tall

A BRAZILIAN model has revealed how a hidden tumour made her shoot up to almost seven feet tall – and how her shorter partner won her over.

Elisane Silva, 26, from Salinopolis, stands at a staggering six foot eight and towers over her five-foot-four husband, Francinaldo Da Silva Carvalho, 31.

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But she admitted their nearly two-foot height gap doesn’t faze them – in fact, he was the one to win her over.

Elisane said: “Since I was 10 years old, I always noticed that there wasn’t something quite right as I was the only one in my family and class that stood at a staggering five feet nine inches.”

Her parents, Ana Maria Ramos and Luiz Jorge, were left stunned.

“My mother is only five feet four inches and my father is just five feet seven inches, so it was a shock to our entire family when I was the tallest member at so young,” she explained.

By age 10, Elisane was suffering painful pressure in her bones and head as she continued to grow at an alarming rate.

A doctor recommended tests, but her family couldn’t afford them.

Then a national TV network stepped in, offering to cover her medical bills if she told her story on air.

“A national television network approached my family after hearing my story, and in 2010, we flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I appeared on national television and had all my tests done for free on behalf of the network,” she recalled.

“Although this was embarrassing, I was just glad to finally have an answer and to stop the pain that I was going through as a result of my height.”

Doctors discovered a benign tumour on her pituitary gland, which had triggered an overproduction of growth hormone – a condition known as gigantism.

But while Elisane had answers, school became unbearable.

Classmates bullied her mercilessly, calling her “tower” and “giant.”

“I remember locking myself up at home as I felt so sick with the hurtful comments and words people were constantly saying to me,” she said.

“I decided to give up and it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make, as I wanted to continue studying, but I knew that I wouldn’t last any longer in that environment.

“At the time, I was 17 years old, so my parents didn’t have much to say on the matter and I was really lost about where to go next in life.”

Everything changed when she met Francinaldo in 2011.

“I fell for him right there and then, as he was the first person to treat me like a human being and not some freak of nature,” she said.

“Although there is an obvious height difference, we don’t see it as an issue as we love each other just the way we are and wouldn’t want anything to change.”

The couple got engaged quickly and tied the knot in September 2015. They later welcomed their son, Angelo, now three.

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“We used to get comments from people in the street when we were walking together, I’m no longer the center of attention now we have our beautiful son,” Elisane said.

Angelo is already three foot three, but Elisane doesn’t believe he’ll inherit her towering stature.

“I don’t believe he will grow to be as tall as me because I don’t think my condition is hereditary,” she explained.

“I think he will grow up to be average height – but even if not, he should embrace the unique asset he has been given.”

After years of shame, Elisane now embraces her frame and is pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a professional model.

“Although I haven’t been successful just yet, I usually go out and take professional photos of myself and add it to my portfolio to pass on to agencies,” she said.

“Despite no agencies picking up on them yet, these photo sessions have helped my levels of confidence immensely and I have started to love myself for who I am.”

While she’s been branded the “tallest woman in Brazil” online, Elisane says it’s not an official title – though she’s learned to wear the label with pride.

“I have learned to love myself for my unique height, as there’s no one quite like me and I think that’s rather special,” she said.

“I have found a good man to love, have a wonderful son, a beautiful family, and I am grateful that God has taught me to overcome these obstacles in life.

“Don’t let people’s evil comments interfere with your life, as it’s not for them to judge you based on how you look or who you love – stay true to yourself and you’ll live happily.”

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A late Tennessee sheriff who inspired “Walking Tall,” a Hollywood movie about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime, killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was murdered by his enemies, authorities said last week.

Authorities acknowledged that the finding will probably shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser fans after watching “Walking Tall,” which immortalized him as a tough but fair sheriff with zero tolerance for crime. The 1973 movie was remade in 2004, and many officers joined law enforcement because of his story, according to Mark Davidson, the district attorney for Tennessee’s 25th Judicial District.

There is enough evidence that if Pusser, a McNairy County sheriff who died in a car crash seven years after his wife’s death, were alive today, prosecutors would present an indictment to a grand jury for the killing of Pauline Mullins Pusser, Davidson said. Investigators also uncovered signs that she suffered from domestic violence, he said.

Prosecutors worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reexamining decades-old files on Pauline’s death in 2022 as part of its regular review of cold cases, agency director David Rausch said. Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser’s version of events and the physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and exhumed Pauline’s body for an autopsy.

“This case is not about tearing down a legend. It is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said in a news conference streamed online. “The truth matters. Justice matters. Even 58 years later. Pauline deserves both.”

Evidence does not back up sheriff’s story

The case dates to Aug. 12, 1967. Buford Pusser got a call in the early-morning hours about a disturbance. He reported that his wife volunteered to ride along with him as he responded. The sheriff said that shortly after they passed New Hope Methodist Church, a car pulled up and fired several times into the vehicle, killing Pauline and injuring him. He spent 18 days in the hospital and required several surgeries to recover. The case was built largely on his own statement and closed quickly, Rausch said.

During the reexamination of the case, Dr. Michael Revelle, an emergency medicine physical and medical examiner, studied postmortem photographs, crime scene photographs, notes made by the medical examiner at the time and Buford Pusser’s statements. He concluded that Pauline was more likely than not shot outside the car and then placed inside it.

He found that cranial trauma suffered by Pauline didn’t match crime scene photographs of the car’s interior. Blood spatter on the hood outside the car contradicted Buford Pusser’s statements. The gunshot wound on his cheek was in fact a close-contact wound and not one fired from long range, as she sheriff had described, and was probably self-inflicted, Revelle concluded.

Pauline’s autopsy revealed she had a broken nose that had healed before her death. Davidson said statements from people who were around at the time she died support the conclusion that she was a victim of domestic violence.

Brother says investigation gave him closure

Pauline’s younger brother, Griffon Mullins, said the investigation gave him closure. He said in a recorded video played at the news conference that their other sister died without knowing what happened to Pauline, and he is grateful he will die knowing.

“You would fall in love with her because she was a people person. And of course, my family would always go to Pauline if they had an issue or they needed some advice, and she was always there for them,” he said. “She was just a sweet person. I loved her with all my heart.”

Mullins said he knew there was some trouble in Pauline’s marriage, but she wasn’t one to talk about her problems. For that reason, Mullins said, he was “not totally shocked” to learn of the investigators’ findings.

Asked about the murder weapon and whether it matched autopsy findings, Rausch recommended reading the case file for specifics.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation plans to make the entire file, which exceeds 1,000 pages, available to the public by handing it over to the University of Tennessee at Martin once it finishes with redactions. The school will create an online, searchable database for the case. Until then, members of the public can make appointments to review it in person or can purchase a copy, said university Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr.

McAvoy writes for the Associated Press.

Pirating, as evidenced by centuries of stories and one of the greatest theme park rides, has long fascinated. Seafaring and sword fighting imply adventure. Dice games? Bluffing and strategy. And if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll find a mermaid.

Audience members seen during a production of “Pirates Wanted,” an interactive production from Last Call Theatre.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The Los Angeles Times)

Last Call Theatre, a local interactive-focused performance group, has found a way to give us a taste of buccaneering — without the pesky consequences of being captured by the Royal Navy or succumbing to a rum-induced liver disease.

For one more weekend in Long Beach, theatergoers can live out a mini marauding fantasy on an actual ship at “Pirates Wanted,” a limited-run revival of the troupe’s 2024 show. It’s theater, but it’s also a choose-your-own-adventure-style game, one with branching narratives, multiple endings and even life lessons.

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The show is set on board the American Pride tall ship docked at Long Beach’s Pine Avenue Pier, a 130-foot schooner that today is primarily used as an education-focused vessel. Stand still and feel the lean and long boat gently rock on the waves. But you’ll rarely be stationary on the wood-heavy craft. With a cast of 14 and an audience capacity of 55, “Pirates Wanted” explores the full top deck of the ship, which is accessible via a small portable stairway.

The setup: As audience members, we are to be trained as pirates in 17th century England, with much of the cast performing in exaggerated accents. The drama: Our captain’s previous ship was marooned under suspicious circumstances. To complicate matters, a long-lost sibling, also a pirate with his own troubling history, is here to judge the crew’s seaworthiness. The show begins with a speech from Capt. Souvanna (Bonnie-Lynn Montaño), who sternly demands a vocal “aye” from the audience as the ground rules are laid out. Follow them, Souvanna warns, or risk being thrown into the harbor.

Captain Souvanna (Bonnie-Lynn Montaño) and Captain Draken (Shelby Ryan Lee) share a moment during immersive theater production “Pirates Wanted.”

In moments, we are free to wander and link up with various crew members for our pirating lessons. The so-called “treasures of the seas” aren’t going to be pillaged without our help, and I soon find myself improvising sea shanties and engaging in a game of liar’s dice. I stumble over relearning how to construct a knot — important, I am told, in case I’m tossed overboard and need to quickly lasso myself to a raft — but have better luck mimicking a figure 8 with my sword. We have tasks to complete — or games to play, rather — which are ultimately an excuse for conversation.

Ask a roaming bard about the previous ship’s fate and a host of stories start to unravel and reveal themselves — love affairs, hidden secrets, lost maps and the requisite discontentment among the ship’s keep. What would a pirate narrative be without talk, for instance, of mutiny?

Oats Weetle (Mads Durbin) climbs a mast during a dramatic scene in “Pirates Wanted.”

“Pirates Wanted” is heavily active, and one won’t discover all of the show’s narrative paths. Wander, for instance, to a compartment at the ship’s bow, and you may hear conspiratorial whispers. Hang in the aft, and there might be talk of a siren on board. I saw others with treasure maps, and only caught murmurs of the romantic soap operas unfolding among the crew. Love letters were lost and recovered, and at one point I was pulled aside, a pirate whispering to me to ask if there was an illicit affair on board between a member of the crew and the British Navy.

Audience members take in “Pirates Wanted.”

Like all of Last Call’s shows, there are multiple ways to watch — or play. One can opt to be a relatively passive observer trying to overhear conversations and uncover the various storylines. But it’s advised to lean in, to hop from character to character armed with questions and the willingness to go on assigned quests. Here, the latter rely heavily on gossip. Early on I was tasked, for instance, with asking the various pirates about their feelings over losing their last ship, only I was told not to use the word “feel” in my line of questioning (after all, one must trick a pirate into vulnerability).

Throughout, “Pirates Wanted” explores how to navigate complicated family drama and romantic relationships when value systems — you know, looting and pillaging versus not — don’t align. There are metaphors if you go looking for them, specifically on having to live much of one’s life in the closet, but “Pirates Wanted” places a heavy emphasis on silliness too.

Last Call over the last three years has established itself as one of the more prolific companies on the city’s immersive theater scene, regularly hosting two or three shows per year. The troupe has already announced a winter time traveling production, “The Butterfly Effect,” set to debut Nov. 8 at Stella Coffee near Beverly Hills. “Pirates Wanted” last year became one of Last Call’s best reviewed productions.

Throughout “Pirates Wanted” audience members will be tasked with quests, sometimes seeking hidden items.

“It definitely was our most critically and financially successful show we put on,” says Ashley Busenlener, Last Call’s executive director. “Who doesn’t like pirates on an actual ship?”

“Pirates Wanted” leans campy, a vision of the lifestyle more informed by Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean than any historical fiction. It also tackles subject matter not often seen in pirate tales, such as feelings of being misunderstood and the struggle to be one’s true self.

“One of the things that I often notice about pirate media is a lot of the time you see pirates and the majority of time they are white men,” Busenlener says. “That’s not who I think I pirates are. We were very intentional … in creating a cast that we felt represented what piracy should be.”

In turn, many of the actors are female, queer and hail from diverse backgrounds. The goal, says Busenlener, was to show that anyone can be a pirate.

“Pirates are the people who were outside of society,” Busenlener says. “They were breaking rules and laws and taking power into their own hands. That’s something we wanted to reflect.”

There are multiple story tracks in one “Pirates Wanted.” In one, captain Souvanna (Bonnie-Lynn Montaño) may face a mutiny.

And it’s represented in one of the show’s most affecting narrative branches, one in which a half-mermaid spent their life presenting only as human out of fear. It’s intimate drama laced with mysticism, an adult theme ultimately handled with a hint of levity for this family-friendly show.

It also gets to the heart of Last Call’s ambitious with “Pirates Wanted.” Come for the swashbuckling — and the chance to learn some sword-fighting moves — but stay for the emotional adventure. Just don’t be surprised if you leave the pier suddenly talking in a fake British accent.

Tall ship the American Pride in Long Beach, home for one more weekend to immersive theater show “Pirates Wanted.”