This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | June 3 — June 9

1. Warrants issued for 26 accused in $500,000 insurance fraud scheme in Columbus: Twenty-six people have been charged in a $500,000 insurance fraud ring centered in Columbus, Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced Wednesday during a news conference. Devonta Waddy, 24, of Lumpkin, Ga., was identified as the leader of the insurance fraud ring and remained on the loose as of Wednesday night. The group collectively faces 326 charges, including insurance fraud, racketeering, theft by deception, identify fraud and exploitation of the elderly.

2. Tragic ending to police chase takes family from ‘absolute joy to total devastation’: Frank McLemore was a beloved husband, father and grandfather who wore the title “Paw Paw” as a badge of honor. He was also a skilled electrical engineer and analytical problem solver. Saturday night, the man who had always been in control lost that when a stolen vehicle being chased by police slammed into his car at Crawford Road and 17th Street in Phenix City, an intersection he had navigated tens of thousands of times.

3. Aflac President Paul Amos, son of CEO Dan Amos, leaving the company: Paul S. Amos II, the son of Aflac’s chairman and CEO — and grandson of one of the company’s three founders — has resigned as president of Aflac, the Columbus-based insurance company said Thursday. He also will leave its board of directors. The departure of the younger Amos is effective July 1. He plans to take some time off before joining Jordan Blanchard Capital as a partner starting Sept. 1, with that Columbus-based private investment firm being renamed JBA Capital upon his arrival.

4. 12-year-old boy says he was ordered into police car while walking home from school: After being dropped off by a school bus in his Reese Road neighborhood two weeks ago, 12-year-old Corey Jones began walking to a friend’s house. While near the Circle K at the intersection of Macon and Reese roads, Corey said, he was stopped by a Columbus Police officer who asked where he lived and where he was going. The boy said he told the officer he was headed to a friend’s house to call his stepfather. The officer then asked for his mother’s number, and told him to get in the back seat of the police cruiser.

5. Body of missing snorkeler found by kayaker after official search suspended: The body of a man who apparently drowned while snorkeling Wednesday in the Chattahoochee River near 11th Street and Bay Avenue was found Thursday near Bulldog Bait and Tackle on Victory Drive, authorities said. Thomas Odom, 25, of Warner Robins, Ga., was pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m. at the boat launch at Bulldog Bait and Tackle. His body will be send to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Decatur.

This story was originally published June 10, 2017 at 3:28 PM with the headline "This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | June 3 — June 9."