Police said Friday they’ve found the owner of five dogs that attacked a 7-year-old girl on Thursday in St. Paul.

The owner surrendered the dogs to St. Paul Animal Control and is cooperating with the investigation, according to Sgt. Mike Ernster, a police spokesman.

The girl had multiple dogs bite injuries to her leg and head area, Ernster said Thursday. As of Friday, she was out of the hospital and recuperating at home.

Just before 5 p.m. Thursday, the girl exited a bus in Frogtown and was walking with her mother when a pack of dogs suddenly appeared out of a yard and attacked her in the 600 block of Van Buren Avenue. A good Samaritan scared the dogs away.

The girl was coming from school and her mother tried to stop the first dog that ran up, but other dogs surrounded them, her sibling wrote on a fundraising website. Doctors “were able to stitch together the best they could,” but the family wants to ensure she has access to a plastic surgeon for her facial injuries.

The fundraiser can be found at gofundme.com/f/4qxmd-help-sumaya.

— Mara H. Gottfried

Suspect in 1972 Illinois killing dies in jail at 79

A Twin Cities man charged in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old suburban Chicago girl more than half a century ago has died, authorities said.

Barry Lee Whelpley, 79, of Mounds View, was found unresponsive early Friday in his cell at the Will County Jail in Joliet. He was transported to a Joliet hospital where he was pronounced dead, Deputy Chief Dan Jungles of the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities do not suspect foul play, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reported. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday.

Whelpley was arrested in 2021 and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault in the 1972 death of Julie Ann Hanson of Naperville.

DNA evidence linked him to the case.

Hanson disappeared July 7, 1972, while riding her bicycle to her brother’s baseball game. Her body was discovered a day later in a field, stabbed 36 times.

The killing remained unsolved for decades, with a breakthrough in the case finally coming through technological advancements in DNA and genetic genealogy analysis, police said.

From that came the evidence that pointed to Whelpley, a 1964 graduate of Naperville High School who lived about a mile from the girl’s house when she was killed.

— Associated Press

Deputy’s actions honored by State Patrol

The Minnesota State Patrol’s core values include respect, integrity, courage, honor and excellence. Over the past year, some troopers, residents and other public servants have exemplified these values, providing significant services to the public.

On Thursday at the Mendakota Country Club in Mendota Heights, the Minnesota Department of Safety recognized various heroic acts. Awards presented by Commissioner Bob Jacobson and Col. Matt Langer honored these deeds, such as the Meritorious Citizenship Award, the Minnesota State Patrol Commendation Award and the Life Saving Award.

Deputy Chris Majeski, of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, was recognized for his actions Jun. 17 when responding to a wrong-way driver who had collided with a semi truck on Interstate 94.

Upon arriving on the scene, Majeski entered the cab of the burning semi and pulled the unconscious driver to safety, saving his life. Shortly after the man was rescued, the cab was engulfed in flames. For his actions, Majeski received the Minnesota State Patrol Commendation Award.

Majeski previously has received the Lifesaving Award by the Minnesota Sheriffs Association for his actions during the collision, as well as the department’s Medal of Valor.

The truck driver attended the event, in which he was awarded a surprise “Saved by the Belt Award” by the State Patrol.

— Anna Pearson

Unresponsive infant dies at casino hotel

An infant was pronounced dead after law enforcement and medical personnel responded to an emergency call early Thursday at a southwestern Minnesota casino.

Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful when first responders were called to the hotel at Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort for an unresponsive infant, according to a news release from Upper Sioux Community Chief of Police Dan DeSmet.

The 1-month-old was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the 6:30 a.m. 911 call.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy, according to DeSmet. The case is currently under investigation, and no further details were released.

Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort, which is operated by the Upper Sioux Community, is located three miles south of Granite Falls.

— Forum News Service

WEC complies with absentee ballot orders

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and voted to tell the more than 1,800 local clerks who run elections in the battleground state that they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness’s address.

The commission voted 5-1 Thursday, with Republican Commissioner Bob Spindell opposed, to adopt the new guidance for absentee ballot envelopes with a “missing” address.

Under previous guidance, clerks were required to reach out to voters to correct absentee ballot envelopes that had “incomplete or insufficient” witness address information before those ballots could be accepted.

Spindell proposed amending the new rule to require a witness to provide a photo ID before corrections are made to an absentee ballot envelope, but the motion failed Thursday on a 3-3 vote, with all Democratic members opposed.

The Republican-controlled Legislature and the conservative group Priorities USA have appealed a pair of court rulings affecting absentee ballots, which could result in even more changes in election rules prior to the November presidential election.

Every vote is critical in Wisconsin, where each of the last two presidential elections in Wisconsin was decided by fewer than 23,000 votes.

— Associated Press