According to police, the patterns and stories of recent incidents are similar to other scams in the past, but the way that scammers receive money has evolved.

Police gave an example of a victim who said she got a call from a suspect who claimed to be an officer with DPD. The suspect told the victim she had missed court and now had a warrant out for her arrest.

The victim was told that she needed to pay thousands of dollars to avoid jail time and was instructed to go to a nearby laundromat and use the cryptocurrency option on the self-service banking kiosk to deposit "bail" money.

The victim sent the initial amount requested by the scammer but was then told to send even more. In all, the victim lost $14,000 before learning that it was a scam, according to police.

Denver police said that it will never call people directly to tell them they have a warrant or ask for money.

DPD is urging people to hang up if they receive this sort of call and report it to local law enforcement.

People in Denver can call 720-913-2000 and press 2 or can go online and file a complaint with the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

Riverside County Sheriff’s correctional officer Jorge Oceguera-Rocha was arrested along with 14 others, according to a news release from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sheriff's Office.

Jorge Oceguera-Rocha, 25, was arrested in September. The release said he had more than 100 pounds of fentanyl pills in the trunk of his car. He resigned as a corrections officer.

The entire operation netted law enforcement an estimated $16 million in narcotics: 376 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.4 pounds of cocaine and enough fentanyl to produce 10 million doses.

Oceguera-Rocha has pleaded not guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for sales, both felonies. He is due back in court on Monday.

The joint news release did not specifically link Oceguera-Rocha to the Sinaloa cartel, but did say he had “a pivotal role of trafficking large quantities of narcotics within Riverside County while off duty.”

The Sinaloa cartel was once helmed by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, perhaps one of the most prominent and powerful drug lords since the height of Pablo Escobar’s empire in the 1980s and early ’90s.

"The history of that distinction is separation of powers and the concerns for judicial independence and worrying that Congress would over-regulate how the judiciary conducts its business," Jeremy Fogel, who served as a state and federal judge for 37 years, told NPR.

In 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed a working group after the #MeToo spread to the federal courts. He also created the Office of Judicial Integrity to monitor workplace issues and serve as a source for what he called confidential guidance and counseling.

Today, that office has just three employees.

"The Judiciary has long-standing, enforceable policies protecting its employees against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation consistent with federal employment discrimination statutes applicable in the executive and legislative branches," Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said.

The judiciary publishes annual reports about complaints against judges and for the past few years, the number of sexual harassment complaints has gone between zero and six.

A rare glimpse of this process emerged last month when the courts resolved a two-year-old complaint from a law clerk.

In the complaint, an unnamed federal judge agreed to receive counseling and watch training videos after a clerk reported a hostile workplace environment.

A subsequent investigation by the judiciary uncovered concerns about the judge being "overly harsh" to other clerks as well.

The toughest sanction against a federal judge is impeachment. But it's been 14 years since a judge was impeached and convicted for corruption and false statements.

Melvin Jesus Aquino Enriquez was charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury following an investigation that started in April 14, when a severely injured 3-month-old child was admitted to a local hospital. Enriquez was already booked in the Montgomery County Jail on a related charge.

That started the investigation, which led them to a home in the 25000 block of Needham Road in Porter, where investigators identified Enriquez as the suspect. He lived with the infant and the mother in the home, and investigators discovered that Enriquez had committed some sort of assault by strangulation and was arrested and placed into custody.

Three days later, detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office charged Enriquez with the death of the baby.

On April 21, the infant was declared dead at the hospital. The MCSO Special Victims Unit is waiting on autopsy results to determine the death of the child and if more charges will be filed.

Enriquez is held on a $750,000 bond and is on an ICE hold due to his immigration status, deputies said.

The suspect, Andres Sanchez, 38, from Hayward, has since been arrested. The victim has not yet been identified.

The shooting occurred early in the morning on April 26. Police said witnesses encountered two men arguing on San Antonio and Hayman Streets in Hayward. 

Witnesses said one man grabbed a handgun and started shooting at the other. Despite believing the man was killed from being shot, witnesses didn’t make a call to 9-1-1 until two days after the shooting on April 28, police said.

Officers responded to the scene but found nobody there. They then contacted nearby local hospitals about the shooting, but no victims were located, police said. 

Further investigation identified Sanchez as a suspect. Officials also found Sachez to have outstanding warrants. 

On April 30, witnesses saw Sanchez riding an ATV by some train tracks on Tennyson Road and Leidig Court. Officers arrived on the scene and attempted to contact Sanchez, but he immediately fled on his ATV, police said. 

Sanchez then traveled southbound and jumped over a wall into a residential neighborhood before barricading himself in the garage of a private residence near Chance Street in Hayward. The two homeowners were able to exit the home without injury as officers arrived and contained the area, police said. 

Hayward PD’s Special Response Unit, assisted by the Fremont Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the scene and began negotiations with Sanchez.  

“After hours of negotiation,” Sanchez peacefully surrendered and was taken into custody, police said. 

Later in the day, at 9:45 p.m., detectives located the body of a man with apparent gunshot wounds near the area of the original shooting. 

Police said the body “had been concealed with dirt and debris,” and they believed that the man had been dead for several days. 

Information on the body found is not being released at this time due to formal identification protocols set by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, police said.  

Sanchez was since arrested for his outstanding warrants, felony evasion, home invasion robbery, and murder.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Scinto at 510-293-7176. 

This is Hayward’s fourth homicide of 2024, HPD said.

"Individuals such as Aziza Graves commit egregious thefts through brazen and repeated conduct that greatly impacts retailers’ ability to operate and serve the general public in their area. These crimes demand accountability and we need to send the message to others who engage in open and brash thefts that, with the support of our local law enforcement partners, our office will continue to pursue and prosecute those involved," DA Brooke Jenkins said.

Graves stole from Target "dozens" of times between Oct 3, 2020, and Nov. 16, 2021, the DA's office said. She would take items off the shelves to self-checkout, scan every item, insert a small amount of money and leave.

The San Francisco Police Department followed and surveilled Graves twice after she left Target with goods she did not buy. She was later seen selling the stolen goods at UN Plaza to people who sell stolen goods or general passersby.

Graves was arrested in November 2021 and accused by officials of stealing more than $40,000 worth of merchandise over the course of 120 visits to Target. San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott described her as “a particularly brazen and prolific retail theft offender.”

She was originally charged with eight felony counts of grand theft and 120 misdemeanor counts of petty theft.

Graves was convicted of one felony count of grand theft and 53 misdemeanor counts of petty theft. One of these counts stemmed from a theft at Abercrombie & Fitch and the rest happened at Target.

Graves is currently not in custody. She faces up to three years in state prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

FWPD public information officer Sgt. Juan Gutierrez said a shooting occurred just after 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the food court on the lower level of the mall, a typically busy spot on a weekend afternoon.

Brandon D. Key Jr., 22, was arrested and faces preliminary charges including a level 6 felony of criminal recklessness, a level 6 felony of intimidation, and a misdemeanor of resisting law enforcement.

The Fort Wayne Police Department issued an Emergency Alert just after 3 p.m. stating that Glenbrook Mall located at 4201 Coldwater Road, is closed and asking those to avoid the area. Sgt. Gutierrez told WANE 15 the mall would be closed for the remainder of the day.

According to Sgt. Gutierrez, the shooting occurred in the mall's food court. Two men armed with guns are believed to have been involved, but only one did the shooting. One person was shot in a lower extremity and has non-life-threatening injuries.

Another person was hospitalized after suffering a possible fracture during the panic that ensued following the shots being fired. They are also in non-life-threatening condition.

Moments after the shooting, police were seen at Dan's Porch and Patio near the mall at the Coldwater Road and North Clinton Street split. WANE 15 cameras caught what appeared to be Key Jr. being taken into custody. That video can be viewed below.

Officers were still working to clear out the mall just before 4 p.m. The mall was reopened to the public Sunday, with a few stores remaining closed.

This is the third shooting to occur at the mall in the last year, with one on July 8, 2023 and another on September 1 that same year.

The city recorded 37 homicides in April, a 30 percent drop from April of last year. Overall, police say homicides are down 12 percent so far this year.

Additionally, more of the homicides that are occurring are resulting in charges. Through April, police reported a "clearance rate" of more than 76 percent, the department's highest since 2015.

Other progress reported by police:

• Shootings are down 8 percent year-over-year, and there's been a nearly 5 percent drop in the number of shooting victims
• Robberies declined 4.5 percent from April 2023 and are down 1.4 percent so far in 2024
• Thefts of vehicles are down 32 percent from April 2023 and down 27 percent so far this year
• The 313 carjackings recorded so far this year is a 22 percent decline from last year
• Crime on the Chicago Transit Authority's buses are trains are down 6 percent
• The number of illegal firearms taken off the street is pacing nearly 12 percent higher from this time last year.

Authorities noted that they ended the month saying goodbye to officer Luis Huesca, who was killed in the line of duty on April 21. Police said he is among the 29 officers either shot or shot at so far this year.

According to officials from the Cook County Sheriff's Office, 35-year-old Jeremiah Phillips has been charged with residential burglary, burglary, and criminal damage to property. 

The charges stem from an alleged break-in at a home in the 4000 block of Blackstone Avenue, in unincorporated Rich Township, on Sept. 6, 2023.

Authorities say Phillips allegedly entered the home and ransacked it. He then allegedly returned a few days later through a sliding door and damaged security system equipment.

Deputies later recovered the home’s security camera footage, which allegedly caught Phillips entering a detached garage and drinking from a bottle of wine that was in the garage fridge. Authorities say he then put the bottle back but spotted the cameras and used spray paint in the garage to paint over the cameras. 

The bottle was later recovered and the Sheriff’s Police Criminalistics Unit then submitted DNA samples from it to the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory for analysis.

Detectives finally got an update on the case in February when a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) report showed an association between the DNA on the bottle and Jeremiah Phillips.

Authorities then took Phillips into custody on Wednesday and charges against him were approved on Thursday.

On Friday, Phillips appeared in court where a judge ordered him to be released from custody, pending trial. 

According to Tinley Park police, 19-year-old Noah McGonigal has been charged with one felony count of possession of child pornography.

The charge was handed down following an investigation by Tinley Park police and a search of his former home.

An investigation into McGonigal first began after Tinley Park investigators assigned to the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on June 23, 2023.

Authorities say the information prompted an investigation which eventually resulted in a search of McGonigal’s former home, in the 17300 block of Oleander Avenue, on April 19, 2023.

During the search, authorities got ahold of McGonigal’s cellphone, and following a forensic examination, files depicting pornography of children younger than 13 years old were allegedly discovered. 

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office later approved a Class 2 felony charge of possession of child pornography against McGonigal and authorities say additional charges are pending.

“The Tinley Park Police Department, in conjunction with the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, continue to work diligently to keep our children safe,” Interim Tinley Park Police Chief Tom Tilton said.

McGonigal, who is currently, being held at the Tinley Park Police Department, appeared in court on Friday for a custody hearing.

The massive amount of merchandise was stolen by booster crews from multiple retail stores in California, Nevada and Arizona, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

The retail theft crew transported the stolen items to locations throughout Los Angeles County and sold them to various “fence” operations.  

A "crime fence" is an individual or business that knowingly purchases stolen goods and property and then sells the items for profit. Oftentimes, the stolen merchandise can be the result of smash-and-grab robberies and retail thefts. 

Locals who shop at hidden fence operations may not be aware that the products were stolen through an organized retail crime operation, police said.

Photos of the large bust showed a variety of stolen goods including over-the-counter medication, cosmetic and beauty products, along with personal and hygiene items. Deputies discovered a large warehouse filled with boxes of stolen items.

Investigators estimated the retail value of the stolen property to be worth several million dollars. An exact dollar amount was not provided by LASD as the investigation continues.

During the arrests, a stolen firearm and a large sum of U.S. cash were also found.  

"Multiple booster crews and a large-scale fencing operation being conducted by the "bad actors" were identified and arrested," said LASD.

All eight suspects were arrested on charges of organized retail theft and receiving stolen property. They were transported to the South L.A. Sheriff’s Station and are being held on $60,000 bail each.

Their identities were not released.

The large-scale bust was conducted by the LASD’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force which was formed in September 2023 amid an increase in violent and costly retail thefts, along with smash-and-grab-robberies throughout Southern California.

The task force is comprised of several law enforcement agencies and focuses on suspects and those who purchase the stolen goods online, officials said.

Anyone with information on the case can email the LASD task force at ORCTF@LASD.ORG or by calling 562-946-7270.

Police said that the man, identified as Walker Gabriel Munoz, knocked on the door of the woman's home on the 12600 block of Pierce Street around 6:50 p.m. on April 29. The woman, 81 and suffering from Alzheimer’s, let him in her home.

Once inside, Munoz initiated physical contact and "attempted to assault the victim sexually," police said. Parts of the encounter were captured on a home security camera.

The woman was later transported to a local hospital where a sexual assault exam was conducted, police said.

Munoz was arrested by officers with the LAPD's Foothill Division on Friday on suspicion of kidnapping with intent to commit rape. He's being held at Metropolitan Detention Center on $2,125,000 bail.

The multi-day effort, called “Operation Street Sweeper,” stemmed from “increased criminal activity and complaints from community members and businesses,” police said.

Over a three-week period, 46 people were seen buying a variety of illegal narcotics including methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, PCP and Psilocybin mushrooms. 

In a three-day operation, 44 drug dealers were identified and 33 of them were arrested for narcotics sales violations. 

With help from nearby agencies, 71 additional suspects were also arrested for multiple charges including:

• 32 misdemeanor arrests were made for trespassing, public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, and illegal possession of controlled substances
• 21 outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrants for shoplifting, petty theft, trespassing, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal possession of controlled substances, and being under the influence of a controlled substance
• 15 arrests for violation of parole, probation, and post-release community supervision
• 3 outstanding felony arrest warrants
• 3 probation searches were conducted at local motel rooms
• 2 search warrants were served at local residences

A total of 104 people were arrested during the large-scale bust. Most of the people arrested claimed to be homeless or living in various motels in the area, officers said.

During a probation search of a motel room, police discovered a woman who was wanted for a 2022 felony drunk-driving crash that critically injured two women and a 4-year-old boy.

Inside her motel room was also a man with an outstanding warrant for burglary. Police discovered the man possessed several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise as well.

Since the arrests, medical aid and police calls for incidents along the Magnolia Avenue corridor area “immediately and significantly decreased as a result,” authorities said.

“This wasn’t a one-and-done operation, and our enforcement efforts will continue until our community members, businesses, and visitors feel a constant sense of safety in Riverside,” said Larry V. Gonzalez, Riverside Police Chief.

“The Riverside Police Department will continue its directed enforcement and efforts to investigate those engaged in the trafficking and sale of illicit drugs within our neighborhoods, amongst other crimes affecting the safety of community members,” the police department said.

*Editor's note: This story might be disturbing for some readers.

BOSTON (WJW) – No charges are being filed after the bodies of four infants were found in the freezer inside a mom’s apartment in South Boston. 

According to an investigative report issued by Suffolk County, Massachusetts District Attorney Kevin Hayden on April 30, the investigation into the four babies found in a freezer in an apartment in South Boston in November 2022 will result in no charges being filed.

“This investigation, which is one of the most complex, unusual and perplexing that this office has ever encountered, is now complete. While we have some answers, there are many elements of this case that will likely never be answered,” Hayden said. “We will never know exactly where or when the four babies found in Alexis Aldamir’s apartment were born.  We will never know if the four babies were born alive, and we will never know exactly what happened to them.  We will never know how Alexis Aldamir concealed her pregnancies, or why she chose to do so.”

On November 17, 2022, a 911 call was made about multiple babies possibly inside a freezer. The caller explained that he and his wife found the bodies while cleaning out his sister’s apartment, according to the report. 

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, the Boston Police Department Homicide Unit and Crime Laboratory and the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner then began a comprehensive investigation. 

According to the report, four babies were found frozen solid, wrapped in tin foil inside shoe boxes. All of the babies were full-term with umbilical cords attached. Two were boys, and two were girls, who still had their placentas attached. 

According to the report, it was concluded that all of the babies were full siblings, determined by DNA testing. 

Investigators found that the apartment was owned and occupied by 69-year-old Alexis Aldamir.

According to the report, Aldamir bought the South Boston apartment in October 1983 but likely started living in the apartment as early as April 1982. Aldamir is now living in a residential healthcare facility.

Through DNA testing, it was concluded that Aldamir is the mother of the four infants. It was also found that the father of all four infants died in 2011.

According to the report, investigators found that Aldamir also gave birth to a baby girl in April of 1982, but the father's name was not listed on the birth certificate. There were no other records found of Aldamir giving birth.

According to the report, Aldamir had five babies with the same man and gave one up for adoption. The other four were found in Aldamir’s apartment in November 2022.

According to the report, the medical examiner at the time said there was no scientific method to determine how long the babies had been frozen. The autopsy also found no signs of internal or external trauma and no evidence of obvious injuries.

According to the report, “In this case, investigators cannot prove that the babies were ever alive and they have no cause or manner of death,” which are both needed to charge for any homicide.

“Second, the autopsy found no signs of internal or external trauma to the babies and no evidence of obvious injuries,” the report continues. “Third, as the father is now deceased, he cannot be charged with any crimes.”

It was also determined that Aldamir is unable to stand trial, according to the report.

“The information obtained suggests strongly that Aldamir would be unlikely to stand trial,” the report said. “A prosecutor’s office cannot ethically move forward with a case that, in good faith, it believes it cannot bring to trial.”

In conclusion, Hayden said that this investigation will not result in criminal charges.

Click here to read the full report.

Bonds worked for Diddy as his head of security for more than a decade, from 2003 to 2012, and was with him almost 24/7 during that time. He's named in Diddy's ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura's lawsuit as the man who "saved her life."

"There's definitely times that he was abusive physically," Bonds said during an appearance on NewsNation's "CUOMO." Diddy and Ventura "were at a dinner and she was talking to a manager. He got very upset about that and got very abusive that day. I grabbed him and said, 'What are you doing?' Some of the damage was already done."

In Ventura's lawsuit, the singer claims that Diddy supplied her with drugs, beat her, forced her to sleep with male prostitutes while filming her and forced his way into her home and raped her.

Bonds said he doesn't know exactly what Diddy was doing in hotel rooms.

"I have seen people that I haven't ever seen in my life. Guys that I've never seen before go into a hotel room with them (Diddy and Ventura), and I know that only they was in the room. What actually went on or if they were forced to do it, or how much they got paid? I didn't know about that."

"I think a lot of things that he's being accused with is the norm. I think that's part of Hollywood. I think that's the rich culture. And I think a lot of them is scared to come forward," Bonds added.

It's been more than a month since two homes belonging to Diddy were raided by federal investigators, and law enforcement has released few details as to potential charges the music producer could be facing. 

Department of Homeland Security agents conducted the raids March 25 at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles and his Miami waterfront home. The raids came as the producer faces a mounting list of civil lawsuits that allege abuse and sexual assault by multiple victims spanning over 30 years. 

Combs has denied all the allegations. 

NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali contributed to this story.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

Casey White, the inmate who escaped from an Alabama jail with help from his corrections officer lover in April 2022, was sentenced to life in prison in June of 2023.

White, 39, was charged with escape in the first degree following his capture in May 2022.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree escape in exchange for not being prosecuted for murder in the case of Vicky White, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the two were apprehended in Indiana following an 11-day search, according to the Lauderdale County District Attorney’s Office.

Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly told NewsNation affiliate WHNT that White approached him after the hearing to present the plea deal. Connolly said White agreed to the maximum sentence for first-degree escape, which is life in prison.

Speaking to the court, Casey White said he and Vicky fell in love, and the only thing she regretted was hurting her family.

Read more of NewsNation's coverage of this case below:

Psychologist goes inside the mind of Vicky White

Casey White is a ‘master manipulator’: Former sheriff

Casey White’s lawyers: We can’t discuss strategy yet

Casey White claims he killed someone else, authorities disagree

Officers with the Santa Ana Police Department responded to a disturbance call at a privately owned storage facility. The facility is typically used for personal and business storage, NewsNation local affiliate KTLA learned.

A man who wished to remain anonymous said he saw police arrive just moments before he saw a woman who said she had heard gunshots. As he approached Unit E, he saw an officer throwing a spear out of the unit.  

The man, who did not want to be identified, said he also saw an older man who was dead inside the facility and a younger woman who was not moving.  

KTLA later learned that the young woman was also dead.  

“Just a nice little dude. He’s been here a long time, just a sweetheart,” the man said of the older male victim. “He had a bad back, and every time I saw him, he was just nice. I'd talk with him for a couple of minutes, same with his niece. I think it’s his niece, I don’t know.”  

He added that the older male victim had told him once that he was an expert in medieval swords.  

Another man, who didn’t appear to be moving, was taken from the unit on a stretcher. Police said that person was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.  

It is unclear at this point if that individual is a suspect in the double homicides or another victim.

According to the man who spoke on the condition of anonymity, he never noticed any tension or animosity between the three people involved in the grisly scene.  

Detectives have not said anything about a possible motive for the killings yet.  

Las Vegas Metro police issued an arrest warrant in March for Dan Rodimer, 45, for the death of Christoper Tapp, 47. Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. A Clark County grand jury indicted Rodimer on the murder charge last week.

It was initially suspected Tapp died of an “apparent overdose” and “fall” on Oct. 29, according to the documents. However, after interviews with witnesses, police believe Rodimer attacked Tapp after he allegedly offered Rodimer’s model stepdaughter, Bella Duffy, cocaine during the Halloween party for racecar driver John Odom at the Crocksford hotel inside Resorts World.

Doctors pronounced Tapp dead at a Las Vegas hospital on Nov. 5. The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Tapp’s death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, documents said. A scan showed he suffered several brain bleeds.

Investigators later said they learned Tapp — who himself was acquitted of murder after serving two decades in prison — had been involved in an altercation inside the hotel room before he was found and taken to the hospital.

Dani Lyons, a friend of Rodimer's stepdaughter, claimed to hear Rodimer say, “If you ever talk to my daughter again, I’ll [expletive] kill you,” documents said. “Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises,” police wrote.

Lyons also told police she saw “Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christopher’s head hit a small table.” She then said she witnessed Dan Rodimer “punch Christopher throughout his head and body,” documents said.

Another witness told a person attending the hotel room party that Tapp slipped and fell and hit his head on a coffee table, according to the documents. Other witnesses told police several people used cocaine at the party.

Lyons told the grand jury Tapp offered her and Duffy cocaine, documents said. Later, Rodimer allegedly made the threat to Tapp when Rodimer’s wife, Sarah Rodimer, entered the room, dressed as “Barbie,” in an attempt to calm down her husband.

It does not appear anyone at the party called 911. Odom allegedly waited 30 minutes to an hour to call hotel security who then alerted paramedics and police, documents said.

Despite head injuries and bruising to Tapp’s jaw, police were still not contacted. Tapp’s loved ones later realized the circumstances appeared to be suspicious and reached out to police, documents said.

Tapp was a sponsor of Odom’s event in the hotel room. Odom told Resorts World security that Tapp slipped on a pair of slippers. Security was not able to find the said footwear, documents said.

According to grand jury transcripts, the witness said Sarah Rodimer told her the next day not to say anything if law enforcement asked.

“She said if anyone asks you about it, law enforcement wise, to say you didn't see anything,” the witness told the grand jury. “She said you don't want to get involved in this.”

Investigators also obtained text messages between Dan Rodimer and Sarah Rodimer where Sarah Rodimer said, “I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your [expletive] hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.”

Tapp, of Idaho, was previously charged in the 1996 rape and murder of an 18-year-old, despite being excluded by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. He was convicted in 1998 on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and use of a deadly weapon, and sentenced later that year to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder conviction and 10 years for the rape conviction.

On July 17, 2019, Tapp’s murder conviction was vacated.

Rodimer’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, argued earlier this month that text messages from Sarah Rodimer should not be part of the evidence in the case. At the time of their client's arrest, they said Dan Rodimer intended to fight the charge.

In 2020 Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, lost his bid to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee. Rodimer lost the 2020 election to Lee by nearly 13,000 votes, or 3 percentage points. He later left Nevada and lost a bid to represent Texas’ 6th Congressional District, coming in 11th in a 2021 primary.

Dan Rodimer was currently out of jail on a $200,000 bond. He is due in court May 8.

Odom, Sarah Rodimer and Duffy did not immediately responded to requests for comment.

The kicker? He was trying to transport them in his pants.

On April 26, the man — who the TSA did not publicly identify — was passing through a checkpoint at MIA ahead of an international flight, a spokesperson for the TSA told Nexstar. But once he entered a screener utilizing advanced imaging technology (AIT), officers noticed "an anomaly in his midsection."

The man was instructed to step aside for a pat down, the spokesperson confirmed, at which point he simply fessed up.

"He admitted there were snakes in his pants," the TSA spokesperson said.

After TSA agents removed the snakes from his possession, they called U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Miami-Dade police, who turned the little pink snakes over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The TSA confirmed that the man's ticket was canceled as a result of the incident.

Representatives for the CBP or FWC were not immediately available to comment on any charges the man may have faced, or what type of snakes the man was attempting to smuggle through security.

The TSA was also unable to provide details on where the man was traveling, or why he may have attempted to smuggle the creatures. Users on social media, however, had their theories.

"Maybe he wanted to film a remake of the movie 'Snakes on a Plane,'" one user joked.

It's a time that can be emotionally and financially taxing, but support is available. 

"They will not ever make another mortgage payment again," said John Huvane, vice president of the Tunnels to Towers Foundation. 

Thanks to the Tunnel to Towers, the families of the four law enforcement officers who were shot and killed while serving a warrant Monday in east Charlotte will be taken care of. 

The foundation pays off mortgages or provides mortgage-free homes after first responders with young children are killed in the line of duty or pass away from 9/11-related illnesses. 

"It's devastating to these young children that, yes, they lost their mom or dad,” Huvane said. “But the problem is now they can't afford to stay in their home. They're going to have to move out of their school district. They may have to move out of the neighborhood, completely, and lose their friends. And that would be so stressful and heartbreaking for those children.”       

All four of the officers killed had children, leaving eight children are without their fathers: CMPD officer Joshua Eyer, Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks, and U.S. Marshals task force members Sam Poloche and William "Alden" Elliott. 

"The community, it's a very difficult time that everybody's going through," he said.  

Tunnels to Towers has helped families for at least the last 10 years -- over the last three, members have paid off about 600 homes. 

Huvane says the program members pay $11 monthly, and 95 cents of every dollar goes to the recipients. 

"I'm sure the survivors appreciate that,” Huvane said. “It may have been a couple of months that we realize that they're not really paying the mortgage payment anymore, but it will never be able to replace these individuals.” 

The foundation also looks out for first responders severely injured on the job -- including the four injured in Monday's shooting. If they don't fully recover, Tunnels to Towers helps by providing them with smart homes. 

The foundation currently has nearly 300 first responders and soldiers being processed in that program. 

“My daddy is a hero,” wrote the young son of his father Officer William "Alden" Elliott. “He died getting the bad guys.”

People lined the procession route along Highway 16 in Gaston, Lincoln, and Catawba Counties.

“I know the family and they’re good, and they do a lot in this community, so we just need to support them and pray for them,” said Melinda Hodge, who came to the procession route.

Officer Elliott’s family is not just by blood; it’s an entire brother and sisterhood all across North Carolina.

“I think it’s a great time that the community comes together and see what great things that the officers do for our county and our country,” said Melvin Morrison, who played ‘Taps’ along the procession route to remember the fallen officers.

Officer Elliott, a 14-year veteran officer with the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, was also part of the US Marshals Task Force.

He was one of four officers attacked and killed Monday while he was trying to serve a warrant on a felon.

“I wanted to play ‘Taps’ at least one time for each one of the great men that we lost, the four men that we lost,” said Morrison.

Police cars as far as you could see lined the procession route from Charlotte to Newton.

Giant American flags flew over Highway 16 to guide Officer Elliott home.

“God bless them because I know they’re in Heaven now in a greater place,” said Morrison.

Officer Elliott’s son ended his tribute by saying his father “was the best man I will ever know…And I hope to be just like him.”

Elliott’s son writes heartbreaking obituary

William “Alden” Elliott Obituary | June 2, 1977 – April 29, 2024

My daddy is a hero.

He died getting the bad guys, that’s what he was good at.

He is a Marine.

He is a Police Officer.

He is kind and patient.

He keeps my mom and I safe.

He is my daddy; the best daddy.

We love playing video games together. He really likes Mario, Zelda, and Metroid Return of Samus.

We collect Pokemon cards. I have a Charizard that he helped me get graded.

He and I have watched every Star Wars movie and series.

My daddy loves playing and watching baseball. His favorite team is the Dodgers.

He is an expert marksman, perfect score every time.

For my 12th birthday he bought me a dirt bike. He bought himself one too, so that we could ride together.

I will learn how to ride it and we will ride together one day, Daddy.

He was the best man I will ever know.

And I hope to be just like him.

THEO

A memorial service with military honors to celebrate Elliott's life will be held on Thursday, May 9, at 6 p.m. at the Tarlton Complex on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College.

Boone was arrested on Feb. 25, 2020, by Orange County deputies after detectives said they found Jorge Torres Jr., 42, had remained in the suitcase for hours outside of the couple’s Winter Park home.

The trial is set to begin May 13.

Boone called 911 after she said she found Torres inside the suitcase the morning after she said that she and her boyfriend had been drinking and agreed it would be funny to play hide-and-seek, the Associated Press reported.

When investigators arrived, Torres was dead. Boone was charged with second-degree murder in 2023.

What we know about the alleged incident between Boone and Torres

Boone admitted zipping Torres inside the suitcase and then went upstairs to go to bed. She told investigators she believed Torres could free himself from the suitcase. She said she woke up after passing out on her bed to find her boyfriend unresponsive inside the piece of luggage.

Police said that Boone ignored Torres’ pleas for help that he could not breathe.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office reviewed video evidence of a blue suitcase facing downward while Torres attempted to free himself. Police said that the video included Boone laughing and saying, “That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me,” NewsNation previously reported.

Torres’ mother spoke to NewsNation exclusively in 2023. In the interview, she called Torres a “good son” who wasn’t perfect. But she said that while she doesn’t hate Boone, she feels sorry for her.

“He was a father. He was my son. He was a cousin, and he was a friend,” Torres’ mother said in the interview. “He was a nephew. (Boone) killed; she didn’t only kill my son.”

Torres’ brother told NewsNation that the family disapproved of the relationship Torres had with Boone. He said in the interview that he hopes Boone is found guilty, which would represent the only way the Torres family can get justice.

Boone’s ex-husband, Brian, told NewsNation in 2023 that he has no plans to attend the trial.

What caused the delays in the Sarah Boone trial?

More than four years have passed since Torres’ body was found inside the suitcase. Since then, several public defenders assigned to represent Boone have withdrawn from the case. Many of the attorneys slated to represent Boone have cited irreconcilable differences, claiming they could not see eye-to-eye with her on her defense.

Fox 35 Orlando, citing court documents, said one former defense attorney suggested Boone represent herself because “no attorney can satisfy her.” Another attorney said that he withdrew after his relationship with his client became adversarial.

Initially, the trial was set to begin in April 2023 before it was pushed back until July 24. After continued delays caused by public defenders withdrawing from the case, the trial was pushed back to early 2024 before being pushed back again until this month.

A judge appointed criminal defense attorney Patricia Cashman to represent Boone in February after another lawyer, Winston Hobson, told the judge that Boone’s ideas about her defense “should not be done.”

“Some of the things she wants done, I won’t do,” Hobson told the judge, according to NBC 2 in Orlando.

Boone, meanwhile, said that she was unable to contact Hobson.

“I’ve been here for four years, and I’m tired of being here, and I’m tired of going through all the attorneys which are not my fault,” Boone told the judge, according to the Orlando television station.

Sarah Boone's possible defense

Previous attorneys representing Boone said they planned to use a "battered spouse" defense, which a NewsNation legal analyst said may be the only defense available to Boone.

Mark Nejame, a criminal defense attorney, told NewsNation in 2023 that Boone’s lawyers would have a “tough road for them to go through” if they used that as their defense.

“Florida does recognize battered women syndrome or battered spouse syndrome, I should say," Nejame noted. "It’s typically the woman who’s the victim in these matters, but you have to really show that is perpetual, that is ongoing, that it escalated."

NewsNation legal analyst Misty Marris told NewsNation that the second-degree murder charges show that Boone participated in an inherently dangerous activity that was likely to result in death. Marris said that Boone’s comments in the video speak to Boone’s intent and establish the recklessness needed to be convicted on second-degree murder charges.

However, Marris said that the cell phone video that shows Torres pleading for help will be the “death nail” in the case.

“(The video) is the central piece of evidence in the case,” Marris said.

The owners of Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston decided to reopen their business after the community members rallied behind them to reclaim the space from a gunman who opened fire on patrons inside the venue October 25. 

“It’s never going to leave my head,” Samantha Juray, who owns the bowling alley with her husband, said. “I think if we don’t move forward — not that there was a point to this whole thing anyway — but we’re just going to allow the people that have taken so much from us win.”

Juray and her husband Justin bought the bowling alley three years ago, pouring all of their savings into their dream business, reported The Washington Post. 

But after the venue became one of the sites where gunman Robert Card killed eight people before driving to a nearby bar and pool hall where he killed 10 more, the reopening was uncertain. 

Sites that have been marred by shootings do not always recover. 

A California dance studio in Monterey never reopened after a gunman killed 11 people there in 2023. 

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut;  Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas; and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have all been or will be demolished, reported the Sun Journal. 

Last year, the City of Orlando agreed to buy the Pulse nightclub in Florida, where 49 people were killed in 2016, to create a memorial.

“There is no easy way for stigmatized sites to be returned to use,” Kenneth E. Foote, a geography professor who wrote “Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy,” noted.

But some sites have moved forward.

The Tops Friendly supermarket in Buffalo where 10 Black people were racially targeted and killed in 2022 reopened, as did the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 were killed in 2012 and an El Paso, Texas, Walmart where 23 died in 2019.

The Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, another site the gunman attacked, will reopen but at a different venue.

Tom Giberti, who has worked at the bowling alley for 20 years and saved at least four children the night of the shooting, credited the people of Lewiston for getting the business back open, saying they are "so excited to get us back."

“The community has been phenomenal,” he said. “They’ve been right here for us. They’ve been supporting us.”

Before opening, the bowling alley underwent extensive renovation.

Above some lanes are now photos of Lewiston donated by a local company, bright paint is on the walls, and new floors have been set, reported The Washington Post. 

Mounted on a wall behind the front desk are 18 painted bowling pins, each bearing the name of a victim of the Oct. 25 attack, the outlet reported. 

Among those killed were two bowling alley staff members.

The bowling alley already held a soft opening, inviting all the customers and first responders who had been there the night of Oct. 25. 

Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, will speak at the venue reopening Friday.

“I’m excited about opening,” Samantha Juray said. “I know it’s definitely going to be a very long day, and probably an emotional day.”

Kohberger faces four counts of murder in connection to the 2022 stabbing deaths of Idaho college students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

Evidence withheld from the defense?

The case rocked the small town of Moscow, Idaho, and now, Kohberger’s attorneys claim the prosecution has withheld key audio evidence from the defense, according to a CBS News report.

Anne Taylor, Kohberger's lead attorney, claimed in a recent court appearance that the defense hasn't provided a full video that allegedly shows the suspect's vehicle on the night the students were killed, the report said.

"This is the video that they say places this car near the residence. We've received little tiny pieces of that and we think Bryan's right to a fair trial means the public needs to know that they've withheld the audio from a great portion of that and that it starts a long time before the little clip that we received," Taylor said.

Taylor has also pushed for Kohberger's trial to be made public, but Judge John Judge ruled that the upcoming hearings will be closed. 

Kohberger's new alibi

Prosecutors against Kohberger have since urged the judge to reject the new alibi defense put forth last month.

In the alibi, Kohberger’s legal team claims he likes to go out for hikes, late-night drives and that he was out watching “the moon and the stars” the night the four students were murdered.

They disputed that Kohberger was near the victims’ house when police believe the crime happened and say he was driving in the area of Pullman, Washington, several miles west of the college in Moscow, Idaho.

The prosecution, however, argued Kohberger's alibi lacks the "specificity required" by state law, People reported. Prosecutors also claimed nothing new in the official filing from what was already known, except for the mention of Wawawai Park, the report said.

Idaho College Killings

The November 2022 stabbing deaths of the four students shocked the small town of Moscow, Idaho, as the search for a suspect moved slowly.

Authorities eventually identified Kohberger using familial DNA and other evidence, including reports of his car being seen near the crime scene.

In March, relatives of two of the slain students issued a statement expressing frustration over the continued uncertainty about the upcoming trial. The Goncalves and Kernodle families said they are tired of the delays that have been issued to avoid mistakes.

“We want to start healing, we do, we want to find justice and try to move on from this horrible tragedy so please, please, start making some decisions, get to work, and quit playing the game,” the statement read.

During pretrial hearings, Kohberger’s attorneys have pushed for the case to be dismissed and argued for the release of sealed genealogy information used to identify him. In a recent hearing, his defense team asked for a change of venue and asked for the trial to be delayed until 2025.

NewsNation affiliate WBTW had a one-on-one conversation Thursday evening with former Judge Clifton Newman. The former South Carolina circuit court judge delivered remarks at Coastal Carolina University's commencement ceremony as the keynote speaker. 

Newman focused a large part of his speech on his experience overseeing the Murdaugh case.

"And I was the main focal point and representative of our system of justice here in South Carolina so that was the burden that was placed on me to bear," Newman said. "And that's the way it goes."   

CCU students, family, and faculty gathered at Brooks Stadium to celebrate the Class of 2024 at its university wide graduation. 

While Newman served as the keynote speaker, he also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service. On March 3, 2023, in Walterboro, S.C. Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul. 

Newman sentenced him to two consecutive life in prison sentences. 

"For the murder of Paul Murdaugh, whom you probably love so much, I sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life," Newman said during sentencing.

Newman said the Murdaugh family goes back to a long line of lawyers, attorneys, and solicitors. 

Alex Murdaugh was no exception, Newman calling him "legal royalty in South Carolina" during his keynote address.

"From the outside, he represented the pinnacle of success," Newman said. "But on that day, Alex was appearing before me as a defendant on trial for murder." 

Newman was born in Kingstree S.C. and served as a judge for more than two decades. He said it was a surreal experience growing up in a small town to being in the national spotlight. 

"I don't want to say it's a dream come true, but it certainly is an amazing journey," Newman said.

During his address, he said you have to be ready to meet the moment and rise to the occasion. He said he feels he did just that during the Murdaugh trial.

At Murdaugh's sentencing hearing, Newman shared an emotional thought with him.

"I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep," Newman said. "I'm sure they come and visit you." 

Newman explained to WBTW where this compassion for someone who was convicted of murder came from. 

"Well, it's painful. There are no winners, there is nothing to cheer or celebrate," he said. Newman adds it was unfortunate for Murdaugh's family, the legal community, and the country.   

Newman was recused from the case and soon retired.  He said his retirement stemmed from a state mandate requiring it once you reach the age of 72.

He said he turned 72 a few months after the trial, but his presence is still felt in the legal community. 

"I continue to work as an active retired judge and also do arbitration and mediation," Newman said. "So, life is good." 

Newman said he's also been invited to speak at other graduations like South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina. 

As of Wednesday, ATCEMS responded to about 70 suspected overdoses, but there could be more as the week continues.

When ATCEMS was asked if all eight deaths involved in this outbreak were opioid-related, they told NewsNation affiliate KXAN, "I do know those eight were suspected of being opiate-related."

ATCEMS said they responded to 37 overdoses on Monday, 27 on Tuesday and seven on Wednesday.

“It is apparent there is a deadly batch of illicit narcotics in our community,” APD Asst. Chief Eric Fitzgerald said in a Tuesday press conference.

Following the influx of calls, EMS, the homeless strategy office, urban alchemy and nonprofits, like Texas Harm Reduction Alliance hit the ground to distribute Narcan.

ATCEMS said they distributed more than 400 doses to fight back against all the overdoses.

"Unquestionably it is helping," said ATCEMS spokesperson Captain Christa Stedman. "We have seen in just a number of days the numbers dramatically decline. That is a great thing and I think it speaks to the incredible work that our community health paramedic team and our partners have done in essentially flooding the city with Narcan. It is so easy to use you, don't hardly need any training."

Texas Harm Reduction Alliance said following the outbreak of overdoses, they, too, had teams out on the streets distributing Narcan.

THRA handed out more than 100 doses of NARCAN on Tuesday.

"We sourced more Narcan from other people in the community and made sure to have enough and then we went out and we made a point to talk to every single person we encountered about the risk of overdose, what's happening in the supply for people who maybe previously did not want to use Narcan," said Lily Hughes with Texas Harm Reduction Alliance. "We took extra time to do training and talk them through, and made sure every single person we talked to knew what was going on."

ATCEMS said the majority of the overdose calls started in downtown Austin, but later spread to other areas of Austin.

“When we see outbreaks like this, the suspicion is, essentially, there’s a new ‘batch’ in town,” City EMS Captain Christa Stedman said during the briefing. “It’s fairly likely that it’s from the same couple of sources because of the similar signatures that we’re seeing in the symptoms.”

APD's Narcotics Support Unit is actively pursuing leads to locate and arrest others who might be involved in distributing the illicit drugs involved with this incident.

APD has not released any information about the two suspects at this time, but there could be more arrests.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service in English and Spanish for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

You can reach them by calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit www.samhsa.gov and use the online treatment locator.

The indictment claims Cuellar and his wife accepted bribes from a company owned by Azerbaijan and a foreign bank located in Mexico in exchange for advancing their interests in the U.S. That, investigators say, included affecting foreign policy regarding Azerbaijan, particularly regarding the country's decadeslong conflict with Armenia.

In a statement, Cuellar said he and his wife are innocent of all allegations and accused prosecutors of being unwilling to hear their side of things. Cuellar did not address any specific pending charges in the statement but suggested he sought out legal advice on what would appear to be the subject of the allegations and also referenced his wife’s professional background.

"Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington DC prosecutors to explain the facts
and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side," he said.

Cuellar also said all actions he has taken while in Congress have been for the benefit of the people of Texas.

In a statement, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Cuellar is entitled to his day in court and presumption of innocence and announced that per House rules, Cuellar would take leave from his position as ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee while the indictment is ongoing.

Cuellar's home was raided in 2022 as part of the investigation, and he maintained his innocence at the time. At one point a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, he promoted educational trips to the country.

Previously part of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan is a majority Muslim country that gained independence in 1991. The oil-rich country has a reputation for corruption and inequality, with some saying it is run by an authoritarian government.

Cuellar, a centrist Democrat, is running for reelection in November after defeating a progressive challenger in the primary.

NewsNation has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Read the full indictment:

The Hill contributed to this report.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer was announced as April's Officer of the Month just weeks before he was shot and killed on Monday, April 29, while attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted suspect in east Charlotte.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers across NC arrived in Charlotte Friday to honor Eyer.

During Friday's heartbreaking memorial service, Eyer's wife, Ashley, paid tribute to her husband.

The husband and father was part of a US Marshals Task Force team executing a warrant for the arrest of Terry Hughes Jr., 39, who was wanted out of Lincoln County.

Armed with an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, officers came under fire immediately and several were fatally wounded. Hughes later came out the front of the house, armed, and was fatally shot.

CMPD Chief Jennings remembers Officer Eyer as a hero who rushed into danger Monday trying to help his fellow law enforcement officers. Eyer passed away sometime Monday evening after fighting for his life in the hospital, authorities said.

April 2024 Officer of the Month

CMPD said on April 15 Eyer was awarded Officer of the Month for “his outstanding proactive policing efforts patrolling the areas of Sugar Creek, North Tryon Street, and the I-85 corridor.”

CMPD said Eyer worked to address quality of life concerns within these areas, helping the community and local business owners.

In the span of just three weeks before receiving this award, Eyer and fellow CMPD Officer Aubrey Guldager made 16 arrests with 14 of those linked to felony cases involving charges of:

• Possession of a firearm by a felon
• Attempted first-degree murder
• Armed robbery
• Common law robbery
• Various drug-related felonies and property crimes

“These arrests made an incredible impact on local crime and quality of life concerns,” CMPD said.

This is just a small glimpse at Officer Eyer’s dedication to his work and his commitment to protecting and serving the City of Charlotte. He was a phenomenal officer and the epitome of what our officers and all law enforcement strive to be each and every day. We ask that you continue to keep Officer Eyer’s family in your thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of support for our CMPD officers and staff who continue to serve our community during this devastating time.

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE

Served with the National Guard for 12 years

Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Eyer served with the North Carolina National Guard from November 28, 2011, to November 27, 2023.

He earned an honorable discharge from the NCNG after 12 years of service, which included two deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Spartan Shield.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with our public safety partners during this tragic time, as well as the family and friends of those who lost a loved one,” the NC National Guard said this week.

CMPD will honor the life and service of Officer Joshua Eyer on Friday, May 3, at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church located at 301 S. Davidson Street in uptown Charlotte.

The Baja California Attorney General’s Office confirmed Friday the bodies were located in La Bocana, about 130 miles south of San Diego, California.

Jack Carter Rhoad, Jake Robinson and Callum Robinson were last seen April 27. Their last known location was San Miguel Beach in Mexico.

Evidence discovered on beach

Police confirmed that the three men were driving a white Chevrolet pickup truck, which has been recovered by police. Police also discovered a cell phone and tents along the beach where the three men were last seen.

María Elena Andrade Ramírez, Baja California’s chief public prosecutor, said evidence found along with the abandoned tents was somehow linked to three suspects. Those three people have been arrested in connection to the three men's disappearance, Mexican police said.

"At this moment, a team of investigators is in the location where it seems they were seen for the last time, where tents were found along with some evidence that could be related to these three people included in the investigation,” Andrade Ramírez said Thursday.

Robinson's, Rhoad reported missing

Rhoad and the Robinson brothers were officially reported missing Monday after they never arrived at their Airbnb and Callum Robinson didn't show up for work.

"We do not know what condition they are in," Andrade Ramírez said. "All lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them."

Callum Robinson posted multiple pictures to his Instagram account at locations in northern Baja California, including a popular surf spot called KM 38 Surf Point and a restaurant called La Hoguera.

The last photo he posted showed the men at San Miguel Beach about 70 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana.

On Wednesday, the missing Australians' mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for helping in finding her sons, Jake and Callum.

Robinson said one of her sons, Callum, is diabetic.

Andrade Ramírez said her office was in contact with Australian and U.S. officials. But she suggested that the time that had passed might make it harder to find them.

“Unfortunately, it wasn't until the last few days that they were reported missing. So, that meant that important hours or time was lost,” she said.

The area where these men vanished is known as a hotspot for cartel violence.

'Hotspot' for cartel violence

Víctor Clark Alfaro, director of the Binational Center for Human Rights in Tijuana and professor at San Diego State University, says through the end of March, the Baja California’s Attorney General’s Office was investigating 415 homicides in Tijuana.

By comparison, Ciudad Juárez, just south of El Paso, Texas, had 219, and León, Guanajuato had 152.

"Two groups with organized crime are in dispute for the region generating violence. On average, six murders take place daily, all revenge killings for the most part," Clark Alfaro said. "There's no glimpse of a solution in the short term, and it shows signs of getting worse and more intense."

In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez— from the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.

NewsNation affiliate Border Report contributed to this report.

James Barbier, 79, was taken into custody by Calumet City police Monday in Creve Couer, Missouri, which is outside of St. Louis.

He's accused of entering the home of Karen Snider, 18, late in the night on Nov. 12, 1966.

Officers had to process a brutal scene in the 400 block of Wilson Avenue after Snider sustained 125 stab wounds.

The case became cold and was reexamined again by Calumet City police in December 2022. In the last 16 months, the department said they located and reinterviewed witnesses and analyzed evidence, which identified Barbier as a suspect.

He is charged with first-degree murder. During his detention hearing, prosecutors did not seek pretrial detention — citing his age and medical problems. Barbier will be released Thursday afternoon.

Snider was a new mother and her 2-month-old daughter Paula was nearby in a bassinet during the slaying.

"Had he had more time — or maybe been even more deranged than he actually is — again my opinion — maybe he could have eliminated me as well,” Paula told NewsNation affiliate WGN.

Barbier was a suspect early on in the investigation and was a family friend. He was even a pallbearer at the funeral, and police noticed cuts on his hands during the service, according to WGN.

Now, prosecutors say DNA evidence links him to the killing after investigators reprocessed bloody clothing taken from the scene.

"My family, on my father’s side, had always said ‘this is the man,'" Paula said.

Barbier's next court hearing is scheduled for May 21.

Wednesday’s charges stem from an investigation started last month after authorities in Eagle Pass, Texas, received reports of vehicles converging around a semi-truck trailer parked in a business lot.

Border Patrol agents were first on the scene and watched as a green Chevrolet Tahoe dropped off passengers who went on to get inside the trailer, according to a criminal complaint filed April 5 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

The green Tahoe returned less than half an hour later to drop off more people. Homeland Security Investigations agents, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Maverick County Sheriff’s deputies mobilized and arrived in time to see multiple individuals take cover underneath the trailer and some trying to get into a hidden compartment, according to the complaint.

A Nissan Altima parked next to the trailer took off at high speed and was chased down by DPS troopers. A driver identified as Jesus Angel Martinez was taken into custody. Records show that Maverick County deputies tracked down the green Tahoe separately and arrested driver Francisco Javier Vasquez without incident.

Authorities took the drivers and 27 migrants found in or near the trailer to a U.S. Border Patrol station for investigation. Border agents remained on the scene and later watched a white Toyota Corolla approach the trailer, with one of the occupants getting down to approach the vehicle. The Toyota left and agents followed it to the local Motel 6.

Records show border agents watching the Motel 6 saw the individuals come out two hours later, board the Toyota and begin to drive away. A Maverick County deputy stopped the vehicle for a traffic infraction; HSI agents arrived, talked to the occupants and took them to the Border Patrol station.

The criminal complaint alleges that the two men identified as Joshua Dorsh and Troy Allen Slaughter volunteered to tell investigators that they would be paid $10,000 to transport migrants in the trailer from Eagle Pass to Houston. Both men said this would have been their third time transporting unauthorized foreign nationals in trailers to Houston, according to the complaint. The documents don't identify the person or party paying the men.

Vasquez and Martinez allegedly said they would be paid between $1,500 and $3,000 just for ferrying migrants from various locations to the parked trailer, the complaint alleges.

Wednesday’s indictment charges Dorsh, Slaughter, Martinez and Vasquez with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and one count of transportation of illegal aliens while placing lives in jeopardy. The latter refers to transporting the migrants in a locked trailer box over long distances, a practice that has led to multiple migrant deaths.

Beth Eyer, 42, of Cassandra, was charged after an investigation in which she allegedly said she failed to document the administration of controlled substances to several patients, but said she never diverted any of the drugs, the AG office reported.

Unit Directors at UPMC were alerted Dec. 27 that Eyers failed to document numerous things for eight different patients, including their morning medications, according to charges filed. She allegedly also failed to document head-to-toe, vascular and skin assessments.

On Dec. 28, Unit Directors were alerted that Eyer had dispensed and wasted Oxycontin with a patient and delivered another drug but didn't document it, the charges read. It was also noted that Eyer wasn't assigned to that patient.

Eyer was suspended Jan. 5 after an interview with UPMC supervisors, the AG office said. She was later terminated from employment on Jan. 24.

On March 28, Eyer interviewed with the AG Region IV State College office where she allegedly admitted to failing to document the administration of controlled substances. She remained adamant that she didn't divert any of the drugs.

Eyer was officially charged with refusal to keep records by the AG office. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 5.

The survey, which was conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum, showed that responding departments hired 30% more sworn officers than in 2020 and 6.4% more than in 2019. In addition to the new additions, departments also reported fewer resignations and retirements last year than they did in 2021 and 2022.

The hiring surge comes after police departments experienced a drop in sworn officers due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

According to data from the survey, which included 214 departments across 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, the number of sworn police officers was 0.4% higher at the start of 2024 than it was a year before but nearly 5% higher than it was in 2020.

“I just think that the past four years have been particularly challenging for American policing,” Chuck Wexler, the executive director of PERF, a nonprofit policing think tank, told NBC News. “And our survey shows we’re finally starting to turn a corner.”

Large police departments (those with more than 250 officers) reported the greatest staffing challenges, while medium and small-sized departments reported employing a higher number of officers than they were in 2020, the survey reported.

The largest hiring over the past four years took place in smaller departments, which reported a 38% increase in officers in 2023 compared to 2019. Conversely, large law enforcement agencies reported just a 5% jump in staffing over the same time.

Meanwhile, the number of officers who resigned continued to drop in 2023, falling by 21.6% from 2022 after three straight years of increased numbers of cops leaving their jobs. In 2021, resignations among sworn police officers grew by 40% over 2020 as more officers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs, data shows.

NBC News reported that many of those resignations took place in the wake of Floyd’s killing, after which there were increased protests against police brutality and heightened levels of scrutiny of how officers did their jobs.

Wexler told NBC News that because the survey only included numbers, it was not possible to determine if officers were leaving for jobs with other departments or leaving law enforcement entirely. While large and medium-sized departments saw drops in resignations, smaller departments (those with up to 49 officers on staff) saw a jump in cops leaving those agencies.

Despite the encouraging signs, however, Wexler said the profession isn’t “out of the woods.”

It's the latest twist in the Suzanne Morphew case and the big question that remains is whether prosecutors will once again charge her husband, Barry Morphew, in her death. A previous case against him was dismissed without prejudice.

Suzanne Morphew disappears

On May 9, 2020, Suzanne Morphew sent a selfie to a man in Michigan she was having an affair with. It's the last evidence of her alive.

On May 10, 2020, her husband reported her missing after sending her a Mother's Day text and not getting a response. He left their home early for a business trip but returned home after a neighbor said she was missing.

Search parties began looking for Morphew and on May 11, 2020, her mountain bike was found in the woods near the couple's home, off the road. A few days later, her undamaged bike helmet was found off a different road.

Searches continued into the fall, led by Morphew's family members and a $200,000 award was offered for information but no sign of her was found.

Barry Morphew charged

In May 2021, prosecutors charged Barry Morphew in his wife's disappearance. Later that year, Morphew was also charged with fraudulently submitting a ballot in his wife's name to help former President Donald Trump help win the 2020 election.

In preliminary hearings, prosecutors revealed Suzanne Morphew's two-year affair and submitted evidence including scratches on Barry Morphew's arms and a tranquilizer dart and needle that had been found at the Morphew home.

In April 2022, prosecutors dropped the case, which was dismissed without prejudice, making it possible for the case to be brought back to trial at a later date if there was more evidence.

In October 2022, the prosecutors involved were under investigation for allegedly withholding evidence in the case. There are also allegations of a plot against a judge.

Suzanne Morphew's remains found

In September 2023, Suzanne Morphew's remains were found during an unrelated search in Saguache County.

In April 2024, her autopsy report was released to the media. They indicated Morphew's manner of death was homicide but the cause of death could not be determined.

Traces of drugs used to immobilize wildlife were found in her remains. Because of the age of the remains, it's not clear if the drugs killed her or if there was another cause of death.

Barry Morphew previously told investigators he used tranquilizer darts to immobilize deer and cut off their antlers. After the autopsy findings were revealed, he suggested investigators should be investigating veterinarians in the area who might use those drugs on wildlife.

It's not clear if prosecutors will charge him again now that there is new information on his wife's death.

An arrest warrant was issued for Xavier L. Tate, 22, last week. It charges him with first-degree murder.

Tate was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday evening at an apartment complex in Glendale Heights, according to the Chicago Police Department.

A source said Tate was arrested with Huesca's handcuffs.

Sources said Tate had been under surveillance and recently traveled to Iowa, but they didn't say where.

Huesca was shot multiple times on April 21 in the 3100 block of West 56th Street in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood as he came home from a shift.

He died in uniform, and his death is considered in the line of duty, which allows his family to collect survivors' benefits.

Days later, police released videos of a man they believe is Tate, capturing him inside two convenience stores and walking down the street near where Huesca's shooting happened.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Tate. The FBI placed him on its Most Wanted list, with a reward adding up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

"The investigation continues, and no further information is available at this time," the Chicago Police Department said in a statement. "We ask that the people of this city continue to support the Huesca family by keeping them in your prayers as they continue to mourn the loss of a beloved son, brother and uncle."

Funeral services were held for Huesca on Monday.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

Attorney Keith Davidson represented Daniels, as well as a model who also said she had an affair with Trump, Karen McDougal. He helped the women sell the rights to their stories, and also negotiated deals to purchase their silence.

“What have we done?” Davidson said in texts to David Pecker, then the editor of the National Enquirer, after making the deal to stop McDougal from coming forward. The National Enquirer had buried stories of extra-marital sexual encounters Trump allegedly had to prevent them from surfacing in the final days of the 2016 presidential race.

Davidson said in court that there was an understanding their efforts may have "assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump."

A recording of Trump discussing the plan to purchase McDougal's silence with his then-lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, was played for the court.

Cohen, in the recording, told Trump he spoke to the Trump Organization's Chief Financial Officer at the time about how to "set the whole thing up with funding."

"What do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump can be heard saying in the recording. He suggested making cash payments, but Cohen said no to this.

On Thursday, the jury was shown a $130,000 agreement between Daniels requiring her not to reveal her own story. Once Cohen paid Daniels, he was reimbursed by Trump's company, which logged payments to the attorney as "legal expenses."

When pressed by Trump's lawyers, Davidson acknowledged he had never interacted directly with the former president, just Cohen.

Before Davidson began testifying Thursday in the New York City courtroom, there was a hearing over whether Trump would face more sanctions for allegedly violating a gag order connected to the trial.

Judge Juan M. Merchan already ruled Tuesday that Trump disregarded the order — which prohibits him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors, among others — nine separate times. Trump was fined $9,000 for these violations and given a Friday deadline to pay the fine.

On Thursday, prosecutors sought additional $1,000 fines for four other comments made by the former president. Prosecutors don't plan to seek jail time for Trump, though, as they don't want to interrupt court proceedings.

The gag order, prosecutors said, was put in place because of what they called Trump’s “persistent and escalating rhetoric,” adding that he “thinks the rules should be different for him.”

One example of this the prosecution pointed to were remarks Trump made outside the courtroom, where he branded Cohen a “liar.”

Todd Blanche, Trump’s defense attorney, argued that witnesses like Cohen shouldn’t even be included in the gag order. Cohen, Blanche said, uses TikTok and other social media accounts “repeatedly” to criticize and mock Trump as well as the order itself.

Other comments Trump made to cable network Real America’s Voice about the jury were permissible, Blanche said, because Trump believes the trial is a “political persecution."

“Did he violate the gag order?” Merchan asked.

“Absolutely, positively not,” Blanche responded.

In addition, Blanche argued Trump should have the right to be able to respond to a recent comment President Joe Biden made at the White House correspondents' dinner, where he forecasted “stormy weather” for his rival.

“President Trump can’t respond to that in the way he wants to because of this gag order,” Blanche said.

Merchan said Trump was not barred from responding to Biden, but “is not allowed to refer to foreseeable witnesses.”

The judge did not make an immediate ruling on the gag order violations.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and arranging hush money payments to Daniels.

For his part, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in the 2024 election, has been campaigning in his off-hours but is required to be in court for the four days a week it is in session. He has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to charges against him.

Before court resumed Thursday, Trump talked about rallies he had in Michigan and Wisconsin, saying it was nice to campaign for one day without being at what he called a "ridiculous" show trial.

After making comments about inflation, interest rates and the price of gasoline, Trump said the case should have been brought eight years ago and not during election season.

"They wait until I announce, and then they start their action," Trump said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.

Special Judge Fran Gull's latest ruling stems from a March 18 hearing where Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed a motion to hold defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi in contempt citing an evidence leak tied to the attorneys along with alleged violations of a gag order.

Rozzi and Baldwin represent Richard Allen, the man accused of killing Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi seven years ago.

Rozzi and Baldwin were originally thrown off the case by Gull after she called the pair "negligent" after the evidence leak. An evidence leak that led not only to one man's arrest but played a part in another man taking his own life.

The Indiana Supreme Court eventually reinstated Baldwin and Rozzi to the case after deciding that Allen had the right to choose his counsel, even if the judge found the counsel to be a detriment to his own defense.

Gull has mulled over McLeland's call for holding the pair in contempt since the March 18 hearing and finally released her decision Wednesday.

Gull stated that McLeland "proved by a preponderance of the evidence that defense counsel was sloppy, negligent and incompetent in their handling of discovery material."

But despite once again calling the pair negligent and incompetent, Gull ruled that the prosecutor did not prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the defense team was "willful and intentional" in their so-called "sloppy" actions.

Gull also agreed with the defense team's previous remarks that the pair weren't violating a gag order when speaking out about the case in the past because their statement was made before the gag order went into effect.

With the defense team skirting past the contempt charge, the team can now focus on the upcoming trial scheduled to start in less than two weeks.

Gull has set a pretrial hearing for Tuesday, where the defense and the prosecutor can discuss some of their concerns about the upcoming trial scheduled to begin May 13.

(NewsNation) — Harvey Weinstein will be retried for a 2020 rape conviction in New York. What could this mean for his 2022 rape conviction case in Los Angeles?

Defense attorney Arthur Aidala, Weinstein's New York attorney, says he's hopeful for an appeal in California.

"There are different rules regarding evidence (in Los Angeles). At the trial in LA, the jurors were made aware that that Mr. Weinstein was a convicted felon," Aidala said Wednesday, during an appearance on NewsNation's "CUOMO." "That Mr. Weinstein had been convicted of crimes in New York. That's no longer the case. ... I think that calls for a new trial in LA."

What happened in New York?

New York’s highest court threw out Weinstein’s 2020 rape convictions after the Court of Appeals found the trial judge in the case prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations with which Weinstein wasn’t charged in the case.

Will Weinstein be released from jail?

The decision to overturn Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction doesn’t mean he will be released from prison. He will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years.

Weinstein’s Los Angeles attorney told NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” that she believes the overturned New York conviction will impact his California rape case and said the former movie mogul could potentially be freed from prison.

“The presumption of innocence just didn’t exist for Harvey Weinstein from the start,” Jennifer Bonjean, Weinstein’s attorney, said Monday on “Dan Abrams Live.”

NewsNation's Urja Sinha and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It said he suffered "multiple blunt force injuries," though law enforcement hasn't signed off on an official cause of death. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol also announced that they are not investigating Presgrove's death as a murder.

Retired forensic pathologist and medical examiner Dr. Michelle Dupre told NewsNation's Ashleigh Banfield that she's "strongly suspicious" about the autopsy.

"It's not tracking as a vehicle accident. ... Perhaps he was placed in the road to make it look like a traffic accident," Dupre said Thursday night on "Banfield."

Dupre listed the following evidence that has her convinced Presgove's death was not a vehicle accident:

• No arm or leg fractures
• Significant posterior rib fracture
• No debris on the road
• Had shoes on

Police allegedly told Presgrove's family earlier that they have several suspects in mind, although they haven't disclosed details about possible suspects.

Despite online rumors, Presgrove did not have drugs in his system when he died, according to the autopsy, which can be found here:

Oklahoma teen’s body found naked, teeth scattered

Presgrove, 19, was found lying dead, wearing nothing but shoes, along a rural stretch of U.S. 81 in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, on Labor Day in 2023. His family says that the teen had a caved-in skull, road rash on his hip, a gravel rash on his shoulder, multiple bruises and scattered teeth.

He was last seen alive at a party he attended with a group of friends.

Presgrove graduated from Comanche High School and had plans to join the military before he went missing after the multi-day party.

At the funeral home, Presgrove’s body was severely bruised and swollen, with his nose and cheek appearing broken, according to Presgrove's aunt Robyn Smith.

“They said that they didn’t think that this was from a vehicle,” Smith said. “There was no indication of any kind of injuries to the lower half of his body.”

Only one shoe found at the scene belonged to Presgrove, while the other belonged to a friend, the family said. Investigators stated the injuries did not seem consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

Smith said that one of Presgrove’s friends told them that he wanted to go for a walk but couldn’t find one of his own shoes, so he took one of his shoes and one shoe belonging to another person at the party.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation described Presgrove’s death as “suspicious.”

Noah Presgrove's brother believes it was foul play

Dailen Presgrove, the brother of Noah Presgrove, told NewsNation on Monday that he suspects foul play.

Dailen walked NewsNation’s correspondent Alex Caprariello along the road where his brother’s body was found.

“He was in the fetal position. And his body was covered up. … You can see blood seeping through the covering. … As I’m looking at it, it just seems weird. The placement of the body. The tooth, the shorts. It doesn’t look like a hit-and-run.”

Dailen’s exclusive conversation with Caprariello differed from the conclusions reached by Jack Newton, a lifelong friend of Noah’s. 

Best friend: Noah Presgrove's death was an accident

Rumors have circulated across the community, with some suspecting the involvement of Presgrove's best friend Jack Newton and his father.

Newton was at the party the night Presgrove died and was one of the first people at the site of his death the morning his body was discovered.

He told NewsNation exclusively that he believes the death was an accident. Newton passed a polygraph test prior to speaking with NewsNation.

"We went back through the questions three or four times. ... I think the reason I got brought into it is because in high school we were always together. He lived with us for awhile, but I don't know where all the crazy talk is coming from," Newton added.

"People say it's easy to pass a polygraph. You can't control what people say about it. I put my personal number on Facebook, saying, if you want to talk about it, I'll talk about it."

Relatives don't think Noah Presgrove's death was an accident

Presgrove's grandmother and cousin told Caprariello they don't think Presgrove's death was an accident.

"He was beat in the head so many times. It couldn't have been by a car. ... It's hard to believe he could have friends like that stabbing you in the back," Presgrove's grandmother said. "In my heart, I pray to God Jack had nothing to do with it. That was Noah's best friend. Where was he?"

NewsNation's Damita Menezes and NewsNation affiliate KFOR‘s Spencer Humphrey contributed to this report.

Northwestern President Michael Schill and top administrators agreed to several protester demands, including full scholarships for some Palestinian students and guaranteed jobs for some Palestinian academics.

“The University will support visiting Palestinian faculty and students at risk," a university statement reads. Northwestern has committed to fully funding five student scholarships and two faculty spots for the next two years.

By Tuesday, most of the protester encampment on the campus in the Chicago suburb of Evanston was gone.

Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, cut its own deal with protesters.

Administrators there promised to hold a board vote in October on whether to end the school’s investments in companies linked to Israel. Before then, student leaders will meet with Brown administrators to lay out their arguments for divestment.

Brown also says students who took part in the protests won’t be punished.

Northwestern’s protests will continue through May, but students won’t be allowed to pitch tents except one for aid supplies. Protesters must also get school permission to use loudspeakers.

Organizers also agreed that nonstudents won’t be allowed to participate, and students who violate the terms of the agreement could face penalties, including suspension.

The deals drew quick criticism from Jewish groups. The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League Midwest say Northwestern “succumbed to the demands of a mob” and did little to make Jewish students on campus feel more secure.

ADL Midwest also called on Schill to resign as president of Northwestern over the "reprehensible and dangerous agreement" with protesters.

Police arrested 282 people at Columbia University and the City College of New York overall as tensions rose between local authorities and the protesters.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard joined "NewsNation Now" to discuss the latest in the city's response to student protesters, saying there was an overwhelming number of "professional agitators" mixed in with the students helping them to barricade in Hamilton Hall.

"This is not how the students were locking themselves in. This is how the professional agitators will lock themselves in," Sheppard says. "I don't know the exact number, but we feel we were dealing with an overwhelming number of professionals and not the students who belong on that campus."

Just blocks away at The City College of New York, demonstrators were in a standoff with police outside the public college’s main gate.

Video posted on social media by news reporters on the scene late Tuesday showed officers hauling some people to the ground and shoving others as they cleared people from the street and sidewalks. An encampment at the public college, part of the City University of New York system, has been going since Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(NewsNation) — A former news anchor who accused Harvey Weinstein of exposing himself to her in 2007 says she is "heartbroken" the fallen movie mogul's New York conviction was overturned, forcing accusers to relive their trauma at a second trial this fall.

"I wish we didn't have to be here. I wish it wasn't overturned in the first place," Lauren Sivan told NewsNation's "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" Wednesday. "I can't imagine how horrific this must be."

Sivan, one of over 100 women who came forward with misconduct allegations against Weinstein, submitted an affidavit for his New York and Los Angeles trials detailing her encounter at a New York City restaurant.

"He exposed himself to me. He did what he did in front of me," said Sivan, who was not part of the criminal cases. "I got away, and luckily for me, I didn't really have any other repercussions besides just having to witness that terrible act."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he'd retry Weinstein on rape and sexual assault charges after the New York appeals court threw out his conviction last month. The court said testimony from accusers not involved in the criminal charges unfairly swayed the jury.

Sivan said she worries Weinstein's separate Los Angeles conviction on similar charges could also be overturned on appeal.

"This is really scary," she said.

Weinstein’s attorney told NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” she believes the overturned New York conviction will impact his separate California rape case and said the former movie mogul could potentially be freed from prison.

"Yes, he's old. And yes, you may die in jail, but God forbid he is let out of jail," Sivan added. "This is a man who has sought revenge before in many different ways. And a lot of the women that spoke out against him are very scared for good reason."

Weinstein, 72, is currently serving a 16-year sentence for the Los Angeles rape conviction, separate from the now-vacated 23-year New York prison term.

While the Pretrial Fairness Act has already reduced the number of people in Cook County jails, it has also come with some growing pains. Appeals of judicial decisions have soared, putting pressure on the state's high courts and spurring new rules meant to stem the flow.

Overall, the new routines have taken hold in the state, with the law mostly “working as intended” in Cook County, according to a recent report from the Civic Federation and League of Women Voters in Cook County.

Previously, defendants would go before a judge, who would either detain them or order release, often on the condition of posting a monetary bail.

Under the new system, prosecutors ask a judge to hold defendants in jail in cases deemed to present a flight risk or danger to the public when charged with an offense where detention is allowed. Everyone else is released with conditions, sometimes including electronic monitoring, after an initial appearance.

Since the implementation of the criminal justice reform, judges have granted 64% of detention petitions brought before them by prosecutors, according to data from the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services.

The legislation, however, was met with criticism by some who were concerned about public safety.

Since the provision was enacted, warrants for failure to appear in court were issued in about 10% of cases in which defendants were released. About 7% of those released were charged with a new, nonviolent offense and 4% were charged with a violent offense, according to court data.

However, there is not yet enough data to compare these numbers with rates of recidivism and failure to appear from before the bail reform.

Abolishing bail was part of an expansive criminal justice overhaul adopted in 2021 known as the SAFE-T Act. It was a piece of the groundbreaking “four pillars” agenda of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, approved with the aim of improving the lives of marginalized communities following the police killings of George Floyd and others in the previous year.

In March, authorities in Texas arrested a 29-year-old Mexican man after he tried to enter the U.S. with two live howler monkeys in the back of his pickup. Less than a week later, a woman was caught attempting to smuggle 21 parrots and a keel-billed toucan into California.

On Thursday, May 9th, NewsNation rides with the Border Patrol live, showing you the border the way no other news network can. See it Thursday, May 9th, on a special edition of “Dan Abrams Live” at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central). Find out your channel at joinnn.com.

It's unclear if either person was directly tied to a cartel, but both incidents offer a glimpse into an illegal wildlife trade that is now the fourth largest funding source for criminal organizations, generating about $23 billion each year, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In November, the International Criminal Police Organization, INTERPOL, warned that the growing issue has pushed many species "to the brink of extinction."

Online marketplaces and social media have made the problem worse. Nowadays, it's significantly easier for consumers to get wild animals on the black market, many of which arrive from outside the country through U.S. ports of entry.

From 2018 to 2021, wildlife trafficking surged more than 150%, according to a Moody's Analytics report, which cited government data. The illegal trade has become a breeding ground for corruption and a major source of profit as more "structured cartels enter the space," the report said.

Wildlife trafficking from Mexico to China has helped fuel the drug trade, with cartels trading wildlife for chemicals used to make illicit fentanyl, according to the Brookings Institution.

Latin America is especially vulnerable because of its biodiversity. Ecuador, for example, has about 1,600 species of birds, and Brazil hosts between 15% to 20% of the entire world's wildlife diversity.

Some animals, like spider monkeys, can fetch upwards of $8,000 in the United States. Last summer, California border authorities confiscated three baby spider monkeys at the Calexico-Mexicali crossing. Just two months old, they were underfed and in poor condition but eventually nursed back to health by specialists at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

To combat the growing problem, DHS established a new Wildlife and Environmental Crimes Unit in 2023. That team is focused on enforcing anti-wildlife trafficking and environmental crime laws.

There's also been a push to help trafficked animals after they're confiscated. In October, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) partnered with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to launch the Wildlife Confiscations Network in Southern California. The network makes it easier for law enforcement to find housing for rescued animals.

In 2022, FWS special agents and other law enforcement partners investigated over 10,000 wildlife trafficking cases and collected over $11,000,000 in criminal penalties, the agency said.

A study published in April found that better wildlife screening tools, which are "severely lacking," could help authorities crack down further.

"Currently, wildlife seizures predominately rely on prior intelligence as opposed to active surveillance methods, thus seizures reported likely represent a very small percentage of all smuggling attempts," researchers at the University of Adelaide found.

Specifically, wildlife detection dogs are becoming more common because they can sniff out distinct scents like reptiles and birds. In fact, it was a K-9 unit that detected the nearly two dozen exotic birds heading into California in March.

For now, the U.S. remains one of the world's largest markets for trafficked wildlife, in part because the "size and scope" of the country's financial system makes it "ideal for bad actors to pass their illicit funds through," Moody's said in its report.

In that sense, addressing the illegal animal trade could be crucial in the battle against Mexican drug cartels in addition to protecting endangered species and threats to human health stemming from the transmission of disease.

They're upset that at least two people involved in the crash that took a father's life are on video admitting their involvement.

Yet there have been no arrests.

"I apologize very much and I'm sorry for your loss I didn't mean for this to happen, and I take it on my part. I feel so badly sorry I just made a mistake," one of the teens says to start off the video.

The two teens showed up at James Eatman Jr's family home. In the days after the crash, admitting to being in the stolen Hyundai that took the man's life.

The family then turned the video over to detectives but still nothing, five months later.
FOX4 blurred the faces of the young men because they're teens and they have not yet been charged.

"What I feel is lack of effort or concern from pretty much everybody…We're twiddling our thumbs around like y'all forget this happened," James Eatman III said.

This family, not sure what more they can do to get the justice they feel they deserve.

"You know you can kind of say it's been a blur – trying to stay busy so I don't have to linger on the fact that he's not here anymore," Eatman III said.

The crash happened near 31st and Agnes once Eatman's car was hit the suspects took off running.

The Kansas City Police Department tells FOX4 "once a subject(s) of interest is identified the process then shifts to presenting the investigative findings to prosecutors for their decision on applicable charges, once those decisions are made then arrests can proceed if applicable."

For now, this evidence waits to be used by the state, and this family holds on, to a man they say was short in stature, but bigger than life.

"To me he was a superhero and that's literally from the sense that when I was a child to now there was never nothing that he could not accomplish rather it was something small or something big," Eatman the III said.

The family says they've been given the run around since the very beginning but are hopeful that a referral of charges soon will hit the desk of a prosecutor so they can get closure.

KC Pet Project is nursing a dog back to health after it was shot by someone with a crossbow. They’re calling the dog Artemis. Animal control officers with that agency discovered her on the porch of a home in east Kansas City on April 20. The dog still had the arrow or dart hanging from her body with a deep puncture wound.

The Pet Project posted photos of Artemis’ wounds to social media. We’ll advise you — the photos are extremely graphic.

“She’s obviously very injured,” Tori Fugate, KC Pet Project’s spokesperson, said.

Fugate said Artemis is recovering after being treated by the clinic’s staff. She added that it’s unclear if the dog is a stray of she has an owner.

“It took a long time to get the crossbow out of her safely. They had to break pieces off it, too just to get that arrow removed,” Fugate said.

The surgery to remove the arrow took hours. Animal services officers found her at a home near Montgall Park at 22nd and Benton. Ryan Johnson, KC Pet Project’s Chief of Animal Services, said officers are searching that area for answers, and they want to know who did this.

“It’s an absolute miracle that this dog was able to survive. It’s my understanding that arrow and the way it entered the dog, it truly missed so many vital organs, and the dog is here resting and is expected to make a full recovery,” Johnson said on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Pet Project told FOX4 Artemis is ready to be adopted. Investigators are still hopeful to hold the shooter responsible.

Anonymous tips regarding who shot the dog are welcome. KC Pet Project’s anonymous reporting phone and email address can be found here. The Pet Project is hopeful for donations to cover the expense of Artemis’ surgery.

Paul Grice, 31, was arrested and charged with the kidnappings and first-degree murder of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.

Tifany Adams, 54; her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; and her husband Cole Twombly, 50, were arrested before him on the same charges.

Butler and Kelley were traveling together to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s two children, aged 6 and 8, for supervised visitation from Adams' home when they vanished last month. Adams is the children's paternal grandmother.

It was several weeks after Butler and Kelly went missing before they were both found dead in a rural area of Oklahoma.

While police have not shared much about the ongoing investigation with the public, probable cause affidavits obtained by NewsNation revealed a bitter custody battle between Butler and Adams involving death threats and plans for violence.

The scene at Grice's court appearance Wednesday was much calmer than at a previous hearing for the other four suspects, where victims of the family members had to be held back, swearing at the accused as they entered the building.

Grice said he will need a public defender appointed for him as he can't afford to hire a private lawyer. According to the court documents, Grice admitted he was part of the planning, killing and burying of Butler and Kelley.

When asked by a NewsNation reporter while walking into court if he had anything to say to the victims' families, Grice said, "Sorry for their loss."

To his family, Grice said, "I miss them. I love them."

Residents of Guymon, Oklahoma, who spoke to NewsNation said he lived with his wife and kids out in the country. Grice's wife, NewsNation was told, has since left town with the children and says she knew absolutely nothing about the alleged killings.

Those who knew Grice say they're in a state of shock.

"I felt good seeing him walk in," one woman who came to the hearing said. "We're on our way to see that justice takes place."

What we know about killings of Kansas moms

Family members, who have been asked to postpone media interviews until the police tell them otherwise, say Butler and Kelley were involved in their community and their churches.

Butler has a memorial service scheduled at the beginning of May. A memorial was held for Kelley on Sunday.

At the time of the two women's deaths, Butler's kids had been staying with Adams. Police have described Kelley and Butler as acquaintances. NewsNation learned that Kelley had supervised the visits Butler had with her children. The father of the two children had legal custody but was in a rehabilitation facility, so the children were living with Adams at the time of the disappearance.

Court documents show investigators said Adams confessed to killing Butler and Kelley and also indicate there were previous attempts to kill Butler in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Grice and the other suspects are part of an allegedly anti-government religious group called "God's Misfits," with the group meeting at the Twombly residence weekly, per court documents.

Susan Donahue is known as the “Bee Lady” in her Rockridge neighborhood, where she has been living for nearly three decades. She often hosts honey-tasting events made from the 25 hives she manages.

"Try to teach kids and families about the different color, flavor, and texture of honey year after year after year,” she said. 

Donahue was getting ready to do just that on Saturday. She says she placed a brand new bee observation hive on a table in front of her home and then went back inside to grab the honey. 

“I heard somebody say ‘Hey look, free bees.’ Then there was a pause, then a car door slammed shut,” she recalled.

She realized someone pulled up and stole her colony of 1,500 bees along with the queen bee.

"I didn't see it happen so I don't have the trauma of them taking it and leaving. But it could have been worse. I'm very aware that it could have been worse,” she said. 

Donahue says the thieves not only stole from her but also from the kids who came for the experience.

"Then having to explain to them that they got stolen and that someone would steal bees is really disheartening to me,” she said. 

Donahue explained what this “bee-zarre” theft does to the bees left behind.

”The bees that are left behind will make an emergency queen cell to carry on their colony. Very aggressive. They don't feel secure because they don't have a fertile queen,” she said.

Donahue is part of the Alameda County Beekeepers Association. She says commercial bee colony theft happens in rural areas, but locally it is unheard of. 

She says she’s heard of home and car burglaries in her neighborhood before, but to be a victim of yet another Oakland crime feels defeating.

"I really feel a lack of determination by our elected officials to tackle this issue. What's the long-term plan? Because I don't know how resilient communities can be,” she said. 

Donahue filed a police report online and has not heard anything back.

(NewsNation) — A tentative date for a retrial for media mogul Harvey Weinstein has been set for sometime after Labor Day after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction in a narrow vote.

He remains in prison serving a sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.

The ruling gave prosecutors a path to retry Weinstein, though the decision hinged in part on whether accusers Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley would be willing to go through the experience of a trial for a second time.

Weinstein, 72, attended the hearing despite being recently hospitalized for unspecified health problems.

What evidence would be allowed at a new trial was discussed, as admissible evidence was the basis for the appeal.

The appeals court ruled the trial judge erred by letting three women testify about allegations that were not part of the charges and by permitting questions about Weinstein’s history of “bad behavior” if he testified, which he did not do.

"They used deadly force," said state Attorney General Josh Kaul about the police response outside Mount Horeb Middle School. There's no word on the identity of the student, who never gained entry to the building. Kaul said no one else was injured.

Authorities described the student as a juvenile male but didn’t provide an age or indicate which of the Mount Horeb District’s schools he attended.

Kaul declined to answer several questions about what happened once police responded, including whether the student had fired a weapon, what type of weapon he had, and whether he tried to get inside the school. Authorities said multiple Mount Horeb officers, wearing body cameras, had fired weapons but they did not say how many.

Police remained on the scene hours afterward while students were kept locked down in buildings late into the afternoon before slowly being released to relatives.

Mount Horeb Area School District Superintendent Steve Salerno suggested that without recent security upgrades, “this could have been a far worse tragedy.” He said students immediately told school staff about seeing someone suspicious outside the building but did not elaborate.

“It’s an experience that you just pray to God every day that you just don’t ever have to enter into,” Salerno told reporters.

For panicked kids and their terrified parents, it was an anxious, unsettling wait. Parents described children hiding in closets, afraid to communicate on cellphones, and one middle schooler said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.

The district used Facebook posts throughout the day to give updates, with the earliest around 11:30 a.m. reporting all district schools were on lockdown. Authorities in Mount Horeb said the “alleged assailant” was the only person harmed, and witnesses described hearing gunshots and seeing dozens of children running.

Several hours later, school buses remained lined up for blocks outside the middle school and police tape surrounded the middle school, the nearby high school and playing fields between both buildings.

“An initial search of the middle school has not yielded additional suspects,” a post around noon said. “As importantly, we have no reports of individuals being harmed, with the exception of the alleged assailant.”

Earlier, the district posted without elaborating that “the threat has been neutralized outside of the building” in Mount Horeb, a small village about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the state capital of Madison.

Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the middle school.

“It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow,” Keller told The Associated Press by phone. “I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running … I probably saw 200 children.”

One middle schooler said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.

Schools nationwide have sought ways to prevent mass shootings inside their walls, from physical security measures and active shooter drills to technology including detailed digital maps. Many also rely on teachers and administrators working to detect early signs of student mental health struggles.

Mount Horeb is home to around 7,600 people. It's the central office of outdoor gear retailer Duluth Trading Company. Mount Horeb markets itself as the “troll capital of the world,” a reference to carvings of trolls stationed throughout its downtown district.