1982
Aug 17, Ruth First, an exiled anti-apartheid activist, was killed in Mozambique from a letter bomb sent by agents of the Nationalist South African government. In 1997 her daughter, Gillian Slovo, published "Every Secret Thing: My Family, My Country."

2006
Aug 17, In the Arctic ice Lt. Jessica Hill (31) and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque (22), divers on the US Coast Guard cutter Healy, died during a practice dive.

2006
Aug 17, In Indonesia a woman died of bird flu in a village where authorities were investigating a possible cluster of human cases of the H5N1 virus. Aug 17, In Thailand thousands of supporters of deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in central Bangkok and then marched to the royal palace, seeking a pardon for the fugitive leader.

2010
Aug 17, In Los Angeles an abandoned trunk was found by two women clearing out an apartment building basement that was filled with items that accumulated during years of remodels. Two leather doctor bags contained the mummified remains of two infants. The trunk also contained ticket stubs from the 1932 KA Olympic games. DNA testing later linked the infants to Janet M. Barrie (1897-1995), an Irish immigrant who worked as a private live-in nurse for Mary Knapp, the wife of dentist George Knapp.


2011
Aug 17, In New Jersey Randy "Amanda" Lehrer (32) was last seen leaving a diner where she worked. Her remains were found Sep 23 encased in concrete in the basement of the apartment building where she and her husband lived with their infant daughter. Her husband, Steven Acuna, was charged with her murder and jailed on $1 million bail.

2012
Aug 17, Brittni Nicole Colleps (28), a former North Texas high school teacher, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home in 2011. Three former students, who testified a day earlier, said that they did not consider themselves victims and did not want to see their former English teacher prosecuted.

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