Search for couple's remains to resume

Investigators hoping to solve the 1985 disappearance and presumed slaying of Clark Rockefeller's landlords plan to X-ray the couple's San Marino, Calif., property this week or next week. Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said yesterday that investigators will search for skeletal remains or clothing that belonged to John and Linda Sohus. Workers digging a pool on the property in 1994 discovered bones believed to be those of John Sohus, but have not located Linda Sohus or her remains. Rockefeller, who rented a guesthouse from the couple, is considered a "person of interest" in the case. He is being held in Boston on charges of kidnapping his daughter last month. Authorities say Rockefeller's true identity is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German-born con man who has used a dozen aliases.

Attorney General Martha Coakley approved paperwork yesterday filed by opponents of same-sex marriage who are pushing a statewide referendum that would reinstate a 1913 statute that prevented gay and lesbian couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union would not be legal in their home state. The paperwork, which included the signatures of 10 registered voters, was filed Aug. 13 by the group Mass Resistance. The group now needs to gather signatures from 33,297 registered voters by Oct. 29 to get the referendum on the ballot in November 2010. "After a thorough review by our office, we have concluded that this referendum petition has met the technical requirements that govern such petitions." Coakley said in a statement yesterday.

John F. Kerry, seeking a fifth term as a US senator, began running a new television ad yesterday that features former vice president Al Gore touting Kerry's stance on the environment. With images of ice-capped mountaintops juxtaposed with pollution-causing traffic jams, Gore narrates a 30-second spot that went up in the Boston and Springfield markets and calls Kerry "the leading voice in the US Senate to stop our dependence on fossil fuels." Kerry is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Gloucester attorney Ed O'Reilly. The winner of the Sept. 16 primary will face Republican Jeff Beatty in November's general election.

A federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of a new Massachusetts law that expands protest-free zones around abortion clinics. Antiabortion protesters filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 35-foot buffer zone law that took effect in November. In a ruling late Friday, US District Judge Joseph Tauro found the new law to be constitutional. Attorney General Martha Coakley praised the ruling, saying that the law enhances public safety and improves access to medical facilities, while preserving protesters' right to express themselves on public ways and on sidewalks near clinics. The protesters who filed the lawsuit said the law had forced them into the street and prevents free speech. (AP)

The body of a Salem woman was discovered floating in Salem Harbor yesterday near the Congress Street Bridge, police said. The body was spotted by a passerby about 7:30 a.m., not far from Pickering Wharf, said Salem police Lieutenant Paul Lemelin. The woman was later identified as Jocelyn Callahan, 25, of Salem, according to a spokesman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett. The spokesman, Steve O'Connell, said Callahan's death did not appear to be the result of criminal violence, but the case remains under investigation.

A 61-year-old Naples, Fla., man was killed in a crash on Interstate 195 eastbound in Wareham yesterday morning, State Police said. Denis McNamara was driving a Cadillac Deville when he was struck at 9:55 a.m. by a 1999 Toyota Camry driven by a Taunton woman near Exit 20 in Wareham, State Police said. They said Samantha Cardillo, 21, lost control of her car and collided with the rear driver's side of the victim's car. The Cadillac spun out, exiting the road before striking several trees and landing at the bottom of an embankment, police said. Cardillo will be charged with motor vehicle homicide, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, marked lanes violation, and possession of a Class D substance, police said. Both Cardillo and her passenger, 19-year-old Ronald Varney of New Bedford, were uninjured in the crash.