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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Marshals have located and fingerprinted the Los Angeles Dodgers fan seen on camera during a televised 2016 home game who they said closely resembled a long-missing and most wanted fugitive. But they have determined he is not their man.

The identification came just 48 hours after the U.S. Marshals went public with a photograph of the Dodger fan, eager to determine if he was John Ruffo, a swindler convicted of a $353 million bank fraud, who has been on the run for more than 23 years. The manhunt for Ruffo is the subject of season 2 of the ABC News podcast, “Have You Seen This Man.”

A relative of the Dodgers fan alerted the U.S. Marshals Tuesday night that the man seated five rows behind home plate during the 2016 game was, in fact, a different person altogether. He has requested privacy so ABC News is not naming him.

To be certain the man was not Ruffo, the Marshals conducted a swift background investigation and on Thursday traveled to his home to verify fingerprints. The read out proved it – they had the wrong guy.

The discovery put an end to one of the most vexing aspects of the manhunt – a lead that for more than five years remained unresolved for the U.S. Marshals. It meant the investigators would have to turn their attention to other leads in the decades-long search for Ruffo.

“The ones that are the worst are when you have no resolution. That’s what bothers me, is that you just don’t know, is that him or not? The Dodgers footage, is that him? Is that Ruffo? Or is it not?,” said Deputy Marshal Danielle Shimchick, the lead investigator on the Ruffo case.

Short and balding, the unassuming one-time computer salesman is now 66 years old. He is believed to have fled with approximately $13 million. There has not been a confirmed sighting of him since he stopped at an ATM in New York City in November 1998, the day he was supposed to report for a 17-year prison term. His car was found at New York’s JFK Airport.

The look-alike baseball fan from the L.A. suburbs had put his hands on some terrific seats, placing him just off center frame every time the television feed of the game focused on the batter. It was in that prime location that he caught the eye of John Ruffo’s cousin, Carmine Pascale, of New Hampshire.

Pascale was watching the Dodgers-Red Sox game on television on Aug. 5, 2016, when he said he spotted the familiar-looking man seated four rows behind home plate.

“I’m watching and right behind home plate, they did a close up of the batter and there’s Johnny. And I said, “Holy Christ, there he is,” said Pascale, a cousin who last saw Ruffo after his arrest in 1998. “And I immediately called the Marshals. I froze the frame, kept it right in front of me.”

He phoned the tip into the US Marshals, who had placed him on the agency’s 15 most wanted list.

Deputy Pat Valdenor, an L.A.-based Marshall, was assigned to followed up on the initial tip. He said it’s rare to get a tip accompanied with video evidence. He said the resemblance was strong.

“It does look like him. It could be him,” Valdenor said. “So that was my starting point. That was the lead that I got.”

Valdenor sought help from the Dodgers, who identified the seat in Dodgers Stadium where the man had been seated: Section 1 Dugout Club, Row EE, Seat 10. He sought through baseball team’s help in identifying who bought the ticket.

The Dodgers identified the ticket holder, but he had given the ticket away. The coveted seat behind home plate passed through so many hands, Valdenor spent weeks tracking the ticket but was ultimately unable to track it to the man who actually attended the game.

It was Valdenor who traveled to a Los Angeles suburb Thursday to fingerprint the man who had attended the game.

“You can clearly see the difference between the fingerprints,” Valdenor said. “Even without the fingerprints, there was the birth certificate, and I had his whole family in front of me — three generations. I could see it wasn’t Ruffo.”

Even though the manhunt for Ruffo goes forward, he could be satisfied that he had not missed a chance to catch Ruffo.

This report is part of Season 2 of the ABC News podcast, “Have You Seen This Man?,” hosted by “The View’s” Sunny Hostin. It follows the U.S. Marshals’ ongoing mission to find John Ruffo, who engineered one of the most outlandish frauds in U.S. history, vanished in 1998 and has never been found. A four-part Hulu Original limited series on the global search for Ruffo is currently in production from ABC News Longform. MORE HERE

 

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(ARAB, Ala.) — Four people, including a 4-year-old, have died in devastating flooding in Alabama.

Up to 13 inches of rain fell — with rates as high as 5 inches per hour — in Jefferson and Shelby counties, which includes Birmingham and hard-hit Pelham.

A 4-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman died as a result of the flooding in Marshall County, located in northern Alabama, the county coroner’s office said.

In Hoover, near Birmingham, a 23-year-old-woman and 23-year-old man were found dead in their submerged car Thursday after being swept away in floodwaters Wednesday night, Hoover police said.

In Pelham, fire officials said they responded to 282 calls for service. Officials conducted 82 rescues from homes and over a dozen rescues from cars.

Schools in Pelham are closed Thursday due to the excessive flooding. A flash flood watch remains in effect through Thursday night.

The flash flooding threat is expanding Thursday into Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida.

Residents in Panama City, Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta and Asheville should be prepared for flooding.

East of Asheville, rainfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour have been reported. A state of emergency was issued in McDowell County, North Carolina.

By Friday, the Southeast will finally start to dry out as the heavy rain shifts into parts of the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic.

 

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(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio treated his New York Police Department-provided security detail like a “concierge service” that drove around his son, staff members and guests even when he was not in the car and helped his daughter move out of her apartment, the city’s Department of Investigation alleged in a report released Thursday.

The investigative report by the city’s anti-corruption watchdog also accused the mayor of failing to reimburse the more than $300,000 his security detail spent on travel outside New York City during de Blasio’s unsuccessful 2020 run for president.

“Protecting the mayor and his family is a serious and significant job that should be guided by best practices, formalized procedures, and an understanding that security details are not personal assistants in a dignitary’s daily life but provide essential protection,” DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said.

The NYPD inspector in charge of the Executive Protection Unit, Howard Redmond, “sought to obstruct” the investigation by refusing to turn over a City Hall-issued phone, trying to destroy his NYPD-issued phone and demonstrating a “lack of candor” during an interview, the report claims.

Redmond was referred to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for possible prosecution. While de Blasio is not facing prosecution, he could face potential ethics violations.

“We are reviewing the referral,” a spokesperson for Manhattan DA Cy Vance said.

In her response, de Blasio’s press secretary Danielle Filson called the report “unprofessional” and “inaccurate,” claiming that it was based on “illegitimate assumptions and a naive view of the complex security challenges facing elected officials today.”

 

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(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — A massive search is continuing in Florida for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who went missing on a cross-country trip and who authorities confirmed as the body discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

The search for the 23-year-old Laundrie is centered around North Port, Florida, where investigators said Laundrie returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her 2012 Ford Transit.

Laundrie has been named by police as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. Laundrie has refused to speak to the police and has not been seen since Tuesday, Sept. 14, according to law enforcement officials.

The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as he and Petito had been traveling across the country since June, documenting the trip on social media.

Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not hearing from her for two weeks.

Latest headlines:
-Second Moab Police body camera footage shows Gabby Petito claim Brian Laundrie grabbed her face
-FBI returned to Laundrie’s house for additional items
-Florida search ends for the night, police say they don’t know cost of effort
-Nothing found so far in Friday search
-Search for Brian Laundrie continues at Carlton Reserve
-Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern.

Oct 07, 11:41 am
Brian Laundrie’s father joins police in search for son: Attorney

The father of wanted fugitive Brian Laundrie joined law enforcement officers in the search for his son on Thursday, the family’s attorney told ABC News.

Chris Laundrie began assisting police Thursday morning in the ongoing search of the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve, near his home in North Port, said attorney Steven Bertolino.

He said the father has been asked to point out any favorite trails or spots in the nature preserve that his son favored. Chris Laundrie and his wife, Roberta, verbally told investigators roughly three weeks ago where their son may have gone in the preserve, but now searchers believe the father’s on-site assistance may be more beneficial, Bertolino said.

The preserve has been closed to the public and the Laundries as well. The parents, according to Bertolino, have been cooperating since the search began.

Oct 06, 6:42 pm
Authorities to allow Laundrie’s father to assist with search, attorney says

Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, told ABC News Wednesday that authorities are going to allow Chris Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s father, to assist with the search at the Carlton Reserve.

Investigators don’t currently have more details on when he will join the search.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News they provided aerial support Wednesday for a search of the area.

ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd and Alondra Valle

Oct 05, 11:11 pm
Brian Laundrie left parents’ home to hike day earlier than parents originally told investigators

Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino confirmed to ABC News Tuesday night that the family now believes Brian Laundrie left to hike the Carlton Reserve on Monday, Sept. 13. Previously, they had told investigators he left on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

“The Laundries were basing the date Brian left on their recollection of certain events. Upon further communication with the FBI and confirmation of the Mustang being at the Laundrie residence on Wednesday September 15, we now believe the day Brian left to hike in the preserve was Monday September 13,” Bertolino said.

ABC News’ Kristin Thorne and Alondra Valle

Oct 05, 4:50 pm
Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August: Family attorney

An attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that the wanted fugitive flew home to Florida from Salt Lake City on Aug. 17 and flew back to Utah six days later to rejoin his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, on their cross-country road trip.

Steven Bertolino said Laundrie flew home to “obtain some items and empty and close the (couple’s) storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip.” Bertolino said the couple paid for the flights together as they were sharing expenses.

Laundrie’s trip back to the Tampa area came five days after he and Petito were stopped by police in Moab, Utah, when witnesses reported the couple was engaged in a domestic violence incident in Moab.

 

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(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 708,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:
-Hospitalizations drop but deaths remain high
-Pfizer submits kids vaccine emergency use authorization request to FDA
-LA passes vaccine mandate for indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, malls and more
-More Americans died of COVID this year than all of 2020

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Oct 07, 1:37 pm
78% of adults have had 1 dose: White House

Seventy-eight percent of adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted.

Oct 07, 12:35 pm
Hospitalizations drop but deaths remain high

Hospitalizations in the U.S. have dropped from 104,000 to about 69,000 over the last five weeks, according to federal data.

More than a third of the drop was in Florida, where there are about 13,000 fewer patients compared to just over one month ago.

Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions are also down nationally by 13.6% in the last week, according to federal data.

But states like Alaska and West Virginia, are still experiencing record-breaking surges, while Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Idaho and Texas still have ICU capacities near 10%.

Overnight, the U.S. reported nearly 2,000 COVID-19 related fatalities.

Around 1,400 virus-related deaths are being reported each day, which is nearly 7.5 times higher than in mid-July, according to federal data.

Texas is reporting thousands of deaths each week.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Oct 07, 9:00 am
United expects travel surge in December

United Airlines expects a travel surge and plans to fly 3,500 daily domestic flights in December, making it the largest schedule since the start of the pandemic.

Flight searches for the holidays are up 16% on the airline’s website and app compared to 2019.

Florida and ski resorts are expected to be the hottest destinations.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney

Oct 07, 8:20 am
Pfizer submits kids vaccine emergency use authorization request to FDA

Pfizer has submitted an emergency use authorization to the FDA for use of its vaccine in children ages 5 to 11.

The FDA will have a public hearing on Oct. 26.

Shots for children 5 to 11 may be available by early November.

ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss

 

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(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Officials shared new horrifying details in the case of 19-year-old Miya Marcano, revealing she was found bound at her hands and feet with duct tape.

A body found Oct. 2 in a wooded area near the Tymber Skan apartment complex in Orlando, Florida, was positively identified as Marcano on Tuesday, the chief medical examiner for Orange and Osceola Counties told ABC News.

Marcano, a student at Valencia College, had been missing for over a week when her body was found. She was last seen at the Arden Villas apartments’ complex in Orlando where she lived on Sept. 24.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina shared an update on the case Wednesday, saying: “Miya was found bound with black duct tape on her feet and hands, and her mouth was also covered with black duct tape.”

Marcano was found wearing jeans, bra and a robe. Mina said her purse was found nearby containing the shirt she was last seen wearing.

Mina reiterated that Armando Caballero, 27, “is the person responsible for her death” and officials are not looking for other suspects.

Caballero was a maintenance worker at Arden Villas who was found dead Sept. 27, three days after Marcano disappeared, from an apparent suicide, authorities said.

Authorities previously said Caballero had expressed a romantic interest in Marcano but she rebuffed his advances. Caballero possessed a key fob to access apartments and his was used at Marcano’s unit just before her disappearance, authorities said.

“There is no indication that there was sexual assault of any kind” and the cause and manner of death are yet to be determined by the medical examiner’s office, Mina said.

He said officials believe that Caballero was waiting for her inside her apartment on Sept. 24. He later killed her and hid her body at the area of the other Orlando apartment complex, based off information police have so far.

Officials are still trying to determine if she left her apartment alive and whether this was a planned attack.

Police announced the discovery of the body Saturday. Mina said police were led to the Tymber Skan apartment area based on Caballero’s cellphone records that showed he was there the day Marcano went missing around 8:20 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. Mina said that Caballero had once lived at the Tymber Skan apartments.

The investigation is ongoing.

 

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(ARAB, Ala.) — More than 10 inches of rain pounded northern Alabama over the last 24 hours, leaving some neighborhoods underwater.

A 4-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman died as a result of the flooding in Marshall County, located in northern Alabama, the county coroner’s office said.

In Hoover, near Birmingham, crews have been searching through the night for two people who were in a car that was swept away in the floodwaters. The vehicle is believed to be submerged, officials said, adding that divers are at the scene.

In Pelham, fire officials said they responded to 282 calls for service. Officials conducted 82 rescues from homes and over a dozen rescues from cars.

Schools in Pelham are closed Thursday due to the excessive flooding. A flash flood watch remains in effect through Thursday night.

The flash flooding threat will expand east Thursday into Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, where more than 3 inches of rain is expected.

Flash flooding is also possible in Tennessee and Florida.

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(ARAB, Ala.) — More than 10 inches of rain pounded northern Alabama over the last 24 hours, leaving some neighborhoods underwater.

A child died as a result of the flooding in Arab, located in northern Alabama, the Marshall County Coroner’s Office said.

In Hoover, near Birmingham, crews have been searching through the night for two people who were in a car that was swept away in the floodwaters. The vehicle is believed to be submerged, officials said, adding that divers are at the scene.

In Pelham, fire officials said they responded to 282 calls for service. Officials conducted 82 rescues from homes and over a dozen rescues from cars.

Schools in Pelham are closed Thursday due to the excessive flooding. A flash flood watch remains in effect through Thursday night.

The flash flooding threat will expand east Thursday into Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, where more than 3 inches of rain is expected.

Flash flooding is also possible in Tennessee and Florida.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With the vaccination rate for staffers in New York state’s long-term care facilities jumping from 70% to 92% following a state mandate last week, nursing home advocates are urging the Biden administration to launch a similar mandate for long-term care facilities nationwide — but the federal agency that oversees nursing home standards has yet to provide guidance on the matter.

Biden administration officials announced in August that long-term care staffers would soon have to get vaccinated, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has yet to implement the policy. In the meantime, the vaccination rate among long-term care employees nationwide is languishing at just over 65%.

“The federal mandate was welcomed, but the lack of guidance is concerning,” said Michael Wasserman, the past president of the California Association for Long Term Care Medicine and a member of California’s Vaccine Advisory Committee. “Having unvaccinated staff caring for residents will result in the transmission of the virus and therefore deaths.”

“We cannot implement this soon enough,” Wasserman said. “Every day that goes by without guidance will inevitably lead to more deaths.”

CMS officials said in a press release last month that they intend to release emergency vaccine regulations in mid to late October. In the meantime, CMS officials told ABC News, the agency is encouraging staff across all health care settings to get vaccinated, and are encouraging all facilities to “take advantage of the resources available from CMS” to promote the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Back in August, John Knox Village in Missouri was among the providers that were waiting to get additional guidance from CMS before taking further action, so they could fully understand exactly what the mandate entails. Two months later, they’re still waiting for further guidance.

John Knox Village spokesperson Emily Banyas told ABC News that in the meantime, the facility is continuing with its voluntary biweekly vaccination clinics. The staff vaccination rate at the facility is up 5% over last month — but is still only around 65%.

Overall, only about half the staff in Missouri’s long-term care facilities had been fully vaccinated as of Sept. 19, according to the latest data available from CMS, making Missouri one of the lowest-vaccinated states in the country.

In Oklahoma, where the staff vaccination rate is 51.7%, a long-term care executive told ABC News she’s hopeful the federal mandate will increase staff vaccination rates — especially in rural areas. Mary Brinkley, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the elder advocacy group LeadingAge, said that in the meantime, providers in rural areas are making a concerted effort to increase their voluntary vaccination rates, with some nursing home operators achieving rates of 80% to 95%.

But in Montana, where the staff vaccination rate is 59.8%, the federal mandate could be the only way the state will see a big increase in employee vaccinations. Due to a state law that bans employers from requiring vaccinations, Montana Health Care Association Executive Director Rose Hughes said that unless a federal mandate is implemented to create an exception for long-term care providers, there’s “nothing else they can do” other than to “continuously try to convince staff to get vaccinated through education and information.”

However Hughes also told ABC News that she expects a “significant number” of staff to resign when the federal mandate takes effect. Some facilities have already reported losing staff amid the looming order, Hughes said.

In Kentucky, where the vaccination rate among long-term care staff is just 56.2%, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities said that despite concerns about possible staff resignations, the organization supports employer vaccine mandates and is hopeful that Biden’s mandate will result in a significant increase in COVID-19 vaccinations among staff.

As of Sept. 19, about a month after the Biden administration announced plans to require long-term care facilities to vaccinate their staffs or lose Medicare and Medicaid benefits, the national staff vaccination rate had only risen 4.3%, from 61.1% to 65.4%, according to CMS data. The previous month, it had risen by 2.5%.

Eric Carlson, a long-term care expert with the advocacy group Justice in Aging, says that the mandate is needed “in order to prevent deaths and to keep nursing facilities open to visitors.”

“The COVID vaccines have been game-changers in nursing facilities,” Carlson told ABC News. “We know that COVID is particularly deadly for nursing facility residents, and that broad vaccination can reduce COVID rates to close to zero. No one should be waiting for someone else in order to do the right thing.”

Lisa Sanders, a national spokesperson for LeadingAge, says it is “highly likely” that an increase in workplace vaccine mandates will lead to an overall increase in the vaccination rate.

“What’s needed now — urgently — is both the actual rule and guidance for implementation,” she said.

In Tennessee, where the staff vaccination rate is just under 54%, Tennessee Health Care Association spokesperson Jay Moore told ABC News that while a few long-term care facilities have voluntarily imposed their own mandate, many providers are waiting for the national guidance because “the landscape is changing so rapidly, and there will always be unexpected nuances when the CMS rules are finally promulgated.”

Moore said it’s a “fair assessment” to say that the lack of additional CMS guidance has put providers in limbo, but that the federal agency is just being careful because it knows that the mandate will have a “tremendous impact on individuals working in health care, the facilities, and the patients in need of services.”

“CMS hopefully is just trying to get it right,” Moore said.

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(ARLINGTON, Texas) — Four people were hurt in a shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday morning, authorities said.

The suspect, an 18-year-old student, fled the scene and was taken into custody hours later, authorities said.

Two of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, police said. Three victims were students and one was an older person who may have been a teacher, police said.

Three of the four victims were hospitalized: a 15-year-old boy in critical condition, a 25-year-old man in good condition and a teenage girl in good condition, police said.

Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins. After announcing a search for him, police said he was taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault with a gun. The teen suspect communicated with his attorney before turning himself in, police said.

Police said this was not a random act of violence and that the suspect allegedly got into a fight before drawing a weapon.

A teacher told ABC News he heard the shooting and barricaded in a classroom with his students.

The “all clear” was given at the school following a lockdown. Students are being escorted to another building to be reunited with their families, the Mansfield Independent School District said.

ATF officials are at the scene in Arlington, located between Fort Worth and Dallas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, “our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless act of violence.”

“Thank you to the law enforcement officers and first responders who arrived on the scene to help the victims and prevent further violence,” he said. “I have spoken with the Mayor of Arlington and offered any assistance the state can provide, and I have directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to make state resources available to help bring the criminal to justice.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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