sentence-ending misplaced/dangling participial phrases

That's just it: The meaning is not clear when a participial phrase or a relative clause is not placed next to the noun it modifies.  I think the phrases are misplaced and would rewrite the sentences. Just my opinion.

Ikia

Grammar Curmudgeon wrote:

If it is "a hard and fast rule that a modifier (word, phrase, or clause) is misplaced if it is not directly before or after the noun it is intended to modify," it certainly comes as a surprise to me, especially with regard to participial phrases. That would mean that the only correct way to write your first example would be: "Savoring each delicious bite, John ate the last piece of cake" or "John, savoring each delicious bite, ate the last piece of cake" (awkward). It would make your example incorrect, which it is not. The same would apply to your other two examples. I see nothing misplaced about the modifier in: "John ate the last piece of cake, savoring each delicious bite." Nor do I see any misplaced modifier in your other sentences, though I would rephrase the second: "The robber turned the corner and ran into an off-duty police officer" or "Turning the corner, the robber ran into the an off-duty police officer." What would be a misplaced modifier is: "The robber ran into the off-duty police officer, turning the corner." Who is turning the corner? The only practical "rule" that I can think suggest with reference to sentence-ending modifying phrases is that there must be no doubt about what they modify – i.e., there must be no opportunity to construe the modifier as applying to something else in the sentence. As the example with the robber and the policeman illustrates, clarity depends as much on the context of the sentence as it does on the positioning of the modifier. Certainly, though, it is not a rule that a sentence-ending participial phrase must be immediately after the noun that it modifies (and it cannot be before the noun it modifies because, after all, it is a sentence-ending modifier). Perhaps you need a better grammar reference than The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference.