PRINTThe Good, The Bad & The Ugly
April 10, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The Good: ‘Til Death Do Them Part
On March 17, 1925, Mayme and Clarence Vail said, “I do.” This year, the Minnesota couple celebrated their 83rd anniversary and earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-married couple. “You take your vows, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer,” Mayme told The Today Show. The couple, who were 16 and 18 years old when they tied the knot, say they haven’t fought since 1946.
The Bad: Big love?
A polygamist compound near Eldorado, Texas was raided after police received a tip from a 16-year-old girl who lived in the compound. Police removed 401 children and 133 women. The children have been placed in state custody after a judge ruled they were in imminent danger of physical abuse. An unknown number of men are being held in the compound until investigators finish searching the 1,700-acre ranch built by infamous polygamist Warren Jeffs.
The Ugly: All in the family
John and Jenny Deaves have been charged with incest and ordered to maintain a non-sexual relationship. This father and daughter had two children together; one died soon after birth from a congenital disease. The Australian couple claims that 30 years after John abandoned Jenny’s family, she found him, and they began having sex only two weeks later. But one of John’s ex-wives says the two have been spending time together since Jenny was 15 years old.
