been charged in poly s kidnapping. But he matches a composite sketch of the kidnapper arid is the prime sus pct police sgt. Mike Kerns said. A a we re in the process of developing evidence that will link him to Polly Sab Richard Allen Davis. Previous kidnapping convictions auction a Kerns said. Polly was kidnapped by a Man armed with a knife who tied and gagged her and two friends. The girls had been playing a Board game in Polly s room when the Man entered. Polly s Mother was sleeping in another bedroom. Before he took Polly the Man asked Quot who lives Here a and Quot where Are your valuables Quot Kerns said. The Man also threatened to Slit the girls throats if they  two girls with Polly that night were taken wednesday afternoon to a jail where Davis was being held. Authorities would not say whether the girls recognized him. Davis has a 20-year criminal history that began with drunk and disorderly behaviour when he was 19 years old then escalated into burglary add napping and sexual assault state department of corrections officials said. He has served three prison terms and had been on parole since june when he was released after serving half of a 16-year term for his second kidnapping conviction according to Ron Chun regional director of the parole division. Psychiatric reports written before a 1977 conviction said he heard voices telling him to assault rape and Rob Accord into san Mateo county court records. But he was a Model parolee until he failed to report to his parole officer on nov. 15, authorities said. The arrest of a suspect lifted moods at a search Center in Petaluma a Small Rural Community about 40 Miles North of san Francisco where thousands of volunteers have sent out millions of fliers with the girls picture. Quot i think that for the first time in two months people really feel like there a going to be an outcome a a said Volunteer Tom Young. Math report rates states is. Nations Washington a an International ranking of american students Points up what . Educators have been saying for years schools Here wont do better unless social conditions improve. It also highlights the diversity of the United states. Students performance varied widely from slate to  eighth graders on average were less proficient in math than their counterparts in other Industrial nations the de math proficiency thirteen year Olds from the . Scored lower on average of than those in both couples with p6pul4to aver Ipi Iii in proficiency results suggest that . Students at that age May be ? v a performing at Levels similar to taiwanese approximately two years a Omega. A pr6licl by country for 1991average rank country proficiency 1 Taiwan 285 2 Korea 233 3 Switzerland 279 3 soviet Union 279 4 Hungary 277 5 France 273 6 Israel 272 rank country m 8 8 9 10 Canada Ireland Scotland Slovenia Spain average i proficiency Siik Sli my amp my 11 United states 262 12 Jordan 246 mathematics Prol Clency scale has a Range irom o to 500 Iowa North Dakota and Minnesota students did just As Well As the top scoring countries. Students in Washington , and Mississippi performed most poorly. Gaylynn l. Becker assistant director of counselling and testing for the North Dakota department of Public instruction said students from the top three states perform better than others because they face fewer social adversities. Quot they Don t have to worry about getting shot when they get to school or coming Home from school at night Quot he said. Becker said children in North Dakota also Are More Likely to come from stable Homes with two Parent families and at least one Parent who graduated from College. Among the countries surveyed taiwanese students were at the top scoring an average 285 out of a possible 500. . Students scored 262. Only 13-year-Olds from Jordan scored lower at 246. Level 150 simple arithmetic facts. Level 200 beginning skills and understandings. Level 250 numerical operations and beginning problem Soh ing level 300 moderately Complex procedures and reasoning. Level 350 Multi step problem solving and algebra. Proficiency scores in mathematics for 8th-Grade student san Public schools by state Tor 1992 Mich. Official basics off note Alaska Ibi Nois Kansas Montana Nevada Oregon South Dakota Vermont and Washington state did not partic Pate. A cart Fox intercession City Fla. A Railroad officials May not have been warned about a truck blocking Railroad tracks before an Amtrak derailment injured 70 people one official said wednesday. A Utility official backed off his claim that a Railroad dispatcher was warned before tuesday s derailment that a truck was stuck on the tracks in front of an a preaching Amtrak train Quot i done to know whether a Call was made or not a a said Chris gent a spokesman for the Kissimmee Utility authority Quot i have no Way of knowing who called or if anyone  gent had said soon after tuesdays crash that a dispatcher was warned Well before a locomotive barrelled around a Bend and slammed into the stalled truck which was carrying a new 82-ton Generator for the Utility. With All of its accessories the Generator total eds of tons. Both Amtrak and Cox transportation which owns the track  its traffic said they received no such Call. One Day after tuesdays derailment near Kissimmee another Amtrak train strode a car in South Carolina killing two people. Such car train accidents happen almost daily in this Cou Riley said Gifford Black Amtrak a director of Public affairs. Quot sadly it takes a High profile Accident like the Kissimmee Accident to focus on an ongoing problem with Grade crossing safety Quot Black said. In 1992,579 people in automobiles were killed and 1,975 seriously injured in 4,910 Highway rail Grade crossing collisions he Saia. Boy scout fatally shoots Mother 2 Brothers self Ramsey Minn. Apr a 14-year-old boy scout apparently shot to death his Mother and younger Broth ers then scribbled notes saying Quot i m sorry a went to his parents bedroom and killed himself. The bodies of Mary Helgeson 42 Matthew 12 and Marcus 7, were found in the family room where the three appeared to have been watching television Anoka county sheriff Ken Wilkinson said wednesday. All had been shot in the head with a  notes saying Quot in a sorry Quot and Quot done to blame them Quot were found near Alec Helgeson a body in the master bedroom Wilkinson said. Quot there was no indication in the notes As to the whys Quot Wilkinson said. Alec had no criminal record. Police neighbors fellow students and his High school principal Saia they were not aware he had any problems. Dean Helgeson 46, found his wife and sons dead when he returned Home around 9 . Tuesday