another Weird 'n Grisly placemark..

A woman eating chili on 3/22/05 at this San Jose Wendy's restaurant was surprised (understatement) to find (bite into) a human finger in the chili.

Investigators looking into the nasty incident began by lining up the restaurant employees and checking their hands. Nothing missing.. the investigation continues.

news story

UPDATE......



Finger in chili is mine, says woman attacked by leopard
LAS VEGAS (AP) � A Nevada woman who lost part of her finger in a leopard attack says she believes it was her body part that allegedly showed up a month later in a bowl of fast-food chili in California.
A lawyer for Sandy Allman, 59, says she wants to participate in any DNA testing of the finger, which she said she last saw packed in ice in a Las Vegas emergency room. Doctors told her it could not be reattached, and she does not know what happened to it after that, lawyer Philip Sheldon says.

The hospital said it cannot account for the �-inch fingertip, which Allman lost Feb. 23 in the attack at an exotic animal compound at her home in rural Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas resident Anna Ayala says she found a 1�-inch fingertip on March 22 while eating at a Wendy's in San Jose, Calif.

The two women have "absolutely no connection," Sheldon says.

He says Allman realizes her lost fingertip is only half as long as the one that Ayala says she found.

San Jose police say DNA tests would be taken to determine the finger's rightful owner.

Ayala, 39, is not considered a suspect, San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten says.

Ayala was visiting relatives in San Jose on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Her son, Guadalupe Reyes, 18, told The Associated Press that Ayala doesn't know Allman.

Ayala had filed a claim with the Wendy's franchise owner over her alleged discovery, but her attorney Jeffrey Janoff said Wednesday that she had decided not to pursue a lawsuit because the scrutiny by police and reporters had been "very difficult for her emotionally."

Court records show Ayala has a history of making claims against corporations, including a former employer, General Motors and a fast-food restaurant.

Wendy's maintains the finger did not enter the food in its ingredients. It has offered a $50,000 reward in the case and was keeping open a hot line for tips, spokesman Denny Lynch said.

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center confirms Allman's treatment after the leopard attack, but says there is no record of the fingertip in the Pathology Department, where it normally would have been taken.

There is also no record of Ayala as a patient or employee, spokeswoman Glenda McCartney says.

A local story for me.

Latest:

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Finger tip from Nevada woman unlikely to be finger found in chili

... On Thursday, Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said it's unlikely that Allman's finger was the digit found in the chili ... San Jose Police Sgt. Nick Nuyo also said investigators there were skeptical of a connection.

"I guess Ms. Allman lost a little bit less of her finger than what we think we have here in San Jose. So obviously, if we have more of a finger than she lost, you might look at that on face value and say it's probably not the same," Nuyo said Thursday.

Nuyo said authorities were receiving tips from around the country about lost digits, spurred by a $50,000 reward offered by Wendy's. One report was about a woman who said she lost a finger breaking up a dog fight ...

Full story >>

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Reports early yesterday suggested police had confimed that the finger had not been cooked, but these seem to have been retracted.

(My wife is making chili for dinner tonight. I've been wearing gloves all day.)

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He says Allman realizes her lost fingertip is only half as long as the one that Ayala says she found.

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But then, if you were to soak for a while in a pot of Wendy's chili, you might swell up a bit as well..

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Ayala had filed a claim with the Wendy's franchise owner over her alleged discovery, but her attorney Jeffrey Janoff said Wednesday that she had decided not to pursue a lawsuit because the scrutiny by police and reporters had been "very difficult for her emotionally."

Court records show Ayala has a history of making claims against corporations, including a former employer, General Motors and a fast-food restaurant.

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Reminds me of a certain story about a boy who cried wolf..

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Wendy's maintains the finger did not enter the food in its ingredients. It has offered a $50,000 reward in the case

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So far, no one has been fingered..

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...and was keeping open a hot line for tips

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beef, stock, dating, receipes.. whatever ya got..




if ya really gotta see it.. scroll down..

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Ayala has a history of making claims against corporations, including a former employer, General Motors and a fast-food restaurant

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Prior suits & outcomes - not necessarily a complete list:
an ex-boss in 1998 (sexual harassment, settled)
a car dealership in 2000 (a wheel fell off, dismissed)
El Pollo Loco in 2004 (her daughter got sick, settled)

Last week Ayala's home was searched as part of a "criminal investigation" looking into the finger food incident. A roommate said they searched freezers, a picnic cooler in the backyard, and the belongings of an aunt who used to live at the house. Apparently no bodies or parts were found or we would have heard.. Ayala & her daughter say they were handcuffed at gunpoint for the search. The daughter (13) later said maybe she'd had "some attitude" when police arrived.

It is odd they are still discussing & testing how much the finger had been cooked, or not. On the day it happened Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County Health Officer, said in response to health/disease questions "the finger had been cooked at a high enough temperature to kill any viruses, including hepatitis or HIV."

Also, as of last night, her attorney Jeffrey Janoff said he was no longer her attorney. He didn't elaborate why or whose decision that was. Curiouser and curiouser..

Good luck tonight Inky! If it comes in a yellow cardboard container you might want to suddenly remember an urgent errand, or a Keyhole post you have to make

No comment on Esterrett's puns lol

Yeah, I heard about that too. I'm not eating chili at Wendy's (or anywhere else, for that matter!)

I'm sure that you are all as shocked, SHOCKED, as I am at today's news:

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Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested

By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA
Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The woman who claimed she found a finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month has been arrested, the latest twist in a bizarre case about how the 1 1/2-inch finger tip ended up in a bowl of fast food.

Anna Ayala was taken into custody late Thursday at her Las Vegas home. She was arrested on a warrant alleging grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, Las Vegas Police Sgt. Chris Jones said.

Authorities said would not provide further details until a news conference Friday afternoon in San Jose, Calif. - the city where Ayala claimed she bit down on the finger in a mouthful of her steamy stew.

Ayala's 18-year-old son, Guadalupe Reyes, said he had gone to the store around 9 p.m. when he got a phone call from a friend who was back at the Las Vegas home.

"We rushed back and she was already gone," Reyes said.

Reyes said he had no other details and was waiting to hear from his mother. A handwritten sign on the door of her home Friday morning instructed reporters not to knock, and telephone messages were not returned.

Ayala, 39, was held overnight at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas, where records showed she was being held without bail.

In Ohio, Wendy's officials praised the police's actions. "We're thrilled that an arrest has been made," Tom Mueller, president and chief operating officer of Wendy's North America, said in a statement.

Ayala's claim that she found the fingertip, complete with a well-manicured nail, on March 22 initially drew sympathy. But when police and health officials failed to find any missing digits among the workers involved in the restaurant's supply chain, suspicion fell on Ayala, and her story has become a late-night punch line.

Ayala hired a lawyer and filed a claim against the Wendy's franchise owner, Fresno-based JEM Management. But after police searched her home in Las Vegas and continued to question her family, she dropped the lawsuit threat, saying the whole situation was just too stressful.

As it turns out, Ayala has a litigious history. She has filed claims against several corporations, including a former employer and General Motors, though it is unclear from court records whether she received any money. She said she got $30,000 from El Pollo Loco after her 13-year-old daughter got sick at one of the chain's Las Vegas-area restaurants. But El Pollo Loco spokeswoman Julie Weeks said last week that the company reviewed Ayala's February 2004 claim and paid her nothing.

Earlier Thursday, Wendy's International Inc. announced it had ended its internal investigation, saying it could find no credible link between the finger and the restaurant chain.

Sales have dropped at franchises in Northern California, forcing layoffs and reduced hours, the company said. Wendy's also has hired private investigators, set up a hot line for tips and offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to the finger's original owner.

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Ayala claimed she bit down on the finger in a mouthful of her steamy stew.

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-- "I know you're hungry, mom, but wait until I put it down. Okie, dokey?"

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"We rushed back and she was already gone," Reyes said.

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-- No word on whether he checked the kitchen or not..

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A handwritten sign on the door of her home Friday morning instructed reporters not to knock

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-- they don't live in a van, do they?

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But after police searched her home in Las Vegas and continued to question her family, she dropped the lawsuit threat

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-- into a conveniently placed bowl of Alpha-Bits..

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Wendy's International Inc. announced it had ended its internal investigation, saying it could find no credible link between the finger and the restaurant chain.

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-- However, bear in mind that the investigators could have knuckled under to internal pressure..

For those playing catch-up, today's NYT has a well-written article covering the whole sordid case: reg-free link.

The press conference is scheduled for 1300 PST today. All will be revealed...

The dirt:

Anna Ayala, 39, was arrested at her Las Vegas home Thursday night on a charge of felony attempted grand theft, including a penalty enhancement for inflicting more than $2.5 million in losses on Wendy's ... Ayala could face more than six years in prison if convicted ... Family friend Ken Bono said officers raided the Las Vegas home around 9 p.m. and caught Ayala alone as she was watching "Meet the Fockers" on video ... The Associated Press reported that a handwritten sign on the door of Ayala's door Friday morning instructed reporters not to knock: "Trust Me Do Not Knock on Door Emotionally Disturbard Thanx."

Sure is a disturbarding case...