The X-Project

Scoville, Indiana breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday, as their missing child was returned to them. The explanation for the mysterious plant growth came yesterday, as well, when young Colleen Drew told her parents that she was, apparently, a mutant. The mayor of Scoville, Lawry Brooks, says she explained that what is referred to as her "manifestation" of this mutation caused her to accidentally spur the wild plant growth in the town. The Drews have been supportive of their only daughter and the town has pulled together for her as well, in an impressive display of community feeling. A scholarship fund has been opened at the town's only bank and already, enough money for Miss Drew's first year at Iowa State University has been raised. Ms Drew says she intends to study agriculture, as this is her field of interest and she hopes that studying the subject will help her to retain control over her newfound abilities.

--Irene Merryweather, Daily Bugle/AP

Residents of Scoville, Iowa have been having an extremely unusual week. This normally sleepy little town has seen both a missing child and a bizarre burst of plant growth in the last five days. Scoville is starting to look like a jungle; in some places, residents have used scythes or machetes just to get from one farm to another. Still, the focus of this tight-knit community is not on the wild greenery. It's the disappearance of Colleen Drew, a senior at the town's only high school, that has everyone's attention.

Colleen, an honors student and award-winning member of the local 4-H Club, failed to arrive at school on Tuesday morning. Efforts to find her, which have included police helicopters with remote imaging flown over from Des Moines, have been hampered by the explosion of plant life in the area. Local agricultural experts have no explanation for the phenomenon and testing, to date, shows nothing unusual about the vegetation. The mayor of Scoville, Lawry Brooks, says they'll worry about this paranormal outbreak once Colleen has been found. Until then, the 75-year old community leader says that "nothing else matters but finding one of our children and bringing her safely home".

--Irene Merryweather, Daily Bugle/AP