A 14-year-old Connecticut girl missing for almost a year was discovered alive yesterday, hidden in the house of family friends. Police arrested the owner of the house, who they say has a history of improprieties with minors, along with his common-law wife and a third female resident. The girl, a runaway who cops say had a "tough" life, is getting treatment.
The 40-year-old owner had a business relationship with the victim's parents, and had been a persistent suspect in her disappearance. Cops were searching their West Hartford home to collect DNA samples in what they assumed was a homicide, when an officer pushed aside a dresser in front of a staircase to reveal a locked door; they found the girl inside. (More Danielle Cramer stories.)