Nation briefs 7/31/05

Federal business helps private prison industry

NEW YORK -- Though state governments are no longer fueling a private prison boom, the industry's major companies are upbeat -- thanks in large measure to a surge of business from federal agencies seeking to house fast-rising numbers of criminals and detained aliens. Since 2000, the number of federal inmates in private facilities has increased by two-thirds to more than 24,000. Thousands more detainees not convicted of crimes are confined in for-profit facilities.

Teen vanishes from Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- A 13-year-old boy went to a restroom during a Yankees game and never returned, and searches of the stadium, nearby fast-food restaurants and train stations by hundreds of police and security guards were fruitless. Majelique Lewis, of Stamford, Conn., disappeared Friday night during the seventh-inning stretch of a Yankees-Angels game, police said. His mother immediately reported him missing to security, who notified police about an hour later.

-- From wire reports

Every stadium exit is monitored by security cameras and Lewis' mother did not spot him on hours of recorded images, police said.

It was the teen's first trip to Yankee Stadium. He attended the game with his 65-year-old foster mother, brother and two sisters.

Lewis has no behavioral or mental problems and no history of running away, police said.

"He's an average kid," said Arthur Shannonhouse, who answered the phone at Lewis' home and identified himself as the teenager's father.