From the Newsroom: Santa Rosa Press Gazette

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A local mom is pleading with the public to help her find the driver who left her daughter “for dead on the side of the road.”

Nearly one week after Crestview’s Ashley Richards, 30, was seriously injured by a hit and run, the driver is still on the loose.

“I need the community’s help because too many days are passing,” said Suzanne Wilkins, Richards’ mom. “I don’t know what I did yesterday. I can’t imagine people remember what they did last Wednesday.”

Following the Sept. 25 incident, Richards was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, where she remains unresponsive and in critical condition, her mom said.

“I would love to know who made the phone call (to local law enforcement) because I am so grateful for them,” she said.

Overwhelmed by the situation that Wilkins described as “pure hell,” she said that her daughter was a local musician who had “made a lot of friends with her singing.

While Richards’ “vital signs are (now) pretty stable,” her injuries included a broken femur, broken arm and “shattered” pelvic bone. Wilkins added that her daughter also fractured “every bone in her face” and was awaiting reconstructive surgery.

People with information can call Pensacola FHP station at 850 484-5000.

 Milton couple Gloria and Edmond Lancaster gained public attention when it was reported that they were involved in an incident at an Iberville Parish truck stop.

According to Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office, A 600-pound camel sat on Gloria after the couple entered the animal's cage to retrieve their dog. To get the animal off her, it was reported that she bit the animal's testicles.

An affadavit sadi "After the camel stood up, his wife was able to grab their small dog and get back outside of the fenced in barbed wire fence," 

They were spotted by a Bay County Sheriff's Office helicopter, which was assisting in the search. The helicopter crew then directed Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies to the group. 

They were found not far from where they were last seen.

The woman, Marcella Dustin Black, and the children were swimming in the Blackwater River near Sherman Kennedy Road, according to preliminary reports.

Three of the children were hers, while the fourth, 11-year-old Magy Maloy, was a friend.

Black told authorities that they went for a walk and got lost.

An 11-year-old Baker girl, remains missing Monday morning along with three friends and the friends' mother.

The five of them were swimming Sunday afternoon in a creek on Blackwater near Sherman Kennedy Road in Baker, according to friends who have gathered nearby.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is assisting in the search. 

As of about 8 a.m., the family and friends of the missing group has been asked to wait at the Gator Cafe in Baker while law enforcement searches the area.

A helicopter has already flown over the scene and K9s have also been deployed.

Magy Maloy, who is 11, is one of the children missing.

Her father, James, put out a Facebook post early Monday morning asking for help in bringing his daughter home safe.

The group was last heard from at about 2 p.m. when they left the creek and went up the road to call someone to meet them, friends say.

When the person arrived to meet them, they weren't here. No one has seen or heard from them since.