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(NEW YORK) — Anthony Harris was 12 years old when he was charged and later convicted of murdering his 5-year-old neighbor, Devan Duniver.

Harris’ conviction was eventually overturned and, more than 20 years later, he said he is still haunted by the grisly crime.

“She was so young and she had passed away,” Harris, told ABC News’ “20/20” as he held back tears during an exclusive interview two years ago.

Harris, who has served as a Marine, said he is frustrated that Devan’s killer has never been identified or captured.

“The girl’s dead, my life has been destroyed, and this guy, this individual’s still free right now,” he said during an interview with “20/20” airing Friday, May 6, at 9 p.m. ET.

Harris’ sentiment has been shared by residents, who spent hours searching for Devan after she went missing on June 27, 1998, from her New Philadelphia, Ohio, neighborhood. Harris alleged that there were leads in the case that were not pursued.

Devan disappeared after she went outside to play. When her mother, Lori, discovered Devan was gone, she spent the afternoon looking for her and called the police in the evening. Harris and his family lived in the same apartment complex as the Dunivers and aided in the search.

Hundreds came out to help in the search.

The next day, Devan was found in the woods behind her home dead with multiple stab wounds to her neck.

Investigators claimed Harris provided inconsistent details about where he was and what he was doing during the time the girl was missing when he was initially questioned.

Two weeks after Devan’s body was found, the police called Harris and his mother Cyndi to the stationhouse, where the then-12-year-old Harris was placed in an interrogation room with Thomas Vaughn, the police chief of nearby town Millersburg.

Harris’ mother could watch through a two-way mirror but was unable to hear what was being said.

Vaughn repeatedly questioned Harris about whether he killed Devan, according to the audio of the interrogation. At first, Harris denied he was involved but he said Vaughn’s pressure got the best of him.

“The investigator, he had basically told me that, ‘If you confess to this murder you can go home.’ It’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I’m over here scared, so I want to go home,'” Harris recalled.

Harris ultimately confessed and was charged with murder. His case was a juvenile proceeding and, therefore, absent a jury; Harris’ fate was determined by Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Linda Kate.

Harris’ attorney Tarin Hale tried to suppress the taped confession from evidence but the motion was rejected by Judge Kate.

“My statement was very clear, there is no evidence in this case. That’s all you need to know from me. There’s no evidence here,” Hale told “20/20.”

Three members of the search party who combed the area in 1998 to find Devan told “20/20” they believe that there are elements surrounding Devan’s death that are troubling.

Donna Wenger, Nancy Niarchos and Jim Milliken all said they searched by the area where Devan’s body was found and didn’t see her. They said they believe her body was dropped at the spot later.

Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken each testified as witnesses during the trial and they recall seeing a man in the area who was wearing a long-sleeve plaid flannel shirt, which they said was odd given that it felt like a 90-degree summer day.

“I thought, ‘My God, is that guy ever creepy,'” Niarchos told “20/20.” “He was so suspicious looking and he was right there. I thought, ‘What is he doing here?'”

Kate ultimately found Harris guilty in 1999 and sentenced him to the maximum, incarceration until he turned 21.

Harris, however, would get a second chance on appeal.

On June 7, 2000, the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and determined that Harris’ confession was coerced.

Harris was released the next day.

“There’s no sense to be bitter,” Harris told “20/20.” “Even though it hurt a lot, it didn’t destroy my core as a person, the things I believe in, the things I grew up to become. That’s why I don’t hold resentment in my voice when I speak.”

Devan Duniver’s murder remains unsolved.

The last time the investigation picked up was in 2005 when Richard Dobbins was appointed as special prosecutor. He conducted a two-year probe and ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.

Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken told “20/20” they were never contacted by the special prosecutor to discuss the case.

Ryan Styer, the district attorney for Tuscarawas County, Ohio, which currently has the files related to the special prosecutor’s investigation, told “20/20” in a statement that, after reviewing the findings, he believes investigators “invested a lot of time conducting many interviews of witnesses and known persons of interest.”

He said he also feels there’s insufficient evidence for prosecution but has asked authorities to speak to the witnesses from the trial “20/20” interviewed.

Harris said he hasn’t given up his drive to help find the person responsible for killing Devan.

“We’re going to figure this out [and] give her some kind of closure,” he said.

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(FLORENCE, Ala.) — The inmate who escaped from a Florence, Alabama, jail with a corrections officer last Friday was awaiting trial on capital murder charges. But those charges were just the latest in a litany of other offensives in his past, according to authorities in multiple states.

Inmate Casey White, 38, and Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56 — who are not related — should be considered dangerous, the U.S. Marshals Service warned.

Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participating in the escape from the Lauderdale County facility.

The pair “may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun,” the U.S. Marshals Service said.

At the time of his escape, Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for the stabbing Connie Ridgeway, a crime he allegedly confessed to, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Ridgeway, an Alabama mother, was found dead in her living room on Oct. 23, 2015, in an apparent murder-for-hire, AL.com reported.

He could face the death penalty if convicted, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.

“We really need to get Casey White behind bars again as soon as possible before someone else is hurt,” Ridgeway’s son, Austin Williams, told ABC News this week.

Casey White was previously convicted of a 2015 crime spree involving a home invasion, carjacking and a police chase, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

After a crime spree in Alabama, Casey White stole an SUV and drove to a rest stop in Giles County, Tennessee, where he allegedly tried to carjack a semi-truck, Giles County Sheriff Shane Hunter said. Casey White allegedly opened fire but no one was hit, Hunter said.

Casey White then tried to carjack a woman and fired shots into her car, the sheriff said. She was shot and survived, he said.

He then allegedly carjacked a man at gunpoint and led police on a chase, the sheriff said. Casey White fired at police and was later arrested, Hunter said.

Casey White was sentenced to 75 years for the 2015 crime spree, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

He has also been convicted of trying to kill an ex-girlfriend and kidnap her roommates, AL.com reported.

The U.S. Marshals warns that, after his arrest in 2015, Casey White “made threats against his ex-girlfriend and her sister,” saying “if he ever got out, he would kill them.”

Now that he’s on the run, the U.S. Marshals said authorities have spoken to Casey White’s “potential targets” and “have taken appropriate protective actions.”

Casey White previously planned an escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but officials thwarted the plot before he could attempt it, Singleton said. When officials got word of the plot, they found a homemade knife in his possession and learned that he was planning to take a hostage, the sheriff said.

Casey White was subsequently transferred to a state prison, where he remained until February 2022, when he returned to the Lauderdale County facility for court appearances related to Ridgeway’s murder, the sheriff said.

Vicky White and Casey White disappeared on Friday morning, after Vicky White allegedly told her colleagues that she was taking Casey White to the Lauderdale County Courthouse for a “mental health evaluation,” the sheriff said. He didn’t have a court appearance scheduled, Singleton said.

Vicky White also allegedly told her colleagues that she was going to seek medical attention after dropping the inmate off at court because she wasn’t feeling well, but Singleton said his office confirmed that no appointment was made.

Vicky White planned to retire; Friday — the day of the escape — was her last day, the sheriff said.

The pair may be driving a 2007 orange or copper Ford Edge with minor damage to the left back bumper, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The leak of a draft opinion showing the Supreme Court’s conservative majority of justices is poised to overturn abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade has led to a sharp increase in donations to abortion funds, grassroots organizations that help people access abortion care.

The National Network of Abortion Funds, a network of more than 90 funds across the country, said it has received more than $1.5 million in donations since the draft ruling was published by Politico Monday night.

“That is only what is being funneled through the National Network of Abortion Funds and we’ve heard from our local members that many people are also donating directly to abortion funds,” Debasri Ghosh, managing director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “Given the groundswell of support … we wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers were pretty high as well.”

In North Dakota, the WIN Fund, which helps people access abortion care at the state’s sole abortion clinic and travel to other states for care, has also seen an “exponential” increase in donations since Monday, according to Destini Spaeth, one of the volunteers who runs the fund.

“There’s absolutely been an influx of donations,” Spaeth told GMA, adding that people from across the country had donated. “The only thing that I can compare it to on even some type of scale was the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when we also saw an influx of donations.”

Spaeth said that donations are the lifeline of WIN Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization that, like all abortion funds, relies purely on donations and does not receive any government funding.

“We pride ourselves on being able to say yes to every caller,” said Spaeth. “We believe that abortion is a human right and that nobody should be denied access because of financial barriers.”

Abortion funds like WIN Fund began to form over three decades ago in response to the Hyde Amendment, a provision that since 1976 has banned federal funding for most abortions, according to Ghosh.

“So many people who use government insurance, including Medicaid recipients in most states, cannot have their abortion covered by their insurance,” she said. “So we were seeing droves and droves of people trying to put together funding for this out-of-pocket health care expense.”

Abortion funds now exist at the local, state and regional levels, but they are primarily locally-based organizations that provide on-the-ground resources for people, from providing direct funding for abortions to offering transportation money, child care, lodging and doula support.

The average funding given to people supported by the WIN Fund, for example, is around $250, according to Spaeth.

“People are traveling great distances so travel assistance is something we see quite a bit of,” said Spaeth, who said the fund often works with college students and members of North Dakota’s rural and indigenous populations. “Many of the patients travel three to four hours from Western parts of the state and also from Minnesota and we see a lot of patients from South Dakota as well.”

In West Virginia, a team of mostly volunteers runs the Holler Health Justice Fund, an abortion fund that serves people across the Appalachian Region, from West Virginia to Kentucky and Tennessee.

The volunteers coordinate care for people in the region who come from rural communities and often lack funds to pay for abortion or to travel, according to Hayley McMahon, a member of the fund’s board of directors.

West Virginia currently has one abortion clinic in the state, where abortion is currently allowed up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

McMahon said the fund has been “overwhelmed” with support since Monday, but said even more donations will be needed if Roe v. Wade is overturned and West Virginia and nearby states enact abortion bans.

Last year, the fund was able to help over 530 people get abortion care, averaging donations of around $260 per person, according to McMahon.

“A lot of our folks are going to need to leave the state to get care, which means it’s going to be harder to coordinate and more expensive,” she said. “We expect to see higher gestations which means higher costs for the procedure and greater transportation needs.”

It’s a concern echoed by abortion funds across the country as they brace for the impact of the Supreme Court’s final decision in the case of Mississippi, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the source of the draft opinion that was leaked.

If the Court rules in Mississippi’s favor and fully overturns Roe v. Wade, more than half of the nation’s 50 states are prepared to ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization.

Twenty-one states already have laws on the books that would immediately ban abortion if Roe were overturned. Five additional states are likely to ban abortion should Roe be overturned, the Guttmacher report said.

In response to potential bans, leaders of abortion funds say they plan to continue to do their work, but will need increased resources as they help more people who will likely need to travel further.

Because the states that plan to ban abortion are focused in specific geographic regions, including the South, an expected effect is that women will have to travel much longer distances, at a greater cost and inconvenience, to seek abortion care, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

“North Dakotans aren’t going to stop needing and wanting abortions just because abortion becomes illegal here, and the North Dakota WIN Fund won’t be going anywhere,” said Spaeth. “I know the sentiment is true for other abortion funds in abortion-hostile states as well.”

Spaeth said she and other abortion fund leaders are looking at the example set by funds in Texas, where a law went into effect last year that bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

“We’ve seen the amazing work that the Texas funds have done in getting their callers out of state and into surrounding states where they can have the abortions they want and need, so we can look to Texas and learn from them,” said Spaeth, who added that collaboration is also already happening between abortion funds in states where abortion access is limited and those where it is not.

Ghosh, of the National Network of Abortion Funds, said she hopes the current spotlight placed on abortion funds keeps the support coming for the long-term.

“I hope that individuals, that institutional philanthropy will really rethink the way that we connect and resource abortion funds, beyond this one-time, crisis moment,” she said, adding, “People shouldn’t have to privately fundraise and rely on private philanthropy to have a basic health care need met, but this is where we are, and we have an infrastructure to do it.”

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(NEW YORK) — Severe weather caused “significant damage” and wide-spread power outages in Oklahoma Wednesday, officials said.

Seminole got hit especially hard after a reported tornado touched down in the city, located about 65 miles east of Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security reported late Wednesday that there was “significant damage” to structures, including businesses, in Seminole, and that the Red Cross was setting up a shelter for displaced residents there.

The National Weather Service of Norman, Oklahoma, had warned residents of a “damaging tornado” on the ground near Seminole County earlier Wednesday.

Aerial footage from Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO-TV showed widespread damage to structures in Seminole after the storm.

The extent of any casualties is unclear.

The City of Seminole warned residents about multiple downed power lines during the severe storm system.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it responded to Seminole in the wake of the storm damage, including protecting drivers from the downed power lines.

There are some 12,400 power outages reported throughout the state, while storms and flooding are forecast to continue overnight, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said.

A tornado watch remains in effect across much of Oklahoma and West-Central Texas Wednesday overnight.

There have already been at least seven reported tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma — including Crowell, Texas, and Maud, Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center had said there was the potential for “significant” — EF2 or higher — tornadoes in parts of Oklahoma and Texas on Wednesday.

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(WASHINGTON) — The father of Trevor Reed, the American freed from Russia in a prisoner exchange last week, on Wednesday demonstrated outside the White House, calling for the Biden administration to help other Americans held hostage overseas, including two U.S. citizens still detained in Russia, Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.

Trevor Reed, a 30-year-old former Marine, was released last week after nearly three years in detention in Russia, where he was imprisoned on charges that his family and the U.S. government said were trumped up.

He arrived home in Texas last Thursday after being traded for a Russian pilot who had been serving a lengthy sentence in the U.S. for a drug-smuggling conviction. Reed is currently at a military base in San Antonio, receiving counseling and support as part of a reintegration program.

Despite reuniting with his son less than a week ago, Reed’s father Joey Reed and his daughter, Taylor Reed, travelled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to join the demonstration with families of Americans detained in several countries, including Venezuela, Iran, China, Rwanda.

Joey Reed said he had come to urge the Biden administration to repeat what it had done for his son and to put a spotlight on the cases of the families of other detainees.

“We think there’s at least 16 cases of detainees and hostages where an exchange would bring them home tomorrow,” Reed told ABC News.

He also called on President Joe Biden to meet with the families of other hostages as he did with the Reeds, saying he felt that had been pivotal in persuading the administration to go ahead with the exchange that freed his son.

“We believe that was the complete tipping point was when we met with him,” he told ABC News. “He’s a personable guy. You know, he’s compassionate, kind. Meet with these families like they met with us.”

Joey Reed said he had come at the insistence of his son, who is passionate about freeing Whelan, the other former U.S. Marine still held in Russia and who was not part of last week’s prisoner exchange.

Reed’s release has renewed focus on the cases of Whelan and Griner, who the U.S. government believes were seized by Russia as bargaining chips.

Whelan has been detained in Russia since 2018 and is currently in a prison camp, sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges that the U.S. government and his family say were fabricated.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February when Russian police alleged they found vape cartridges in her luggage containing hashish oil, a substance illegal in Russia. This week, the State Department reclassified Griner as “wrongfully detained,” a designation that allows it to begin negotiating for her release and disregards the Russian criminal case against her.

Reed was freed in an exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian cargo plane pilot who was jailed in the U.S. in 2011, after he was seized in a DEA sting operation and convicted of plotting to smuggle large quantities of cocaine.

Since 2018, Russia had repeatedly floated Yaroshenko as a possible candidate for a prisoner trade for Reed and Whelan. But Russia has also pressed for Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. on drugs and terrorism charges.

Most experts believe Bout — one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers — is a more difficult trade for the U.S. to accept.

The U.S. is generally reluctant to make prisoner exchanges in hostage case out of a fear of encouraging hostile governments to seize more Americans.

But Joey Reed said his son’s case showed the U.S. could be more open to making exchanges if it can get Americans home.

“We just want a trade so they can bring Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner home tomorrow. And we hope that they’re working, towards that and that Trevor was just the beginning of a lot of Americans being repatriated with their country and their families,” Joey Reed said.

Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan, was also at Wednesday’s demonstration and said it was “wonderful” Reed had been released and gave her hope for her brother.

“I do think Trevor Reed’s release showed that sort of trade was possible. But I think mostly to us it signaled that tools are available,” she said. “So, we’re just asking the White House, the administration to do whatever is [possible], use whatever tools are at their disposal to bring Paul home. And the same goes for everyone.

She said she had met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House before the demonstration and that the meeting had been encouraging.

Asked about the efforts to free detained Americans, State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday said, “What I can say is that we are doing everything we can — almost all of it unseen, almost all of it unsaid in public — to do everything we can to advance the commitment that President Biden has to see these Americans who were wrongfully or unjustly detained around the world — or in some cases held hostage around the world — brought home.”

Among the families represented the event were several whose relatives are held in Venezuela, including Alirio and Jose Luis Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Matthew Heath, Jose Angel Pereira, Airan Berry and Luke Denman.

Relatives of Siamak and Baquer Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz, also called for help in freeing them from Iran.

One by one the families stood at a microphone and described the pain of struggling to free their loved ones and pleaded with the Biden administration to act urgently. Several said, Reed’s release had given them hope.

Neda Shargi, whose brother, Emad, is serving a 10-year sentence in Iran, addressed Reed directly, saying: “If Trevor is watching this we are so grateful to you for being strong enough to come back. And for having your parents here. Trevor, it’s because of you that we have hope.”

ABC News’ Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.

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(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Three alleged gang members have been charged with multiple counts of murder stemming from a mass shooting last month in downtown Sacramento, California, that left six people dead and a dozen wounded, authorities said.

Two of the suspected gunmen are in custody, while the third suspect is still being sought by police, officials said.

“What we know is that this was clearly gang related. There was a gunfight between multiple gang rivals,” Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert identified the murder suspects as Smiley Martin, 27, his 26-year-old brother, Dandrae Martin, and 27-year-old Mtula Payton.

Smiley and Dandrae Martin have been in custody since the shooting occurred.

Payton remains on the run and Lester said a team of police officers is doing everything they can to locate him and bring him to justice.

Schubert said the three suspects are each charged with three counts of murder stemming from the killings of “innocent bystanders” — Melinda Davis, 57, Johntaya Alexander, 21, and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.

Schubert said the three other people killed in the shooting — Sergio Harris, 38, Devazia Turner, 29, and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32 — participated in the gun battle.

“The evidence shows and will show that these individuals armed themselves with guns,” Schubert said.

Citing California law, Schubert said if “individuals are involved in a gun battle and they kill innocent bystanders, all participants in that gun battle are responsible for the deaths of those innocent bystanders.”

“It doesn’t matter whose bullet killed who. What matters is that this was a gun battle between rival gang members who came armed to this scene in downtown Sacramento and innocent bystanders died,” Schubert said.

Schubert said the investigation is ongoing and more charges will likely be filed, including attempted murder charges.

On April 3, the shooting broke out around 2 a.m. at the corner of 10th and K Streets in a popular nightlife area of Sacramento, just blocks from the State Capital Building. Lester said 70 to 80 people were in the vicinity of the gunfire and many were caught in the cross fire.

Harris, Turner or Hoye-Lucchesi were identified as having weapons when they were shot dead, Schubert said.

Lester said investigators believe there were a total of five shooters.

Schubert declined to say if Harris, Turner and Hoye-Lucchesi were among those identified as having opened fire.

She said more than 100 shell casings were collected at the crime scene.

Schubert said Smiley Payton faces an enhancement charge of being in possession of a fully-automatic 9mm firearm with an extended magazine.

In addition to murder, the Martin brothers and Payton are also charged with being convicted felons in possession of weapons. Because they are each charged with multiple slayings, they all face capital murder enhancements that could make them eligible for the death penalty, Schubert said.

MORE: 3rd shooting near youth sports field in 7 days leaves several hurt
At the time of the shooting, Payton was free on $50,000 bail, stemming from a January 2020 arrest for allegedly being a felon in possession of a firearm, Schubert said.

Lester said more than 40 detectives were involved in the investigation, 12 of them full-time. The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive are assisting in the investigation.

“This act of violence devastated families and made members of our community concerned for their safety,” Lester said. “And as I said the day this happened, we are resolved to find those responsible and to secure justice for those victimized.”

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(NEW YORK) — Authorities now believe that an Alabama corrections officer “willingly” participated in the escape of a capital murder suspect, according to the local sheriff in charge of the investigation.

“The pieces of the puzzle just came together,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News in an interview Wednesday on Good Morning America.

“I think all of our employees and myself included were really hoping that she did not participate in this willingly. But all indications are that she absolutely did,” he added. “We’re very disappointed in that because we had the utmost trust in her as an employee and as an assistant director of corrections.”

Wednesday marked the sixth day of an intense search for Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White, 56, and inmate Casey White, 38. The pair — who authorities said are not related — went missing from Florence, Alabama, on Friday. That morning at the Lauderdale County Detention Center, Vicki White allegedly told her colleagues she was taking Casey White to the local courthouse for a “mental health evaluation,” though he didn’t have a court appearance scheduled. She violated policy by escorting the inmate alone, according to the sheriff.

“This particular guy and someone like that, no, that should have never happened, even if we had to delay getting him to court,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday.

Casey White, who is 6 feet, 9 inches tall, was charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 for the stabbing of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway. He could face the death penalty if convicted, according to the sheriff.

The inmate previously planned an escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but authorities thwarted the plot before he could attempt it, the sheriff said. When authorities got word of the scheme, they found a homemade knife in his possession and learned that he was planning to take a hostage, according to the sheriff. Casey White was subsequently transferred to a state prison, where he remained until February 2022, when he returned to the Lauderdale County facility for court appearances related to the murder charge, the sheriff said.

Investigators have since learned that Casey White and Vicki White had a “special relationship” and were communicating after he was transferred from the county jail to state custody, according to the sheriff. The nature of that communication was not immediately clear.

“We know that they maintained contact while he was in the department of corrections up to and including until he was returned here Feb. 25 of this year,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday.

The pair “should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun,” and may be driving a 2007 orange or copper Ford Edge with minor damage to the left back bumper, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 reward for information leading to Casey White’s capture and a $5,000 reward for information leading to Vicky White. A warrant was issued for Vicki White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.

As of Wednesday morning, investigators “don’t have any idea where they might be,” the sheriff told ABC News.

“We were making some good progress on that. We may be hindered now that some of that information has gotten out,” he added. “But, you know, we’re still working around the clock to locate them and try to get them back in custody.”

Singleton has described Vicki White, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, as “an exemplary employee.” He said she had been talking about retiring for the last few months and turned in her paperwork last Thursday. The day she and Casey White went missing was set to be her last day on the job, according to the sheriff.

“My message would be: Vicki, you’ve been in this business for 17 years, you’ve seen this scenario play out more than once and you know how it always ends,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday. “Now go ahead and end it now, get to a phone and call 911, turn yourself in and help us get Casey White back behind bars because you know that’s where he’s going to eventually end up.”

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(NEW YORK) — After serving 31 years in Florida State Prison for a murder he did not commit, Thomas Raynard James is a free man.

“Emotionally I was overwhelmed. I was not in a state of disbelief, because I knew this day was coming, eventually. I was looking forward to it. But emotionally I wasn’t really prepared for it,” James told ABC News.

James was convicted in 1991, when he was 23, for the 1990 death of Francis McKinnon.

Witnesses told police the robbery and murder of McKinnon was committed by a man named “Thomas James” or “Tommy James.” James was convicted after a witness then told jurors she saw James kill her stepfather during a robbery, due to what his lawyer called a case of mistaken identity.

According to the state attorney for Miami-Dade County, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the case lacked physical evidence and his fingerprints did not match those found at scene but he was still convicted after an eyewitness said she saw him shoot McKinnon.

James was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

“It was horrendous …To have somebody to be incarcerated can be dramatic in of itself, but to know that you’re sitting here, and you’re going through these days on a daily basis for something that you didn’t have anything to do with, it was torture,” James says.

James said he “never gave up” thinking that he would eventually be released, but says that life in prison had been difficult.

“It’s hard to even put into words, some of the things that I had to deal with and the feelings that I was dealing with for the last over three decades,” he said.

James said he spent years filing motions proclaiming his innocence and was denied many times. He said he had even reached out twice to The Innocence Project in Florida, and was told both times they could not “proceed with his case.”

Attorney Natlie Figgers who specializes in personal injury and family law, took on James’ case pro bono out of a legal “duty,” she said.

“Once I saw the evidence and reviewed the case, it was pretty clear that a mistake had occurred, and I was pretty flabbergasted that he submitted that many appeals and they didn’t see the same thing… when you hear that it’s just mistaken identity due to a name. How can somebody be wrongfully convicted just based on having the same name?” Figgers told ABC News.

“I was a personal injury attorney, so I never dealt with criminal law. So I definitely want to make sure that it was something that I would be able to prove on his behalf … There were no other attorneys that were taking this case on at that time. So I felt like I had a duty,” she added.

The witness whose testimony placed James behind bars recanted her previous testimony last month, according to Rundle.

While he is a free man now, supporting himself and finding a job could be difficult. James’ family has even launched an online fundraising campaign for him.

Figgers said she is pursuing a civil wrongful imprisonment case, seeking compensation for James.

James said he plans on becoming “gainfully employed,” and also said he is working on a book about his story.

He said he hopes to help others in similar situations, but said he is most focused on making up for lost time.

“The list of things that I missed out on is long. For me, one thing that would mention is that I lost a lot of family, a lot of friends… they went to their grave with me still sitting in prison for a crime I didn’t commit,” James said.

“Injustice to anyone is injustice to everyone. So when people such as myself are crying out don’t just brush them off and automatically call them guilty,” he said.

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(NEW YORK) — As fentanyl overdoses and deaths have been on the rise across America, investigators have been setting their sights internationally to stop the flow.

Police and other experts say fentanyl and fentanyl-laced pills have been illegally imported from as far out as China and even smuggled through the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I’ve been doing this for almost 10 years now. And at one time, we would never find fentanyl. Now we’re catching it all the time -and it is coming in different forms,” Robert Meza, an import specialist with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, told ABC News.

Even with some recent crackdowns by governments, the fentanyl is still making its way into the country, into the hands of dealers and victims who have no idea they’re taking the potentially deadly substance, according to law enforcement.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told ABC News that the majority of fentanyl that his office has confiscated is in the form of counterfeit pills that are delivered in the mail. The pills are designed to look like painkillers and sold to unsuspected victims, especially kids and teens, Bianco said.

“They think they’re experimenting with other drugs,” the sheriff told ABC News.

Some dealers who have been arrested for selling the tainted pills, however, said they had full knowledge of what was going out into the street, the authorities said. Investigators said the dealers add fentanyl to other illicit substances, such as heroin, to drive new addiction and create repeat clients.

Eric Falowski, who was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in 2016 in Florida for intentionally adding fentanyl to counterfeit pills, told ABC News that he had his pills sent from a contact in China.

“She actually solicited the relationship directly to me and said she can provide fentanyl. That was my best supplier,” he told ABC News.

Under pressure from the U.S., Chinese suppliers have had difficulty sending the pills straight to America, experts said. However, those suppliers have come up with an alternative plan that includes more pit stops.

Investigators said Chinese drug suppliers send the ingredients to make fentanyl to cartels in Mexico. After creating the fentanyl, either in raw powder or pill form, the cartels would ship them across the border in trucks, according to investigators.

Last year more than 11,000 pounds of fentanyl made its way into the U.S. and more than half of it came right through the border of Mexico and San Diego, according to investigators. That was more than double the amount of fentanyl seized at the border compared to 2020, investigators said.

“What you’re seeing now is something that was never possible when fentanyl was coming from China. And that is a coverage of fentanyl all across this country,” Sam Quinones, the author of Dreamland and Least of Us, which chronicled the country’s opioid crisis, told ABC News.

Border patrol agents have stepped up their searches for the pills and other related fentanyl contraband.

In one instance, agents picked up 2 pounds of fentanyl and nearly 82 pounds of meth from a car. The small amount of fentanyl is much more potent than the dozens of pounds of meth, experts said.

Investigators said they’re not sure if they can stop the inflow of the tainted drugs, but reiterated that something needs to be done to stop the flow into the hands of unknowing victims.

“America is being poisoned with fentanyl, and we don’t even know it,” Bianco said.

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(NEW YORK) — A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor accused of sexual harassment withdrew his candidacy for a position at New York University Langone Health, after news of his potential hiring received backlash from the NYU community.

Dr. David Sabatini, a biologist, resigned from MIT last month after a review found he violated its workplace policy on consensual relationships and recommended his tenure be revoked. Sabatini allegedly failed to disclose a sexual relationship he had with “a person over whom he held a career-influencing role” and didn’t take any steps to “relinquish his mentoring and career-influencing roles,” according to a letter by MIT President L. Rafael Reif.

The committee conducting the review also had “significant concerns regarding his unprofessional behavior toward some lab members,” the letter added.

Sabatini has denied allegations of sexual harassment and has said the relationship at the center of the investigation was consensual. He has sued his accuser, as well as others, for defamation. His accuser has also countersued.

Sabatini said he was withdrawing his name from consideration, but maintained that he will “eventually be vindicated.”

“False, distorted, and preposterous allegations about me have intensified in the press and on social media in the wake of reports last week that New York University Langone Health was considering hiring me. I understand the enormous pressure this has placed on NYU Langone Health and do not want to distract from its important mission. I have therefore decided to withdraw my name from consideration for a faculty position there,” Sabatini said in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday.

He added, “I deeply respect NYU Langone Health’s mission and appreciate the support from individuals who took the time to learn the facts. I remain steadfast in believing that the truth will ultimately emerge and that I will eventually be vindicated and able to return to my research.”

NYU Langone Health, the university’s academic medical center that includes the school of medicine, said in a statement Tuesday that both Sabatini and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine “reached the conclusion that it will not be possible for him to become a member of our faculty.”

“Our overarching mission at NYU Grossman School of Medicine is advancing science and medicine to save lives. That is what compelled us to give careful reflection to hiring Dr. Sabatini after he initially reached out to us,” NYU Langone Health said.

It added, “In the course of our due diligence, we heard voices of support from many dozens of Dr. Sabatini’s colleagues, lab alumni, and peers who described their first-hand experiences working with him. But we also heard clearly the deep concern from our own faculty, staff, and trainees. Our thorough review and deliberate approach was essential for us to make an independent evaluation consistent with our institutional priorities.”

News that Sabatini may be hired by NYU was first reported on science.org, which also reports that Sabatini has been forced out of or fired from three leading institutions for sexual harassment or for violating workplace or consensual sexual relationship policies.

Members of the NYU community, including its union for graduate workers, a group for women in STEM and a group of STEM researchers planning on forming a union, organized a protest against Sabatini’s hiring last week.

A petition against Sabatini’s hiring had gathered more than 400 signatures as of Tuesday. As long as Sabatini was being considered for a position, signatories pledged to not give or attend any talks, seminars, conferences or symposia hosted by NYU Langone Health. They also vowed not to teach any courses at NYU Langone or collaborate with any labs at NYU Langone.

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