NATION IN BRIEF : MISSOURI : Texan Is Charged in Kidnap Attempt

Police officials in St. Louis charged a Texas man with attempted kidnaping and sexual assault and are considering him as a possible suspect in the deaths of two young girls whose murders have chilled the city. Gary Stufflebean, an accountant from Spring, Tex., was charged in an attempted abduction that occurred Nov. 8 in Maryland Heights, Mo., near St. Louis. While Stufflebean is not being charged in the murders of Cassidy Senter, 10, or Angie Housman, 9, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Lowry said he wanted to make clear “we are not closing the door on this guy.” Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said Stufflebean “certainly fits some of the characteristics” of the profile police have drawn up. Senter’s body was found in a litter-filled alley in midtown St. Louis, eight days after she was abducted while walking to a friend’s house.