(NEW YORK) — A Wyoming coroner on Tuesday said Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park, died by strangulation.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue told reporters Petito’s manner of death was homicide.
Her body was discovered on Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson.
Blue’s announcement comes amidst a nationwide search the FBI is leading for Laundrie, who drew suspicion after returning to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her van, authorities said.
Laundrie’s parents told police they last saw their son on Sept. 13, two days after Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing. Laundrie’s parents told investigators their son may have been headed to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre wildlife preserve near their home.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 714,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Latest headlines:
-Some states with colder climates begin to see an uptick in infections
-Nets’ Kyrie Irving, who isn’t vaccinated, won’t play until he can be a full participant
-Pediatric infection rates trending down
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 12, 1:59 pm
American Airlines continues with vaccine mandate despite governor’s executive order
Texas-based American Airlines is sticking to its plan to require vaccines for employees under the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, despite a new executive order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banning mandates.
American said in a statement, “We are reviewing the executive order issued by Gov. Abbott, but we believe the federal vaccine mandate supersedes any conflicting state laws, and this does not change anything for American.”
On Monday, Abbott issued an executive order banning vaccine mandates “by any entity” in the state. Abbott said, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Oct 12, 12:58 pm
Some states with colder climates begin to see an uptick in infections
While infection rates are plummeting in the South, causing national metrics to fall, some states in colder climates are beginning to see an uptick in cases, despite some impressive vaccination rates.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNN on Monday,” “You’re starting to see an uptick in cases in the colder parts of the country and as people are driven indoors without masks on.”
These states have seen case rates jump by 20% or more in the last month, according to federal data: Colorado (22%), Idaho (21.6%), New Hampshire (54%), Vermont (42.6%), Montana (82.6%), Michigan (90.9%) and Minnesota (75.9%).
Alaska currently has the country’s highest infection rate, followed by Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, according to federal data. California currently has the nation’s lowest infection rate.
Death rates remain high with about 1,400 deaths reported each day, according to federal data. But daily COVID-19 related hospital admissions down nationally by 13.4% in the last week.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 12, 11:14 am
Nets’ Kyrie Irving, who isn’t vaccinated, won’t play until he can be a full participant
Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving, who has refused to get vaccinated, won’t “play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” General Manager Sean Marks said in a statement Tuesday.
Barclays Center, home to the Nets, requires proof of vaccination for entry.
“We respect his individual right to choose,” Marks said, but “the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.”
“It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice,” Marks said.
Oct 12, 11:07 am
Federal judge sides with NY health care workers who object to vaccine mandate on religious grounds
A federal judge in Utica, New York, sided Tuesday with 17 health care workers who object to the state vaccine mandate for health workers on religious grounds, granting their request for an injunction.
Unlike other judges who have heard similar cases about vaccine mandates, Judge David Hurd concluded “the public interest lies with enforcing the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and federal anti-discrimination law” and not the wider public health.
The plaintiffs said they hold the sincere religious belief that they “cannot consent to be inoculated … with vaccines that were tested, developed or produced with fetal cell line[s] derived from procured abortions.” According to plaintiffs, the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available violate these sincere religious beliefs “because they all employ fetal cell lines derived from procured abortion in testing, development or production.”
(TETON COUNTY, Wyo.) — A Wyoming coroner is expected to announce the results of an autopsy Tuesday on Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue said in a media alert Monday night that he plans to discuss “the ruling on the autopsy of Gabrielle Petito.”
After Petito’s body was discovered on Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson, Blue said the manner of Petito’s death was a homicide.
Blue’s announcement will come amidst a nationwide search the FBI is leading for Laundrie, who drew suspicion after returning to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her van, authorities said.
Laundrie’s parents told police they last saw their son on Sept. 13, two days after Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing. Laundrie’s parents told investigators their son may have been headed to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre wildlife preserve near their home.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 714,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 12, 9:36 am
Pediatric infection rates trending down
More than 6 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Although the weekly case rate remains exceptionally high, the U.S. is reporting about 95,000 fewer child cases now compared to one month ago, according to a weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Even with the decline, last week children still accounted for 24.8% of the week’s cases, the report found.
The South is no longer reporting the highest number pediatric cases and has now been surpassed by the Midwest.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
About 43.3% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
Oct 12, 9:15 am
Fauci: Best way to avoid resurgence is getting more Americans vaccinated
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Monday night that “the best way to assure that decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths [will] continue is to continue to get a lot more people vaccinated.”
“We need the overwhelming proportion of those unvaccinated people to get vaccinated. Then we can be quite confident that if we can do that, you will not see a resurgence,” Fauci said.
About 68 million eligible Americans remain completely unvaccinated.
Despite continued pushback, Fauci said that newly implemented vaccine mandates are working.
“Sometimes mandates can help. As sensitive an issue as that is, it is really getting people more vaccinated,” Fauci said.
Oct 11, 6:41 pm
Abbott issues executive order banning vaccine mandates in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he issued an executive order that bans vaccine mandates “by any entity” in Texas.
The executive order prohibits entities from issuing a mandate to anyone who “objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”
“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a statement.
The governor also announced that the issue over vaccine mandates will be addressed in a special session of the state legislature.
As of Monday evening, 72.4% of Texas residents over 12 have received one vaccine dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Texas’s seven-day average for new daily COVID-19 cases is 7,447 as of Oct. 8, according to the CDC.
(SANTEE, Calif.) — At least two people were killed and two others were hospitalized when a small plane crashed in a neighborhood in Santee, California, near San Diego, on Monday, officials said.
Part of the plane struck the back of a home, city fire officials said. The crash impacted at least two houses, a UPS delivery truck and a fire hydrant, city officials said.
UPS confirmed that one of the deceased victims was one of their employees.
“We are heartbroken by the loss of our employee, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends. We also send our condolences for the other individuals who are involved in this incident, and their families and friends,” Steve Nagata, a UPS spokesman said in a statement.
The FAA said the twin-engine Cessna C340 crashed at 12:14 p.m. local time. It’s not yet clear how many people were on board.
There are at least two burn victims who are believed to be from a home, Santee Fire Chief John Garlow said.
Multiple structures and multiple cars were on fire. The blaze has since been extinguished, officials said.
Residents have been urged to avoid the area.
On Monday night the Yuma Regional Medical Center said a cardiologist affiliated with the hospital is one of the fatalities.
“We are deeply sad to hear news of a plane owned by local cardiologist Dr. Sugata Das which crashed near Santee,” Dr. Bharat Magu, chief medical officer at YRMC, said in a statement. “As an outstanding cardiologist and dedicated family man Dr. Das leaves a lasting legacy. We extend our prayers and support to his family, colleagues and friends during this difficult time.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Matt Amodio’s “Jeopardy!” winning streak has officially come to an end.
Amodio, 30, lost during the Oct. 11 episode after 38 straight wins, with new champion Jonathan Fisher besting him. In total, Amodio won $1,518,601 across 39 appearances, earning $5,600 in his final episode as reigning champion.
“I always wanted to be a ‘Jeopardy!’ champion, and I accomplished that,” he said in a statement.
“l know going into every bar trivia game that I play that I’m going to come in with a little intimidation factor. But also, I just like the badge that it represents,” Amodio, a fifth-year computer science Ph.D. candidate at Yale University, continued. “As somebody who prioritizes knowledge and knowing things, this is really a good one to have following me everywhere.”
Amodio has earned his place in the “Jeopardy!” history books. He holds the No. 2 spot in terms of all-time consecutive wins, bested only by Ken Jennings’ 74 straight wins. He also holds the No. 3 spot in terms of prize money won in terms of non-tournament play, with only James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Jennings ($2,520,700) ahead of him.
This isn’t the end of Amodio’s “Jeopardy!” journey, though. He will return in the next Tournament of Champions.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 713,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 11, 6:41 pm
Abbott issues executive order banning vaccine mandates in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he issued an executive order that bans vaccine mandates “by any entity” in Texas.
The executive order prohibits entities from issuing a mandate to anyone who “objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”
“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a statement.
The governor also announced that the issue over vaccine mandates will be addressed in a special session of the state legislature.
Texas’s seven-day average for new daily COVID-19 cases is 7,447 as of Oct. 8, according to the CDC.
Oct 11, 3:33 pm
WHO advisory group recommends boosters for immunocompromised people
The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization is recommending boosters for moderately and severely immunocompromised people. The group is also recommending a third dose of China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines for people 60 and older.
The WHO’s Director-General had previously called for a moratorium on boosters, citing inequities in access to vaccines. High-income countries have administered 35 times more vaccine doses than low-income countries. Countries in the WHO Africa Region have only fully vaccinated 3% of their populations.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Oct 11, 3:09 pm
Philadelphia Marathon requiring in-person participants to be fully vaccinated
All in-person runners must be fully vaccinated two weeks ahead of next month’s Philadelphia Marathon, officials announced. Runners with only a negative test won’t qualify.
Oct 11, 12:41 pm
Daily death average nearly 8 times higher than in mid-July
Although daily deaths have declined by about 17% in the last four weeks, the U.S. is still reporting an average of 1,465 new deaths each day, according to federal data. Over the last four days alone, the U.S. reported another 7,500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.
The death average is nearly eight times higher than in mid-July when the national average had dropped to a near pandemic low of 192 daily deaths, according to federal data.
But hospitalization admissions have dropped by about 11.4% in the last week, according to federal data.
There are currently about 65,000 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, down from 104,000 patients in late August.
In the Mountain Region — Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming — hospital admissions are steadily trending up, federal data show. In the Northeast, hospital admissions are no longer trending down.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 11, 12:13 pm
Boston Marathon returns with COVID protocols in place
The Boston Marathon returned with 18,000 runners on Monday following a two-year hiatus.
The field size was reduced by 36% this year while another 28,000 runners participated in the race virtually.
Runners were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Although masks were not mandated for the 26.2-mile course, face coverings were enforced on participant transportation, as well as for volunteers who interacted with participants.
According to the Boston Marathon Association, 95% of all Boston Marathon volunteers were vaccinated and 100% of Boston Marathon medical volunteers were vaccinated.
(PLANTERSVILLE, Texas) — When Tim Halfin learned during Bible study about a toddler missing in the thick woods of southeast Texas, he said God told him to go search for the child.
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday, Halfin said he can only credit “divine” intervention for leading him on Saturday to find 3-year-old Christopher Ramirez, who survived nearly four days alone in the woods of Grimes County, about 50 miles northwest of Houston.
“It’s a miracle,” Christopher’s mother, Araceli Nunez, said during a news conference Monday after bringing her son home from the hospital.
Nunez later met with Halfin and thanked him for finding her son.
“Words cannot describe how I felt when I held him for the first time,” Nunez said of being reunited with her boy, who she held in her arms as he played with a toy car. “It was incredible.”
After hearing of the child’s disappearance, Halfin said he went to the woods around 11:45 a.m. Saturday near his home in Plantersville. About 10 yards in he heard what sounded like a child’s whimper.
“I said, ‘Christopher is that you?'” Halfin said. “Then he speaks again and I’m like, ‘Whoa, praise God.'”
Halfin said Christopher was calm and healthy.
“I don’t know what to make of it. All I know is he was found safe,” Halfin said. “When I picked him up, he was still talking. He wasn’t shaking, he wasn’t nervous. The things I would expect. Maybe he just sensed, ‘I’ve been found.'”
Halfin said he picked up the boy, who had shed his clothes and was completely naked, and called 911. Sheriff’s deputies took Nunez to him.
Speaking in Spanish as a sheriff’s sergeant interpreted, Nunez said she held her child and told him that she loves him.
Before meeting with Nunez, Halfin was shown a photo of the smiling little boy after he was reunited with his mother. “That’s what it’s all about right there.”
“That’s what it’s all about right there,” Halfin said. “That’s why everybody was praying. That’s why God laid it on my heart to go look, to reunite that boy with his mom.”
Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said Halfin found Christopher about five miles from the child’s home, where he vanished after purportedly following a neighbor’s dog into the woods.
The boy was treated for dehydration and minor scratches on his face at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston before being sent home Monday afternoon.
“He ought to be the ultimate Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, Air Force when he wants to grow up. He’s already passed the first test,” said Sowell, who during the news conference presented Christopher with an honorary junior deputy badge.
Christopher vanished around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the two minutes Nunez said she was carrying groceries into her house from her car.
The Sheriff’s Office immediately organized a search party after a neighbor told them she saw the little boy follow a dog into the woods.
Using drones, aircraft, K-9 units and numerous volunteer searchers on foot, the rescue party combed the woods night and day, but turned up no sign of the child.
“They told me, ‘We didn’t feel like we could sleep because we knew he wasn’t sleeping and he wasn’t found,'” Halfin said of search-and-rescue volunteers and law enforcement officers.
“I think the story is do not give up hope,” Halfin said. “Even though things look bleak, there’s always tomorrow.”
(SAN DIEGO) — A small twin engine plane crashed in Santee, California, near San Diego, fully engulfing at least one home in flames, Santee Fire Chief John Garlow said.
There are at least two burn victims who are believed to be from the home, Garlow said.
The FAA said the twin engine Cessna C340 crashed at 12:14 p.m. local time. It’s not yet clear how many people were on board.
The plane also hit a UPS box truck and knocked out a hydrant, Garlow said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Police in Dayton, Ohio, have released body camera footage that appears to show police officers dragging a partially paralyzed man out of his car by his hair.
When officers repeatedly ask Owensby to exit the vehicle during a Sept. 30 traffic stop, Clifford Owensby, 39, can be heard telling them that he is paraplegic and could not do so.
He says he does not want to be touched and calls someone to come to the scene and witness what is going on.
Owensby is then dragged out of the car by the officers, who appeared to use his hair to pull him out, the video shows. He’s handcuffed on the ground and continuously held by his hair as he yells for help, according to the video. Police are seen hauling him into a police cruiser.
Owensby accused the Dayton Police Department of unlawful arrest, illegal search and seizure, profiling and failure to read his rights before being taken into custody. He has since filed a complaint with the Dayton NAACP chapter on the incident.
“We’re not talking about his past. We’re not talking about the activity by which the officer was conducting the search or drug activity. We’re talking about this incident and how the incident was handled,” said Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton unit of the NAACP.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley called the video “concerning.”
“That is why, immediately following this incident, the city released the body camera footage,” Whaley said in a statement to ABC News. “Everyone involved is owed a thorough investigation, and one is already underway. This incident shows why our community-led police reform process, which includes providing transparency, is more important than ever. The goal is always to ensure our police force has the resources to do its job, while treating all of our citizens with dignity and respect.”
According to the police department, officers were patrolling the area and had been sent to a suspected drug house. They initiated a traffic stop on a white Audi that was seen leaving the residence.
According to a police briefing on the incident, Owensby provided his identification when officers approached. Based on Owensby’s felony drug and weapon history, officers say they requested a Narcotics Detection K-9 at the scene for a free-air sniff on the vehicle.
Dayton police policy requires the occupants of the vehicle to exit for their own safety and the safety of the K-9 officer to perform the free-air sniff.
Police reported that a large bag of cash containing $22,450 was found on the floor of Owensby’s car and based on the K-9’s response the bag may have been in close proximity to illegal drugs.
Owensby denies any wrongdoing and says the cash that was found was his savings.
Owensby was charged with obstructing official business and resisting arrest. The case will be referred to the City Prosecutor’s Office, where it will be decided if the city will pursue the charges against Owensby, police said.
The Dayton Fraternal Order of Police told ABC News that officers “followed the law” and defended the use of force.
