Chili finger update

Dressed to the NinesAnna Ayala, the sue-happy Las Vegan who claims to have found a human finger in an order of chili at a San Jose, Calif., Wendy's, now says she doesn't plan to litigate, the Associated Press reports:
Ayala dropped her claim because it "has caused her great emotional distress and continues to be difficult emotionally," said her attorney, Jeffrey Janoff.
Court records show Ayala has a history of making legal claims against corporations, including a former employer, General Motors and a fast-food restaurant. She acknowledged receiving a settlement for medical costs a year ago after claiming that her daughter was sickened after eating at a Las Vegas restaurant.
Well, that's what you get when you bite the hand that feeds you. Wendy's is still taking the incident seriously:
Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch declined to comment on Ayala's decision to drop the lawsuit but said a reward hot line to receive tips will remain open. Wendy's has offered $50,000 to the first person who can provide verifiable information that identifies the origin of the finger.
Hey Denny, wasn't "receiving tips" the problem in the first place? But seriously, we'd like to claim the $50,000, and our information can be verified through the State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill.:
Charlie Mullin hasn't felt whole since his black leather jacket was stolen from a Springfield tavern two weeks ago. It's not so much the jacket itself but what's in one of the pockets that he misses most."Normally I wouldn't care, BUT, I had the tip of my finger in my coat pocket," the suburban Chicago resident wrote in an e-mail to The State Journal-Register.
We looked up the full story on Factiva. It seems Mullin was at a "rugby party" last June, where his finger was severed by the chain of a minibike. "It's a pretty good chunk of my finger; what I lost is from the knuckle up," Mullin told the paper. "It was a pretty crazy party":
The wife of one of Mullin's friends works with epoxy and offered to seal it for him. Mullin said he wanted to keep the finger for sentimental reasons.
"It's pretty well preserved," he said. "I brought it that night so I could show it to people."
Although Mullin said his leather jacket was expensive, he doesn't really care about its return. What he wants back is his fingertip. "I could replace another jacket," he said. "I want people to know (the finger) belongs to somebody." . . .
Although he misses his finger, Mullin said he can't help but appreciate the humor in someone inadvertently discovering the precious memento. "It would almost be worth losing a finger to see somebody finding it," he said with a laugh.
Mullin lost the finger March 15, exactly a week before Ayala's digital discovery. We don't exactly know how it might have traveled halfway across the country, but San Jose is in the heart of Silicon Valley, center of the digital revolution.