Couple who held impromptu reception after wedding venue caught fire return for anniversary trip

Couple Gets Assisted Suicide Together

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Content warning: This story includes discussion of assisted suicide.

An elderly couple in the Netherlands decided to get euthanized together, a bittersweet end to a long-lasting relationship.

Monique and Loes were 74 and 88 years old. The pair, who suffered from dementia and muscular disease respectively, died while holding hands, Agence France-Press reports. Their final words were “I love you.”

The 77 year-old Dutch doctor Bert Keizer is no stranger to euthanasia. According to the report, he has helped more than 125 individuals to die.

The latest case, however, was an outlier, given that he was assisting with the deaths of two individuals at the same time, something he’s only done twice so far.

To proponents of the practice, it’s a dignified way of passing.

“They kissed, said ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you,'” Keizer told AFP. “We looked at each other and said: ‘Are you ready girls?’. ‘Yes, let’s go,’ they replied.”

Voluntary assisted death was legalized in the Netherlands over 20 years ago, making it the first European nation to do so. Belgium passed its own law legalizing euthanasia in 2002.

As of last year, the two countries are among five other nations in the world that have passed human euthanasia policies.

The practice requires carefully considered and strict conditions in the Netherlands. For instance, patients have to prove that they’re opting in on their own free will, which isn’t always straightforward.

“It’s of course unusual that two lives meet all these conditions at exactly the same moment,” Keizer told AFP.

The number of people choosing euthanasia in the Netherlands has risen over the last few years, per the report. Out of the 8,720 people who died by euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2022, only 29 were couples.

In 2018, former Dutch prime minister Dries Van Agt chose to die by euthanasia alongside his wife in February.

Despite the clear advantages of assisted suicide, euthanasia remains illegal in the majority of the US. Ten states, including DC, have legalized medical aid in dying (MAID), a practice in which a physician can choose to end the life of a patient with a terminal illness with a lethal dose of a prescription drug.

Unsurprisingly, the extent to which euthanasia is legal has proven controversial. In Canada, for instance, where the practice has been legal since 2016, experts have fiercely debated whether to expand the government’s MAID program to people who have a mental illness. Last month, a parliamentary committee recommended delaying the expansion for a second time to 2027.

In the case of the Dutch couple, however, it was a largely uncomplicated end to many years of suffering.

“I can’t live without Monique,” Loes told her partner, as quoted by AFP.

“And I depend on you,” Monique answered. “So let’s go together.”

More on euthanasia: Famed Director Dies by Assisted Suicide

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Florida school board reverses decision nixing access to children’s book about a male penguin couple

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Months after access to a popular children’s book about a male penguin couple hatching a chick was restricted at school libraries because of Florida’s “ Don’t Say Gay law,” a central Florida school district says it has reversed that decision.

The School Board of Lake County and Florida education officials last week asked a federal judge to toss out a First Amendment lawsuit brought by students and the authors of “And Tango Makes Three” in June. Their complaint challenged the restrictions and Florida’s new law prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels.

The lawsuit is moot since age restrictions on “And Tango Makes Three” have been lifted following a Florida Department of Education memo that said the new law only applied to classroom instruction and not school libraries, according to motions filed Friday by Florida education officials and school board members of the district located outside Orlando.

The “Don’t Say Gay” law has been at the center of a fight between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running to be the 2024 GOP presidential nominee and has made the culture wars a driving force of his campaign. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers took over control of the district after Disney publicly opposed the law.

“The Court lacks jurisdiction both because this case is moot and because plaintiffs never had standing in the first place,” Florida education officials said in their motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The school board and Florida education officials on Monday asked U.S. District Judge Brian Davis in Ocala, Florida, to postpone any further discovery until he rules on whether to dismiss the case.

Last week, the judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would have ruled immediately in favor of the students and authors without the need for a trial, agreeing that the question over getting access to the book was moot since the school board had lifted restrictions.

“And Tango Makes Three” recounts the true story of two male penguins who were devoted to each other at the Central Park Zoo in New York. A zookeeper who saw them building a nest and trying to incubate an egg-shaped rock gave them an egg from a different penguin pair with two eggs after they were having difficulty hatching more than one egg at a time. The chick cared for by the male penguins was named Tango.

The book is listed among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association.

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Couple who held impromptu reception after wedding venue caught fire return for anniversary trip

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Couple return to wedding venue that caught fire

Couple who held impromptu reception after wedding venue caught fire return for anniversary trip

02:48

Bride and groom Elizabeth and Jake Landuyt say their wedding was like a fairytale.

The ceremony, which CBS News first reported on in 2021, was “perfect,” Elizabeth said, and “everything we could have dreamed of,” according to Jake.

Elizabeth’s father was giving a speech at the Mackinac Island, Michigan, venue when some guests interrupted the picture-perfect day with some alarming news: There was a fire next door.

Everyone had to evacuate and abandon the reception, turning the happy couple into newly-fleds. The wedding party went inside the church where they’d just been married. Luckily, no one was hurt, and in the end, even the building was saved.

The fire near Jake and Elizabeth Landuyt’s wedding venue.

On the Road

While they were in the church praying for everyone’s safety, angels swooped in: The chef at the venue took all 120 meals that had been prepared for the reception to a restaurant next door, where the dishes were finished and moved to a resort that had an open event space. The resort teamed up with a second restaurant to get everything ready, and within an hour, the party was back on.

“To have them pick up the reception out of ashes, in a very literal sense, made the wedding better than we ever could have imagined,” said Jake Landuyt at the time.

Now, two years later, the couple returned to the venue to celebrate their anniversary without the dramatics — but with some new perspective and their baby son, Owen.

Jake and Elizabeth Landuyt returned to Mackinac Island, Michigan, with their baby son.

On The Road

“That was one day, one part of our life journey,” Jake Landuyt said. “And now we have a much more important part now.”

To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, email us: OnTheRoad@cbsnews.com.

Steve Hartman

Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.

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Couple who held impromptu reception after wedding venue caught fire return for anniversary trip

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Couple who held impromptu reception after wedding venue caught fire return for anniversary trip – CBS News

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Elizabeth and Jake Landuyt’s wedding day went viral after a heroic effort rescued their reception from a fire. Two years later, the couple returned to the venue to celebrate their anniversary without the dramatics. Steve Hartman has the story in “On the Road.”

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This couple had 4 Disney weddings. Now, they’re planning 2 more.

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“We didn’t realize our wedding day would go by so fast and honestly we both wish we had more time at our reception to eat and dance,” Shellie said. “The day was a lot different than what we expected our wedding to feel like.”

Luckily, they got a do-over. Plus two more.

Shellie and her husband agreed to do their vow renewal a little over two years after their wedding, so they could have a longer reception. At her subsequent Disney wedding events, she said they’ve had around 10 guests who are all Disney fans. When it comes to the reactions of friends and family, Shellie said, “Some get it and some don’t.”

“The people who know and love me the most support my choices as long as I am happy and don’t go into debt having these unnecessary vow renewals,” she said.

The guests who have made it to her vow renewals have enjoyed even more Disney add-ons. Shellie has bought out rides such as Star Tours and Tower of Terror for her guests, which can cost upward of $10,000 per ride, according to the unofficial “Fairytale Weddings Guide” book. Once, Shellie’s guests even rode the Lily Belle, the original caboose of the Disneyland Railroad.

“I love being a magic creator,” Shellie said. “I don’t tell people what I’m doing, it’s a secret. Even my guests, when they’re showing up, have no idea where they’re going. So it’s fun to see their faces get so excited and I love surprising them.”

For Shellie, planning Disney weddings and vow renewals has become her hobby and a way to pamper herself. She said she works a regular, 9-to-5 job, and budgets for her Disney adventures. She is one of thousands of people who have launched Disney blogs and social media accounts to memorialize their Disney tourism.

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Elderly N.C. couple was held hostage in their home and robbed of $156,000 in cryptocurrency

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An elderly North Carolina couple was held hostage in their home by armed men who threatened to “cut off (the) husband’s toes and genitalia, to shoot him, and to rape his wife,” before they were robbed of more than $156,000 in cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege that while pretending to be construction workers Elmer Ruben Castro and Remy Ra St. Felix went to the couple’s Durham home around 7:30 a.m. on April 12 and claimed they needed to inspect pipes for damage, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.

The complaint was for Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, a third man prosecutors said was responsible for finding the victims.

Castro and St. Felix, dressed in reflective vests and khaki pants, told the couple, both 76, that they needed to walk around their property to look for issues with the pipes.

Soon after, the men knocked on the door for a second time. When the wife answered, they forced their way into the home, restrained the couple and robbed them.

Prosecutors said the men traveled from Florida to North Carolina to commit the crime and had surveilled the house for three days prior to the home invasion, according to the complaint.

Castro and St. Felix, armed with handguns, allegedly restrained and zip-tied the couple. The wife was then dragged by her legs into the bathroom and detained by Castro, according to the complaint. Felix allegedly forced the husband into a home office, cut his zip-tie and made him log into his Coinbase cryptocurrency account.

Prosecutors said Felix was on the phone with Seemungal, who told Felix how to have the husband transfer the money from his account. Prosecutors said Seemungal knew details about the husband’s account, which led them to believe that it had been previously compromised.

Over the next 45 minutes, the men allegedly stole $156,853 in three transactions. A fourth transaction was flagged and denied by Coinbase, the complaint says.

Before leaving, the men smashed the couple’s computer and their phones and put the husband in the bathroom with his wife, according to the complaint.

The couple was later able to get to a neighbor’s house for help. They had minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, North Carolina, reported.

The husband told authorities that Felix was “very threatening” and “threatened to cut off Husband’s toes and genitalia, to shoot him, and to rape his wife if he didn’t access his Coinbase account,” the complaint says. Felix also hit the man in the head, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they obtained phone records showing the three men planning the robbery. They also had information belonging to the husband including a picture of his driver’s license and license plate number.

The complaint charges Seemungal and St. Felix with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. A criminal complaint for Castro was not listed.

Arrest warrants were issued for Seemungal and St. Felix on Thursday. Attorney information was not available.

Minyvonne Burke

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