Month: July 2026

By Marvin Hurst

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — Natalee Cramer, her mother Brook Morris, and trafficking survivor Whitney Taylor say they still cannot believe their purpose is helping people escape human trafficking.

Cramer said she was sex trafficked for 10 days from Dallas to Oklahoma after disappearing during a Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center. She was 15.

“I was sex trafficked for 10 days from Dallas to Oklahoma,” Cramer said. “I was taken from a Mavericks game. Within those 10 days, I was picked up and sex trafficked. I got money for pimps. And 10 days later, I was found.”

Four years later, Cramer said she is inspired by a Department of Justice raid on a home in Plano and the Paris Adult Bookstore on Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas, which resulted in eight indictments.

“For me, it’s an internal victory, but it’s also just inspiring to see not just me, but other women come out and men come out of the sex trafficking industry,” she said.

Morris said evil “lurks in the shadows” and is not exclusive to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“I think there’s a lot more where that comes from in terms of fronts, like a bookstore front, like a gas station, whatever it may look like, insert, whatever,” Morris said.

She recalled hearing words like “rape” and “sold” used to describe what was happening to her daughter.

“Your daughter’s being sold,” she said. “My immediate question was, ‘For what?’ It never occurred to me that somebody would sell her, much less sell her for sex because she’s priceless.”

Survivors channel their trauma into advocacy Morris said that once she realized her daughter had been trafficked, she thought, “This can’t happen anymore. This is so bad.”

She said the men and women working in trafficking environments are still someone’s child and deserve to be met where they are.

Cramer and Morris founded Aisling for Life to support victims and survivors. They work alongside Taylor, who said she was groomed as a child within her own family.

“I met an older man online on those AOL disks that used to get in the mail,” Taylor said. “I met a 22-year-old when I was 12, and a cop just so happened to be in that area by the grace of God, walked up to the window, and saw that he was on top of me. I was incapacitated.”

Taylor said it was not her last encounter with a man who took advantage of her. She said a man she believed was “the love of her life” began trafficking her at 17.

“I had had no experience in relationships whatsoever because I didn’t have a childhood,” Taylor said. ” I was in and out of jail, in and out of juvenile, different programs.”

Taylor now works with Cramer and Morris and is studying to become a licensed social worker to provide additional support to people overcoming trafficking.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Angela Cifone

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — For local restaurants, hurricane preparation starts long before the first rain falls.

“We’re talking hurricane preparedness, but quite frankly, we can talk about almost any kind of natural disaster and things that restaurants have to deal with,” said Larry Lynch, food safety expert and National Restaurant Association consultant.

Many owners said experience from past storms has taught them what to do for future disasters.

“Some of the challenges were we couldn’t open up all the windows in our fishbowl, we couldn’t use the Lanai seating space, so we were packed, but it was busy. People understood, and we made the best of it,” said Shane Quinlan, General Manager at Aloha Amigo.

That means bringing outdoor items inside… stocking extra food… and finding ways to keep food cold.

“We already prepare for everything, like to go pasta. We give a bigger discount because people are hungry and a lot of places are closed. So help each other. This is my job always,” said Pasquale Allegrini, Owner of Allegrini Restaurant Waikiki.

“We try to have enough ice on hand. We can order dry ice if we need to preserve our food. Keep the refrigerators cold. We want everything underneath 40 degrees,” said Quinlan.

During the Kona Lows, Aloha Amigo was one of the few restaurants in Waikiki to stay open.

“I try to keep it so my staff, if they’re coming from far away, that it’s safe. But most of my people live within the Waikiki area,” said Quinlan.

Experts said communication to staff needs to be a top priority in all situations.

“We open the doors at 4. By 3 o’clock, everyone should know what’s happening. By 2 o’clock, the notices are going out. But the final decision happens at game time. If the weather starts to clear, we’re going to open,” said Quinlan.

Communication goes beyond your employees.

“Over the years at the restaurant association, one of the things we’ve always suggested is to try and have an engaging relationship with your local health department when they walk in the door,” said Lynch.

No matter what a storm may bring, there is one goal in mind.

“We’re here to support people. We’re here to support Waikiki, our neighbors, our tourists, our friends, our families, our loved ones and provide a little shelter from the storm,” said Quinlan.

The National Restaurant Association said business owners should document any flood lines or damages with photos before and after a storm.

This will help you reopen your restaurant faster in the event you had to shut down.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Chris Oswalt, Angela Williams

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    LORMAN, Mississippi (WAPT) — An Alcorn State University professor exposed AI use on a college midterm exam by embedding a hidden word in the assignment, leading to dozens of students failing.

Dr. Jason Gibson said he hid the word “Madagascar” in white text within an online midterm prompt. Students reading the assignment normally could not see the word, but AI chatbots could detect it if the prompt was copied and pasted.

When Gibson graded the exams, he found bizarre AI-generated phrases in the students’ answers, which led him to fail that portion of the exam.

Gibson said his goal was not to embarrass students but to reinforce academic integrity.

In a follow-up video, Gibson said he has no intention of using the same method again.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ronnie Parrillo

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    AVON, Maine (WMTW) — Rory Smith, Jr. wants justice after his mother was shot during a child custody exchange in Avon on Friday. Smith said that his 53-year-old mother was shot through the windshield, and a bullet punctured her lung. Smith said his mother was accompanying his brother to the home of his brother’s ex-wife’s family to pick up his three children on Jobie Road in Avon.

“There is no reason why a gun should ever be involved in the exchange of children,” said Smith.

Smith said he received a call from his brother that their mother had been shot just after 6:00 on Friday evening.

“I said, “What, is she dead?” He said, “No, but she is not good. She is bleeding a lot, and she keeps going in and out,” Smith said as he described the conversation with his brother.

His mother is now recovering at Maine Medical Center. Smith said a surgeon told him the bullet “came within a centimeter” of taking his mother’s life.

“My mother plays a neutral part in this because she wants her son to see his children, and of course, she wants to see her grandchildren,” said Smith.

Police have not released any additional information on an investigation, but a spokesperson told Maine’s Total Coverage an update can be expected on Wednesday. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is being assisted in the investigation by Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Imani Clement, Mary Saladna

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    LOWELL, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A discovery at Lowell High School in July brought back a piece of a woman’s life that was lost over 50 years ago.

In 1972, Kathleen Regan, a librarian at the high school, lost her wallet, which inside held pictures of her three children and four great-nieces.

Regan, a Lowell High School alumna, passed in 2003 and never saw her wallet again.

However, in July 2026, during renovations at Lowell High, a construction worker came across the wallet and initiated a search, along with another construction worker, for the owner.

“The two earnest construction workers began the search for the owner of the wallet. One of Kathleen’s grandchildren was contacted via Facebook and received the incredible news! ‘We think we have found a wallet belonging to your family,'” wrote Regan’s children, Kathy and Joe, in a story detailing the wallet’s journey. “The wallet itself was old and worn, but its real value was never in the leather or anything it might have contained. Its value was in the memories. The photographs. The faces. The family life captured in small images more than fifty years ago.”

Regan’s youngest granddaughter, Angie Regan, now carries the wallet and will carry it as her “something old” in her upcoming wedding.

“I just had a really strong feeling of my mom being present. I just had a feeling she was around again,” Kathy Regan said. “That’s what really touched me. That’s what she carried in here; that’s what meant the most to her: her children and her great-nieces’ pictures were in there too.”

Which feels like a gift from the past, from this family matriarch and librarian, who always loved a good story and a happy ending.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Rachael Perry

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    JUPITER, Florida (WPBF) — A 67-year-old man says he lost more than $700,000, along with his home, vehicle and retirement savings, after he says he may have fallen victim to what experts call a “pig butchering” scam.

A “pig butchering” scam is a fast-growing form of fraud that often targets older adults by combining romance and fake cryptocurrency investments.

Karl Geissler, who has lived in Jupiter for nearly three decades, says the scam unfolded over the course of nearly a year, beginning with what seemed like an innocent wrong-number text.

“I get, of course, a random text. Somebody looking for Judy,” he told WPBF.

Instead of ignoring it, Geissler responded jokingly.

“I texted back, ‘This isn’t Judy. This is a single guy down in South Florida,'” he said.

The conversation continued. Geissler says the woman, who went by Aileen, claimed to live in Los Angeles and originally be from Singapore. He says they began talking every day. Over time, Geissler says they developed what he believed was a genuine relationship.

“She would talk about herself a little bit, and I talked about myself. We kind of got a little relationship going,” he said.

Eventually, he says she introduced him to what she described as a lucrative investment opportunity managed by her wealthy aunt, who allegedly worked with a team of gold market analysts.

“She asked me, you know, would you like to make more money? I go, well, everybody would like to,” Geissler said.

He started small.

“I thought, ‘You know what? I could burn 500 bucks just to see where it went,'” he said.

Geissler says the returns displayed on the investment platform appeared real, encouraging him to invest more.

He says he eventually sold the home he inherited from his parents and his vehicle to continue funding the investments.

“By the end of November, I had probably like 1.09 million in the account from doing the investments. I go, ‘Well, this is nice making this kind of money,'” he said.

Geissler says the woman also convinced him they had a future together and they referred to each other as husband and wife.

According to Geissler, each time they planned to meet was interrupted by a series of emergencies involving the woman’s wealthy aunt, including a claimed heart attack aboard a private plane and later her death.

Geissler said he even flew to Houston and briefly met the woman he believed to be “Aileen” before more excuses got in the way of them spending time together.

Looking back, he says his desire for companionship clouded his judgment.

“The one thing I didn’t have was love,” he said.

As the months passed, Geissler continued sending money. He says he believed he was preparing for a new life with the woman. He says he wanted to retire and move to California to be with her, so he sold the pool maintenance business he had operated for nearly 28 years.

“Eventually, the communication got cut off, so this is where I’m at now,” Geissler said.

He says accepting what happened has been difficult.

“Sometimes certain things that Aileen and I had talked about seemed very true to me. I still feel a little maybe neutral, but more of, I’ve got to take care of myself right now,” he told WPBF.

Today, Geissler says he has lost around $700,000. He now relies on a bicycle for transportation while searching for work.

“That’s my main form of transportation,” Geissler said.

He has been staying in a local hotel while trying to rebuild his life and says transportation has become one of his biggest obstacles to finding employment.

However, Geissler says he refuses to give up.

“I’ve always been a hard worker. Go out there earning money in the old-fashioned way. Just go out there and work and don’t complain,” he said.

Friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help him rebuild.

Geissler says he decided to share his story publicly because he hopes others recognize the warning signs before they lose everything.

“I believed from my heart that it was real. I took a chance,” he said.

According to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, pig butchering is an investment scam where fraudsters gain the trust of victims over time and then deceive them into investing in fake crypto assets or another fraudulent investment opportunity.

The DFPI says the term refers to the agricultural practice of fattening pigs before slaughter, symbolizing how scammers “fatten” their victims with false attention before exploiting them financially.

To participate in the investment opportunity, the DFPI says scammers will provide a website or wallet address for the victim to transfer funds. The fake platform often promises huge returns in a short period of time.

According to the DFPI, the fraudulent platforms are designed to look and function like a real trading platform. They may even be available on the Apple App or Google Play stores.

Experts say it’s important to submit a complaint with the DFPI on crypto scams quickly, and in order to find your crypto on the blockchain, you must provide complete and accurate information.

More information on this scam can be found on the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation website.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Pattrik Perez, Jonathan Fong

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    TITUSVILLE, Florida (WESH) — A man identified by Daytona Beach police as the suspect in a deadly shooting Monday evening died after crashing his vehicle into a pond at Sand Point Park in Titusville, authorities said.

The investigation began around 6 p.m. when officers with the Daytona Beach Police Department responded to a reported shooting on Reena Drive.

When they arrived, they found a 44-year-old woman dead inside a home. Detectives later identified the victim as Jacqueline Reyes and the suspect — who had left the scene before officers arrived — as 54-year-old Robert Reyes Jr., of St. Cloud.

The department held a news conference to share the details of the incident.

“(Reyes Jr.) forced his way into the back door and executed her,” Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said of the death of Jacqueline Reyes, describing Reyes Jr. as her estranged husband. “(…) The husband was trying to get her back, and then yesterday he found out that she had moved on and was dating new people, which infuriated him.”

The two shared three children together, one of whom made the 911 call, according to Young.

Daytona Beach police said video shows that Reyes Jr. attempted to take his own life before fleeing the scene, but the gun malfunctioned.

According to Daytona Beach police, information about Reyes Jr. and his vehicle was shared with surrounding law enforcement agencies. Titusville police later located the vehicle after it entered the city, where officers attempted a traffic stop.

Interim Titusville Police Chief TJ Wright said the department was alerted by its Flock Safety camera system that Reyes Jr.’s vehicle had entered the city. Officers tracked the vehicle from the north end of Titusville to the south end and back north before locating it about nine minutes after receiving the information from Daytona Beach police.

Titusville police officers attempted a traffic stop.

However, Wright said the driver fled eastbound on A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway before crashing into a pond at Sand Point Park.

Multiple agencies responded to assist, including the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.

A SWAT team and armored vehicle were also deployed before officers determined Reyes Jr. was dead inside the vehicle.

Titusville police initially pointed to preliminary evidence in suggesting Reyes Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, adding a handgun was recovered from the vehicle. Young’s remarks would offer additional details.

“(Reyes Jr.) fled down to Titusville and ultimately took his own life inside of a vehicle,” Young said.

The Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to make the final determination for cause of death.

Daytona Beach PD said the victim attempted to obtain a restraining order in 2017 but failed to show up, so it was never put in effect.

Reyes Jr. also had a criminal history, including a felony charge for aggravated battery in 2017 out of Orange County that was dropped.

According to Young, Reyes Jr. had even broken into Jacqueline Reyes’ home late last year.

“He basically burglarized it, bleached some of her clothes and then left the scene,” Young said. “This has been going on for quite some time, and then yesterday it just came to a tragic end.”

Daytona Beach police said the homicide investigation remains active. No additional information about the shooting had been released at the time of this writing.

The mayor of Titusville, Andrew Connors, released a statement on the incident as well. See full statement below:

“Tonight, I want to commend the swift and professional response of the Titusville Police Department and our regional law enforcement partners during a critical incident at Sand Point Park.

As announced by TPD, this incident involved a homicide suspect from a neighboring county. Our Flock Safety camera system alerted Titusville Police that the suspect vehicle had entered our city, allowing officers to quickly locate the vehicle. The suspect vehicle subsequently crashed at Sand Point Park. According to TPD, there were no injuries to law enforcement officers. The driver of the suspect vehicle is deceased, and the cause of death is unknown at this time pending further investigation.

This incident demonstrates the value of investing in modern public safety technology and maintaining strong partnerships with neighboring law enforcement agencies. These tools help our officers respond quickly to dangerous situations and play an important role in protecting our community.

I am grateful for the courage and professionalism displayed by the men and women of the Titusville Police Department and thank our law enforcement partners for their cooperation throughout this incident.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Dave Elias

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    NORTH FORT MYERS, Florida (WBBH) — Cara Marshall, 51, was denied a Florida driver’s license in Lee County after discovering her maiden name doesn’t match the name on her certified birth certificate, a discrepancy stemming from a decision her mother made decades ago.

“I’m not sure who I am anymore honestly,” Marshall said.

Marshall believed her maiden name to be Hendrix, as listed on her marriage license and old school pictures. However, she recently learned that her mother had changed her name when she was a year and a half old after marrying her stepfather.

“My mother never told me. She changed it herself, when I was a year and a half out when she married my stepfather,” Marshall said.

Marshall explained that her mother registered her in school and completed paperwork using the Hendrix name, hiding the fact that her biological father was Ronald Sniffen, whose last name should have been legally used.

“She did all the paperwork that way registering me in school and everything and never told me about it. She wanted to hide the fact that I had a different father,” Marshall said.

Marshall believes social pressures and stigmas at the time may have influenced her mother’s decision.

“In fact, she told me she wanted everyone’s name to be the same. She took it upon herself without doing it legally and now here I am,” Marshall said.

For decades, the discrepancy didn’t affect Marshall’s life. She attended school, worked, married, voted, and held a Real ID driver’s license in multiple states.

“In North Dakota I got a Real ID in 2022 and then we moved to South Dakota in 2025 and I got the Real ID down there…never had a problem and I was in and out in two minutes,” Marshall said.

However, after moving to Florida, the DMV denied her request for a license because her maiden name and the name on her certified birth certificate don’t match.

“It makes me go ‘who am I?’ How do I prove this now?” Marshall said.

Her case raises broader questions about the consistency of federal Real ID standards across states.

“If every state is following the federal Real ID standards, why are other states willing to issue her a license and Florida isn’t?” Marshall said.

Marshall expressed frustration with the situation.

“They’re setting me up to fail,” she said.

The extent of this issue remains unclear, and answers are still pending.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ashley Sharp

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    SOLANO COUNTY, California (KOVR) — In an economic blow to the billionaire-backed California Forever project, defense technology company Saronic decided to skip the group’s proposed Solano Shipyard in Solano County, a location finalist, for its new $3.2B next-generation shipyard. The company decided instead to send the development to Texas.

It would have created an estimated 10,000 new jobs in Solano County, which local leaders say has the worst unemployment rate in the Bay Area.

Tuesday, the ghost of these jobs became a topic of debate at the county’s Board of Supervisors meeting as local residents both in support of and against California Forever’s efforts to shore up shipbuilding took to the podium during public comment.

“Let’s do anything we can to help them help us,” said one neighbor in support of the group.

“Status quo is not working anymore; do we not see that? We need this to happen,” said a union leader with Operating Engineers Local 3, who supports the shipbuilding and manufacturing projects for local job growth.

As has been the case for years, opposition to California Forever was also present at the podium.

“Please do not do business with California Forever,” pleaded one neighbor during public comment.

“For the people who are here supporting jobs, you need to support Mare Island in Vallejo,” argued another.

California Forever plans to create a new city of 400,000 people on Solano County farmland. The group owns undeveloped land equivalent to the size of San Francisco in the county.

With it, the group also wants to build what they describe as the nation’s largest advanced manufacturing park to be called The Foundry as well as to revitalize shipbuilding through the proposed Solano Shipyard near Collinsville.

In a statement about the Saronic bid bust, California Forever and its supporters said, “Our coalition’s warning about losing the opportunity to Texas has now become reality.”

They also blamed legislative red tape, which they say forced the company to look outside of California.

“A key site selection criterion was the permitting framework to break ground within months, matching the speed required by America’s national defense needs, which is not possible in California without special legislation… The coalition worked for months to draft a balanced proposal that would have enabled Saronic to choose California and Solano County. Local and state government leaders did not pass the legislation in time,” the statement read.

Last year, California Forever’s founder and CEO Jan Sramek described to CBS Sacramento in a one-on-one interview his vision for Solano County’s workforce.

“The goal is really to provide a place where all of these companies that are doing incredible work in Silicon Valley can manufacture things in California, instead of sending all of those jobs to Texas or Florida,” said Sramek.

Last week, after the news of the lost Saronic bid, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development or “GO-Biz” sent a memo to state leaders saying that Solano County is at an economic crossroads and threw its support behind California Forever’s efforts to bring in more local jobs.

“None of this will happen automatically. Winning this competition will require collaboration among state and local government, labor, business, educational institutions, community organizations, and private investors. It will require thoughtful policy choices, disciplined execution, and a shared commitment to creating lasting public benefit,” said GO-Biz director Dee Dee Myers.”…GO-Biz believes the Solano Shipyard and Solano Foundry represent projects of statewide significance and the kind of transformational opportunity California should fight for and win.”

Solano County has recently lost major employers like Budweiser and Valero.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.