4 The QUEE NS Courier • JANUARY 21, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Photo via Facebook LaGuardia flight attendant Sierra Shields has been missing since Jan. 14. Family searching for Astoria flight attendant missing since Jan. 14 By Angela Matua amatua@queenscourier.com @AngelaMatua The family of a Delta flight attendant from Astoria is asking for help to find the woman, who has been missing since the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 14. Sierra Shields, 30, was last seen leaving LaGuardia Airport on foot at noon on Thursday, Jan. 14, according to police. Shields’ father, Chris, said she had just quit her job at Shuttle America that day and sounded “distressed” when she spoke to her parents before quitting, he told CBS2. Shields’ phone and wallet were found in her Astoria home. Her family has set up a Facebook page to share information and encourage others to help locate her. Friends and members of Connection Church, an Astoria Church that Shields is a part of, have also set up a Facebook page and have uploaded fliers that people can print and share in their neighborhoods. “My family and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for how they have rallied to help find our sweet Sierra,” her father said in a Facebook post. “This time isn’t easy for any of us, may the love Sierra gave to each of us continue to fill us with hope and a zeal to love each other unconditionally. Sierra please come home I miss my running buddy.” Shields is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 160 pounds, with a medium build, medium complexion, black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a navy blue dress. Anyone with information in regards to this missing person is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential. PASTOR, NYPD DETECTIVE CRACK CHURCH THEFT IN FLUSHING By Alina Suriel asuriel@queenscourier.com @alinangelica A quick-thinking pastor and a local police detective worked together to solve a theft of donated funds in a Flushing church. The theft took place after a worker processing Norovirus outbreak forces hundreds of students at Woodside school to stay home By Angela Matua amatua@queenscourier.com/@AngelaMatua A norovirus outbreak has affected dozens of children at P.S. 12 in Woodside, and more than 200 children have stayed home on Jan. 13 and 14 as a result, according to published reports. About 60 students reportedly went home on Jan. 13 after they complained of stomach pains, nausea and vomiting, published reports said. On Jan. 14, about 210 students were said to have been absent from school. The school serves a total of 1,275 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Department of Health officials are currently disinfecting the school and will continue to do so throughout the weekend, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said. The school remained open through Jan. 15, but many students were expected to be kept home. Parents at P.S. 12 have been informed about the stomach flu and will be updated on the situation, the spokesperson added. “We think it is the norovirus, which is fairly typical in winter but obviously has had a very bad effect on that school and its community and on the kids there,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference on Jan. 14. “Our message to any students and staff who are not feeling well is that they should stay home. We want to help them get better, and we want to get a handle on this.” weekly donations at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Church, located at 35-60 158th St., left the funds unattended for a short period of time on Dec. 15, 2015, according to 109th Precinct Commanding Officer Thomas Conforti. He retold the story during Wednesday’s 109th Precinct Community Council meeting in Flushing. The commander said the suspect walked into the room during this time and went straight to the money after realizing that no one else was around, making off with approximately $6,000 in cash and personal checks. Conforti said one of the most shocking aspects of the crime is that it took place in a church known to be generous to the whole community. The house of worship regularly shelters homeless individuals and provides hot meals to those in need. “Unfortunately, on this day a month ago, someone decided to violate that generosity in the sanctity of a religious institution,” he said. A video surveillance system installed in the church captured the whole incident on tape, including a shot in which the suspect could clearly be seen. A screenshot featuring the suspect was provided to all officers in the area and Fr. Joseph Holcomb, the church’s pastor, circulated the image in posters all around the church. Holcomb was looking out a church window on Jan. 2 when he saw a man ripping these posters down and recognized him as the featured thief. The pastor immediately called Detective Kevin O’Donnell of the 109th Precinct Community Affairs Unit, who happened to be in the vicinity a mere five blocks away. O’Donnell successfully apprehended the man shortly afterwards. Holcomb said that he was simply following the citywide anti-crime mantra: “If you see something, say something.” “It’s been my mantra,” Holcomb said, “and luckily I saw something and I was able to say something, simple as that.” Upon his arrest, police discovered that the suspect had an arrest history that included more than 50 previous incidents. Both Holcomb and O’Donnell were later recognized by the NYPD for their involvement in solving the case. The pastor received the Citizen Appreciation award and O’Donnell was named “Cop of the Month” along with two officers who solved a case of a serial groper in Flushing. The incident took place in Flushing’s St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Church. THE COURIER/Photo by Alina Suriel
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