Japan man saved from rooftop that floated to sea

TOKYO – Hiromitsu Shinkawa was pushed out to sea while he clung to the roof of his home after a tsunami swept away his wife. For two days, he drifted off Japan's northeastern coast, trying to get the attention of helicopters and ships that passed by — to no avail.

Finally, on Sunday, a Japanese military vessel spotted the 60-year-old waving a red cloth. He was about 15 kilometers (about 10 miles) offshore from the earthquake-ravaged city of Minamisoma, said Yoshiyuki Kotake, a Defense Ministry spokesman.

Shinkawa told his rescuers that the tsunami hit as he and his wife returned home to gather some belongings after Friday's quake. His wife was swept away, Kotake said.

"Several helicopters and ships passed by, but none of them noticed me," he was quoted by another defense agency spokesman, who refused to be identified by name, as saying.

Japanese troops used a small boat to pluck him from the ocean.

Military officials said Shinkawa was lucky that mild weather and relatively calm seas enabled him to stay afloat for nearly two days, the Kyodo news agency reported.

"I thought today was the last day of my life," it quoted him as saying.

Stanley Guidroz charged with murder after cops find wife stabbed to death in backseat of his car

Stanley Guidroz, 53 (left), was charged with murder after a fight with his wife, Pepettra.

A Louisiana man drove aimlessly around the state for seven hours with his dead wife's body in the backseat before surrendering to cops in her fatal stabbing.Stanley Guidroz, 53, was charged with murder after a fight over their rocky seven-year marriage escalated into violence early Wednesday behind a Burger King in Houma, La., police said.Following the 5 a.m. stabbing, Guidroz - with the body of wife Pepettra in backseat - drove his 1999 Ford Mustang for about seven hours, police said.He finally stopped at the police station in Zachary, La., about 100 miles from Houma, parking his car and walking inside.He told officers his wife's dead body was in the back seat of his car. Once cops checked and found the body with multiple stab wounds, Guidroz was quickly placed under arrest.The suspect was returned to Houma to face a second-degree murder charge. Cops said he apparently picked the Zachary police station at random to turn himself in.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/10/2011-03-10_stanley_guidroz_charged_with_murder_after_cops_find_wife_stabbed_to_death_in_bac.html#ixzz1GFcNmXDR