The front of Tuesday's Metro section directed readers to turn to Page B3 for a story about the suspected kidnapping of a Wheaton woman. But no story could be found.

The previous day, a key passage in a Metro feature about gay and lesbian families living in the suburbs ended in mid-sentence, leaving readers hanging.

Errors such as these seem to have increased in recent months. A story referred to the "Democratically" (instead of Democrat-) controlled Congress. Another mentioned the Marine "Corp" (instead of Corps). A story on Arlington County's plans for the old Newseum building misspelled Rosslyn as "Rossyln" four times. A column about plans to fire a federal employee said he had "spitted" (instead of spat) on his boss. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter was described as a "ferocious" (instead of voracious) reader. A photo caption mistakenly referred to a boy with the odd first name of "Jacon" instead of "Jacob" (clue: "b" is next to "n" on the keyboard).