Woman tied to vehicle,

dragged for a mile, dies

DENVER – A woman was tied to a vehicle with a rope and dragged through suburban streets in a gruesome crime that left a trail of blood more than a mile long, police said.

Neighbors discovered the woman’s body before dawn Monday about 20 miles south of Denver. On Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies were still trying to learn her identity.

The victim’s face was unrecognizable and an orange tow rope was found around her neck, said Nancy Foley, who lives next door to the house where the body was found.

Preliminary autopsy results indicated the woman died of asphyxiation and head injuries from being strangled while dragged by a vehicle, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Castellano said. Toxicology results could take three weeks.

Castellano said investigators Tuesday detained several witnesses for questioning. No one had been arrested or identified as a possible suspect, she said.

Ex-JonBenet suspect

offered probation deal

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – One-time JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr was offered a plea deal Tuesday on child pornography charges that would free him on probation.

Assistant District Attorney Joann Risse said prosecutors would waive three of the five child pornography possession charges against him if he pleaded guilty on two remaining charges.

Karr, 41, would get credit for time served and would be placed on probation for three years. He also would be required to register as a sex offender.

Defense lawyer Robert Amparan said that he would discuss the deal with Karr but that he still believes his client is innocent.

Shuttle return delayed

after object falls off it

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA postponed the return of Atlantis for at least a day and examined the shuttle for damage that could prevent it from making the journey home after a mysterious object apparently fell off the ship in orbit Tuesday.

Space agency officials wanted extra time to establish whether the object was a vital piece of the shuttle – such as the tiles that protect it from the blowtorch heat of re-entry – and whether it harmed the spacecraft when it fell away.

Officials were not optimistic they would be able to identify the object because the possibilities were almost endless, ranging from harmless ice to crucial thermal protection tiles. But the leading candidate was a plastic space-filler placed between the thermal tiles. If that is the case, the missing filler would not prevent a normal landing.

NASA was concentrating more on making sure the shuttle is safe than identifying the object, Hale said.

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NATION/WORLD IN BRIEF