(CORNELIUS, N.C.) — The mother and stepfather of Madalina Cojocari, 11, who has been missing for weeks, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly failing to report her disappearance, police said.
The 11-year-old was last seen at home in Cornelius, North Carolina, about three weeks before her school was notified on Dec. 15 that she was missing, according to law enforcement officials.
“The parents of the juvenile reported the juvenile missing to the Bailey Middle School SRO where the juvenile attends school,” the Cornelius Police Department said in a statement on Friday. “The juvenile was last seen at home, on the evening of November 23, 2022, and has not been seen since.”
The FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are working with the Cornelius Police Department in the search for the missing girl.
Cojocari had been wearing “jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes, and a white t-shirt and jacket” at the time of her disappearance, the FBI said.
Police said they began an investigation on Thursday after the school was notified Cojocari was missing.
Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested on Saturday on the charge of Failure to Report the Disappearance of a Child to Law Enforcement, police said in two statements.
Police identified the pair as Cojocari’s mother and stepfather. Both are being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, police said.
North Carolina law requires parents or guardians to report missing children to law enforcement within “a reasonable time.”
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio and Monica Camacho contributed to this report.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Five people are in critical condition after a late Friday night shooting in North Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Two men and two women were transported to a local hospital in critical condition, and another woman was taken by a private vehicle to the hospital in critical condition.
The suspect is known by the victims but is not in custody, according to Memphis police.
“This incident stemmed from a domestic situation. All individuals shot were adults,” the department said in a Tweet.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court on Friday denied an effort by several Republican-led states to continue a Trump-era public health order to expel migrants immediately at the border.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan had previously set a Dec. 21 deadline to end the protocols. The decision from the appeals court in Washington, D.C., keeps that deadline for now, but the states are expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Responding to the appeals court decision, White House Assistant Press Secretary Abdullah Hasan underscored the preparations the administration has made to manage the border once Title 42 ends.
“To be clear: the lifting of the Title 42 public health order does not mean the border is open,” Hasan said in a statement. “Anyone who suggests otherwise is doing the work of smugglers spreading misinformation to make a quick buck off of vulnerable migrants.”
“We will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws and work to expand legal pathways for migration while discouraging disorderly and unsafe migration,” Hasan said. “We have a robust effort underway to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 lifts as required by court order. Instead of playing political games, Republican officials should provide the funding the President requested for border security and management, and pass the comprehensive immigration reform measures he proposed so we can finally have a modernized immigration system that works.”
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, one of the Republicans who sought to intervene in the Title 42 case, confirmed to ABC News Saturday they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
“We will appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday,” Brnovich said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for the rule of law and to secure our border every minute I’m still Attorney General.”
The policy known as Title 42 started in the early weeks of the global pandemic and has since been used to expel migrants from the southern border more than 2.4 million times. Due to the rapid nature of the expulsions, which usually take place in a matter of hours, access to asylum and other humanitarian protections is sharply curtailed.
The ACLU and other civil liberties advocates have been waging a legal battle against the order arguing it violates federal and international law.
“These states are just being hypocritical,” ACLU lead attorney Lee Gelernt told ABC News. “They have been fighting to end COVID restrictions everywhere since the beginning. And now all of a sudden, they want a public health restriction solely when it comes to asylum seekers. I think the real game here is that they’re trying to close the border.”
The decision comes as the Department of Homeland Security implements new measures to apprehend and process migrants across the southwest. Nearly 1,000 Border Patrol staff have been hired specifically for processing along with 2,500 additional contractors and personnel, the department said this week. DHS has also stood up 10 new tent-like facilities since President Joe Biden took office.
Critics of the administration say the efforts are not enough to handle the historic level of migration into the U.S. seen over the past year. Meanwhile, those who support the end of Title 42 protocols say its part of the problem for bottling up needed humanitarian relief at the border.
El Paso saw an influx of migrants in recent days with U.S. Border Patrol making 2,264 apprehensions on average per day this month, according to a CBP official. That average is up from the already elevated level of 1,700 to 1,800 per day.
There are half a dozen major sectors along the southwest border and 2,200 in one area is unusually high. USBP made a record 2.2 million apprehensions along the southern border this past budget year. Based on the latest available data from October, USBP is on track to meet or exceed that total with more than 204,000 apprehensions that month.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles mountain lion P-22 was euthanized after officials determined the celebrity feline was suffering from severe injuries and chronic health problems, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Saturday.
The mountain lion had been captured on Monday by CDFW and the National Park Service officials who brought it in for evaluation.
The CDFW said the feline’s injuries and health issues were discovered during a comprehensive medical evaluation.
The agencies say it is likely that a vehicle collision or incident was the cause behind some of the injuries.
The CDFW is not seeking information on a vehicle collision, calling the situation “an eventuality that arises from habitat loss and fragmentation, and it underscores the need for thoughtful construction of wildlife crossings and well-planned spaces that provide wild animals room to roam.”
Medical tests showed “significant trauma to the mountain lion’s head, right eye and internal organs, confirming the suspicion of recent injury, such as a vehicle strike,” the department said.
The CDFW said the trauma to his internal organs would require invasive surgical repair.
Tests also revealed significant pre-existing illnesses, including irreversible kidney disease, chronic weight loss, extensive parasitic skin infection over his entire body and localized arthritis.
“Based on these factors, compassionate euthanasia under general anesthesia was unanimously recommended by the medical team at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and CDFW officials made the decision to do so on Saturday, Dec. 17,” the department said.
According to CDFW, the cat’s chronic and debilitating conditions, as well as his age, “left P-22 with no hope for a positive outcome.”
The celebrity lion, which is tracked by National Park Service researchers, became famous for making Griffith Park his home and prowling through the Hollywood Hills on occasion. He even became the subject of a book and a documentary.
“Mountain lion P-22 has had an extraordinary life and captured the hearts of the people of Los Angeles and beyond,” the statement from CDFW read. “The most difficult, but compassionate choice was to respectfully minimize his suffering and stress by humanely ending his journey.”
(NEW YORK) — At least 208,000 customers in the Northeast have lost power as a Nor’easter pummels millions in the Northeast with snow, ice and rain as a major storm continues to sweep its way across the country.
In Maine, at least 71,711 are without power, with 55,288 customers in New Hampshire, 50,666 in Vermont and 30,375 customers in New York experiencing similar outages Saturday.
This storm started in the west and the south, with 58 reported tornadoes slamming Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
In the north, up to 4 feet of snow fell in western South Dakota, while up to 30 inches slammed Duluth, Minnesota. Blizzard warnings are ongoing for Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana.
Part of that massive storm has redeveloped into a Nor’easter that’s pounding the Northeast.
A winter storm warning is in effect from Pennsylvania to Maine.
So far 13 inches of snow fell in Landgrove, Vermont, 12 inches hit Piseco, New York, and 10 inches were recorded in Plainfield, Massachusetts.
Heavy rain and powerful winds up to 50 mph are slamming the coast from New York City to Boston.
The storm will slowly drift to the northeast, dropping rain and heavy snow in New England before tapering off Saturday night.
ABC News’ Dan Amarante and Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — The father of the suspected Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooter appeared in virtual bond court in Lake County on Saturday, a day after being charged with seven counts of reckless conduct in connection with the shooting.
Robert Crimo Jr. took a “reckless and unjustified risk” when he signed the Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card for his son to apply for gun ownership, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at a news conference Friday. At the time, his son was 19 and could not get a FOID card on his own because was not 21 or over; Those who are 18, 19 or 20 are required to have parent or guardian authorization, Rinehart said.
Under an agreement between the state and Crimo’s defense team, the judge reduced his bond from $500,000 to a $50,000 cash bond. Judge Jacquelyn Melius also ordered Crimo Jr. to surrender his Firearm Owners Identification card, conceal and carry license and any dangerous weapons in his possession within 24 hours of his release. Highland Park police will take possession of those items.
Under his release, Crimo Jr. will have a curfew and cannot have drugs or alcohol or any weapons.
His next court date is set for Jan. 12 at 9 a.m.
“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenagers should have a weapon. They are the first line of defense. In this case, the system failed,” Rinehart said.
Crimo Jr. is facing seven counts of reckless conduct causing great bodily harm.
His son, Robert Crimo III, is accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens of others in the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb this summer. He pleaded not guilty to charges including murder and attempted murder.
Crimo Jr.’s attorney George M. Gomez said in a statement Friday that the charges were “baseless and unprecedented.”
“This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States of America who according to the Lake County State’s Attorney knows exactly what is going on with their 19 year old adult children and can be held criminally liable for actions taken nearly three years later,” Gomez said in a statement.
The attorney added that his client “continues to sympathize and feel terrible for the individuals and families who were injured and lost loved ones this past July 4th, but these charges are politically motivated and a distraction from the real change that needs to happen in this country.”
Bobby Crimo Jr. told ABC News in July that he was “shocked” by the shooting.
“I had no — not an inkling, warning — that this was going to happen,” he said.
“I filled out the consent form to allow my son to go through the process that the Illinois State Police have in place for an individual to obtain a FOID card,” Crimo told ABC News this summer. “They do background checks. Whatever that entails, I’m not exactly sure. And either you’re approved or denied, and he was approved.”
“Signing a consent form to go through the process…that’s all it was,” Crimo said of his involvement. “Had I purchased guns throughout the years and given them to him in my name, that’s a different story. But he went through that whole process himself.”
Crimo Jr. said his son purchased the weapons with his own money and registered them in his own name.
The Illinois State Police changed its rules for FOID card applications in the wake of the shooting.
ABC News’ Alex Perez and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4 presented by Prime Video
Rihanna gave the world the first glimpse of her baby boy this weekend.
The singer posted an adorable TikTok video Saturday featuring her son with A$AP Rocky. In it, the little boy smiles from his car seat as Rihanna records him.
“You tryna get Mommy’s phone?” Rihanna asks him, as his little hands grab for it.
The post also marked Rihanna’s first video on TikTok. Within just a few hours of posting, it had nearly three million views. “Hacked,” she captioned the clip.
Rihanna and A$AP welcomed their first child together in May. They have yet to publicly reveal his name.
Apocalyptica has released a new song called “Rise Again.”
The track is an updated version of the song “Rise,” which appears on the cello metal outfit’s 2020 instrumental album, Cell-0, with new vocals from Simone Simons of the band Epica.
You can listen to “Rise Again” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
“Rise Again” follows Apocalyptica’s March single “I’ll Get Through It,” which features Black Sabbath‘s Geezer Butler.
jxdn has announced a North American headlining tour for 2023.
The U.S. leg begins February 24 in Sacramento, California, and will crisscross the country before wrapping up back on the West Coat April 18 in Santa Ana, California. That’ll be followed by a one-off date in Mexico City on April 21.
Mark Hoppus collaborators Beauty School Dropout will also be on the bill.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit jxdnMusic.com.
jxdn released a new single called “Sober” in November. It follows his 2021 Travis Barker-produced debut album, Tell Me About Tomorrow.
The Rolling Stones are giving fans their first taste of their upcoming live album and DVD, GRRR Live! The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just released their live performance of the classic “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)” to streaming services.
GRRR Live!, recorded December 15, 2012, at Newark’s Prudential Center during the band’s 50 & Counting tour, features guest appearances by such big names as Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Gary ClarkJr., Mick Taylor and The Black Keys.
The album will be released February 10 on a variety of formats, including a two-CD set, a three-LP set (classic black, limited red and a white indie exclusive), digital, a DVD and two-CD combo set, and a Blu-Ray and two-CD combo set. All formats are available for preorder here.
