Robert Yancy, Jr., 39, in a photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. — Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(BRAZORIA, Texas) — A man serving a life sentence in Texas for continuous sexual abuse of a child was captured Monday after nearly a day on the run, law enforcement officials said.
Robert Yancy Jr., 39, was taken into custody in Matagorda County, southwest of Houston, just after 8 a.m. local time, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
He will now face felony escape charges, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
Yancy had been last seen on Sunday afternoon around 3:38 p.m. local time before his escape. He was in the Clemens Unit in Brazoria, Texas, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a release.
Matagorda County is only about 30 miles southwest of Brazoria.
Yancy was wearing a black beanie and a black sweater at the time of his escape, law enforcement had said. He was in a white 2021 Nissan Versa, license plate DNR9145, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
Authorities told the public to call law enforcement and not approach the inmate if he was spotted.
Yancy was given a life sentence without parole in 2022 for continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to inmate records.
His mother, Lenor Priestle, was arrested later Sunday night on a felony warrant during a traffic stop around 8:25 p.m local time, Waco ABC affiliate KXXV reported, citing Victoria police. She has been charged with facilitating his escape, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Authorities said she was driving the white Nissan Versa.
Another man, Russell Williams, was also arrested and charged with criminal intent to escape for helping Yancy, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
ABC News’ Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than 250,000 customers are without power in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Monday as a powerful storm — which first slammed the South with heavy rain this weekend — barrels north.
Residents living along the Interstate 95 corridor can expect a dangerous commute Monday as heavy rain and strong winds hit the region. Eleven states from Maryland to Maine are under flood watches.
A flood advisory was issued in New York City, where residents are facing power outages, downed trees and flooded roads.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a travel advisory, urging New Yorkers to stay off the roads and take mass transit.
A travel advisory is still in effect for New York City.
Please exercise caution with your morning commute.
Take mass transit and stay off the roads if possible.
High wind alerts were also issued from North Carolina to Maine, with wind gusts forecast to be as high as 60 mph. Winds have already gusted to 66 mph in Stamford, Connecticut.
By Monday afternoon, the rain will stop in New York City and will be lingering in New England.
The storm first brought rain to Florida and record-breaking flooding to South Carolina this weekend.
More than 16 inches of rain fell between Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina, flooding neighborhoods and stalling cars. A few areas received about 6 inches of rain in six hours.
Charleston measured its highest “non-tropical” tide on record, and its fourth-highest tide overall, when accounting for those that occurred amid tropical systems.
Robert Yancy, Jr., 39, in a photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. — Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(BRAZORIA, Texas) — A man serving a life sentence has escaped from prison in Texas, according to authorities.
Robert Yancy, Jr., 39, was last seen on Sunday afternoon around 3:38 p.m. local time. He was in the Clemens Unit in Brazoria, Texas, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a release.
Yancy Jr. was last seen wearing a black beanie and a black sweater. He was in a white Nissan Versa, license plate DNR9145, the TDCJ said.
Authorities told the public to call law enforcement and not approach the inmate if he is spotted.
Yancy Jr. was given a life sentence without parole in 2022 for continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to inmate records.
His mother, Lenor Priestle, was arrested later Sunday night on a felony warrant during a traffic stop around 8:25 p.m local time, ABC 25’s KXXV reported, citing Victoria Police.
Authorities said she was driving the white 2021 Nissan Versa.
ABC News’ Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are gearing up to hit the highway and take to the skies ahead of the holidays.
Here’s what you need to know before packing your bags:
Holiday travel by air
AAA predicts this holiday season will be the busiest ever for air travel, with 7.5 million people projected to fly from Saturday, Dec. 23 to Monday, Jan. 1. This would break the record high of 7.3 million flyers set during the 2019 holiday season.
Thursday, Dec. 21 and Friday, Dec. 22 are forecast to be the busiest days for departures, according to Hopper.
Domestic airfares are averaging $349 round trip — a 3% increase from last year, according to Hopper.
The cheapest days to fly will be Dec. 19, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to Hopper. The most expensive days are Dec. 22 and Dec. 26.
United Airlines said it expects its busiest-ever holiday travel season, with about 9 million passengers planning to fly from Dec. 21 to Jan. 8. This is a 12% jump from last year.
United said it anticipates Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 will be its busiest days for Christmas travel, while Jan. 2 will be the busiest day for New Year’s travel.
Delta Air Lines is preparing for nearly 9 million customers during its holiday travel period, which runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7.
Delta said its peak days are expected to be Dec. 21 to Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.
Holiday travel by road
AAA expects 104 million people to hit the road over the holidays — a 1.8% increase from last year.
The busiest days are forecast to be Saturday, Dec. 23; Thursday, Dec. 28; and Saturday, Dec. 30, according to transportation analytics company INRIX.
If you’re leaving for the holidays on Dec. 23, the best time to head out the door is before 10 a.m., according to INRIX. And if you’re heading home the day after Christmas, the roads will be emptiest before noon, INRIX said.
(NEW YORK) — More than 130,000 customers were without power in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey on Monday morning, as a powerful storm system moved north, according to poweroutage.us.
A large swath of residents along the Eastern Seaboard are under flood and wind alerts as the storm system that inundated the South moves north, bringing the same threats with it.
Residents living along the I-95 corridor can expect a dangerous commute on Monday morning as heavy rain and strong winds continue to affect the region.
The East Coast storm was moving on Monday through the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, bringing with it with blinding rain, flash flooding and strong winds.
Eleven states from Maryland to Maine were under flood watch on Monday morning. And high wind alerts were issued from North Carolina to Maine, with wind gusts expected to be up to 60 mph.
South Carolina was hit hard with flooding rains on Saturday, setting records in the process, according to the National Weather Service. Charleston, South Carolina, measured its highest “non-tropical” tide on record, and its fourth-highest tide, when accounting for those that occurred amid tropical systems.
More than 16 inches of rain fell in some areas between Charleston and Georgetown, flooding neighborhoods, stalling cars and prompting flash flood emergency for the area. A few areas received about 6 inches of rain in six hours.
Severe thunderstorms had also been possible on Sunday across the coastal Carolinas, including Charleston, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The main hazards had been expected to be damaging winds and a tornado threat, along with flooding.
Authorities made dozens of rescues during the flooding rains, Jackie Broach, public information officer for Georgetown County, told The Associated Press. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.
More than 25,000 customers had been without power in North Carolina and South Carolina on Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. About 5,000 customers, mostly in North Carolina, were without power Monday morning.
Street flooding is also a significant concern across the Northeast.
The remainder of the watches up the East Coast extend into Monday.
Heavy rain had been expected to be more isolated in New York City by 7 a.m. Monday, as the heavy rain moves farther north, into upstate New York and the rest of New England.
Lingering heavy rainfall may still be causing numerous problems for Monday morning commuters in the Northeast, forecasts show.
The flood and wind alerts will begin in upper New England late Sunday and extend through Monday into Tuesday morning — the last expiring at 7 a.m. in Bar Harbor, Maine.
A high wind warning is in effect for the New England Coast, with wind gusts up to 65 mph expected. This will include Long Island, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston and Portland, Maine. The strong winds will accompany the heaviest rain.
The storm is expected to move into New England later Monday, with rain ending in NYC and the South shortly by about 1 p.m.
In Boston and New England the rain will linger into the mid-afternoon hours. Gusty winds 40 to 50 mph will continue for NYC and Boston with coastal Long Island and eastern New England getting gusts 60 to 70 mph.
Due to the strong winds bringing higher storm surges, coastal flooding will also be a widespread issue, with 20 million people under coastal flood alerts.
The East Coast is still predicted at a wide swath to accumulate 2 inches to 6 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts reaching up to 8 inches. Shoreline communities could possibly see 1 foot to 2 feet of inundation along low-lying areas near waterways.
Many roads become impassable, and some damage to vulnerable structures may begin to occur due to coastal flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
Parts of Florida got up to 5 inches of rain from the same system since Saturday.
Fort Lauderdale picked up 1.07 inches of rain on Saturday, bringing their record-smashing total rainfall for 2023 to 111 inches. The region has gotten more than 9 feet of rain in the last 11 and a half months, according to the NWS.
Orlando and Daytona Beach saw about 2.5 inches of rain, while Melbourne got more than 3 inches.
Flood watches were in effect for parts of northeast Florida, including Palm Coast, Ocala and Palatka, until 6 a.m. Sunday.
Heavy rain continued on Sunday morning in Jacksonville and Gainesville, which have gotten more than 3 inches of rain so far. A flood watch remained in the region until 10 a.m.
Cross City, in the Big Bend of Florida, neared the 5-inch mark as rain continued on Sunday morning, as the system pushed north into Georgia and the Carolinas. A flood watch is in effect in Charleston, South Carolina, until 1 p.m.
(GALVESTON, Texas) — A city in Texas has lifted a shelter-in-place after a “temporary increase in sulfur dioxide emissions” earlier Sunday at the Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery.
“The shelter-in-place has now been lifted. All roadways are open, and there is no longer a need to shelter in place,” the city said in an updated news alert on its website. “Multiple agencies have been conducting air monitoring, and all readings in the affected areas and throughout the city are normal. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Personnel at the refinery “have resolved an operational upset that had led to a temporary increase in sulfur dioxide emissions earlier today,” Marathon Petroleum Corp. said in a statement. “Emissions have returned to normal levels.”
No injuries have been reported.
Earlier Sunday, the city issued a shelter-in-place for residents in “the area south of FM-519 to the Texas City Y” and said at the time the affected roads were loop 197, the 519 at the 149, and 4th Avenue South at loop 197.
“If you are in the affected area, please remain indoors with all doors and windows closed, and turn off your heat or A/C until further notice,” the city had said. “Several intersections are barricaded, and traffic is not allowed through. Please avoid the area at this time.”
In a subsequent update, the city said it continues to closely monitor the situation, adding: “At this time, there are no air monitoring readings that indicate danger to life or health.”
“There have been no injuries. Air monitoring has been deployed in the community, and the City of Texas City has issued a shelter-in-place for an area south of the refinery,” Marathon Petroleum Corp. said in a previous statement.
“The safety of personnel and the public is our top priority as we work to resolve the situation,” it added.
ABC News’ Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A large swath of residents along the Eastern Seaboard is under flood and wind alerts as the storm system that inundated the South moves north, bringing the same threats with it.
Residents living along the I-95 corridor can expect a dangerous commute on Monday morning as heavy rain and strong winds continue to affect the region.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch across 16 states, affecting 70 million people, while 50 million are under some type of wind alert.
A flash flood warning issued for South Carolina escalated into a flash flood emergency in Georgetown County due to extremely heavy rain, indicating a life-threatening situation. Eight inches of rain had fallen in the region by 3 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Parts of Florida have gotten up to 5 inches of rain since Saturday from the same system.
Fort Lauderdale picked up 1.07 inches of rain on Saturday, bringing their record-smashing total rainfall for 2023 to 111 inches. The region has gotten more than 9 feet of rain in the last 11 and a half months, according to the NWS.
Orlando and Daytona Beach saw about 2.5 inches of rain, while Melbourne got more than 3 inches.
Flood watches were in effect for parts of northeast Florida, including Palm Coast, Ocala and Palatka, until 6 a.m. Sunday.
Heavy rain continued on Sunday morning in Jacksonville and Gainesville, which have gotten more than 3 inches of rain so far. A flood watch remained in the region until 10 a.m.
Cross City, in the Big Bend of Florida, neared the 5-inch mark as rain continued on Sunday morning, as the system pushed north into Georgia and the Carolinas. A flood watch is in effect in Charleston, South Carolina, until 1 p.m.
Severe thunderstorms are also possible on Sunday across the coastal Carolinas, including Charleston, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The main hazards are expected to be damaging winds and a tornado threat, along with flooding.
Heavy rain will continue from South Carolina to North Carolina, Virginia and Delaware through 6 p.m. Washington, D.C., and Baltimore will begin to see heavy rain around 6 p.m., forecasts show.
New York City will begin to see the most consistent downpours around midnight. The worst of the storm as far as heavy wind and rain will blow through New York City through the overnight hours.
The remainder of the watches up the East Coast extend into Monday.
Heavy rain will be more isolated in New York City by 7 a.m. Monday, as the heavy rain moves farther north, into upstate New York and the rest of New England.
The flood and wind alerts will begin in upper New England late Sunday and extend through Monday into Tuesday morning — the last expiring at 7 a.m. in Bar Harbor, Maine.
A high wind warning is in effect for the New England Coast, with wind gusts up to 65 mph expected. This will include Long Island, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston and Portland, Maine.
Due to the strong winds bringing higher storm surges, coastal flooding will also be a widespread issue, with 20 million people under coastal flood alerts.
(NEW YORK) — Heavy rain, flooding, strong wind gusts and a few tornadoes are possible along the East Coast throughout this weekend as a new storm tracks north.
The storm developing over the Gulf of Mexico is already bringing a few showers to Florida Saturday morning. The rain will increase in coverage and strength over the states as the day continues, along with wind gusts over 40 mph.
Saturday afternoon, Florida is expected to see thunderstorms, but some of them will bring moderate to heavy downpours, which may cause flooding. Heavy rain is expected to blanket Florida throughout the evening hours.
There is also a chance for damaging winds and a few tornadoes within the storm on Saturday in Florida.
Flood Watches have been issued in Southeast Florida, including Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, and in northern Florida and southern Georgia, including Jacksonville and Gainesville. Wind advisories were issued along the east coast of Florida for gusts up to 45 mph through the day and night – although individual storms may bring stronger winds with them. While 2 to 4 inches is generally expected in much of Florida, localized amounts around 6 inches are possible.
Sunday morning, the storm makes a northern push along the East Coast and brings heavy rain to Georgia and the Carolinas in the morning hours. The continuous rain throughout the day will bring a flooding threat to the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday.
There is also a severe threat over the eastern Carolinas on Sunday with strong winds and an isolated tornado or two possible. Sunday afternoon, rain moves up I-95 and into Washington D.C. and Baltimore.
Sunday evening, rain finally reaches the Northeast –- which has been dry otherwise throughout much of the weekend. Flood Watch and Wind Advisory are planned for Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon in the Northeast where winds may gust up to 50 mph and heavy rain may lead to flooding through the time period. These alerts are likely to spread north as the storm gets closer.
On Monday morning, heavy rain is expected in the Northeast. Heavy rain will be coming down in New Jersey and New York City, up through Boston and upstate New York. Flooding is possible on Monday morning.
It is expected to be very warm on Monday with high temperatures in the Northeast near records in cities like Boston; Portland, Maine; Burlington, Vermont; Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut with highs forecast in the upper 50s and lower 60s.
Rain will continue on Monday for much of the Northeast, finally moving north of NYC around 5 p.m. ET. Generally, between 2 and 4 inches of rain are expected in the Northeast, however, higher amounts are possible where heavy rain becomes stagnant over localized areas for too long. By Tuesday morning the rain will be out of the U.S. and only a few lingering snow showers are expected near the Great Lakes and into parts of Appalachia.
(NEW YORK) — Players on some well-known football teams have stickers on their helmets, awarded for standout in-game performances. Buckeye decals decorate Ohio State helmets. Florida State Seminoles proudly sport tomahawks. The stickers adorning helmets of the Colorado School of Mines’ Orediggers show off a different kind of performance: they list the players’ academic majors.
It’s one of the many quirky ways this team of nerds, a label the school embraces, stands apart. But it has something in common with much better-known big schools. The Orediggers have dominated their conference, and they will play Saturday for the Division II national championship against Harding University.
Up until three years ago, when this challenging school for future scientists and engineers started achieving national football success, it came as a surprise even to people in the school’s hometown of Golden, Colorado, that Mines (its short name as preferred by the school) fielded a team. According to Mines assistant athletic director Tim Flynn, “Before this run, I mean, even just locally, even in town, people would be like, ‘They have a football team? Like seriously?'”
Now the school is well known there as a place, according to its athletic department motto, “Where Nerds Win.”
Indeed, they do. The Orediggers are ranked at the top of Division II — which comprises mostly smaller universities allowed to offer only partial scholarships. The team has won five consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles and have beaten opponents this season with lopsided scores like 70-7, 52-0 and 77-3. But the team is competitive far beyond its conference, as proven by its deep runs in recent division playoffs.
“If they don’t win it this year, I would be completely surprised,” Shawn Kenney, who calls Division II games for ESPN, told ABC News.
And those helmet labels featuring majors such as Metallurgical Engineering, Quantitative Biosciences, and Geological Engineering help explain the team’s success. Kenney points out that, “If you’re in these degrees at Mines, you know these students are disciplined. You know they’re incredibly intelligent. You know they’re focused on hard work.”
Head coach Pete Sterbick adds, “I don’t think a lot of football cultures draw from academic rigor to make their football team better. But that’s the biggest driver of this place. Our kids bond over how hard school is.”
The team’s star quarterback John Matocha, whose helmet bears a Computer Science sticker, agrees that tough academics toughens and motivates the team.
“It’s exciting to be able to do both, to excel in both, you know, on the field and in the classroom,” Matocha told ABC News. As if to illustrate the ever-present challenges of doing “both,” he revealed that this week, as the Orediggers head to Texas for Saturday’s championship game, “a lot of guys on the team, including myself, we’re taking finals on the road. We’re getting a proctor at our hotel to finish up finals week.”
But serious academics do not mean the team’s approach is all serious. The Orediggers mascot is Blaster the Burro, a real donkey who runs the field in Mines gear after touchdowns. Their logo is a fierce-looking cartoon Blaster, ready to charge with a stick of dynamite in its jaws. Meanwhile, the school’s marching band wears miners’ hardhats and flannel jackets.
Coach Sterbick believes football is a release for his hardworking players, noting that “when they come to football, it’s like a break for them and they just have a blast. And it creates a really big love for football.”
“Everybody here is a total nerd,” Flynn says. “But when it comes to football, like, we flip the switch and it’s really fun.”
It also helps that the Orediggers have potentially pro-level talent. So far, 23 NFL teams have come to Golden to scout Matocha and his teammates. “I definitely will be giving the pro level a go,” Matocha tells ABC News. “I would love to get the opportunity to play at the next level.”
The quarterback is the leading touchdown producer in all of college football history. Matocha broke the career record for passing touchdowns this past weekend with 161 and holds the total touchdown record — including passing and rushing — with 190 scores. Last year, he won the Harlon Hill Award, the division’s version of the Heisman Trophy, for the best player in the division and is a finalist again this year.
Meanwhile, Senior Levi Johnson won the award for best lineman in DII. Plus, the team is loaded with All Conference and All-American players.
One reason for this concentration of talent: Mines has created a “recruiting pipeline” to Texas, a breeding ground for some of the nation’s best football players, including Matocha, who is from Houston.
“I think we have 45 kids from Texas,” says Coach Sterbick. “It’s the industry part of it with oil and gas.” With petroleum and mechanical engineering among the most popular majors on the team, Kenney explains that players “get to come back home where there’s a ton of jobs in Texas that suit the engineering specialists Mines produces.”
The school’s career center puts the average starting salary of a Mines graduate at $84,400, a lure for prospects and another advantage for the team: players don’t leave.
“We can retain players,” Flynn says. “There’s so much talk about the transfer portal, and the negative aspect of the transfer portal on college football. We’re the antithesis of that. We don’t lose anybody in the transfer portal. The guys stay here for the education, stay for the football. They love the culture; they love the team.” He adds, “It’s a smart business decision to stick around.”
While the Orediggers progress has been trending sharply upward in the past five years, the team has been playing since 1888 and settled into its current stadium, dramatically nestled in the foothills of Mt. Zion, in 1892.
Kenney predicts the team’s recent history foretells its future. “I can only imagine the more success they have, the more attention that they have received the last few years, why wouldn’t it continue to grow? This is not a blip on the radar. They are established and they are proven.”
Though Mines may be favored, Saturday’s title game will be no “gimme.” Harding is another Division II powerhouse, going into the game undefeated this season, just like the Orediggers. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU.
Heavy rain forecast through the weekend. — ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The entire East Coast will soon feel the impact of a dangerous storm that’s set to bring heavy rain and strong winds ahead of the holiday travel rush.
Up to 8 inches of rain is possible in Florida on Saturday. Residents should be prepared for flooding, severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and possible tornadoes.
By Sunday, the heavy rain and strong winds will reach Georgia and the Carolinas. Some coastal flooding is possible with onshore winds.
Sunday night into Monday, the heavy rain and strong winds will push into the Northeast.
Two to four inches of rain could fall over a short period of time, so flooding will be possible from Virginia to New England, including major cities like Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston.
