(MORENO VALLEY, Calif.) — A woman is being held on $1 million bail after allegedly dressing as a nurse and gaining access to a maternity ward at a hospital in an attempt to steal a baby.
The incident occurred on Thursday, July 14, when Moreno Valley Sheriff’s deputies in California were notified by hospital staff at the Riverside University Health System – Medical Center of an alleged “individual impersonating a nurse on campus,” said the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in a press release.
Authorities said that the suspect — later named as 23-year-old Jesenea Miron from Moreno Valley, California — had allegedly entered the hospital posing as a newly hired nurse and was able to gain access to the medical unit where all of the newborn babies were being looked after.
“The female entered a patient’s hospital room and identified herself as a nurse,” said the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “While inside the patient’s room, she attempted to take their newborn infant.”
It is unclear what security measures were in place at the hospital and how Moreno was able to gain access to the maternity ward.
Moreno was eventually confronted by hospital staff who immediately notified security of the breach and alleged attempted kidnapping, authorities say.
“The female fled the location before she was able to be apprehended by hospital security or law enforcement,” said the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “Investigators served a search warrant at the 11000 block of Weber Street in the city of Moreno Valley, where Miron was located and arrested. Additional items of evidentiary value were also located inside the residence.”
Authorities say that Miron was subsequently booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for kidnapping charges and is currently being held on $1 million bail.
Anybody with further information regarding this case is asked to contact the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station or the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — A suspect was arrested this week in a young woman’s 1975 murder after a genetic genealogist — who called the cold case extremely difficult to solve — turned to a brand new investigative approach.
Lindy Sue Biechler, 19, was stabbed to death at her Manor Township, Pennsylvania, apartment on Dec. 5, 1975, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office. She suffered 19 stab wounds to her neck, chest, back and abdomen, prosecutors said.
Biechler was found lying on her back with a knife sticking out of her neck, prosecutors said, adding that the knife was from Biechler’s own kitchen and a tea towel was wrapped around its handle.
Decades went by without an arrest in the gruesome crime.
When DNA analysis emerged in the 1990s, prosecutors said, the investigators submitted DNA from semen left on Biechler’s underwear to CODIS, the national law enforcement DNA database, but no match was ever found.
In 2020, CeCe Moore, a former ABC News contributor and the chief genetic genealogist at Parabon NanoLabs, began investigating the case with genetic genealogy, which uses an unknown suspect’s DNA to trace his or her family tree.
Genetic genealogy made headlines in 2018 when the novel investigative tool was used to find the Golden State Killer. Genetic genealogy takes an unknown suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene and identifies it using family members who voluntarily submit DNA samples to a DNA database; this allows police to create a much larger family tree than if they only used databases like CODIS.
As Moore began working on Biechler’s case, she was “extremely disappointed” when she uploaded the case file to a DNA database and only could find very, very distant relatives of the unknown suspect.
“Usually I’m able to identify common ancestors. But because the common ancestors between the matches and the suspect in this case were probably back in the 1700s [or] 1600s, I wasn’t able to approach it the way that I do most cases,” Moore told ABC News.
“It was really tugging at me, so I decided to develop a new approach,” she said. “There was a very clear migration pattern from a town in southern Italy called Gasperina, to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”
Moore said she scoured Lancaster documents for months and landed on a local club of residents who were from Italy.
“Those membership cards listed when people were born. Because I knew that this suspect had roots in this small town Gasperina, I went through all of those cards and found the people who had immigrated from Gasperina to Lancaster,” Moore said.
She said she learned about 2,300 Italians lived in Lancaster at the time of the crime — which for her was a “manageable” number.
“About half are gonna be female. A certain percentage are gonna be too old or too young. I knew this person had to be fully Italian from Gasperina or close by,” Moore said.
“I worked through each and every one of those families that had migrated from that very specific town,” she said. “It was really only possible because of this very unique [membership card] record collection that Lancaster had.”
Moore said she compared those membership cards with Ellis Island records and World War I and II draft registration cards to identify the men who moved from Gasperina to Lancaster, and then worked to identify their descendants.
“I just quietly worked on it on my own time. I didn’t know if it would work,” Moore said.
After looking at all Italian families in Lancaster in 1975, Moore said she zeroed in on 68-year-old David Sinopoli. All of his grandparents were from Gasperina, Moore said, and he had previously lived in Biechler’s apartment complex, prosecutors said.
In February 2022, investigators surveilled Sinopoli and recovered a coffee cup he used and threw away at the Philadelphia International Airport, prosecutors said. Labs later confirmed the DNA on Sinopoli’s coffee cup matched the DNA from the semen on Biechler’s underwear, according to prosecutors.
Investigators also found that DNA in blood left on Biechler’s pantyhose was determined to be consistent with the semen from Biechler’s underwear, prosecutors said.
Sinopoli, who has lived in Lancaster since the murder, was arrested at his home on Sunday on a charge of criminal homicide, prosecutors announced Monday. His preliminary hearing is set for July 25. No defense attorney is listed.
Sinopoli “was not on our radar,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said at a news conference. Sinopoli was “never cleared,” Adams said, but “none of the tips over the years had suggested him as a possible suspect.”
Biechler’s murder marked the first time Moore used this new approach, and she said she’s since used it successfully in two more cases.
Adams praised Moore and Parabon NanoLabs in a statement, saying the arrest wouldn’t have been possible without their help.
“There has been a never-ending pursuit of justice in this case that has led us to identifying and arresting Sinopoli,” Adams said. “Certainly, law enforcement never forgot about Lindy Sue, and this arrest marks the first step to obtaining justice for her and holding her killer responsible.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — Philadelphia, which is battling an epidemic of gun violence, has reached 300 homicides for the year, police said.
The 300th victim was an 18-year-old man shot multiple times Monday night, according to ABC Philadelphia station WPVI. Three weapons were used and at least 54 pieces of ballistics were recovered at the scene, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Frank Vanore told reporters.
Also among this year’s victims are a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot three times in the face and a 17-year-old boy gunned down near his high school in the middle of the afternoon.
“Every act of gun violence is an unspeakable tragedy. The fact that our city has lost 300 souls to date this year is devastating,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters Tuesday. “The surging gun violence that we’ve seen in our city and cities across the country pains us all.”
At this time last year, the city had 304 homicide victims, police said. Last year Philadelphia reached a record high, ending the year with 562 homicides.
To the mayor, easy access to guns is the biggest issue.
“In Pennsylvania — unlike New Jersey or New York or California — it’s very, very easy to obtain a firearm. You and I could drive up to Bucks County [in Pennsylvania] this weekend and probably buy a bag of guns and sell them out of the trunk of my car,” Kenney told a reporter. “And that’s the major problem.”
The mayor stressed, “We implore everyone from elected officials to community members to work together to find solutions to solve this deeply complex issue.”
“To address the availability and ease of access to firearms, we’ll always be fighting an uphill battle. The police department is investigating these crimes and they continue to take a record number of illegal firearms off our streets, but they need the public’s help to solve these crimes,” he said.
With so many young people falling victim to gun violence or committing violence, Erica Atwood, senior director of the city’s Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice and Public Safety, highlighted programs available for high-risk youths.
“These programs are centered in communities that are more vulnerable to gun violence, and are free and open to youth and young adults,” she said at the press briefing Tuesday. “Additionally, there are a number of community organizations that we have funded through our community expansion grants that serve young people in vulnerable communities.”
The city also aims to keep children safe through a curfew that’s in effect this summer for kids 17 and younger, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Curfew centers are now available, Atwood said. If “parents are working two and three jobs and don’t have the ability to have child care,” she said, the curfew center “provides an opportunity for us as a community to know where our kids are, and really kind of rebuild that connective tissue in neighborhoods to take care of one another.”
(NEW YORK) — Two shark sightings off Rockaway Beach have closed the entire stretch of some of New York City’s most famous beaches for swimming on Tuesday, according to the city’s parks department.
Rockaway Beach in Queens was closed to swimmers after sharks were spotted off both Beach 102nd Street and Beach 67th Street on Tuesday.
The NYC Parks Department said the beaches are closed to swimmers until it becomes safe to allow people back in the water.
NYPD Aviation is patrolling the area for sharks, according to the NYC Parks Department.
No attacks had been reported in the area as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Rockaway Beach closings come after a string of shark attacks off Long Island over the past few weeks.
From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches.
In response, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring at Long Island beaches on Monday.
Hochul directed state agencies to implement heightened patrols and surveillance of shark activity, including the use of drone and helicopter monitoring.
She added a direction to the agencies to expand public outreach efforts on shark safety resources and education in order to increase safety among beachgoers.
“As New Yorkers and visitors alike head to our beautiful Long Island beaches to enjoy the summer, our top priority is their safety,” Hochul said in Monday’s statement. “We are taking action to expand patrols for sharks and protect beachgoers from potentially dangerous situations. I encourage all New Yorkers to listen to local authorities and take precautions to help ensure safe and responsible beach trips this summer.”
The governor’s direction is set to increase drone resources for Long Island’s state beaches, and to increase the number of lifeguards on duty by 25%, according to her office.
As New Yorkers reach the halfway point of their summer season, shark sightings in the area seem to be growing.
There was only one report of a shark bite last summer — a lifeguard bitten in July — but there were 20 confirmed shark sightings off Long Island in 2021, a record for the area, according to Long Island officials.
That number was three times as many sightings as recorded in 2020, according to New York ABC station WABC.
(AURORA, Colo.) — A Colorado judge has found that evidence against the five former Aurora police officers and paramedics in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain is strong enough to pursue criminal cases.
Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist and skilled violist, died following an encounter with police in August 2019 while he was walking home from a convenience store.
A passerby had called 911 to report McClain as “sketchy,” as he was wearing a ski mask on a warm night. McClain’s lawyer later attributed this to the fact that McClain was anemic and often cold.
Aurora police officers responded to the scene, grabbing McClain and using a carotid control hold, which led to McClain saying, “I can’t breathe,” and struggling against the police, according to police body camera footage.
Paramedics arrived, giving McClain an “excessive” dose of ketamine, according to McCain’s lawyer, and McClain suffered from cardiac arrest shortly after in an ambulance. McClain was pronounced dead three days later.
The five defendants were indicted in McClain’s death in August 2021 on several charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Lawyers representing the three officers and two paramedics asked Adams County District Court Judge Priscilla Loew to review the cases, arguing that there was not enough evidence to support the charges against their clients.
Now, almost a year after the defendants were indicted by a grand jury on a combined 32 counts, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, Loew has decided to continue the case.
After reviewing thousands of pages of testimony and evidence, Loew said, the judge announced on Monday that the case would not be thrown out.
In her order, Loew wrote that based upon the grand jury materials, “there is sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for each of the counts listed in the grand jury indictment filed with the court on Sept. 1, 2022.”
All five defendants have been scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Aug. 12.
The Aurora Police Department declined to comment on the decision. The city’s EMS department also declined to comment.
Following the 2021 indictment of the five defendants, the Aurora Police Association Board of Directors released a statement in defense of the officers.
“There is no evidence that APD officers caused his death. The hysterical overreaction to this case has severely damaged the police department,” the Aurora Police Association Board of Directors said in a statement.
The Aurora Police Association has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, calls for a further investigation of McClain’s death were reignited.
In June 2020, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the case and file charges if “the facts support prosecution.”
The next month, the Aurora City Council had ordered a private investigation of McClain’s death, which was released in February 2021.
It found that the original investigation by the Aurora Police Department’s major crimes unit was badly flawed and alleged the detectives “stretched the record to exonerate the officers rather than present a neutral version of the facts.”
“This case is a textbook example of law enforcement’s disparate and racist treatment of Black men,” McClain’s family and their lawyers said in a joint statement issued following the report’s release. “Aurora’s continued failure to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its employees only exacerbates the problem.”
In November 2021, the McClain family reached a $15 million settlement with the city of Aurora in the civil rights lawsuit filed over McClain’s violent arrest and subsequent death. It is the highest police settlement in the history of Colorado, according to police.
The case will continue following the defendants’ arraignment on August 12.
(NEW YORK) — States with a large number of unvaccinated first responders “may face major workforce disruptions due to COVID-19 illness,” according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of Miami.
First responders are more likely to contract COVID-19 than another population of individuals, but less likely to trust vaccines, the study says.
Last year, the leading cause of line of duty deaths amongst law enforcement was COVID-19, with 301 COVID deaths in 2021, according to the Office Down Memorial Page end of year report. This year is no different. The mid-year report from the group found over 95 COVID deaths in 2022. In fact, the group concluded the large increase in law enforcement deaths was entirely due to COVID-19 year over year.
The study looked at firefighters and police officers primarily in Arizona and Florida and found that out of the 1415 participants, 829 were fully vaccinated and 586 were not. The majority of the participants who took the survey were white men.
First responders in Florida who participated in the survey were likely to not be vaccinated than vaccinated as 291 were unvaccinated and 228 were fully vaccinated. The survey also found that 545 firefighters who participated in the survey were vaccinated but 419 were not. The numbers of fully vaccinated law enforcement officers offer a better picture with 157 law enforcement officers were vaccinated and 81 were unvaccinated.
“Given the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines during the public health emergency, governments should consider vaccine mandates with regular testing and alternative work assignments for unvaccinated workers,” the study concludes. “Furthermore, the low trust in government among first responders suggests a need to leverage trusted nongovernmental sources to increase vaccination rates.”
ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
(GIDEON, Mo.) — In the small town of Gideon, Missouri, — with a population of about 1,000 people — almost everyone knows one another, according to local police chief Rinda Dillard.
When the Gideon Police Department were called for a wellness check on a residence on July 9, they made a tragic discovery when no one answered the door and police had to force their way into the home.
Inside, an older couple and three of their dogs were found dead. The cause of death was heat exposure, according to officials.
“Nobody checked on them. More than anything, just make sure you check on your neighbors,” Dillard told ABC News. “It was a horrible, tragic situation. Definitely could have been avoided. They didn’t have any kind of air conditioner. They’ve had one fan inside their home.”
As the heat breaks records worldwide — reaching dangerously high, unprecedented temperatures — officials are warning people to look out for one another.
Reach out to neighbors
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people check on their neighbors regularly, particularly older, sick, or disabled people, as well as people who live alone or who are impoverished.
“Closely monitor people who depend on you for their care and ask these questions: Are they drinking enough water? Do they have access to air conditioning? Do they need help keeping cool?” the CDC guidance reads.
For homeless populations in your neighborhood, call your local public officials or homeless advocacy groups if you see someone in need of help. Non-emergency hotlines, such as 311 services, can also offer aid.
Homeless people are about 200 times more likely to die from heat-associated causes than sheltered people, climate scientist David Hondula told The Weather Channel based on new research.
“Homeless people can be at great risk during extreme heat events, especially if they are elderly or disabled, struggle with alcohol or drug addiction, or suffer from medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and more,” the CDC reads.
When you check on your neighbors, it’s important to note what to look for when visiting.
Know signs of heat stress, exhaustion
“Ask yourself these questions: Are they drinking enough water? Do they have access to air conditioning? Do they know how to keep cool? Do they show any signs of heat stress?” the CDC guidance reads.
Make sure to get neighbors the help they need if they do not have access to protective measures. Also, take note of any signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
For signs of these conditions, check out ABC News’ guide to staying safe in extreme heat.
If someone needs help, it’s important to know where to go to, to get them what they need.
Familiarize yourself with available local resources and how to get them
“If there’s something out of whack, call the police department … so we can check the resources and see what they have available,” said Dillard.
She, alongside recommendations from the CDC, advises people to check with local agencies and non-governmental organizations that may be able to offer support.
Many local agencies and groups can provide air conditioners, offer subsidies for at-home cooling appliances, or can direct and transport people to cooling centers.
Local governments often develop plans that identify how to respond to extreme heat, especially as trends show that this problem is being exacerbated by climate change.
“If you are interested in heat-response planning efforts in your community, your town or city hall is a great place to start,” the CDC advises. “Ask how you can get involved!”
(NEW YORK) — Dangerous heat has tightened its hold on the U.S. with 100 million Americans across 24 states on heat alert Tuesday from Texas to Massachusetts.
While many of these areas will find refuge in overnight drops in temperature, the Southern Plains will not drop below 80 degrees overnight, putting the region in an excessive heat warning.
Experts say such consistent, intense temperatures are dangerous to an individual’s health.
Oklahoma City is expected to reach 111 degrees on Tuesday, with nearby cities staying above 100 degrees throughout the day.
Texas residents are projected to face continuing, stifling temperatures on Tuesday, with Dallas having the potential to break its July heat record of 110 degrees.
The heat continues to spread on Tuesday, tightening its hold on the Northeast.
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston are forecast to have a prolonged heat wave with temperatures in the 90-degree range throughout the week. On Tuesday, the four cities have highs of 90, 93, 91 and 92 degrees, respectively.
Those temperatures are expected to go even higher, as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia face a high of 97 degrees on Thursday.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Philadelphia, New York City and Boston as of Tuesday morning.
For many, Wednesday is expected to feel worse than Tuesday’s heat, as temperatures are expected to rise and humidity is expected to worsen, according to the NWS.
On Wednesday, Syracuse and Albany, New York, are expected to reach 99 degrees and Hartford, Connecticut, is set to reach 100 degrees.
With the heat, severe storms have hit the Northeast.
Flash flooding was reported from Virginia to Connecticut on Monday, with 4 to 6 inches of rain dumped along the Interstate 95 corridor.
Some areas of New York City had several inches of rain during a single hour on Monday, leaving highways, streets and subway stations flooded.
According to the MTA, some New York subway stations faced delays and canceled services due to water damage.
At the Dyckman Street station in the Bronx, the third rail — which provides electrical power to subway trains — was impacted as the roadbed was flooded by up to 14 inches of water on Monday, the MTA reported.
Some train services were canceled for several hours as crews worked to drain the water and clear debris from the tracks.
Storm reports also came in from Montana to the Mid-Atlantic, as residents faced damaging winds over 70 mph and baseball-sized hail.
On Tuesday, the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest will continue to see severe and damaging winds alongside large-scale hail.
Severe storms are expected to return to the Northeast on Thursday, with heavy rains and damaging winds posing the largest threat to the region stretching from Connecticut to Maine.
(WASHINGTON) — A man was arrested after allegedly attempting to access a roadway closed off for first lady Jill Biden’s motorcade, according to the United States Secret Service.
The man was charged with assault on police, failure to obey, crossing a police line and resisting arrest, officials said.
“A man was arrested near the White House after attempting to access a roadway that was temporarily closed due to a protectee motorcade,” the Secret Service told ABC News. “The individual struggled with uniform division officers and was ultimately placed into custody. Two officers were sent to an area hospital for evaluation following the minor physical confrontation.”
The first lady’s office declined to comment on Tuesday.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Emotions reached a roiling boiling point Monday during an open forum hosted by the school board in Uvalde, Texas, just one day after a 77-page report by a joint committee of the Texas Legislature slammed the police response to the incident and the school district’s lack of preparation for such an attack.
A special public forum held by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Board to allow community members to ask questions and voice concerns about the changes and updates for the 2022-2023 school year — including safety and security plans — quickly became a tinder box of emotion and anger.
Community members resoundingly said they want former Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo — currently on paid administrative leave — fired immediately. As the May 24 massacre unfolded, Arredondo allegedly failed to take on the role of incident commander or transfer the responsibility to another officer on scene, despite it being an “essential duty” he had assigned himself in the active shooter plan he helped write, the committee said.
Many called for members of Uvalde’s school district police force who were present during the shooting to be fired, for an independent investigation into the Robb Elementary School failures, and for answers and transparency about their specific concerns following the report.
On Monday night, parents threatened to pull their kids from Uvalde schools come September, and several also called for Uvalde CISD Superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell to resign.
The community also wanted answers on what was known about the Robb Elementary School door being locked or not.
“In violation of school policy, no one had locked any of the three exterior doors to the west building of Robb Elementary. As a result, the attacker had unimpeded access to enter,” the committee reported.
The committee also faulted the school district for failing to treat the maintenance of doors with known faulty locks with “appropriate urgency.”
Speakers at the forum also called for an independent investigation into the massacre. The group was united, calling several times to stand up together — to be courageous and voice their truth.
After apologizing in his introduction for not having held a forum like this sooner, Harrell, sitting on stage alongside the full school board, opened the floor to questions.
“First of all, I just want to say last time y’all had us on a time limit of sorts, and that’s not going to fly today,” said Brett Cross, the uncle of Uziyah Garcia. “There’s no other way to put it. We have a lot to say, and we won’t be silenced and we won’t be stopped. So if y’all had the idea of a time limit, it’s not going to get followed this time.”
Cross was referencing a press conference held by the special committee report Sunday on the failed police response to the shooting that saw 19 children and two teachers killed. Families were invited to attend and ask questions Sunday, and those invited — including the media and families — had to fill out compulsory paperwork required by the committee to ask a question. Many members of the community did, but due to time constraints, they were not given the opportunity to ask their questions.
Before the forum began Monday, attendees from the community sporting “Uvalde Strong” matching shirts placed photos of the victims on the seats in the front row facing the school board members.
When later asked by Cross if Arredondo was going to be fired, Harrell said, “That will be a decision… We will take the report into consideration, it will be a closed session.”
“I’ll tell you this: If he’s not fired by noon tomorrow, then I want your resignation and every single one of you board members,” Cross responded.
Vincente Salazar, the grandfather of Layla Salazar, addressed the school board saying, “Your system failed these families” and “it didn’t save our children. Your closed sessions that… didn’t save our children.”
“What we need to do now is put families in your sessions so we know what’s going on, what’s going on. And the way you’re spending your money for the security of our children,” Salazar continued. “We pay over 40% of the city budget for the school and for the police, and you hired trash. That’s not right.”
“I lost a loved one right here. My only granddaughter, I can hold myself together now because I’ve done my crime. Now it’s time to do my fighting. And you have seen me in the papers and you will see me in the papers a lot more. Because this isn’t the end. This is just the beginning of a war that you guys created for our children,” he added, to cheers from community members in the crowd.
