Police: Two Louisiana fraud investigators killed; suspect dead

Two insurance fraud investigators slain at Louisiana businessThey were killed in Ville Platte, north of LafayetteThe suspect in their deaths died of self-inflicted wound, police said

(CNN) -- Two Louisiana insurance fraud investigators were killed Tuesday while attempting to collect information from an insurance agent who was later found dead, officials said.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon identified the investigators as Rhett Jeansonne and Kim Sledge.

The insurance agent had previously faced criminal charges and civil sanctions, according to police and the insurance office.

"My deepest sympathies go out to the loved ones of our two departed colleagues, in particular, the surviving spouses and children of these brave individuals," Donelon said in a statement.

Police in Ville Platte, about 50 miles north of Lafayette, got a call of shots fired at Lavergne Insurance about 1 p.m., said Trooper Stephen Hammons, spokesman for Louisiana State Police.

The two investigators were transported to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead, he said. It was not immediately clear why specifically they had gone to the business.

State and local SWAT officers tried to make contact with the person barricaded inside the business. They later made entry and found suspect Melvin Lavergne, 67, dead of a self-inflicted wound, Hammons said.

They found a long rifle, but Hammons did not know if it was believed to be the weapon used to shoot the investigators.

Troopers in January arrested the suspect, also referred to as John Melvin Lavergne, on a complaint alleging he conducted unfair trade practices.

The insurance department said Lavergne was served by Department of Insurance Fraud Section investigators with a summary suspension of his license, a cease-and-desist order, a $4,500 fine notice and notice of proposed license revocation for alleged misappropriation of insurance premiums. An update on that case was not immediately available Tuesday night.

The insurance department said that Lavergne failed to remit more than $1,160 in premiums to insurance companies, which resulted in four of his clients having their insurance policies canceled due to non-payment of premiums, it said in a January 2011 press release.

In November 2009, the department announced Lavergne's licenses would be suspended six months because he allegedly provided fraudulent proof of insurance to a motor vehicles department on four occasions. It also fined him $16,500.

CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.

CNN

Air France crash flight data recoverable, say investigators

NEW: Discovering there is data on the recorders is "excellent news," investigators sayAll the information on the flight data recorder is recovered, as are cockpit conversationsThe data recorders were pulled up from the bottom of the Atlantic nearly two years after the crashAir France 447 went down in June 2009, killing all 228 people aboard

Paris (CNN) -- Investigators trying to determine why an Air France plane crashed mysteriously two years ago have recovered the complete contents of the flight data recorder and the last two hours of cockpit conversation, they announced Monday.

It will take several weeks to analyze the data, French air accident experts said.

All 228 people aboard Air France 447 were killed when the Airbus A330 belly-flopped into the ocean June 1, 2009, in stormy weather. The cause of the crash is still not known.

Discovering that there was data on the recorders "is excellent news. It is really going to help us work out what happened on that plane," said Martine Del Bono, spokeswoman for France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA).

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found at the beginning of May after an unprecedented series of submarine searches of a mountain range 3,900 meters (12,700 feet) under the ocean. They were brought to the surface and taken to Paris by ship and plane.

The investigators also recovered two bodies from the fuselage -- after finding only about 50 bodies in the days immediately after the crash.

They will not bring more bodies up from the ocean if they cannot identify the two they already have, they said Thursday.

Those two bodies are being examined to see if there is enough DNA to identify them, investigators said, adding that they hope to have results by Wednesday.

If they can identify the remains, they will consider bringing up other bodies from the wreckage.

The bulk of the plane was located earlier this year and contains many more human remains, according to investigators.

Recovering more bodies will be a difficult task, with miles of cable required to bring each one up over a period of three hours, they said.

Investigators also brought an engine and an avionics bay containing computers to the surface, they said.

The pilots of Air France 447 lost contact with air traffic controllers on June 1, 2009, while flying across an area of the Atlantic known for severe turbulence, officials said. But exactly what caused the plane to plunge into the ocean remains a mystery.

The plane slammed into the water while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, falling so fast that air masks did not have time to deploy.

The fuselage was discovered in April with bodies still inside, investigators said.

Some relatives of those who died have expressed reservations about remains being brought to the surface.

Last month Robert Soulas, head of a support group for families of flight victims, said: "For me, personally I would like to leave the bodies of my children, my two children, on the seabed."

Other relatives have called for the bodies to be recovered.

CNN's Ayesha Durgahee, Catherine Clifford and Niki Cook contributed to this report.

CNN Top Stories

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Investigators find black box from Air France crash

PARIS (AP) — Investigators have located and recovered the memory unit of the flight data recorder of a 2009 Air France flight ? a remarkable deep-sea discovery they hope will explain why the aircraft went down in a remote area of the mid-Atlantic, killing all 228 people on board.

var data = blocks.columnist;if (data != undefined){document.getElementById('columnistmug').innerHTML=data;} By Johann Peschel, AP

This photo provided Sunday shows the flight data recorder from the 2009 Air France flight that went down in the mid-Atlantic.

By Johann Peschel, AP

This photo provided Sunday shows the flight data recorder from the 2009 Air France flight that went down in the mid-Atlantic.

France's air accident investigation agency BEA said a search by a submarine probing some 12,800 feet below the ocean's surface located and recovered the unit Sunday morning. The unit is now aboard the ship Ile de Sein, the statement said.

The statement also included photos of the recorder ? a red cylinder partially buried in sand on the sea floor. Judging from the photos, the unit appeared to be in good condition.

Last month, the agency said the undersea search had identified the "chassis" that had held the recorder, but said the memory unit was still missing. The flight data recorder stores data from the flight. Another so-called "black box" records cockpit conversations.

Investigators hope Sunday's remarkable discovery will allow them to determine what caused the June 1, 2009,crash of Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to the French capital, Paris. The aircraft slammed into the Atlantic northeast of Brazil after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm.

Automatic messages sent by the Airbus 330's computers showed it was receiving false air speed readings from sensors known as pitot tubes. Investigators have said the crash was likely caused by a series of problems, and not just sensor error.

The crash site was so remote and in such a deep area of the Atlantic that the bulk of the wreckage was only recently discovered, thanks to a deep-sea search.

Experts have said that without retrieving the voice and data recorders there would be almost no chance of determining what caused the crash ? the worst disaster in Air France's history.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

USATODAY.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.