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(NEW YORK) — A person of interest is in custody in connection with the kidnapping of four family members, including an 8-month-old girl, who remain missing, authorities 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 in Merced County in Northern California on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

A person of interest in the case is currently in custody, authorities said Tuesday. The man — identified as 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado — attempted to take his own life “prior to law enforcement involvement” and is currently in critical condition receiving medical attention, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.

The update comes after detectives received information Tuesday morning that one of the victim’s ATM cards was used at a bank in the city of Atwater, in Merced County, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office initially said a subject captured in surveillance footage making a transaction at the bank matched the appearance of a suspect seen in surveillance footage at the kidnapping scene. The sheriff’s office later said a photo of the person at the ATM was not the person of interest who is in custody, and that it’s working with the bank to obtain the correct photo.

The four family members have not been found.

“Investigators continue to follow up on all leads and are working diligently to find the family,” the sheriff’s office said. “We continue to ask for the public’s help with any information that may assist us in locating the family’s whereabouts.”

No motive is known, the sheriff said.

“It’s imperative that we get some information on this. So far, as I know, no contact has been made, no ransom demands, nothing from the suspects,” 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 home around 12:35 p.m. Monday; while they couldn’t locate him, they did speak 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 a business, and “during the primary investigation, detectives determined that the individuals were kidnapped,” the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

“We’ve got detectives out canvassing, we’ve had aircraft out looking for evidence. People are gonna be working 24 hours on this until we get a break in this,” he said. “We’ve got to bring this family home safely.”

Merced County is located between San Francisco and Fresno.

The FBI, California Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies are involved in the search, the sheriff’s office said.

Anyone with information on the family’s whereabouts is asked to call the Merced County Sheriff’s Office at 209-385-7445.

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(NEW YORK) — With Ian already the deadliest hurricane in decades in Florida — and the death toll continuing to rise — Gov. Ron DeSantis told ABC News on Monday that there would “of course” be a review of the decisions that local officials made before the storm hit.

DeSantis responded brusquely at an afternoon press conference to questions from ABC News about the evacuation orders issued shortly before Ian made landfall in western Florida last Wednesday.

“Excuse me, this has been handled ad nauseam,” the governor said, cutting off the reporter’s question mid-sentence.

Lee County, which has seen the most fatalities, did not mandate evacuations until the day before the Category 4 storm leveled much of its coastline.

In the week since, both emergency officials and DeSantis have been pressed about that timeline and whether different choices could have lessened the casualties.

The governor and others, including the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have stressed that the decision was made at a local level but defended the evacuation timing, citing uncertainty about Ian’s path.

However, the National Hurricane Center forecast on Sept. 25 that Ian could bring a potential storm surge of between 4 and 7 feet along Florida’s southwestern coast from Englewood to Bonita Beach — covering the entirety of Lee County’s coast.

According to Lee’s emergency management plan from 2018, even a 10% chance of a 6-foot storm surge should be enough to prompt the evacuation of Zone A of the county, which includes low-lying coastal high hazard areas, mobile and manufactured homes.

On Sept. 27, less than 24 hours before Ian made landfall, Lee County issued mandatory evacuations for much of the area starting around 5 p.m. local time.

Asked Monday if he would order a formal review of how Lee County responded, DeSantis said: “Well of course you’re going to review everything you do in these storms. That’s the way it works.”

Lee County’s Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach were among the most severely damaged areas in the state. At least 54 of the storm deaths reported in Florida were in Lee County, the sheriff’s office said Saturday.

One resident, Pam Schlitten, rode out the storm in her Cape Coral home. Schlitten, a DeSantis supporter, asked ABC News before the governor’s appearance on Monday why no one knocked on her door and told her to leave.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” said Schlitten, 60.

Her phone service had gone out on Tuesday, she added, which was the day evacuation orders were given.

“There was no police,” she said. “You could have the police running in the area with their speakers. You [have] to get the communication out.”

DeSantis, Lee County defend evacuation timing

The governor has repeatedly said officials on the ground were “following the data” when making evacuation decisions — and it was the data from the forecast models that led them astray.

“When we went to bed Monday night, people were saying this is a direct hit on Tampa Bay, worst-case scenario for the state,” DeSantis said on Saturday. “As that track started to shift south, and the computer models the next morning, they called for the evacuation, they opened their shelters and they responded very quickly to the data.”

“But at the end of the day, Fort Myers and Naples, on Sunday, I think at the 11 a.m. advisory, 72 hours out, they weren’t even in the cone. That’s just the reality, so they followed it very closely,” he added.

The “cone of uncertainty” is what forecasters use to represent what’s likely to be the center of the storm. At least some parts of Lee County were in the cone in the days leading up to landfall, according to models from the National Hurricane Center.

Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said at a news conference on Monday that search-and-rescue efforts were continuing in Fort Myers Beach, with crews working 24 hours per day.

When asked about the timing of evacuations, Desjarlais insisted the decision was made at the “earliest possible moment when we got the weather information.”

“Based on all the conditions at the time, I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said, noting that — still — many county residents appeared to have chosen not to evacuate as only 4,000 people came to an area shelter that can house 40,000 individuals.

FEMA weighs in

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell discussed the timing of the Lee County evacuations during an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, echoing DeSantis’ comments about the unpredictability of the storm.

“Just 72 hours before landfall, the Fort Myers and Lee County area were not even in the cone of the hurricane,” Criswell said when asked if the late timing of the evacuation orders played a part in the death toll.

“And as it continued to move south, the local officials immediately — as soon as they knew that they were in that threat zone, made the decisions to evacuate and get people to safety,” she added.

Criswell said officials were aware Hurricane Ian would have a “significant impact to life,” which is why they prepared search and rescue teams to be deployed early in the morning the day after landfall.

“They are still there today going house-by-house to make sure we account for everybody,” Criswell said Sunday.

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(EL PASO, Texas) — A person in U.S. Border Patrol custody was fatally shot on Tuesday in an incident at a USBP station in El Paso, Texas, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While other details were not immediately available, two officials said the firearm that was discharged belonged to an agent — although it’s unclear what led up to the weapon going off and who fired the gun and why.

The person in custody who died was initially transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Authorities said that publicly available information was limited due to an ongoing FBI investigation. No other injuries were reported by the agency Tuesday.

An FBI spokesman said in a statement late Tuesday that their agents were first contacted about the fatal shooting about 1 p.m. local time.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time,” said Jeffrey R. Downey, the FBI El Paso special agent in charge.

The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility is also investigating along with the El Paso Police Department.

The increased level of migrants detained or arrested at the southern border — which is at a record high this fiscal year, according to government data, with many people fleeing political and economic turmoil — corresponds with an increased number of use-of-force incidents involving a gun.

There have been 17 such shootings since last October, compared to seven in 2019, according to CBP.

Much like police stations and other law enforcement facilities, Border Patrol detainees are temporarily held at stations where agents are regularly armed.

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(NEW YORK) — Police are on the lookout for the person responsible for six murders so far in Stockton, California.

Police released only a few details about the string of murders and when they happened: a 35-year-old man fatally shot at 12:31 a.m. on July 8; a 43-year-old man fatally shot at 9:49 p.m. on Aug. 11; a 21-year-old man fatally shot at 6:41 a.m. on Aug. 30; a 52-year-old man fatally shot at 4:27 a.m. on Sept. 21; and a 54-year-old man fatally shot at 1:53 a.m. on Sept. 27.

Another shooting, of a 46-year-old Black woman at Park Street and Union Street in Stockton at 3:20 a.m. on April 16, 2021, was also linked to the investigation, police said. The woman survived her injuries in that shooting, they said.

Police said late Monday that another homicide investigation had been linked to the case: The shooting death of a 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland, California, at 4:18 a.m. on April 10, 2021.

Former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Brad Garrett spoke with ABC News Live’s Linsey Davis Monday about the cases and his perspective on the ongoing investigation.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Police say that they have physical evidence linking the five killings. Can you give us an example of what might constitute as physical evidence?

BRAD GARRETT: Probably ballistics, which is going to be my guess, because, Linsey, every [case] has been described as people being shot in the back, which would suggest the shooter is not having any physical contact with the victims. So it’s not uncommon for serial killers to continue to use the same weapon. So have they ballistically linked the five of them? Perhaps.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Perhaps all of the victims are men, four of them Hispanic, who were all alone and ambushed late at night or in the early morning, just as choice of victims or methods reveal a certain suspect profile or anything about the killer’s personality, that that might help track them down.

GARRETT: I’m not sure about that yet. If you look at the locations, they’re all in general proximity, not necessarily in the same neighborhoods. This strikes me as an opportunity serial killer. In other words, he’s walking around looking for victims. Is he looking for Hispanic males? We don’t know that.

The key is with each homicide, can they pull up additional CCTV? Are they going to get lucky and find a witness who sees him get into a car? I can tell you they’re really searching the cameras, I suspect, in Stockton to see if they can track him once he leaves the scene, all those little pieces of information. But the absolute thing that will get him caught is him continuing to kill people because he’s going to continue to leave clues, which is almost textbook.

ABC NEWS LIVE: If we look at the timetable here, you had more than a month between the first and second killings, but then the fourth and fifth were just six days apart. Does it seem, based on that, that he could be escalating?

GARRETT: Maybe or this may be an opportunity. Was he off from work? Does he work odd hours? Does he not even live or work in Stockton?

Again, all of these little pieces of information become much more relevant as you focus down on an individual. And hopefully, that’s going to occur in short order because, I mean, it’s just horrible. Five people dead. And this strikes me as a guy that’s going to keep going until he gets caught.

ABC NEWS LIVE: And what is that? What strikes you? Is it just rare that somebody who is potentially a serial killer doesn’t just stop after five?

GARRETT: You have to understand that they’re driven by a compulsion of nothing else, a compulsion to kill people. Sometimes it’s just the thrill. And after you kill the first person, presuming the person in July is the first person he’s killed, then each one becomes easier. But the high that he gets from committing these crimes is what drives him. And so you will see eventually maybe him going to another victim. They might be close together. They might not be. But it’s also somebody that I think has familiarity with Stockton because he’s in various neighborhoods. He’s probably either walking around, cruising around in a vehicle, or looking for lone individuals when it’s dark. That way it gives him less resistance, less likelihood someone’s going to see him, and that’s really sort of his cover, it appears, with each one of these murders.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Is there something there that might something so small that might help crack a case like this?

GARRETT: Yes. For example, let’s go back to ballistics. ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, have a ballistics data set. If this weapon was used in the past, there’s a possibility they might be able to link it that way. It’s just hard to say, but there are little clues like that. Or the guy makes a slip and he says something to someone. Maybe not admit what he’s been doing, but it’s just enough for that person to reach out to the police and say, there’s something not right. You need to check this guy out.

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(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — Nearly a week after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida’s southwestern coast, search and rescue efforts are ongoing, as the region takes steps to recover from the devastating storm.

Lee County — home to Fort Myers and the barrier islands Sanibel and Pine — was especially hard-hit by the powerful Category 4 storm, with Fort Myers Beach frequently referred to as “ground zero” by local officials.

At least 55 people died due to Ian in the coastal county, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office — more than half of the 100 storm-related fatalities statewide reported so far.

The damage in the county is widespread: Power infrastructure has been destroyed, boil water notices are in place, debris — from trees to boats — block roads, more than half of traffic lights are out and barrier islands are inaccessible by car.

As the community attempts to take stock of the storm’s impact, it is still unsafe for many residents to return to the area, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno warned.

“I need patience,” Marceno said during a press briefing Tuesday. “We know people want to get back. They want to see their homes. They want to see if they have a home. They want to grab a photo album — things that cannot be replaced by insurance or money.

“We want to make sure we give people when it’s safe, the first second it’s safe, a chance to do that,” he continued.

Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said it could be “30 days as a minimum” before people are safely able to go back.

“It is really dangerous to be in Fort Myers Beach right now,” Desjarlais said during a press briefing Monday. “There is no power. There is no water.”

Search and rescue efforts ongoing

More than 840 rescues have been conducted in Lee County since Ian made landfall on Sept. 28, Marceno said Tuesday.

Marceno said crews are currently following up search efforts of properties and identifying if anyone is in need or is unaccounted for, as the search and rescue mission continues “around the clock.”

“We’re probably still another three to four days left in search and rescue and recovery,” he said Tuesday. “So that’s a rough time frame that could go in either direction.”

Desjarlais said it is unclear how many people are unaccounted for. Eight urban search and rescue teams are working to locate residences and if there are any deceased people in the rubble to preserve evidence before heavy equipment is brought in, local officials said.

Restoring barrier island access

Ian knocked out the main modes of transport to several of Lee County’s islands. The Sanibel Causeway, which connects the island to the mainland, and the Matlacha Pass Bridge, which connects nearby Pine Island to the mainland in Cape Coral, were destroyed.

The Florida National Guard has been airlifting vehicles and other assets onto Pine and Sanibel islands, as well as evacuating people. The U.S. Coast Guard has also been running waterborne evacuations for residents of the islands.

In the short term, the state Department of Transportation is working on building a temporary gravel bridge to Pine Island.

“These repairs are needed for first responders and residents to access the island, as well as other recovery efforts such as power restoration and debris removal,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said in a press release this week.

The bridge is on track to open by Saturday, officials said.

“This is not gonna be a bridge you’re going to want to drive 45 mph over … but at least you’ll have connectivity to the mainland,” DeSantis said during a press briefing Monday.

He said his administration would be trying something “similar” for the causeway to Sanibel Island, with a bid process underway.

The county is working on a temporary ferry service to assist residents of Sanibel Island, with boat access currently restricted to approved contractors and residents, Marceno said.

Turning on power and water

Nearly half of the county remains without power, according to state data.

DeSantis said Monday that the electrical co-op for the state of Florida will be sending 1,000 additional linemen from across the state to help Lee County’s power restoration efforts. The National Guard will begin flying electrical personnel onto Pine and Sanibel islands, he said.

The Lee County Electric Co-op has bumped up its restoration timeline to Saturday from Oct. 23 for all impacted areas except for Pine Island and Sanibel, the governor’s office said.

The water is slowly being restored as water pressure normalizes, Desjarlais said Monday. The Army Corps of Engineers is working to identify and assess several fractures in water infrastructure as part of the efforts to restore running water in Lee County. Some residents who have running water may be under a boil water notice.

In the meantime, the state and Florida National Guard have set up several distribution points for food, water and ice throughout mainland Lee County.

Public schools temporarily closed

Due to the lack of power and water, as well as damage to buildings, Lee County public schools are closed this week, the district said.

The damage to school buildings is varied, school leaders said.

“We have some schools that we believe are ready to open, others need minimal work,” Lee County School District Superintendent Christopher Bernier said in a video message Monday. “Some of our schools will require significant repairs and, as expected, there are a few that have damage that may be beyond repair.”

Building inspectors are conducting more comprehensive assessments, and some students and staff may be relocated depending on the damage, he said.

“This is not going to stop us from opening our schools as soon as we can,” Bernier said. “While we are not opening this week, we are certainly not waiting until January.”

ABC News’ Matt Foster and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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(BOSTON) — A worker at Northeastern University’s virtual reality lab was arrested Tuesday for arranging an apparent hoax that evacuated parts of campus and touched off a search at other Boston colleges and universities, according to the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.

Authorities have charged Jason Duhaime with one count of conveying false and misleading information related to an explosive device and one count of making materially false statements to a federal enforcement agent.

Duhaime was employed as the new technology manager and director of the immersive media lab at Northeastern University.

“In a recorded 911 call and in a subsequent recorded conversation with a federal law enforcement agent, Duhaime reported that he was injured by ‘sharp’ objects expelled from a plastic case that he opened inside the Immersive Media Lab (the ‘Lab’) on the evening of September 12, 2022,” the complaint said.

There was no evidence the package, contained in a hard plastic Pelican case, ever exploded. The package also included a threatening letter directed at the lab, the complaint said.

The FBI said Duhaime himself authored the threatening letter and the case contained no “sharp” objects. Agents are still investigating a motive.

Forensic analysis of one of the computers seized during a search of Duhaime’s office at Northeastern allegedly revealed a word-for-word electronic copy of the letter stored in a backup folder. Meta data associated with the file reflected a date and time of Sept. 13 at 2:57 p.m., roughly four hours prior to when Duhaime called 911, according to United States Attorney Rachael Rollins.

It’s unclear if Duhaime has obtained a lawyer.

Northeastern is a private research university located in Boston.

ABC News’ Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Northern California authorities are searching for four family members, including an 8-month-old girl, who were kidnapped for unknown reasons.

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 in Merced County on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

No motive is known, the sheriff said. Merced County is located between San Francisco and Fresno.

Authorities have released images of the unknown kidnapping suspect.

“It’s imperative that we get some information on this. So far, as I know, no contact has been made, no ransom demands, nothing from the suspects,” the sheriff said.

“We’ve got evidence to indicate that the individuals involved in this destroyed evidence in an attempt to cover their tracks,” Warnke said, though the sheriff did not elaborate on the evidence.

“We’ve got detectives out canvassing, we’ve had aircraft out looking for evidence. People are gonna be working 24 hours on this until we get a break in this,” he said. “We’ve got to bring this family home safely.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Merced County Sheriff’s Office at 209-385-7445.

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(NEW YORK) — At least 100 people in Florida have died due to Hurricane Ian, according to local officials.

Five additional people were also reported dead due to the storm in North Carolina, according to the governor’s office.

The Category 4 storm slammed into Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday afternoon, causing catastrophic damage, fierce winds and dangerous, record-breaking storm surges.

Deaths from Hurricane Ian reported in Florida

The deaths span multiple counties in Florida, including 55 in Lee County, 24 in Charlotte County, five in Volusia County, four in Collier County, three each in Sarasota and Manatee counties, two in Polk County, and one each in Hardee, Hillsborough, Lake and Hendry counties, ABC News has determined based on information from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission and inquiries with local officials and authorities.

Hurricane Ian’s death toll has been rising amid ongoing search and rescue missions.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that upward of 700 people were rescued in the devastated county.

“It’s what a heavy heart that I say that number,” Marceno, whose county is home to hard-hit Fort Myers and the barrier island Sanibel, said in video posted to Facebook.

The causes of the deaths in Florida were primarily drownings, as well as two vehicle accidents and a roofing accident, officials said.

It is unclear whether the state’s figure overlaps with ABC News’ analysis. The state confirms deaths by reviewing medical examiner records, which can take some time.

Confirmed deaths from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement occurred in Lake, Sarasota, Manatee, Volusia and Collier counties between Sept. 27 and 30. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 91. One, a 68-year-old woman, drowned after being swept into the ocean by a wave on Sept. 29, the department said.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office was among the first to publicly announce a fatality from Ian. A 72-year-old man in Deltona died after attempting to drain his pool during the storm, the office said Thursday.

The man, who was not publicly identified, “disappeared” after heading outside, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies found him unresponsive in a canal behind the home and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

Deaths from Hurricane Ian reported in North Carolina

The storm made landfall again on Friday in South Carolina, which has reported no deaths due to the storm so far, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday.

Though in neighboring North Carolina, five storm-related deaths have been reported. In a statement Saturday, Gov. Roy Cooper said three involved vehicle accidents on Friday, with the victims ranging in age from 22 to 25. Additionally, a 65-year-old man died Saturday from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in his closed garage while the power was out. The manner of the fifth death is unclear.

Hurricane damage across the Southeast, as rescue efforts continue

Florida Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents the Tampa Bay area, called the situation a “major catastrophe.”

Federal agency to help pay for Mississippi flood control

“I’m afraid we’re going to be dealing with a larger loss of life than we anticipated,” she said on “ABC News Live” Thursday.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott told Good Morning America Thursday morning there were “thousands of rescue efforts going on right now.”

“We’ve got great sheriff’s departments, police departments, fire departments, state rescue teams. They’re working hard. But there’s a lot of people that need help right now,” he said.

He expressed concern for the state’s many low-lying areas.

“The water kills and I’m just — I’m scared to death of, you know, what’s happened here and I hope everybody stays safe,” he said.

Sheriff Marceno told Good Morning America Thursday they had thousands of 911 calls they were answering.

“We still cannot access many of the people that are in need,” Marceno said. “It’s a real, real rough road ahead.”

ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Ahmad Hemmingway, Benjamin Stein and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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(STOCKTON, Calif.) — Six unprovoked murders of men ages 21 to 54 over the last few months appear to be the work of one person, according to police in Stockton, California.

Authorities are searching for a person of interest tied to the six slayings. All of the victims were men and all were alone at the time they were fatally shot, police said. The killings all happened at night or in the early morning hours.

Police released only a few details about the string of murders and when they happened: a 35-year-old man fatally shot at 12:31 a.m. on July 8; a 43-year-old man fatally shot at 9:49 p.m. on Aug. 11; a 21-year-old man fatally shot at 6:41 a.m. on Aug. 30; a 52-year-old man fatally shot at 4:27 a.m. on Sept. 21; and a 54-year-old man fatally shot at 1:53 a.m. on Sept. 27.

Police said late Monday that another homicide investigation had been linked to the case: The shooting death of a 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland, Calif., at 4:18 a.m. on April 10, 2021.

Another shooting, of a 46-year-old Black woman at Park Street and Union Street in Stockton at 3:20 a.m. on April 16, 2021, was also linked to the investigation, police said. The woman survived her injuries in that shooting, they said.

Stockton police told ABC News that all of the victims were ambushed, none were robbed and none of the incidents were drug- or gang-related. Police also told ABC News they have physical evidence linking the five crime scenes together.

On Monday, San Joaquin County’s Office of the Medical Examiner identified the victims. Paul Yaw, 35, was killed on July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, died on Aug. 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, was killed on Aug. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, was the Sept. 21 victim; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, was slain on Sept. 27.

Lorenzo Lopez “was just a person who was out here at the wrong place at the wrong time at the wrong circumstance,” his brother Jerry Lopez told ABC Sacramento affiliate KXTV. “It’s hard to process that this has happened. I mean, me and my brother have been like twins. We were a year a part so we were pretty close.”

Paul Yaw “was a good boy who grew into a good man with a big heart. He will always live on in our hearts. He was always there for you if you needed him,” the family said in a statement provided to ABC News. “He was a son, brother, father, grandson, nephew and cousin. I still can’t believe he’s not coming back. I hope this helps to catch the person(s) responsible.”

The city of Stockton said it was putting forward a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the investigation. Stockton Crime Stoppers is posting an additional $10,000 reward.

The day after Lopez’s killing, Stockton police had said at a press conference they were not sure if the string of killings were related.

“[We’re] still looking at it from a random point of view, but we do see some similarities,” Police Chief Stanley McFadden said Wednesday. “We have been provided absolutely zero evidence that leads us to believe that one individual is running rampant in the city of Stockton killing people.”

But that changed two days later when the department tied the five killings together and released an image of a person of interest.

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(NEW YORK) — For the first time in state history, Asian American women will represent Texas at two of the most prestigious pageants in the country.

Averie Bishop from Dallas, made history in June when she became the first Asian American woman to be crowned Miss Texas America. She will compete for the title of Miss America, the long-running national scholarship pageant, on Dec. 15 in Connecticut.

Just one week after Bishop’s win, R’Bonney Gabriel from Houston became the first Asian American woman to earn the Miss Texas USA title, marking another historic milestone. Gabriel is currently in Reno, Nevada competing in the Miss USA beauty pageant. If she wins the national title tonight, she will go on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant.

The Miss America and Miss USA competitions have long welcomed state titleholders to their stages. But for decades, women of color were banned from participating.

“I never saw anybody as Miss Texas who looked like me, so I was very scared to take up space in an organization that is historically meant for white women,” Bishop told ABC News.

Bishop’s mother immigrated from the Philippines in the 90s. Her father, who is white and Cherokee, is a fourth-generation Texan. For years, Bishop said her family lived in “extreme poverty,” experiencing housing insecurity and relying on food assistance programs. She grew up attending a Title I school in Prosper, Texas.

“I was quite literally the only student that looks like the way that I did for almost, I’d say, a decade,” Bishop said. “I convinced myself that I wasn’t allowed to speak my voice, that I wasn’t allowed to dream or pursue the things I wanted to pursue.”

Gabriel, who is also Filipina, said she now feels a “big responsibility” to share her multicultural background and empower others to embrace their identities.

“My dad moved to America from the Philippines on a college scholarship with about $20 in his pocket. He wanted to pave a new life for himself. He met my mom in Texas, who is a country woman from Beaumont,” Gabriel told ABC News’ local affiliate in Houston. “I’m a very proud Filipina Texan.”

Texas is the second most diverse state in the U.S., with minority groups together constituting more than 50 percent of the state population. But in recent years, Texas has also been at the epicenter of national political debates and culture wars over the state’s controversial abortion restrictions, book bans, gun laws, and crackdown on border immigration.

For Bishop and Gabriel, representing the ‘Lone Star State’ means using their platforms to speak out about the pressing issues affecting their communities, including anti-Asian hate, environmentalism, and women’s rights.

“I am very strong in my beliefs and what I believe are important to my generation,” Bishop said. “But as a statewide representative, as Miss Texas, I will, as my first initiative, listen to any perspective and all perspectives.”

Bishop’s Miss Texas platform is “Y’all Means All,” which emphasizes diversity and inclusion. Bishop and her mother manage a nonprofit called the Tulong Foundation that provides scholarships and mentorship to girls in Southeast Asia to help them pursue an education.

After going viral on TikTok, Bishop, a law school graduate, is also an online influencer running her own social media consulting business.

Gabriel, a model and designer, currently owns her own fashion label R’Bonney Nola, using sustainable practices and even designing her own looks for the pageants she enters.

She also works with the Houston nonprofit Magpies and Peacocks, teaching sewing to women in under-served communities as well as survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

“I foresee myself in really dreaming about having a bigger brand that is focused on sustainability and being a leading voice in the industry that’s helping the industry push to a more environmentally friendly practice,” Gabriel said.

After competing in Miss America, Bishop said she is considering pursuing a career in academia, hoping to continue serving as a mentor and role model to students who look like her.

“Now that I have become the thing that I dreamed of becoming, other young girls, other women from the Filipino community, from the AAPI community can look at me, look at R’Bonney, and think to themselves, I can do it too,” Bishop said.

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