Search for missing 20-month-old last seen at Georgia home now on fourth day

Search for missing 20-month-old last seen at Georgia home now on fourth day
Search for missing 20-month-old last seen at Georgia home now on fourth day
avid_creative/Getty Images/STOCK

(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — The search for a missing 20-month-old entered its fourth day on Saturday, as police have yet to turn up any sign of the toddler.

Quinton Simon was reported missing from his home in Savannah, Georgia, Wednesday morning, according to Chatham County police.

“Finding Quinton Simon is our highest priority, and the intensity of our work is as strong as it has been since the day of his disappearance,” police said in an update Saturday morning.

Police have been searching the surrounding area, including a pond near the home. The FBI is also assisting in the search, as there is the possibility that he could be an abducted child, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley told reporters earlier this week.

“We’ll continue to look at all angles and exhaust all investigative avenues,” he said.

Simon was last seen at home around 6 a.m. Wednesday by his mother’s boyfriend, Hadley said. His mother reported the child missing around 9:40 a.m. after waking up later that morning, he said.

The search has involved K-9 teams, drones, helicopters with heat-seeking technology, police on horseback and dive teams in the days since he was reported missing.

Hadley told the Chatham County Commission on Friday that police have now “exhausted” the grid search of where the child might have wandered.

“We’ve tried to use every available resource that we can that makes sense within the scope of our investigation to try to get a better understanding of what’s happened to little Quinton,” Hadley said, noting that police still consider this a missing person’s case.

The case does not appear to be a custody dispute, and “all parties are cooperating with investigators,” police have said.

An Amber Alert has not been issued because there is no evidence of an abduction, police said.

The child’s babysitter, Diana McCarta, told ABC Savannah affiliate WJCL that she was distraught over his disappearance.

“It’s been horrible,” she told the station. “I keep seeing picturing his face. I can’t sleep at night because I see his face smiling at me the last day I’d seen him.”

Hadley told reporters Friday he is holding on to hope about finding Simon alive.

“If there’s something that we can [grab] onto and keep us moving, we’re gonna do that,” he said.

Simon was last seen wearing a light blue Sesame Street shirt and black pants, police said.

Anyone who sees him should call 911 and tips can be submitted at 912-234-2020 or online at police.chathamcountyga.gov/tips or savannahchathamcrimestoppers.org.

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Florida began soliciting migrant flight prices in July, documents show

Florida began soliciting migrant flight prices in July, documents show
Florida began soliciting migrant flight prices in July, documents show
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The Florida Department of Transportation began soliciting bids to fly migrants to cities including Boston and Los Angeles starting in July, according to documents obtained by ABC News.

“The Department of Transportation (“Department”) manages a program to relocate out of the State of Florida foreign nationals who are not lawfully present in the United States (“Unauthorized Aliens”),” the documents obtained under a public records request say. “Under the supervision of a Department Project Manager, a vendor will, upon demand of the Department or certain designated state and local law enforcement or criminal justice agencies (“Partner Agencies”), arrange or provide either ground or air transportation and other related services (collectively, “Relocation Services”), to assist in the voluntary relocation of Unauthorized Aliens who are found in Florida and have agreed to be relocated to another state in the United States or the District of Columbia.”

Rebekah Davis, general counsel at the Florida Department of Transportation,, solicited perspective figures from James L. Montgomerie a representative of air charter company VSC Global, which, according to public records is located in Destin, Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ultimately flew migrants using a different charter company to Martha’s Vineyard last month, following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s action of busing migrants to New York City, Washington, D.C., and other East Coast cities.

“4 to 8 x people going from Crestview to Boston area is approx $35, 000.00,” he writes in an e-mail dated July 26, 2022. “4 to 8 x people going from Crestview to Los Angles area is approx $60, 000.00. This is based on using a 8 x seat KingAir 350 Turbo Prop,” he says.

“If you need to move more than 8 x people I would recommend using a mid-sized biz jet that can accommodate up-to 12 people. 8 to 12 x people going from Crestview to Boston area is approx $55,000.00 8 to 12 x people going from Crestview to Los Angles area is approx $90,000.00 We are certainly willing to provide you with pricing information on specific ad-hoc requirements on a case by case basis.”

Davis responds by saying the information was “helpful.”

She also seemingly solicited on-demand jet company Wheels Up, which sent a brochure over, as well as a Florida-based company specializing in the transport of inmates and does work for the Florida Department of Corrections.

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Homes are crumbling into the Gulf at the foot of temporary new Pine Island bridge

Homes are crumbling into the Gulf at the foot of temporary new Pine Island bridge
Homes are crumbling into the Gulf at the foot of temporary new Pine Island bridge
Miles Cohen/ABC News

(MATLACHA, Fla.)– Roughly three dozen pastel-colored cottages line the only road to Pine Island, the largest island along Florida’s Gulf Coast where Hurricane Ian made landfall.

To get to Pine Island from mainland Florida, drivers must first go over a bridge and through Matlacha, an island community of about 600 people — many are commercial fishermen. Residents there live at the foot of another bridge to Pine Island that was devastated by Hurricane Ian last week and serves as the only connection to the mainland.

On Wednesday, before meeting with President Joe Biden, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Matlacha to announce that roads there had been cleared and that the bridge had been temporarily repaired so that its residents could be connected to the mainland. The work took three days, his office later said.

But a quarter mile from where the governor spoke, Matlacha resident John Lynch watched another tide roll in and another piece of his home crumble into the gulf.

The sea wall, which used to keep the waters at bay, has now partially collapsed. If it’s not repaired, he said, his cottage will wash away with the tide.

“They’re focused on the roads and the bridge, rightfully so,” Lynch, 59, said on Wednesday as he pointed to the tide that had breached the sea wall and enveloped his home on Pine Island Road.

“People are losing their homes and their businesses” that can still be saved, added Lynch who also owns the Blue Dog Bar & Grill in Matlacha that was damaged by the storm. “I’m looking for that sense of urgency to stop it from getting any worse.”

Ian battered the southwest coast of Florida at speeds just shy of a Category 5 hurricane. At least 117 have died, making it the deadliest storm there since 1935.

Matlacha is in Lee County, an area that so far has the highest number of deaths of any county in the state. When Lynch returned after the storm he watched as emergency service workers pulled bodies off the streets. He also saw his neighbors homes were swamped — their foundations cracking away.

Most of the cottages were built in the 1940s or the 1950s. They boast sweeping views of the water and docks for skiffs.

“It’s a drinking town with a fishing problem,” joked John Hayes, who also lives in Matlacha and is known by locals as “Fishcutter John.”

On Wednesday, Hayes, who works for Lynch, helped his boss lug out debris from the restaurant.

Lynch described Matlacha as a blue-collar community without the high rises like those on the ravaged neighboring barrier islands of the popular vacation destinations Sanibel and Fort Meyers Beach. He said because it’s a small community, it’s not getting as much attention as larger tourist destinations.

“We don’t have that big voice,” he said.

At least a dozen of his neighbors’ homes on Pine Island Road are still standing, he said. But the tides that typically stop at the once sturdy sea wall are now eroding the soil from underneath the structures.

In his 25 years on the island, Lynch has watched the tides get progressively higher — but never as high as they have been since the hurricane struck.

As Ian barreled in on southwest Florida last Tuesday night, Lynch and his family evacuated to Cape Coral, a city on the mainland, where he had worked as a fireman for 20 years. As soon as the sun rose on Thursday, he hitched a ride on his neighbor’s boat back to Matlacha.

He said he barely recognized the place.

It “was like a foreign landscape. I couldn’t landmark things because the landmarks were gone,” he said.

When Lynch arrived at his dock, he saw that the cottage next door to his, which is owned by his 87-year-old uncle, Alan Lynch, had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

“That was going to be his home for the rest of his life. That was the plan,” John Lynch said.

Since the hurricane hit, residents have been busy trying to control the damage. Until Thursday they were still unable to leave Matlacha, so local skippers like “Mangrove Jimmy” — who used to give mangrove kayak tours — shepherded residents back and forth to what’s left of their homes.

Lynch donated a stock of frozen chicken breasts from his restaurant to guys down the block, who have been barbecuing it for islanders as they work.

When he arrives in Matlacha, Lynch removes debris from his lot and cleans the mildew that covers his drywall. At night, he boats supplies to a 72-year-old employee who is ill and did not want to leave her home on Pine Island.

On Thursday, when authorities opened the road from the mainland to Matlacha, Lynch saw an opportunity to do something more for his home. He called in a contractor the next day to help stabilize its foundation.

But without emergency repairs to the sea wall, Lynch worries that even when power returns, he won’t be able to bring his family home.

“We’re gonna be fine no matter what,” he said. “But it might not be in Matlacha.”

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Wins for abortion rights advocates in Arizona, Ohio with new court rulings

Wins for abortion rights advocates in Arizona, Ohio with new court rulings
Wins for abortion rights advocates in Arizona, Ohio with new court rulings
Megan Varner/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Restrictive abortion laws were temporarily struck down Friday in Ohio and Arizona, two states where abortion services have been in flux in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

In Ohio, a six-week abortion ban is indefinitely blocked while a state constitutional challenge brought by the ACLU of Ohio on behalf of abortion providers in the state proceeds.

Last month, Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins granted a 14-day restraining order against the law, which prohibits most abortions after the “fetal heartbeat” is detected, before granting the ACLU of Ohio’s request for a preliminary injunction on Friday.

The latest ruling means abortion up until 22 weeks will be legal in the state for the duration of the case.

“We are thrilled with this second major victory and relieved that patients in Ohio can continue to access abortion as we work to fight this unjust and dangerous ban in court,” the ACLU of Ohio said in a statement.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is expected to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, a court issued a stay Friday on a near-total abortion ban with criminal penalties, temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban while an appeal filed by Planned Parenthood Arizona proceeds.

The century-old abortion ban had gone into effect in late September after the Pima County Superior Court lifted an injunction on the abortion ban. The 1901 law, which has language that can be tracked back to 1864, provides no exceptions for rape, incest or fetal abnormalities and makes performing abortions punishable by two to five years in prison.

A 15-week ban, which prohibits abortions “except in a medical emergency,” was passed by the Arizona legislature earlier this year. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich said he would seek to lift the injunction on the older, more restrictive law.

Since Roe was overturned, Arizona abortion providers have either suspended or limited services due to confusion over the two bans.

In issuing the stay, Judge Peter Eckerstrom stated, “Arizona courts have a responsibility to attempt to harmonize all of this state’s relevant statutes. The court further concludes the balance of hardships weigh strongly in favor of granting the stay, given the acute need of healthcare providers, prosecuting agencies, and the public for legal clarity as to the application of our criminal laws.”

Friday’s decision allows abortion care to resume in the state immediately.

“While today’s ruling brings temporary respite to Arizonans, the ongoing threat of this extreme, near-total abortion ban that has no regard for the health care of those across the state, including survivors of rape or incest remains very real,” Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said in a statement. “For over 100 days, Arizonans have experienced pure chaos and confusion and it has been traumatic for our physicians and staff who have been forced to notify patients that they can no longer care for them.”

ABC News’ Mary Kekatos and Libby Cathey contributed to this report.

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Three people shot outside Ohio football game: Police

Three people shot outside Ohio football game: Police
Three people shot outside Ohio football game: Police
kali9/Getty Images/STOCK

TOLEDO, Ohio) — Three people were shot outside a high school football game Friday in Toledo, Ohio, and their conditions are not life-threatening, according to the Toledo Police Department.

The game was being played at Whitmer High School against Central Catholic at the time of the shooting. The Toledo Police Department does not have any suspects at this time.

Washington Local Schools Superintendent Kadee Anstadt released a statement following the incident, ABC affiliate WTVG reported.

“We are deeply saddened that a fun rivalry tonight was disrupted by an act of violence in the streets surrounding our event. What we know at this time is limited, and we will not speculate until further details are known. An event like this is every school district’s worst nightmare, and we ask that you keep both Central and Whitmer in your thoughts as we attempt to figure out this atrocious act,” Anstadt said.

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.

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

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Three stabbed, one fatally, in string of New York City subway attacks

Three stabbed, one fatally, in string of New York City subway attacks
Three stabbed, one fatally, in string of New York City subway attacks
New York Police Department

(NEW YORK) — Three men were stabbed, one fatally, in separate attacks in the New York City subway system within an eight-hour span Thursday.

A 38-year-old Bronx man was getting off a northbound 4 train as it arrived at the 176th Street station just before 9 p.m. Thursday when he was stabbed multiple times in the back and chest by a suspect who came up behind him in what police said they believe was an unprovoked attack.

The victim collapsed on the platform and was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he later died.

He was the seventh person to be killed in the NYC transit system this year, and the second fatal subway stabbing in less than a week.

The suspect fled westbound on East 176 Street and remains at large.

Earlier Thursday, at 5:15 p.m., a 45-year-old man was slashed in the face by a man who followed him into a Brooklyn subway station in East New York.

Just after 1 p.m., a 59-year-old man was stabbed in the back at a Harlem subway station. The victim was waiting for a train at the 125th Street station at St. Nicholas Avenue when he got into an argument with a man he didn’t know, possibly after a harmless bump on the platform, police said.

The other man pulled a knife and stabbed the victim in the upper back. He was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital in stable condition.

The suspect, a Black man wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket and blue-tinted glasses, ran off. He also remains at large.

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Two dead, six injured in stabbings outside Las Vegas casino: Police

Two dead, six injured in stabbings outside Las Vegas casino: Police
Two dead, six injured in stabbings outside Las Vegas casino: Police
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

(LAS VEGAS) — Two people are dead and six others injured in a stabbing spree outside a Las Vegas casino on Thursday, according to police.

Three victims were in critical conditions and the other three survivors were in stable condition Thursday night, Las Vegas police said.

The victims include both locals and tourists, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during a press briefing Thursday.

The initial stabbing, which took place around 11:40 a.m. local time, occurred on the sidewalk along Las Vegas Boulevard, Deputy Chief James LaRochelle told reporters. It appears to have been unprovoked, he said.

The suspect then proceeded south and stabbed five more victims, and then an additional victim on Sands Avenue, he said. It’s unclear when or where the eighth victim was stabbed.

One victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and a second died after being transported to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, police said.

The two people who died were identified as Brent Allan Hallett, 47, of Las Vegas, and Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, of Las Vegas, according to the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner.

The suspect, 32-year-old Yoni Barrios, was taken into custody within a “matter of minutes” by a security guard and police officer after fleeing the scene, police said.

A large kitchen knife used in the incident has been recovered from the scene, police said.

Police believe Barrios acted alone, adding that a motive is unknown.

He was booked on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, police said.

ABC News’ Lisa Sivertsen contributed to this report.

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Suspect in custody after deadly shooting at Hampton Inn in Dearborn, Michigan: Police

Suspect in custody after deadly shooting at Hampton Inn in Dearborn, Michigan: Police
Suspect in custody after deadly shooting at Hampton Inn in Dearborn, Michigan: Police
Jeremy Hogan/Getty Images

(DEARBORN, Mich.) — A suspect has been taken into custody following a deadly shooting and hourslong negotiations with authorities at a Hampton Inn in Dearborn, Michigan, the Michigan State Police said.

“The barricaded gunman has been taken into custody without incident,” police said Thursday night. “Michigan Ave. is still closed and will be as the investigation continues. This will be our final update.”

Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said Thursday night there was one fatality, a 55-year-old clerk from Riverview “just trying to do his job.”

Police said the suspect — a 38-year-old man with a history of mental illness and drug abuse — was armed with a rifle and threatened officers many times.

Dearborn police said they had been in contact with the suspect’s family to get him to surrender peacefully.

According to police, the incident was a confrontation over a bill.

Officers evacuated hotel employees and guests, police said.

Authorities were urging people to stay away from downtown Dearborn.

ABC News’ Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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Four kidnapped Merced County family members found dead: ‘Horribly senseless’

Four kidnapped Merced County family members found dead: ‘Horribly senseless’
Four kidnapped Merced County family members found dead: ‘Horribly senseless’
Authorities in Central California’s Merced County released surveillance video video showing the armed suspect outside the business where a family of four was kidnapped on Oct. 3, 2022. – Merced County Sheriff’s Office

(MERCED COUNTY, Calif.) — All four family members who were mysteriously kidnapped in Northern California have been found dead in a rural almond orchard, the Merced County sheriff said.

Eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri and her parents — 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur and 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh — were taken against their will from a business on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

The suspected kidnapper, 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado, was taken into custody on Tuesday and later booked into the Merced County Jail on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said.

Salgado was arrested on four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Our detectives, alongside investigators from assisting agencies, will continue to follow up on any leads of additional people who may have been involved in this horrific incident,” the sheriff’s office said.

Warnke announced Wednesday night that a farm worker came across the victims’ bodies, which were found relatively close together.

No motive is known, Warnke said.

The sheriff called it “horribly senseless.”

Salgado attempted to take his own life “prior to law enforcement involvement” and was receiving medical attention, which delayed investigators’ ability to talk to him, the sheriff’s office said.

Warnke said Wednesday night that investigators have now spoken with Salgado, but the sheriff didn’t provide details.

“Salgado is still being medically treated and investigators are still interviewing him,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday.

Salgado was arrested in 2005 for robbery, burglary, and criminal threats against a man and his family, according to the police report.

The sheriff added that he believes at least one other person is involved.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s officials revealed surveillance video showing the family’s movements outside the business — a trucking company — on the day of the kidnapping.

At 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jasdeep Singh arrived at the business in a minivan, and minutes later, his brother Amandeep Singh arrived there in his pickup truck, the sheriff’s office said.

Someone was seen walking along the highway near the business that morning, officials said. Jasdeep Singh then made contact with the suspect and the two walked back toward the building, officials said.

The suspect — identified by sheriff’s officials Thursday as Salgado — was seen on video pulling out a gun and entering the business, officials said.

At 9:11 a.m., video showed the back door opening and the armed suspect exiting, officials said.

Jasdeep and Amandeep Singh were seen exiting the building, apparently with their hands zip-tied behind their backs, and were put in the back seat of the pickup truck, officials said.

The truck left for a few minutes and then returned, and the suspect got out of the truck and went into the business, officials said.

Less than one minute later, Jasleen Kaur and her 8-month-old baby exited the business, officials said.

The final surveillance video image showed the truck leaving the business, officials said.

The four family members were the only people in the business at the time, the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office announced on Tuesday that Amandeep Singh’s truck had been found on fire shortly before noon on Monday.

Police went to Amandeep Singh’s Merced home around 12:35 p.m. Monday; while they couldn’t locate him, they spoke to another relative, the sheriff’s office said. When the relative couldn’t reach Jasleen Kaur, Jasdeep Singh or Amandeep Singh, the relative reported them missing, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff’s officials then responded to the business, and “during the primary investigation, detectives determined that the individuals were kidnapped,” the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

There were two bank transactions from the family’s accounts, the sheriff said.

Editor’s note: The sheriff’s office initially said a subject captured in surveillance footage making a transaction at a bank matched the appearance of the suspect seen in surveillance footage at the kidnapping scene. The sheriff’s office later said the photo of the person at the ATM was not the suspect in custody.

ABC News’ Melissa Gaffney and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.

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