By Christine Rappleye

August, 16, 2008

Problems in a relationship usually start small and slowly escalate, local mental health counselors said this week.

Many times there are clues or patterns to the situations before they reach the level of violence, said Erin Lacy, a licensed marriage and family therapist and director with Spindletop MHMR.

Things like finances tightened by economic fluctuations, job losses, drug and other types of substance abuse or natural disasters can intensify problems.

“You never know what is going on behind closed doors,” Lacy said, noting the typical veneer of a happy couple without problems. “It’s embarrassing (for people) to admit.”

Last Tuesday, shots rang out and 911 received several calls about a domestic disturbance at 2030 Rosewood Lane in Beaumont.

BeaumontEnterprise.com

By MATT CURRY – 21 hours ago

DALLAS (AP) — A man suspected in the videotaped abduction of a Texas grocery store clerk led investigators Saturday to a body about 50 miles from the small town where the woman went missing, authorities said.

“Right now, we’re 99 percent sure it’s her,” Archer County Sheriff Ed Daniels told The Associated Press.

Mindy Daffern, 46, has been missing since Friday from the store where she worked in Scotland, a town of fewer than 500 people. The store’s surveillance footage shows her being confronted at gunpoint that day by a man who then walked her outside.

Police arrested Wallace Bowman Jr., 30, after recognizing him on the store video, said Daniels, who was a friend of the woman.

Associated Press

The Daily Journal

More than 4 million women each year in the United States are physically harmed by their husband, boyfriend, or other intimate partner. Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, not only hurts the women who are abused but also affects their overall health, their ability to earn a living, and their children. Although men can suffer from domestic violence, women are much more likely to be abused by an intimate partner than are men. The August 13, 2008, issue of JAMA is a theme issue on violence and human rights that includes an article about intimate partner violence among married women in India. This Patient Page is based on one previously published in the August 7, 2002, issue of JAMA.

^JAMA