(NEW YORK) — A man and woman were found dead on a walking trail in Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday afternoon, Arkansas State Police said, adding that a suspect is being sought and the deaths are being investigated as a potential double homicide.
Police were called to the area at about 2:40 p.m., according to a press release. The bodies of the 43-year-old man and 41-year-old woman were transported to the Arkansas State Crime Lab, where cause of death will be determined, police said.
“The suspect in their deaths is an unknown white male wearing dark shorts, a dark tank top and weight-lifting type gloves,” police said. “He was seen driving toward a park exit in a black, four-door sedan.”
The suspect’s vehicle may have been “a Mazda with a license plate covered by electrical or duct tape,” police said. That vehicle may have been traveling on State Highway 170 or State Highway 220, police said.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement on social media, saying her office was in close contact with law enforcement and park authorities investigating the deaths.
“We are praying for the family and friends of the victims, and know that law enforcement will not rest until the perpetrator is brought to justice,” she said.
(DENVER, Colo.) — Passengers on an American Airlines flight evacuated onto the runway via emergency slides after the plane aborted its takeoff on the runway in Denver on Saturday. One person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, officials said.
American Airlines flight 3023, which was headed to Miami, reported a “possible landing gear incident during departure,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident.
Data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 shows the plane reached a top speed of 127 knots — nearly 150 miles — on the runway before slowing down.
In air traffic control audio obtained from LiveATC.net, the pilot told the controller they were “aborting on the runway.” The controller told the pilot, “You got a lot of smoke.” A moment later, the controller said, “There was some flames, it looks like the smoke’s kind of dying down a bit.”
The FAA said passengers evacuated the plane on the runway and were taken back to the terminal by bus. Video showed passengers evacuating the aircraft on slides.
The flight was operated on a Boeing 737 Max 8. There were 173 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the airline.
Mark Tsurkis, 50, a passenger aboard the flight, told ABC News he heard “a loud boom,” as the plane was about to take off.
“I said, ‘That’s not good,'” Tsurkis said, at which point the plane began to slow down, he said, and passengers could see one of the wheels pass by.
“When the plane stopped about 30 seconds to a minute later, somebody said, ‘Smoke, fire.’ And then a lot of people, of course, started panicking,” Tsurkis said.
According to the Denver International Airport, the plane was met by first responders. The Denver Fire Department said it extinguished a fire on the plane. The airport said six people were evaluated and one was taken to the hospital. The airline said the person transported had minor injuries.
“It’s definitely not a pleasant experience, but we got lucky,” Tsurkis said. “It happened before the plane took off, so [the pilot] was able to slow down before actually going full speed or before flying.”
American Airlines said the passengers will go to Miami on a replacement plane later Saturday, while the original plane will be taken out of service and inspected.
The airline said in a statement, “We thank our team members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for their experience.”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Courtesy Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
(TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.) — Authorities in Michigan say a man entered a Walmart in Traverse City on Saturday afternoon armed with a folding knife and stabbed 11 people before being taken into custody.
The attack began unfolding at 4:43 p.m., the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted online.
The victims were being treated at the Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. As of Saturday evening, six of the victims were in critical condition and five were in serious condition, the hospital said in an update online.
At a news conference Saturday evening, Grand Traverse Sheriff Michael Shea said the victims include six males and five females. Authorities have not yet provided the ages of any of the victims.
The suspect has been identified by authorities only as a 42-year-old man.
“We believe he acted alone at this time,” Shea said during the news conference. “There is no information indicating there were additional suspects.”
The sheriff said a deputy arrived at the Walmart within 3 minutes of a 911 call being made about the stabbing and took the suspect into custody. The sheriff also credited “citizen involvement” with apprehending the suspect, who was armed with a folding knife, he said.
“Thankfully no one else was injured,” the sheriff said, adding “11 is 11 too many — but thank God it wasn’t more.”
The sheriff said the suspected appeared to attack the victims at random.
“It appears that these were all random acts,” the sheriff said.
He said the incident began near the checkout area.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement on X that she was monitoring the situation.
“I’m in touch with law enforcement about the horrible news out of Traverse City. Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” she said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement on social media that FBI personnel were responding to the scene, “to provide any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”
State police asked people to avoid the area as the investigation continues.
In a statement, a Walmart spokesperson said: “Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders. We’ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation.”
Traverse City, a city of about 16,000 people, is in northern Michigan, about 150 miles north of Grand Rapids.
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — A shooting inside a dorm room at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque early Friday morning left a 14-year-old boy dead and another teen wounded, state police said.
The suspect in the shooting, identified by police as 18-year-old John Fuentes, was taken into custody hours after the shooting during a traffic stop in Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico State Police said during a news conference Friday evening.
Fuentes was booked on one count of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.
Fuentes made his first court appearance in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court on Saturday morning via Zoom. Fuentes will remain in custody and will be held without bond while his case is pending transfer to the New Mexico District Court. He will be back in court next week.
According to court documents, Fuentes allegedly drove to the UNM campus at around 8 p.m. local time Thursday in a vehicle registered to his father.
Fuentes met up with three other people, one of them being a freshman at UNM, and walked inside the Gila Dorm. The four were allegedly playing video games in a dorm room when the incident occurred, according to court documents.
“At some point, for reasons still being investigated, the suspect began shooting a firearm at the other occupants in the room. The 14-year-old victim was fatally shot while the other occupants, along with the suspect, fled from the room,” state police said in a statement Saturday.
The other person who was wounded in the shooting is 19, according to police, and had injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, the university said earlier.
One of the victims believed Fuentes was on drugs when he shot the 14-year-old victim in the head, killing him, according to court documents. Fuentes allegedly threatened the other two people in the room, shooting one of them in the head as well. Those two were able to escape through a dorm window to seek aid.
Fuentes fled the dorm room and ended up on the first-story roof of the Mesa Vista building, where police say he allegedly smashed multiple windows, injuring himself.
University of New Mexico Police officers responded to an alarm call at the dorm at around 1:30 a.m. local time Friday. Upon arrival, officers found broken windows and blood, according to New Mexico State Police.
University police then received more calls reporting gunshots and another one from a hospital that a 19-year-old male came in with a gunshot wound and said he had been shot at UNM campus, according to state police.
While conducting a sweep of the surrounding buildings, officers found the 14-year-old dead, state police said.
Police said Fuentes left blood stains, a stolen Glock 9 mm handgun, keys and a pair of jeans on the roof he escaped to. He also left a trail of blood stains as he traveled across campus before being picked up by two individuals in a pickup truck at around 1:40 a.m. Friday morning.
Eventually, authorities said they arrested Fuentes in Los Lunas at around 2:30 p.m. local time Friday on Highway 314.
The university initially issued a shelter-in-place, which lasted much of the day. By Friday afternoon local time, the university said there was “still an active crime scene” in the central part of the campus, but that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted. The central campus remained closed, the university said.
New Mexico State Rep. Marianna Anaya said new student orientation was underway this week.
“Waking this morning to the news of this act of violence has shaken the entire UNM community,” she said in a statement. “It is especially heartbreaking that this occurred during the time of a new student orientation — a time when students and their families should be filled with hope, excitement, and a sense of possibility.”
She added, “This heartbreaking incident is yet another reminder of the urgent need to address gun violence and historical trauma in our state.”
(NEW YORK) — Scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos reported to federal prison Friday to begin his more than seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to a series of fraudulent schemes after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The ex-congressman did not speak with reporters as he entered the facility. However, in the days leading up to his incarceration, Santos had a lot to say.
On Wednesday, Santos posted a clip of Frank Sinatra singing a portion of “My Way,” beginning with the lyrics “…and now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.”
He offered one final, emotional goodbye in an hour-and-a-half long spaces conversation on X Thursday evening.
Santos began the stream by addressing questions on whether he would receive a pardon, saying that only President Donald Trump has the answer.
“The only person that could answer that question is, you know, whoever the President of the United States is — in this case, President Donald Trump.”
At one point, over 800 people were on the call as several of his supporters calling on listeners to sign an effort launched prior to the call asking Trump to pardon Santos.
Santos advised listeners not to follow his example.
“I think that the importance here is for people to understand: make better choices, be smarter than me, that’s for sure,” Santos said.
“I’ve made a string of s— choices in my life and for that, I’m sorry. To those I’ve disappointed, to those I’ve let down, to those that I have caused irreparable damage even, I’m sorry,” Santos said.
The event saw a host of supporters bid goodbye to Santos, including Matt Gaetz’s wife Ginger Gaetz. He said he hosted the call because he had been “curled up in a ball … for the last week” and wanted to do “something normal.”
Santos repeatedly thanked fellow speakers and listeners for their support and, at several points, he became choked up as several friends started to cry during their remarks.
“I love you,” Santos said. “We built common ground through trust and transparency, and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
Santos, along with some supporters who chimed in, called his sentence unfair.
“Incarceration is not supposed to be a demonic torture or torturous process,” Santos said. “I think a lot of our sentencing in our country tends to be punitive and full of reprisal.”
Santos also criticized the broader criminal justice system.
“There’s something to be said about the prison industrial complex, by the way. They’re selling f—— Twinkies for $5. I mean, they have to be making banging profits,” he said. “I mean, I’m thinking maybe when I get out of prison, I open a prison.”
Santos joked about advice he had gotten about living behind bars, saying he had heard that finding the “biggest person” in prison and beating them up to establish his toughness was not a good idea.
Taking a more serious tone, Santos said he was hoping to teach civics inside the prison and planned to bring a standard white notepad, a Bible his grandmother gave him and a pocket constitution with him.
He also said he had not yet made a decision regarding whether he would keep his social media running throughout his sentence or delete his accounts, but had “spoken to some people who have voluntarily elected” to post on his behalf.
Santos promised to go into and come out of prison in style, saying “I’m surrendering in Ferragamo so I can walk out in Ferragamo.”
Santos said he had learned through the experience the need to be “unapologetically, 100% authentically yourself.”
“I would not change much of what I decided to do with my career, I would just change the how,” he said. “I’m every congressperson and politician’s nightmare because I set such a high standard for transparency and communication.”
Santos ended the call by calling on listeners to come together despite political differences.
“I hope you all keep doing exactly what you’ve been doing, which is keeping each other honest and engaging in very much needed discourse, because we are in a time in our life where we need to come closer as humans and not further,” he said.
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — A shooting inside a dorm room at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque early Friday morning left a 14-year-old boy dead and another teen wounded, state police said.
The suspect in the shooting, identified by police as 18-year-old John Fuentes, was taken into custody hours after the shooting during a traffic stop in Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico State Police said during a news conference Friday evening.
Fuentes is expected to face one count of murder along with additional charges.
According to investigators, several young people were inside the dorm room playing video games when the violence broke out.
The other person who was wounded in the shooting is 19, according to police, and had injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, the university said earlier.
Fuentes remains in state police custody. Authorities said he will be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County.
The university initially issued a shelter-in-place, which lasted much of the day. By Friday afternoon local time, the university said there was “still an active crime scene” in the central part of the campus, but that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted. The central campus remained closed, the university said.
“Waking this morning to the news of this act of violence has shaken the entire UNM community,” she said in a statement. “It is especially heartbreaking that this occurred during the time of a new student orientation — a time when students and their families should be filled with hope, excitement, and a sense of possibility.”
She added, “This heartbreaking incident is yet another reminder of the urgent need to address gun violence and historical trauma in our state.”
(PHOENIX) — Lori Daybell was sentenced to two life sentences in Arizona on Friday for conspiring with her late brother to kill her fourth husband, who was fatally shot in 2019, and her niece’s ex-husband, who survived a failed drive-by shooting that same year.
Daybell was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in two separate trials in Maricopa County this spring. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years for each conviction, to be served consecutively, the judge said..
“In the face of such profound damage, a long prison sentence is not merely a punishment, it is a necessary affirmation that our society values justice, protection and the sanctity of human life,” Judge Justin Beresky, who presided over both trials in Phoenix, said before handing down the sentences.
The so-called “doomsday mom” is already serving life in prison after being convicted in 2023 of murdering two of her children. Prosecutors in the Idaho trial argued that she and her current husband, Chad Daybell, thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them in 2019 so that they could be together. She was also found guilty of stealing Social Security survivor benefits allocated for the care of her children after they went missing.
Similarly, prosecutors in Maricopa County argued that she conspired with her brother to kill her estranged husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, so she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with Chad Daybell, an author of religious fiction books whom she married four months after the deadly shooting.
Prosecutors further said she invoked their “twisted” religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother “religious authority” to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as “Ned.”
In the first of her Arizona trials, Lori Daybell argued that her brother, Alex Cox, shot Vallow in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019.
She was then found guilty in a second trial of scheming with Cox to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. Three months after Vallow’s killing, Boudreaux called 911 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot at his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Boudreaux continued to live in fear following the failed attempt on his life, wondering if Cox would “return to finish the job.”
Cox died from natural causes later in December 2019.
Motives were money and sex, prosecutor says
Lori Daybell, 51, did not take the stand or call any witnesses in either trial, in which she represented herself. In her closing statement, she argued that her family has been struck by tragedy and that she did not conspire to commit any crime.
In remarks ahead of the sentencing, Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay disputed Lori Daybell’s repeated claims that this was a “family tragedy.”
“A family tragedy does not involve the intentional killing of a person,” Kay said. “A family tragedy does not involve working with an accomplice to commit first-degree premeditated murder. And a family tragedy does not involve conspiring with others to kill.”
She said Lori Daybell’s motives were the same ones usually seen in murder cases: money and sex, saying that the deaths of Vallow and Boudreaux would have financially benefited her and her niece, respectively.
“Although this defendant denies it, her text messages and her own actions show that these were her motives,” Kay said.
Lori Daybell continued to maintain her innocence in remarks ahead of the sentencing.
“I want everyone to know that I mourn with all of you. I am sorry for your pain. Losing those close to you is painful, and I acknowledge all of the pain, and I do empathize, I feel it, too,” she said. “If I was accountable for these crimes I would acknowledge it.”
She claimed she was prevented from presenting her side in the trials, which the judge said was “not true.”
“When she says that she couldn’t get a fair trial in Maricopa County, that is not the truth,” Beresky said ahead of handing down the sentence.
She also questioned the necessity of additional life sentences on top of the multiple life sentences she’s serving in Idaho. To that point, the judge said, “Justice demands not only recognition of the pain inflicted, but a firm response that upholds the dignity of every victim harmed by the actions of someone who has shown blatant disregard for humanity.”
He said she has “left a wake of destruction” across multiple states and the “amount of contemplation, calculation, planning, manipulation that went into these crimes is unparalleled in my career.”
“Your powers of manipulation are profoundly destructive, one that undermines trust, distorts truth and can erode the very foundations of healthy relationships and society,” he said. “The impact of your manipulation has been devastating, insidious and far-reaching and perhaps still unknown.”
The sentencing hearing comes after failed attempts at getting new trials on both counts. After being convicted of conspiring to kill Vallow, she also unsuccessfully tried to remove Judge Beresky from the case, claiming he was biased against her.
She frequently clashed with the judge while representing herself during the trials. During the second trial, Beresky at one point removed her from the courtroom after she became combative during discussions about her character. The judge had warned that if she referred to herself as having “great character,” that could open the door for the state to introduce evidence to rebut that character, including regarding her previous convictions in Idaho.
Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children in separate trials in Fremont County, Idaho. Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, went missing months after Charles Vallow was killed. Their remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Chad Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search.
They were also found guilty of conspiring to kill Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died in October 2019 — two weeks before Lori and Chad Daybell married in Hawaii. Chad Daybell was found guilty of murdering her.
Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole, while Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the three murders and now awaits execution on Idaho’s death row.
Emotional victim impact statements
Several of Lori Daybell’s relatives addressed the court ahead of the sentencing. In grief-stricken, at times angry remarks, they touched on the loss of Vallow as well as JJ, whom Lori Daybell and Vallow had adopted, and Tylee, a child from Lori Daybell’s third marriage.
Her eldest son, Colby Ryan, from her second marriage, remembered Vallow as a generous man.
“My father, Charles Vallow, cared for his family. He took care of our family, and he made sure we had a good life,” Ryan said.
He said his mother told him Charles Vallow had died from a heart attack, before he learned the truth, and spoke about the pain of losing his father and then his siblings.
“I’m here to tell you the effect that this has had on me. In simple terms, each one of my family members was taken from us all in one swoop,” Ryan said.
Regarding his mother, he said it “must be a very sad life to smile your way through all the pain you’ve caused.”
“Rather than being able to acknowledge the pain that she has caused, she would rather say that Charles, Tylee and JJ’s deaths were a family tragedy and not her evil doing,” he said. “Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy.”
One of Vallow’s sisters, Susan Vallow, said the day her brother died “changed my life forever.”
“My brother’s death was a deliberate act of evil and self-seeking financial gain. Your greed has caused so much pain to this day,” she said virtually.
Kay Woodcock, another one of Charles Vallow’s sisters and JJ’s biological grandmother, read a letter she wrote from the perspective of JJ in court.
“I can’t be here to read this letter, because I am dead. I was murdered by the defendant Lori Daybell, or as I used to call her, mom,” she read. “See, there are a whole lot of tragedies that have happened to my family, and all of them are the result of my mom’s actions.”
Vallow “never would have let her hurt me, and I know he died protecting me,” the letter said.
“I should be 13 years old now, but I’m forever seven,” she read.
At the end of the letter, she screamed at Lori Daybell, “I trusted you!” before breaking down in tears.
Her husband, Larry Woodcock, his anger visceral, called Lori Daybell a “narcissist, psychopath, delusional murderer.”
“You’re nothing, murderess,” he said. “I can’t stand you.”
Following remarks by several members of his family, including his siblings and current wife, Boudreaux addressed how the attempted murder has impacted him.
“The betrayal by someone connected to my family has left me battling overwhelming emotions over the years,” he said, his voice shaky. “I felt fear, paranoia. I lived with constant vigilance, loneliness, regret, sadness, depression, anger, heartache and embarrassment.”
He said he has chosen to forgive Lori Daybell so he can be a better father, husband, son, neighbor and friend. “But I had never seen any remorse or acknowledgement from Lori,” he said.
(PHOENIX) — Lori Daybell is set to be sentenced in Arizona on Friday for conspiring with her late brother to kill her fourth husband in 2019.
She will also be sentenced for conspiring with her brother to kill her niece’s ex-husband in a failed drive-by shooting that same year.
Daybell was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in two separate trials in Maricopa County this spring. She faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years for each conviction, prosecutors said.
Her sentencing hearing is underway in Phoenix before Judge Justin Beresky, who presided over both trials.
The so-called “doomsday mom” is already serving life in prison after being convicted in 2023 of murdering two of her children. Prosecutors in the Idaho trial argued that she and her current husband, Chad Daybell, thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them in 2019 so that they could be together. She was also found guilty of stealing Social Security survivor benefits allocated for the care of her children after they went missing.
Similarly, prosecutors in Maricopa County argued that she conspired with her brother to kill her estranged husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, so she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with Chad Daybell, an author of religious fiction books whom she married four months after the deadly shooting.
Prosecutors further said she invoked their “twisted” religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother “religious authority” to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as “Ned.”
In the first of her Arizona trials, Lori Daybell argued that her brother, Alex Cox, shot Vallow in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019.
She was then found guilty in a second trial of scheming with Cox to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. Three months after Vallow’s killing, Boudreaux called 911 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot at his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Boudreaux continued to live in fear following the failed attempt on his life, wondering if Cox would “return to finish the job.”
Cox died from natural causes later in December 2019.
Lori Daybell, 51, did not take the stand or call any witnesses in either trial, in which she represented herself. In her closing statement, she argued that her family has been struck by tragedy and that she did not conspire to commit any crime.
Her sentencing hearing comes after failed attempts at getting new trials on both counts. After being convicted of conspiring to kill Vallow, she also unsuccessfully tried to remove Judge Beresky from the case, claiming he was biased against her.
She frequently clashed with the judge while representing herself during the trials. During the second trial, Beresky at one point removed her from the courtroom after she became combative during discussions about her character. The judge had warned that if she referred to herself as having “great character,” that could open the door for the state to introduce evidence to rebut that character, including regarding her previous convictions in Idaho.
Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children in separate trials in Fremont County, Idaho. Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, went missing months after Charles Vallow was killed. Their remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Chad Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search.
They were also found guilty of conspiring to kill Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died in October 2019 — two weeks before Lori and Chad Daybell married in Hawaii. Chad Daybell was found guilty of murdering her.
Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole, while Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the three murders and now awaits execution on Idaho’s death row.
Victim impact statements
Several of Lori Daybell’s relatives have addressed the court ahead of the sentencing.
Her eldest son, Colby Ryan, from her second marriage, remembered Vallow as a generous man.
“My father, Charles Vallow, cared for his family. He took care of our family, and he made sure we had a good life,” Ryan said.
He said his mother told him Vallow had died from a heart attack, before he learned the truth, and spoke about the pain of losing his father and then his siblings.
“I’m here to tell you the effect that this has had on me. In simple terms, each one of my family members was taken from us all in one swoop,” Ryan said while appearing virtually.
Regarding his mother, he said it “must be a very sad life to smile your way through all the pain you’ve caused.”
“Rather than being able to acknowledge the pain that she has caused, she would rather say that Charles, Tylee and JJ’s deaths were a family tragedy and not her evil doing,” he said. “Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy.”
Vallow’s sister, Kay Woodcock, said the day her brother died “changed my life forever.”
“My brother’s death was a deliberate act of evil and self-seeking financial gain. Your greed has caused so much pain to this day,” she said.
Her husband, Larry Woodcock, his anger visceral, called Lori Daybell a “narcissist, psychopath, delusional murderer.”
(NEW YORK) — At least 100 million Americans are on alert for dangerous heat and humidity — stretching from Texas to Maine — on Friday, with parts of the Eastern Seaboard feeling like it’s in the triple digits.
Heat advisories are in place from Texas to West Virginia on Friday, with temperatures reaching between 105 and 110 degrees.
In Boston, the heat index — how hot it feels with humidity — could reach 103 degrees; New York City could feel like 104 degrees and Washington, D.C., could feel like 109 degrees.
The heat will reach levels that could impact “anyone without sufficient cooling” or proper hydration, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS added there will be “little to no overnight relief.”
An incoming cold front will provide a slight relief late Friday afternoon, with showers and thunderstorms leading to cooler temperatures in New England.
The sweltering temperatures will continue into the weekend and into next week from the Midwest to the Southeast, with heat indices expected to react 113 in parts of North Carolina and 110 from St. Louis to Tampa.
An extreme heat risk is in place from Sunday through Thursday for large portions of the Southeast.
While St. Louis deals with the heat wave, parts of Kansas City, Missouri, are under a flash flood watch on Friday. Some parts were under a flash flood warning early Friday morning with 1 to 3 inches of rain having already fallen by 4:30 a.m.
According to the Kansas City Fire Department, multiple vehicles have been reported in high water and at least 10 water rescues have occurred as of Friday morning.
More rain, from southwest Kansas to central Illinois, is likely to continue through Friday morning, but will break up in the afternoon. However, a redevelopment of this storm is expected later in the day on Friday, bringing additional heavy rain overnight and possible flooding for some of the areas already hit earlier in the day.
During these extremely warm temperatures, the National Weather Service recommends those in impacted areas “limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated and ensure access to air-conditioning and other cooling areas.”
For tips on how to stay safe in a heat wave, click here.
(WASHINGTON) — Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, after answering questions for six hours on Thursday, is expected to have a second meeting Friday with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Maxwell is “hoping for another productive day” as she sits for another interview at the Tallahassee federal courthouse, her lawyer told ABC News on his way inside.
Blanche didn’t speak to reporters upon his arrival. On social media, Blanche said he would reveal what he learned from Maxwell “at the appropriate time.”
Sources told ABC News that Maxwell initiated Thursday’s meeting with Blanche. Maxwell is currently appealing her 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein, the deceased financier and convicted sex offender.
“We don’t want to get into the substance of the questions,” said Maxwell’s attorney, David O. Markus, about Thursday’s meeting. “There were a lot of questions and we went all day and she answered every one of them. She never said I’m not going to answer, never declined.
It is almost unheard of for a convicted sex trafficker to meet with such a high-ranking Justice Department official, especially one who used to be the president’s top criminal defense attorney.
Annie Farmer, who testified against Maxwell at trial, questioned why Maxwell was granted a meeting with the deputy attorney general in the first place.
“It’s very disappointing that these things are happening behind closed doors without any input from the people that the government asked to come forward and speak against her in order to put her away,” Farmer said. “There were so many young girls and women that were harmed by her.”
Maxwell’s attorney said on Friday she’s been treated poorly for the last five years and is grateful to be able to meet with Blanche as she appeals her sex trafficking conviction and seeks to leave prison.
“If you looked up scapegoat in the doctors her picture would be next to the definition,” Markus said. “She’s keeping her spirits up as best she can.”
Blanche’s meetings with Maxwell comes as the Justice Department has tried to quiet calls from Senate Republicans to release more information about Epstein and his interaction with high-profile figures.
And it comes as questions swirl about Trump’s connections to Epstein and reports that his name appeared in the Epstein files.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Trump in May that his name was mentioned in the Epstein files multiple times, along with other high-profile people.
Trump has denied that account, and appearing in the files is not necessarily indicative of any wrongdoing.
“I want all the information out,” said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley from Missouri.
“Just put everything out, make it as transparent as you can,” echoed Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina.
The Justice Department said earlier this month that it planned to release no additional information despite an earlier commitment to do so.
