Elijah Nouvelage/GettyDelaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez and her husband of less than a year wanted the night to themselves away from their kids on Tuesday.To mark the special occasion, the newlyweds went to Young’s Asian Massage in Cherokee County, the 33-year-old’s younger sister, Dana Toole, told The Daily Beast.“She was supposed to be enjoying a fun time with her husband,” Toole said, noting that her sister was mom to a 14-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter.But the romantic getaway took a tragic turn after 21-year-old Robert Long allegedly entered the Asian massage parlor, fatally shooting Yaun and three others, before hitting up two other massage parlors in a rampage that he blamed on his sexual-addiction issues. In total, Long killed eight people, six of them Asian women. Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez Courtesy Dana Toole “[Yaun’s daughter] is not even going to get to know her mom,” Toole, 29, told The Daily Beast, adding that she believes it was the couple’s first time at the massage parlor. “How do you explain that?”Yaun, described as outgoing and family-oriented, is one of four victims to be identified so far. Authorities say that after Long killed four people inside Young’s Asian Massage—and injured a fifth who is in critical condition at a local hospital—he went to two other parlors and killed four more people.He was eventually nabbed on a highway two hours south of Atlanta after a police chase. His family helped police track him down. He admitted to police he was on his way to a pornography-related venue in Florida, authorities said in a Wednesday press conference, adding that it was “very likely there would have been more victims.”The other victims of the Young’s parlor incident have been identified as Daoyou Feng, 44; Paul Andre Michels, a 54-year-old business owner who had been married for over two decades; and Xiaojie Tan, a 49-year-old who appeared to own at least two massage parlors in Atlanta. Business records indicate one of Tan’s businesses is Young’s.The identities of the three people found dead at Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta and the person found dead at the Aroma Therapy Spa across the street have not yet been released.Long, who has been charged with murder and attempted murder, allegedly confessed to police he had sex-addiction issues and went on the shooting spree to “eliminate” the “temptation.”Massage Parlor Rampage Suspect Had ‘Sexual Addiction’: SheriffWhile the shootings come amid a wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States, authorities say Long allegedly insisted he was not intentionally gunning for people of Asian descent—though police said the investigation is ongoing and the murders could still be categorized as a hate crime.“It may be the targets of opportunity… we believe he frequented these places in the past and may have been lashing out,” Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said.Michels, who was killed at Young’s Asian Massage, was described by family members as a hardworking Army veteran who owned an electric company and was a “staunch Republican.”“He was a gun-owner. He was baptized Roman Catholic,” John Michels, his 52-year-old brother, who lives in Michigan, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. He added that his brother was interested in “getting in the massage business” and was looking to own establishments.“Before I would say anything, I would like to see the police do an investigation first,” John Michels said, stressing that he supports the right to due process and Second Amendment rights. “As a veteran, I protected those rights for him. My brother was a veteran of the United States Army Infantry. He served in Germany and Fort Knox. He was in West Germany and Fort Knox Kentucky. He served from 1985-89.”Michels’ sister, Ann Thornsberry, told The Daily Beast that while they were not a “close-knit family” her brother owned an electrician-related business and had been married for over 20 years.Tan also seemed to be a hardworking business owner, who was listed as the “company agent” for at least two massage parlors in Atlanta. In addition to Young’s, Tan promoted a separate massage establishment, Wang’s Feet, and Body Massage, on her Facebook, and public records list her as the company’s agent. A man who answered the phone at the business, who identified himself as Mr. Wang, told The Daily Beast “right now I cannot speak about this issue” before hanging up.UPDATE: The sole survivor in the Cherokee massage parlor shooting is 30yr old Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz. His family tells me they’re praying for him. Names released for victims in deadly Cherokee County spa shooting; Atlanta victims not identified yet https://t.co/pKGvH4Pmlc @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/S49A4ReXzL— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) March 17, 2021 A family member for Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, the Hispanic man from Acworth who survived the shooting at Young’s on Tuesday, told The Daily Beast the 30-year-old remains in critical condition.“We are just praying for him and hope he will pull through. He is the kindest man,” the family member, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said Wednesday.Dana Toole added to The Daily Beast that her family first learned about Yuan’s death after their third sister, who worked across the street from the spa, saw the 33-year-old’s truck in photos from the scene.“We had no idea she was there until they saw her truck,” Toole says. “We waited four hours to find out what happened.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
