‘Narco slaves’: Migrant workers face abuse on Oregon’s cartel-run, illegal pot farms

‘Narco slaves’: Migrant workers face abuse on Oregon’s cartel-run, illegal pot farms
‘Narco slaves’: Migrant workers face abuse on Oregon’s cartel-run, illegal pot farms
ilbusca/Getty Images

(MEDFORD, Ore.) — A day after Alejandra, which is not her real name, arrived for a job harvesting marijuana at a farm near Medford, Oregon, she says things took a harrowing turn when armed guards prevented workers from leaving.

“Holding a gun, one of them said, ‘No one goes out. No one goes out until you’re done trimming the pot. No one goes out and no one comes in,’” the undocumented mother of three told ABC News.

“You feel horrible. You feel humiliated, trampled on. You feel like dying,” Alejandra said.

Pot was legalized for recreational use in Oregon in 2015. The goal was to generate tax revenue for the state while curbing the black market. But years later, foreign drug cartels have taken advantage of the limited oversight by running illegal farms on the backs of exploited migrant workers, officials told ABC News.

On these unlicensed farms in southern Oregon, estimated to be in the thousands, workers like Alejandra are often forced to live and work in deplorable conditions as they tend to the crops.

“We were prisoners, because we couldn’t go out. We worked very long hours, sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning. They were constantly pushing us to work faster, to trim the pot,” Alejandra said.

The work was supposed to take 15 days, but ended up lasting an entire month, Alejandra said. “I feared for my life, because [the guards] would act really crazy. I kept thinking about my kids, my mother. Wishing I could see them again. That’s all I could think about.”

Over the past year, ABC News has been tracking the underbelly of marijuana legalization in southern Oregon, where federal, state and local law enforcement are working together to combat the growing problem of “narco slavery.” The three-part investigation, “THC: The Human Cost,” is airing this week on “ABC News Live.”

Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Hammer leads the initiative to root out Oregon’s illegal pot farms for Homeland Security Investigations’ Pacific Northwest Office. Last August, the news of a dying man left at a gas station set off alarm bells for Hammer and his team.

“We were able to track that [person] back as a worker on one of the farms,” Hammer said.

“We’re not trying to look at it as, ‘Oh, this is just another marijuana operation.’ We’re really trying to focus on the fact that this is the exploitation of people. This is the destruction of the environment through illegal pesticides,” Hammer said.

“The marijuana black market is out of control in the United States and threatens the integrity of the already struggling regulated cannabis industry,” said Terry Neeley, founder and managing director of West Coast AML Services, which creates risk management programs for financial institutions to safely bank marijuana-related businesses. “This crime of human slavery is not unique to the U.S. Narco slavery will spread around the world like a cancer as other countries legalize marijuana. Tough drug laws need to be in place at the state level and aggressively enforced to curb the narco-slave epidemic,” he said.

ABC News embedded with HSI on a joint raid with local authorities in October. On a property about 20 miles outside of Medford, agents found 17 workers and a 2-year-old toddler.

A total of three neighboring properties were also raided. At one site, law enforcement says they counted a little over a hundred illegal greenhouses, more than 8,500 black market marijuana plants and 7,000 pounds of processed illegal cannabis.

After each raid, authorities bulldoze and demolish the grow site in order to keep the illegal farms from resurfacing. A nongovernmental organization called Unete steps in to make sure workers, who are mostly undocumented, have access to food and shelter.

Many workers arrive to the U.S. from Mexico and Central America desperate for work, Unete co-director Kathy Keese told ABC News. Keese said the workers’ vulnerability makes them easy targets for human trafficking and exploitation by the cartels.

“You can’t talk about it, because you don’t know who you can be talking to, and they might seek retaliation with your family. So it’s better to stay silent,” said Maria, which is not her real name. She also worked on a cartel-run pot farm in Oregon.

Both Alejandra and Maria asked for their real names not to be used, because they fear retaliation from the cartels.

Maria said she heard about the job through someone who called themselves a contractor. She was told they paid well, and they didn’t check her immigration status.

“They told us, it’s like you were going to harvest grapes – you’ll come and go. But when we got there, it wasn’t like that,” Maria said.

Like Alejandra, once Maria began working on the farm, armed guards prevented her from leaving until the harvest was over. She said there were no bathrooms or beds for the more than 200 workers there. She slept on the floor or on an air mattress.

In the summer heat, she and others were forced to work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Maria said. The guards would determine when they would wake up, eat and sleep.

When police raided the farm, Maria said she ran into the mountains and hid for 12 hours because she feared she would be thrown in jail or deported. When she returned to the camp, everything — and everyone — was gone.

Last year, Oregon lawmakers agreed the problem with illegal pot farms is out of control, recognizing the cartels had infiltrated the industry and migrants were being trafficked to work the fields.

But help can’t come fast enough.

Currently, 21 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Some advocates say it needs to be decriminalized nationally to prevent cartels from smuggling cannabis to buyers in states where it’s still illegal.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., blames the problem on “dysfunctional federal policy.”

“The states have been forced to step up and do it themselves. People who try to play by the rules are dramatically disadvantaged. They face higher costs. There’s no effective regulation for the people who cheat. In fact, the incentives are for the black market,” Blumenauer told ABC News.

Meanwhile, officers in Oregon are hoping to combat labor exploitation by creating more incentives for farm workers to come forward.

“The law is very clear. If you’re a victim of human trafficking, the law is on your side. There are various protections that can be put in place in order to mitigate any type of immigration concern that victims would have,” Hammer said.

Alejandra and Maria both said they never got paid for their work. The contractors vanished, leaving the women with nothing but bad memories and the fear it will happen again.

“A lot of people have gone through the same, and even worse; they are no longer with us to tell their stories,” Alejandra said.

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Police officer Aaron Dean found guilty of manslaughter in killing of Atatiana Jefferson

Police officer Aaron Dean found guilty of manslaughter in killing of Atatiana Jefferson
Police officer Aaron Dean found guilty of manslaughter in killing of Atatiana Jefferson
Jason Marz/Getty Images

(FORT WORTH, Texas) — A jury has found former police officer Aaron Dean guilty of manslaughter in the death of Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot in her Fort Worth, Texas, home in 2019.

The jury considered both a murder charge and a lesser charge of manslaughter during its deliberations, according to Judge George Gallagher. Manslaughter is a second-degree felony according to Texas penal code. It’s punishable by two to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Dean’s sentence will be decided by the jury. The sentencing phase will begin Friday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

Throughout the five days of testimony, the jury heard from Jefferson’s now-11-year-old nephew Zion Carr, who was in the room when she was shot.

Jurors also heard from Dean’s partner that night, Officer Carol Darch, the call center operator who gave Dean and Darch the information about Jefferson’s home that they received that night, and Dean himself. Additionally, Jurors heard from Richard Fries, the deputy medical examiner in Tarrant County, several other Fort Worth officers and detectives, a forensics video expert and law enforcement experts.

On Oct. 12, 2019, Dean and another officer responded to a non-emergency call to check on Jefferson’s home around 2:30 a.m. because a door was left open to the house.

Dean did not park near the home, knock at the door or announce police presence at any time while on the scene, according to body camera footage and Dean’s testimony.

Dean testified that he suspected a burglary was in progress due to the messiness inside the home when he peered through an open door. When Dean entered the backyard, body camera footage shows Dean looking into one of the windows of the home.

Jefferson and Zion were playing video games when they heard a noise, according to his testimony. Zion said in testimony his aunt had left the door open because they burned hamburgers earlier in the night and were airing out the smoke.

Jefferson grabbed her gun from her purse before approaching the window, Zion testified. Police officials have said Jefferson was within her rights to protect herself.

In body camera footage, Dean can be heard shouting, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” and firing one shot through the window, killing Jefferson.

Dean resigned from the police department before his arrest. Fort Worth Chief of Police Ed Kraus has said Dean was about to be fired for allegedly violating multiple department policies.

ABC News’ Lisa Sivertsen contributed to this report.

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New York bans selling dogs, cats, rabbits in pet stores to combat ‘puppy mill’ pipeline

New York bans selling dogs, cats, rabbits in pet stores to combat ‘puppy mill’ pipeline
New York bans selling dogs, cats, rabbits in pet stores to combat ‘puppy mill’ pipeline
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(ALBANY, N.Y.) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Thursday banning the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in retail pet stores throughout the state.

Animal activists have been calling for such a ban for years contending that pet stores are often stocked with animals that are bred and abused in “puppy mills” and other mass breeding centers.

“Dogs, cats and rabbits across New York deserve loving homes and humane treatment,” Hochul said in a statement.

Under the law, which goes into effect in 2024, retail stores that previously sold pets can still operate and sell pet supplies and other accessories. They also have the option to charge shelters and rescue groups rent to use their space for adoptions.

Store owners face a $1,000 fine for violating the new rules.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who co-sponsored the bill, said that puppy breeding mills have been known to keep animals in unsanitary conditions, where they’re abused and neglected.

“Today is a great day for our four-legged friends,” he said in a statement.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has pushed the governor and other state leaders to do more against the puppy mill pipeline and go after stores that sell animals from those facilities. A report released this year by the ASPCA found that 1 out of 4 of puppies shipped to New York state pet stores came from dog brokers who buy puppies from licensed and unregulated breeders and resell the animals to stores.

California was the first state to ban the sale of pets in 2019 and four other states, Washington, Maine, Maryland and Illinois, have followed suit.

“We are hopeful that this enormous step by New York State may encourage other states to take similar action to stop the cruel commercial breeding industry from supplying pet stores within their borders,” Matt Bershadker, the president and CEO of the ASPCA, said in a statement.

Some pet shop owners, however, criticized the governor and state legislature for the bill, saying the move hurts their businesses without going after the root problem.

“We have policies like this where everybody just makes the assumption that every single breeder that a pet store works with looks like the ones you see on TV that are filthy and the [dogs] are dying, and that just simply isn’t the case,” Emilio Ortiz, the manager of the New York pet store CitiPups, told NY1.

Gianaris, however, argues that there isn’t a single New York pet store that hasn’t been touched by the puppy mill industry.

“That’s why we should ban it outright. There is no such thing as a responsible retail sale of animals in New York,” he told WABC, ABC News’ New York station.

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Father warns about how serious flu can be for kids as 10-year-old son battles virus

Father warns about how serious flu can be for kids as 10-year-old son battles virus
Father warns about how serious flu can be for kids as 10-year-old son battles virus
Israel Sebastian/Getty Images

(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) — A father is warning about how serious the flu can be, especially for children, as his 10-year-old son remains hospitalized with the virus.

Cory Tamborelli, from Ramona, California — about 34 miles northeast of San Diego — said his son, Tristan, first started experiencing flu symptoms about a week and a half ago.

‘A fever and a little bit of a runny nose,” he told ABC News local affiliate KGTV.

However, the young boy’s condition rapidly deteriorated and within 48 hours, Tristan was unresponsive.

“He was limp, couldn’t move, couldn’t talk. It was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life,” Tamborelli said.

Tristan was life-flighted to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where he tested positive for two strains of flu, according to an update from his aunt, Sara Presley Scott.

Doctors discovered that Tristan’s liver and kidney were failing. He was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit, where he was sedated and placed on a ventilator.

His aunt said he needed to be placed on dialysis to help support his non-functioning kidney.

“It was so bad. I was scared he wasn’t going to make it. You feel helpless,” Tamborelli said. “Nothing you can do.”

Hospitals across the country have been reporting that they are at capacity or near capacity as the flu season has started earlier than usual.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some children are at higher risk of developing flu-related complications including infants, those up to age 5, American Indian/Alaskan Native children, and those up to age 18 with chronic health problems.

Tristan falls into that latter category. Tamborelli told KGTV that his son suffered a stroke as an infant and, as a result, has several underlying conditions including epilepsy and a blood clotting disorder.

“Each year, millions of children get sick with seasonal flu, thousands of children are hospitalized and some children die from flu,” according to the CDC.

Currently, children age 4 and under are being hospitalized at a rate of 42.3 per 100,000 and children between ages 5 and 17 at a rate of 17.9 per 100,000 — the highest rates recorded since the 2009-10 season, which was the year of the swine flu outbreak, CDC data shows.

Additionally, at least 21 pediatric deaths have been recorded so far this season.

Tristan has since come off the ventilator and his condition is starting to improve, although doctors told his family it will likely be a long road to recovery.

Now, Tamborelli is urging families to make sure their children are vaccinated as the U.S. heads into the colder weather months.

According to CDC data, about 42.5% of all children have been vaccinated as of the week ending Nov. 26, the latest date for which data is available.

This is similar to the 40.9% of children who were vaccinated this time last year but less than the 46.9% who were in 2020.

This year, a CDC study — conducted alongside other experts — found that flu shots were 75% effective against life-threatening influenza.

Tamborelli said Tristan’s flu shot from his pediatrician was delayed last month but is advising other parents not to delay and to be on the lookout for flu symptoms.

“Keep an eye out. If they get sick, and you’re not sure, take them to the hospital,” he told KGTV. “I’d hate to have anyone else go through this.”

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DC Bar’s disciplinary counsel recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

DC Bar’s disciplinary counsel recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred
DC Bar’s disciplinary counsel recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The District of Columbia Bar association’s disciplinary counsel called Thursday for Rudy Giuliani’s disbarment after a preliminary finding that Giuliani violated at least one rule of attorney practice when, as the attorney for then-President Donald Trump, he pressed a baseless, failed legal challenge to the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania.

“This case, the seriousness of the misconduct, calls for only one sanction and that is a sanction of disbarment,” Phil Fox, a lawyer for the D.C. Bar, said at a disciplinary hearing in Washington. “I think it was a fundamental harm to the fabric of the country that could well be irreparable.”

Thursday’s hearing is only a step in a long process that could lead to Giuliani’s disbarment in the nation’s capital. His law license has already been suspended — but not revoked — in New York, where a court last year found he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Giuliani has appealed the decision.

Giuliani’s attorney, John Leventhal, said Thursday that Giuliani’s service to the nation mitigated the need for the District of Columbia to disbar him.

“Let’s take politics out of this equation and treat Mr. Giuliani like any other lawyer,” said Leventhal.

“A letter of reprimand or private admonition” would be more appropriate, Leventhal said.

Fox called Giuliani’s previous service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and as mayor of the city of New York “admirable,” but told the disciplinary committee it did not justify a sanction less than disbarment.

“It’s like it’s two different people,” Fox said during the hearing. “There’s the person who responded the way very few people could have responded to 9/11 … and there’s the person who tried to undermine the legitimacy of a presidential election without a basis to do so.”

“I would like to personally object to Mr. Fox’s attack on me as having tried to undermine American democracy when there’s not a single fact in the record to support that argument,” Giuliani responded as Leventhal and another defense attorney, Barry Kamins, urged him to stop. “It is a typical unethical cheap attack.”

A decision from the disciplinary committee is expected in late February or early March. The D.C. Court of Appeals would make a final decision on whether Giuliani would be disbarred, a determination that could have consequences on his ability to practice law in other places.

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Idaho murders: Person in white car spotted on video has ‘critical’ information, police say

Idaho murders: Person in white car spotted on video has ‘critical’ information, police say
Idaho murders: Person in white car spotted on video has ‘critical’ information, police say
Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram

(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Police investigating the mysterious murders of four University of Idaho students say they’re “confident” that the person or persons in a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the crime scene has “information that is critical” to the case.

Authorities announced on Dec. 7 that they’re looking to speak with the occupant or occupants of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that was in the “immediate area” of the victims’ house in Moscow in the early hours of Nov. 13, when the crimes occurred.

Police said they’re investigating this surveillance video from a Moscow gas station that shows the white car that morning.

“So far we have a list of approximately 22,000 registered white Hyundai Elantras that fit into our criteria that we’re sorting through,” Moscow police Capt. Roger Lanier said in a video statement on Thursday. “But it may not be all of them — so the public can help us.”

“Maybe one of your neighbors has one in the garage they don’t drive that often. Maybe there’s one that’s just not on the registration database,” he said. “Let us know.”

Police have released this white Hyundai Elantra stock photo.

The unsolved slayings took place in the early hours of Nov. 13, when roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, were all stabbed to death in the girls’ off-campus house.

No suspects have been identified.

“This person went in very methodical,” Kaylee Goncalves’ mom, Kristi Goncalves, told ABC News on Wednesday. “I think he really thought it out. I think he was quick, I think it was quiet. And he got in and he got out.”

Two roommates in the house survived. Police said the roommates are not suspects and likely slept through the murders. They were on the ground floor, while the four victims were on the second and third floors.

Lanier said Monday that police “do have a lot of information” in the case that they’re choosing not to release to the public.

“We’re not releasing specific details because we do not want to compromise this investigation,” he said in a video statement.

Kaylee’s dad, Steve Goncalves, urges anyone in Moscow with a surveillance system to come forward. He said he’s worried that, now that a month has passed, some of those key videos could be erased.

“You could save this case,” he told ABC News.

Lanier said Tuesday that police have been looking for surveillance video since day one.

“We understand that video has a finite life, and sometimes systems will record over itself, and so we started that process very, very early,” he said.

Police urge anyone with information to upload digital media to fbi.gov/moscowidaho or contact the tip line at tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or 208-883-7180.

ABC News’ Nicholas Cirone contributed to this report.

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Florida man bitten in arm by alligator while washing hands in a pond

Florida man bitten in arm by alligator while washing hands in a pond
Florida man bitten in arm by alligator while washing hands in a pond
Andre Pinto/Getty Images

(SUN CITY HILTON HEAD, Fla.) — A Florida man was bitten in the arm by an alligator Thursday while washing his hands in a pond, according to the City of Sanibel.

Fortunately, the man was able to break free from the alligator and call 911. People on the scene of the attack applied a tourniquet until EMS workers arrived, officials said in a statement.

He sustained a serious injury on his right arm and was transported to the hospital for treatment, according to officials.

Florida Fish and Wildlife along with the Florida State trapper are actively attempting to capture the alligator at the pond.

There have been several alligator attacks nationwide this year that have killed or injured victims.

In August, an 88-year-old woman was killed in an apparent attack in South Carolina by a 9-foot, 8-inch male alligator when she was gardening near a pond in Sun City Hilton Head, an adult-only community, and slipped in, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Natural Resources.

Another elderly woman was killed in July after she fell into a pond along a Florida golf course and was attacked by two alligators, authorities said.

A man in Florida was also killed in a suspected alligator attack when he was likely looking for Frisbees in a lake, according to the Largo Police Department.

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Harvard names Claudine Gay as first Black president in nearly 400-year history

Harvard names Claudine Gay as first Black president in nearly 400-year history
Harvard names Claudine Gay as first Black president in nearly 400-year history
Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Claudine Gay will be the first person of color and second woman in Harvard University’s 386-year history to serve as president. The social scientist will transition from her role as the Edgerley Family dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences to succeed current university president Larry Bacow in July.

“I’m absolutely humbled by the confidence that the governing board has placed in me. I’m also incredibly humbled by the prospect of succeeding President Bacow in leading this remarkable institution,” Gay said at a university event Thursday to announce her election.

Before becoming a department dean in 2018, Gay, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and Harvard alum, earned her PhD in government, later teaching as a professor of political science, government, and African and African American Studies.

“I can’t help but think of a much younger version of myself–a first year graduate student moving into Haskins Hall lugging the things that seemed most essential to my success at the time: a futon, a Mac Classic II, and a cast iron skillet for frying plantains,” Gay said. “That Claudine could not possibly have imagined that her path would lead here, but I carry forward both her excitement and her belief in the infinite possibility of Harvard.”

Harvard Corporation senior fellow and Presidential Search Committee chair Penny Pritzker said in a letter to the Harvard Community that Gay was one of over 600 nominees for the role considered over the course of a search that started in early July.

“Claudine is a remarkable leader. She’s done outstanding work through unusually challenging times as the dean of Harvard, the largest and most academically diverse faculty,” Pritzker said at the announcement ceremony.

Gay said she imagines an institution in the future that is more connected and inclusive with an even greater impact on the “issues that matter.”

“The idea of the ivory tower, that is the past, not the future of academia. We don’t exist outside of society, but as part of it. And that means that Harvard has a duty to lean in and engage and to be in service to the world,” the president-elect said.

She added, “As I prepare for this next step in my Harvard journey, I do so with the same boundless optimism and our potential to meet this moment of opportunity.”

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Mother arrested in mysterious 2018 case of newborn found dead off Florida coast: Police

Mother arrested in mysterious 2018 case of newborn found dead off Florida coast: Police
Mother arrested in mysterious 2018 case of newborn found dead off Florida coast: Police
Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Four-and-a-half years ago, a days-old newborn was found dead, floating in the ocean off the coast of Florida. The case turned cold with no fruitful leads and the female infant was never identified.

On Thursday, authorities in Palm Beach County said that they have arrested the mother of the infant with the help of the same genetic genealogy technique that led to an arrest in the “Golden State Killer” case in California.

“It was four years ago that I stood in front of these same cameras and asked for the public’s support in trying to figure out what happened and who this unidentified child was,” Palm Beach County Special Investigations Unit Captain Steven Strivelli told reporters during a press briefing Thursday. “I’m very, very happy to announce that today, we have all those questions answered.”

An off-duty firefighter was boating on June 1, 2018, when he spotted the little body floating on the ocean side of the Boynton Beach Inlet, authorities said at the time. The newborn was dubbed “Baby June” and authorities released an artist-rendered image of how the baby might have looked at birth.

Investigators searched records of every child recently born in Palm Beach and Broward counties but didn’t turn up anything, Strivelli said. A $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest. None of the tips they received were helpful, though, and the cold case squad took the case, he said.

“We were starting to look like we were heading towards a dead end,” Strivelli said, until their crime lab and cold case team were able to identify the infant’s father.

Using investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that was also used to solve the “Golden Gate Killer” case, the sheriff’s office uploaded the newborn’s DNA into a publicly available database, FamilyTreeDNA, and was able to identify a close relative, according to Julie Sikorsky, supervisor of the office’s forensic biology unit.

“We rebuilt the family tree and identified the close relatives, and then established the link to our suspect today,” Sikorsky told reporters.

Investigators found a likely father of the newborn, which they confirmed through DNA testing, Detective Brittany Christoffel of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said. The father told investigators he had a girlfriend at the time who told him she had been pregnant but had “taken care of it,” according to Christoffel.

“He knew nothing about this baby,” Christoffel said. “He was thinking she perhaps had an abortion.”

Investigators obtained a “covert DNA sample” from his former girlfriend — “a piece of garbage she discarded” — and confirmed she was the mother of the newborn, Christoffel said.

Through search warrants, they learned she had been at the inlet on May 30, 2018 — 48 hours prior to when the baby was found — and had searched for and seen news articles about the discovery in the following days and weeks.

“But she’s never come forward in all this time,” Christoffel said.

Christoffel said they interviewed the mother, identified as 29-year-old Arya Singh, as well as several friends and family members. Detectives determined no one else knew about the incident and that Singh “was solely responsible for the baby ending up in the Boynton Beach Inlet,” Christoffel said.

Singh was taken into custody Thursday and will be charged with first-degree murder, according to Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County. It is unclear if she has an attorney who can speak on her behalf. ABC News was unable to reach members of her family.

Singh reportedly told investigators she did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth on May 30, 2018, and was not sure if the baby was dead or alive.

“By the time the baby went into the inlet, she was already deceased,” Christoffel said.

The Baby June cold case marked the sheriff’s office’s first use of investigative genetic genealogy, also known as forensic genetic genealogy, and is believed to be the first use in Florida of the growing practice.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said his office will likely use it again.

“It’s a whole new world as far as technology is concerned,” Bradshaw told reporters. “We had a lot of people at the beginning say, ‘You got nothing, you’ll be lucky if you ever find anybody in this.”’

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that authorities were able to make an arrest with the help of the same genealogy database, when it was with the help of a genetic genealogy technique. The story has been updated.

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Survivors of gun violence in a club no one asked to join

Survivors of gun violence in a club no one asked to join
Survivors of gun violence in a club no one asked to join
ABC News

(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Lindsey Hartman, one of the survivors of the Highland Park shooting that unfolded on July 4, said although her and her family escaped physically unharmed, they remain mentally scarred.

“It just doesn’t go away just because the camera crews and the headlines go away,” she told “Nightline” co-anchor Byron Pitts. “I mean, it’s something that sticks with you forever.”

The shooting, during which a gunman opened fire during a 4th of July parade in the Chicago suburb, killed seven people and injured 48.

“It’s still pretty raw, you know. There’s a lot of emotions that are still very much at the surface,” she said. “Fear. Gratitude. Terror.”

The mass shooting that Hartman and her family survived at Highland Park is one the more than 600 mass shootings that have unfolded in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

In the U.S., more than 115,000 people are shot by a gun every year and in the past 30 years, gun violence has claimed more than a million lives.

Yet this number just scratches the surface of the people affected by gun violence, not encompassing people that have survived injuries, witnessed gun violence or seen it impact family members.

On average, more than 100 people die each day from gun violence yet more than 200 people sustain a nonfatal injury, according to data analyzed by Everytown for Gun Safety.

Hartman is part of the Everytown Survivor Network, a community of people that have survived gun violence who support each other and engage in advocacy. Through the program, she met fellow Chicago-resident and survivor, Valerie Burgest.

Burgest’s son Craig was shot and killed in 2013 while he was buying gum in a convenience store. He was 23 years old. The case remains unsolved.

The relationships she has formed through the Everytown Survivor Network are “powerful,” Burgest said, “because you really don’t have to explain yourself.”

“Val buried a son,” Hartman said. “And that is unimaginable. That is the worst kind of pain for any parent. But she never looks at me and says, ‘Your pain is less.'”

Another relationship, between Pastor Jackie Jackson and Doreen Dodgen-Magee illustrates the strength of bonds between survivors.

Jackson and Dodgen-Magee met four years ago through the Survivor Network and have become very close ever since.

“I took some food off of Jackie’s plate when we were at a meeting together,” Dodgen-Magee said.

“She just reached over. No conversation,” Jackson said. “I said, ‘Hold up. You got to be my family to take food off my plate.’ And she said, ‘Well, I guess we’ll just have to adopt each other.'”

“And we did,” Dodgen-Magee said.

Spending time together has been an important part of her growth, Dodgen-Magee said, just “being able to have fun.”

“It is so important because the world is so heavy when this is your reality,” she added.

“We managed to find space in this club for each other and ourselves,” said another survivor, Milagros Burgos.

“Everytown Survivor Network, and I say this unequivocally, saved my life,” she said.

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