Rockport

Rockport police have asked the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to investigate the well-being of the sister of the Gloucester toddler who went missing off a Rockport beach last month. A police spokesman said the investigation into possible neglect of 4-year-old Elizabeth Harrison is not based on any suspicion of harm inflicted on her or her 2-year-old sister, Caleigh Harrison, who was on an outing with her mother and Elizabeth when she disappeared from Long Beach on April 19. "There is no evidence that Caleigh was harmed by a relative - we don't believe...

Rockport police have asked the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to investigate the well-being of the sister of the Gloucester toddler who went missing off a Rockport beach last month. A police spokesman said the investigation into possible neglect of 4-year-old Elizabeth Harrison is not based on any suspicion of harm inflicted on her or her 2-year-old sister, Caleigh Harrison, who was on an outing with her mother and Elizabeth when she disappeared from Long Beach on April 19. "There is no evidence that Caleigh was harmed by a relative - we don't believe...

ROCKPORT -- State Police returned to Long Beach this afternoon to search for Caleigh Anne Harrison, but found no sign of the toddler who disappeared from the beach last month while playing with her mother, older sister and family dog, officials said. State Police checked an area near Saratoga Creek where a private citizen's dog had started acting strangely Thursday. Using two backhoes, they excavated the area and had specially trained dogs go over the hole as well as the sand removed from the hole during a search that lasted about a half-hour, said State Police spokesman David Procopio.

State Police say a float test conducted Wednesday morning in Rockport showed that swift currents could have swept a 2-year-old toddler out to sea last month, a spokesman said. "We put a float in the water and a diver underneath and they shot out into the ocean," said State Police spokesman David Procopio. "Within 15 minutes, the float and the diver underneath were swept out in the currents. " Procopio said State Police investigators believe there is no evidence of foul play in the death of Caleigh Harrison.

ROCKPORT - Standing just a few hundred feet from the spot where 2-year-old Caleigh Anne Harrison disappeared the day before, Barbara Somers pressed binoculars to her face and stared out into the ocean. She had been looking for more than an hour. All she had seen was a couple of seals. It's a strange feeling, she said, to look so hard for something you don't want to find. "It's a nightmare. There's a mother out there who didn't have her little girl with her last night. " Authorities say Caleigh was playing with her mother, 4-year-old sister, and the family dog when she went...

ROCKPORT - Less was more at Vassily Primakov's recital on Sunday afternoon. The Russian-born pianist first made a splash around the turn of the millennium with a series of high-profile competition successes. Even now, well into an impressive career, something of that competition quality remains: formidably fast fingers and a fearless, even volatile musical temperament. They're qualities that, in the right situation, make for exquisite results - but the size of the situation matters.

Rockport Co., a Canton footwear brand, announced the promotion of Tobias Reiss-Schmidt to the posts of president and chief executive following the departure of current CEO Michael Rupp. Rupp plans to resign June 30 to take a position outside of Rockport, the company said. Reiss-Schmidt's promotion is effective July 1, Rockport said. Reiss-Schmidt has been with Rockport since 2008 and has held a variety of positions, including his current post of senior vice president of global retail and Americas.

A 20-year-old Waltham man drowned yesterday as he was fishing with a friend at a Rockport beach, officials said. Julio Concepcion either slipped off the rocky slope at Pebble Beach, where he and a friend were fishing around 9 a.m., or was knocked into the ocean by a wave, said Stephen O’Connell, a spokesman for the Essex County district attorney’s office. Concepcion yelled out, his friend told authorities, but when the friend turned around, Concepcion was no longer there, O’Connell said.

Once upon a time, Rockport was esteemed as a cobbler of sensible shoes, but for the last few years, the Canton-based brand has looked to emphasize that its footwear is as much about style and fashion as comfort. Perhaps to underscore its efforts "towards building our fashion credibility," the company announced a new partnership with "renowned supermodel" Erin Wasson to be the face of its Fall 2012 marketing campaign. The new campaign, titled "Day in the Life," follows Wasson through a typical day in her life, as it looks to convey...

ROCKPORT -- The good news is that Tobey Shepherd's scones are as delectable as the regular guests at the Linden Tree Inn say they are. The bad news is that the secret to their scrumptiousness, by Shepherd's own admission, is copious butter and heavy cream. "This is not a place to come if you're dieting," she said. The Linden Tree has 18 rooms. Twelve bedrooms are in the 1850 Italianate Victorian main house on a quiet, residential street. A two-bedroom attached family suite has a private entrance, and four efficiency units are in the carriage house.

A selectmen's race that didn't exist until two weeks ago has fanned the political fires in Rockport, after a remark at a recent meeting prompted a write-in campaign. Wilhemina Sheedy Moores, a Rockport lawyer, launched a write-in campaign after member Wendell "Sandy" Jacques Jr. told Board of Selectmen chairwoman Sarah Wilkinson to "go back to the kitchen" during a discussion of issues for the April 9 Town Meeting. The election is scheduled for Tuesday. "I was personally offended, as a woman," said Sheedy Moores, a member and former chairwoman of the Board of Appeals.

Police will return to Rockport this afternoon to search for Caleigh Anne Harrison, the toddler who disappeared from the beach last month while playing with her mother, older sister and family dog, officials said. State and Rockport police are planning to check an area near Saratoga Creek where a private citizen's dog reacted to "some type of stimuli" in a "very specific area of the beach" Thursday afternoon, according to a State Police statement. Police were at the site on Thursday, but were hampered by the waters at high tide.

The State Police reiterated Thursday that they had found no evidence that toddler Caleigh Anne Harrison was abducted from Long Beach in Rockport last month. The statement came after comments by Harrison's father on a television show that the girl's 4-year-old sister, who was with her when she disappeared, had spoken of a "man on the beach that took her sister. " "As we previously stated, we found no evidence to support the abduction theory. That does not mean we can say with 100 percent certainty that foul play did not occur, but rather, only that we have found no evidence...

After a week of searches using helicopters, boats, divers, canine units, side-scan sonar, and all-terrain vehicles, police have ended their search in Rockport for missing 2-year-old Caleigh Anne Harrison, a toddler from Gloucester who went missing while visiting Long Beach with her mother and 4-year-old sister. Clear skies and calm waters made for excellent visibility in the water Thursday, but two final dive searches yielded no clues, said State Police spokesman David Procopio.

State Police divers have halted the search for missing 2-year-old Caleigh Anne Harrison, the toddler from Gloucester who went missing a week ago while visiting Long Beach with her mother, her 4-year-old sister and the family dog. After a week of searches using helicopters, vessels, divers, canine units, side-scan sonar, and all-terrain vehicles, police came up with no clues or leads on the girl's whereabouts. No new searches will be conducted unless new clues or information are uncovered, State Police spokesman David Procopio said today.

Rough seas are forcing State Police to change their planned search of Rockport Harbor for 2-year-old Caleigh Anne Harrison, who is feared to have been swept out to sea while at the beach with her mother on Thursday. Earlier today, State Police said they planned to deploy side scan sonar on Tuesday, but forecasts now show sea conditions will be too rough for the divers to effectively use the specialized equipment, said spokesman David Procopio. "The forecast would result in turbulent and aerated water conditions that will preclude use of...

The search for 2-year-old Caleigh Anne Harrison on Long Beach in Rockport has been put on hold due to the weather and is expected to resume on Tuesday, according to the Massachusetts State Police. The rainy weather limits the searchers' visibility from helicopters and "even if the weather on shore is OK, the ocean floor can get stirred up," hindering the divers' visibility as well, said State Police Trooper Reid Bagley. Caleigh, pronounced like "Callie," was last seen on Thursday while she was with her mother, 4-year-old sister, and family dog on the Rockport beach.