Iowa man walks off without paying for leg

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A man test-fitting a $17,000 artificial leg ran off without paying the bill, police said. Spectrum Prosthetics and Orthotics reported the theft of the specially designed leg last week. Police said the crime happened after the man came in on Aug. 19 to be fitted for the prosthetic. He "was allowed to take it for a couple hours to ensure that the fit was proper," a police report said. Sgt. David Murillo said the man didn't come back.

No sign of legendary cat in Monitor cannon

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Was there a black cat aboard the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, placed inside a cannon by a superstitious, desperate sailor as the vessel was sinking? Conservators had hoped to verify the legend as they worked this month to extract concrete-like sediment from two cast iron cannons salvaged from the ship's turret. A crewman who had survived the sinking off the North Carolina coast more than 140 years ago maintained that he stuffed the feline into one of the 11-inch-wide, 17,000-pound barrels. No trace of a cat has been found in the barrels, said David Krop, assistant conservator at the Mariners' Museum where the 13-foot Dahlgren guns are being restored. "Schoolchildren are always asking 'What happened to the cat?'" said Justin Lyons, a spokesman for the museum.

Wax head of Mozart is stolen from museum

VIENNA, Austria -- Thieves snatched the head of a life-size Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wax figure from a Salzburg museum, police said Saturday. The figure of the composer was on display at "Next to Mozart," a multimedia museum that opened last year. The wax head has an estimated value of $18,427, but museum employees said the work was truly unique -- and appealed for its return.

-- From wire reports