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(NEW YORK) — The urgent search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has entered its fifth day, as her children continue to plead for her safe return.

Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted in her sleep from her Arizona home early Sunday, authorities said. No suspect or person of interest has been identified in the case, and authorities do not know where she is or whether she was targeted, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is set to hold a briefing on the case at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home in the Catalina Foothills area, north of Tucson, on Saturday night, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Her family reported her missing on Sunday around noon local time after she failed to show up to church, authorities said.

Savannah Guthrie and her siblings made an emotional plea for their mother’s return in a video message posted to social media on Wednesday.

“Everyone is looking for you, Mommy, everywhere,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video message. “We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again.”

Nancy Guthrie is described as having some physical ailments and limited mobility, but does not have cognitive issues, according to the sheriff. She takes medication that if she doesn’t have in 24 hours, “it could be fatal,” Nanos said.

“Our mom is our heart and our home,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video. “She is 84 years old, her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.”

The FBI is helping in the investigation. The agency is sending additional agents and experts to Pima County to help reinforce efforts on the ground and to aid local investigators, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.

The sheriff’s department said it is reviewing possible ransom notes as part of the investigation. ABC Tucson affiliate KGUN said it received one of the letters, which it forwarded to law enforcement. Officials say they are investigating if any of these letters are legitimate.

Addressing reports of a ransom letter, Savannah Guthrie said Wednesday, “As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”

Anyone with information is urged to call 911 or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.

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(LAS VEGAS) — Multiple people who spent time inside a Las Vegas residence that houses a possible illegal biological lab fell ill, the property’s former cleaning employee told police, according to newly released court documents.

The former cleaning employee, who went by the pseudonym “Kelly,” tipped off authorities to the alleged operation early last month, according to an arrest report for the residence’s property manager filed with the Las Vegas Justice Court following a weekend raid at the home.

Kelly said she had been hired by the property manager, Ori Solomon, to clean the home, which was rented out by the room via websites, including Airbnb, according to the report.

Solomon, also known as Ori Salomon, was arrested over the weekend and faces both state and federal charges, including felony disposal/discharge of hazardous waste in an unauthorized manner and allegedly violating his visa by possessing firearms.

Kelly told police that while working at the house in April 2025, she entered the garage, which was usually locked, and found an assortment of “refrigerators/freezers, glass beakers with reddish liquid inside,” a biological safety cabinet and what she believed to be a centrifuge, according to Solomon’s arrest report. 

She said the garage smelled “like a hospital (not like a clean hospital but more of a foul stale stagnant air smell),” the report said. 

Kelly said she and Solomon’s handyman both got “‘deathly ill’ after going into the garage,” the report said. “Approximately five days after entering the garage, she was left with breathing issues, fatigue, ‘could not get out of bed,’ and muscle aches.”

The handyman had the “same symptoms,” and he “believed entering the garage was the reason that they both were sick,” the report said. Kelly said Solomon’s own wife also got sick after going into the garage, according to the report. 

“Kelly said a lot of people who have lived inside the house have gotten sick. One female ended up in the hospital with severe respiratory issues,” the report said. “Kelly also noted when she was cleaning the house there would be many dead crickets found in the master bedroom,” which was “super uncommon as she had lived in Las Vegas for numerous years and never seen anything like that before.”

Police and FBI agents spent Saturday and Sunday removing equipment and materials from the garage and then transported the substances to a secure lab on the East Coast for testing, the results of which have not yet been released. Authorities have said they believe the Vegas property “is being used to house the biolab equipment” as well as potential viruses and “biological substances,” the police report said. 

She told police that the refrigerators that she saw in the garage “were not medical grade ones but ones you would find in a normal home,” the report said.

The report noted that the description matches the “same type of fridge used” in a previous case in Reedley, California. Officials there said an illegal bio lab was discovered in a warehouse that allegedly had unauthorized biological agents, including samples of possible infectious diseases, along with misbranded medical devices and test kits. The alleged operator, a Chinese national, was arrested in 2023 and remains in federal custody awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty to his charges.

The report also alleges that Solomon had “direct knowledge of the biolab being owned and operated by” the Reedley bio lab’s operator — and that the pair had been in “constant communication” since his 2023 arrest.

While incarcerated, that previous operator had more than 460 calls with Solomon in the past year alone, the report said. Solomon “is known to execute the business dealings for” the prior operator — and then would transfer funds to the prior operator’s wife and business partner, who had absconded federal indictment in China, according to the report.

Kelly told police she believes Solomon is still in contact with the prior operator because the federal inmate “calls him every day to check on the residences,” the report said.

Kelly allegedly added that if investigators “contacted Ori, he would have the lab moved out of the garage immediately.”

Police said in the report that they believe the property is “being used to house the biolab equipment, viruses, and biological substances.” Four bottles of hydrochloric acid were also found in an “apparently abandoned and open box, stored haphazardly on an open shelf, according to the report.

Hydrochloric acid can “cause substantial permanent injuries to the human body if exposed to the skin, inhaled or ingested,” the report said, alleging that the bottles were not secure or stored “in a way to avoid inadvertent exposure or ingestion.”

“As a result, the failure to properly dispose of these chemicals imperiled the lives of anyone in or near the garage,” the report said. “Moreover, hydrochloric acid is known to be volatile if airborne and can cause respiratory injury if inhaled” — particularly concerning, the report said, since the house was “additionally being used as a short term rental property with multiple occupants, including an elderly male living mere yards away from the entry to that garage.”

Three people who rented a room in the house were safely removed from the residence and are not involved in the investigation at this time, authorities previously said.

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(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — An exasperated and frustrated Department of Homeland Security attorney declared in a stunning moment in court that her job “sucks,” the existing legal process “sucks,” and that she sometimes wishes that the judge would hold her in contempt so she “can have a full 24 hours of sleep.”

Julie Le, who according to public records is a Department of Homeland Security attorney that had been detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s office, was called to testify Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn., about why the government has been nonresponsive to judicial orders regarding people in ICE detention.  

“What do you want me to do? The system sucks,” Le told Judge Jerry Blackwell, according to a court transcript obtained by ABC News. “This job sucks. And I am trying [with] every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need.” 

Blackwell said the administration has routinely not been following court mandates, ignoring multiple orders for detainees to be released that has resulted in their continued detainment for days or even weeks. 

“The overwhelming majority of the hundreds [of individuals] seen by this court have been found to be lawfully present as of now in the country,” said Blackwell. “In some instances, it is the continued detention of a person the Constitution does not permit the government to hold and who should have been left alone, that is, not arrested in the first place,” according to the transcript.

Operation Metro Surge has “generated a volume of arrests and detentions that has taxed existing systems, staffing, and coordination between DOJ and the DHS,” Blackwell acknowledged, but said that was no excuse for the government’s lack of response to court orders.

“The volume of cases and matters is not a justification for diluting constitutional rights and it never can be” said Blackwell. “It heightens the need for care. Having what you feel are too many detainees, too many cases, too many deadlines, and not enough infrastructure to keep up with it all is not a defense to continued detention. If anything, it ought to be a warning sign.”

Blackwell also questioned Le regarding why the Donald Trump administration should not be held in contempt for violating court orders. 

“I am here as a bridge and a liaison between the one that [is] in jail, because if I walk out – sometimes I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep. I work day and night just because people are still in there,” Le said.  

Le also told the judge that she had previously submitted her resignation from her DHS post, “but they couldn’t find a replacement. So I gave them a specific time … to get it done. If they don’t, then by all means, I’m going to walk out,” she said. 

An official confirmed to ABC News that Le is no longer detailed to the U.S. attorney’s office. Le did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment. 

Le further told Blackwell in court that it was like “pulling teeth” to get a response from ICE regarding judicial orders. 

Le said she “stupidly” volunteered for the assignment with DHS because they were “overwhelmed and they need help” and that she has only been in the job for a month.

“When I started with the job, I have to be honest, we have no guidance on what we need to do,” Le told the court. 

“You received no proper orientation or training on what you were supposed to do?” Blackwell asked. 

“I have to say yes to that question,” Le responded. 

Blackwell also questioned Le about concerns he had regarding ICE detainees who were ordered released but that had already been moved to facilities in El Paso or New Mexico, and people who had been unlawfully detained but were told they had to wear an ankle monitor as a condition of their release, “which the court didn’t order because the person was unlawfully detained in the first place.” 

“I share the same concern with you, your honor,” Le responded. “I am not white, as you can see. And my family’s at risk as any other people that might get picked up, too, so I share the same concern, and I took that concern to heart.” 

“Fixing a system, a broken system,” Le said. “I don’t have a magic button to do it. I don’t have the power or the voice to do it.”

Judge Blackwell began the hearing with a stern admonition that “a court order is not advisory, and it is not conditional,” and “it is not something that any agency can treat as optional while it decides how or whether to comply with the court order.” 

“Detention without lawful authority is not just a technical defect, it is a constitutional injury that unfairly falls on the heads of those who have done nothing wrong to justify it. The individuals affected are people. The overwhelming majority of the hundreds seen by this court have been found to be lawfully present as of now in the country. They live in their communities. Some are separated from their families,” Blackwell said. 

“The DOJ, the DHS, and ICE are not above the law. They do wield extraordinary power, and that power has to exist within constitutional limits. When court orders are not followed, it’s not just the court’s authority that’s at issue. It is the rights of individuals in custody and the integrity of the constitutional system itself.” 

Blackwell adjourned the hearing saying he would all that he heard under advisement.

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(WIMAUMA, Fla.) — A 14-year-old is in custody after allegedly discussing plans to carry out a shooting at a church in Wimauma, Florida, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced Wednesday.

The teen suspect allegedly “engaged in an online chat room that’s designed or designated for violent extremists,” Chronister said.

The sheriff said that the suspect is also allegedly linked to a Neo-Nazi Satanic group.

The sheriff’s office served a search warrant at the teen’s residence, where they allegedly found multiple firearms, ammunition, and electronic devices containing child sexual abuse material.

Sheriff Chronister said the firearms recovered included one from his father’s nightstand “that he easily could have had access to.”

“Think about the potential of the violence that could have occurred,” Chronister added.

The suspect was arrested at his home on Jan. 31. Just days earlier, the Joint Terrorism Task Force received information from the Internet Predator Unit that they were investigating a computer at the same residence, Chronister said.

In addition to terrorism charges, the suspect is charged with fourteen counts of solicitation or possession of child pornography.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Investigators are working to determine whether four murders of homeless people in Los Angeles that occurred between October and January are connected, officials said.

The killings occurred in the same general location, the 1300 block of East 120th Street in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau.

Among the killings was that of former NFL player Kevin Johnson, whom investigators said was found dead on Jan. 21 at a homeless encampment area, as reported by local ABC News station KABC. Johnson, 55, suffered from a blunt force trauma and stab wounds, they said. All four victims lived in homeless encampments, according to officials.

All four murders remain under active investigation.

The string of murders in the Compton Creek area began on Oct. 5, 2025, when a woman, identified as 52-year-old Michelle Steele, was shot in the head, sources close to the investigation told KABC. She died in the hospital on Nov. 12, 2025, they said.

Three weeks later, on Dec. 4, a homeless man identified as 52-year-old Octavio Arias was murdered in the same area, KABC reported. Arias died from head and neck trauma, according to L.A. County Medical Examiner records.

The fourth victim, following the murder of Johnson, was identified as Mauro Alfaro, also in his 50s. Alfaro was killed on Jan. 26, and the cause of death was blunt force trauma, sources told KABC.

Investigators are now looking into the possibility that all four murders were done by the same killer, KABC reported. A suspect has not been identified, sources inside the L.A. County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau told KABC.

Detectives are still trying to determine motives in the killings and trying to figure out if the suspect is someone who is upset with homeless people being in that area, or if drugs or gangs may be involved, sources told KABC. There is no concrete evidence linking the cases together, according to sources.

Johnson played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders from 1995 to 1997, according to KABC.

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(NEW YORK) — Microsoft founder Bill Gates is speaking out publicly for the first time since the latest release by the Department of Justice of nearly three million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was “foolish” to spend time with the late convicted sex predator.

In an interview with 9News Australia, Gates denied any wrongdoing involving Epstein, including unfounded allegations made against the tech billionaire in draft emails Epstein wrote in 2013 that were included in the latest tranche of documents released by the DOJ on Friday.

“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. Ah, that email was never sent. The email is false,” Gates said in the interview, conducted in Australia and broadcast on Wednesday. “So, I don’t know what his thinking was there. It just reminds me that every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize I did that.”

Gates, 70, spoke out after his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, said in an interview with NPR’s Wild Card podcast, set to air on Thursday, that Bill Gates and other wealthy men named in the Epstein files should answer questions about their association with him.

“Whatever questions remain there … those questions are for those people, and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me,” French Gates said in an excerpt of the interview released by NPR.

French Gates, who finalized her divorce from Bill Gates in 2021, said the details in the latest tranche of files made public brought back memories of “some very, very painful times” in her marriage. She has previously said that her ex-husband’s association with Epstein was one factor of many that led her to seek their divorce.

In the interview with 9News Australia, Gates said he first met Epstein in 2011, which was after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Gates said he thought Epstein could introduce him to other wealthy people who might donate to the Gates Foundation, which has donated billions of dollars globally to “improve health, alleviate extreme poverty, and advance gender equality,” according to its website.

“It’s factually true that I was only at dinners. I never went to the island, I never met any women,” Gates said of his association with Epstein, referring to the latter’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein allegedly sexually exploited dozens of young women and girls. “And the more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”

“The focus was always he [Epstein] knew a lot of very rich people and he was always saying he could get them to give money to global health,” Gates added. “You know, in retrospect, that was a dead end, and I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.”

Asked by ABC about the latest DOJ disclosure in the Epstein case, a spokesperson for Bill Gates said, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”

Gates was in Australia partly for vacation and partly on behalf of the Gates Foundation to encourage the Australian government to commit more funds to eradicating preventable childhood diseases.

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(KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill.) — A man has been arrested in the death of a bar owner who was fatally shot Monday morning near the Illinois-Indiana state border.

Julius E. Burkes Jr., 47, was arrested Tuesday in Indiana as he was exiting his residence, according to the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office.

Burkes is now being held in Indiana and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, where he will face charges, authorities said.

Burkes is accused of killing Courtney Drysdale, 30, while she was preparing to open the bar just before 11 a.m., when a suspect entered the bar, brandished a firearm and demanded money from the cash register, according to the sheriff’s office.

Despite Drysdale’s cooperation, the suspect allegedly shot her twice “execution style,” Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said at a press conference Tuesday.

Before fleeing, the suspect attempted to remove what he believed was a digital recording device from a wall, but investigators were able to recover video evidence, Downey said.

“This type of violent behavior has no place in our society, and I am extremely appreciative of the overwhelming support we received from the public, the media as well as our partners in the criminal justice system near and far,” Downey said in a statement after the arrest.  

“I want to praise, not only the extraordinary efforts of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force, the FBI, the US Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Hammond Police Department on this quick and peaceful apprehension, but I want to commend the community-at-large for coming together and providing quantities of tips and information that ultimately led to this swift arrest,” said Downey.  

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