Author: CNN Newsource

By Mythili Gubbi

Click here for updates on this story

    SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) — With deportations across the country and here in Utah, some organizations are seeing how “forgotten” family members are impacted, too. Whether it’s families having to self-deport or be forcibly removed from the United States, many of them have to leave their pets behind.

“Anecdotally, we know that we are seeing more pets surrendered, and more pets are coming to our clinics for vaccines and microchips in preparation for travel,” said Juli Ulvestad, the pet resource center director at the Humane Society of Utah.

separate families from pets

By: Mythili Gubbi Posted 12:00 AM, Jan 20, 2026 and last updated 9:47 AM, Jan 20, 2026 SALT LAKE CITY — With deportations across the country and here in Utah, some organizations are seeing how “forgotten” family members are impacted, too. Whether it’s families having to self-deport or be forcibly removed from the United States, many of them have to leave their pets behind.

“Anecdotally, we know that we are seeing more pets surrendered, and more pets are coming to our clinics for vaccines and microchips in preparation for travel,” said Juli Ulvestad, the pet resource center director at the Humane Society of Utah.

The video player is currently playing an ad. Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering in Salt Lake City helps people take care of their pets — whether it’s keeping them temporarily while someone is experiencing homelessness or dealing with medical issues, getting food if they can’t afford it, or a variety of other issues. And now, they are adding a new category of people to that list.

Kristina Pulsipher is the co-executive director and co-founder of Ruff Haven. She said a few weeks ago, a woman reached out to them while her husband was going through immigration proceedings.

“[They] found out at that court hearing that he was going to be deported,” explained Pulsipher. “So, they chose to all join him as a family and that included their small, cute, little dog, Haru. And she reached out to us in a panic and wasn’t sure what to do.”

Haru needed an international health certificate to travel, up-to-date vaccines and a plane ticket to travel with his humans — something that his family was struggling to afford with all their other costs.

“To then be uprooted and have to leave everything that you know and leave your companion animal behind, it’s just one more layer of trauma to add on to the situation,” said Pulsipher.

So, Ruff Haven stepped in to help.

They have been hearing from more families with pets after a loved one was deported or needs to self-deport.

“Unfortunately, their family member has already had to be deported and so they’ve been kind of stuck with these animals that they don’t know what to do,” she added.

Ulvestad wants to encourage people to plan to care for their pets if something drastic happens, and to get their pets microchipped to help with reunification.

“If you are deported or choose to self-deport, can you or will you take your pets with you? What do you need to do to prepare for that? Consider if your family is separated, and some are left in the United States and others are returned to their home country, who would be best to have that pet as a source of comfort?” she said.

She also wants to remind neighbors to look for pets that might be waiting for their loved ones to come home, but are not.

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 Jhovani Carrillo

Click here for updates on this story

    LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Valley family is grieving the loss of 19-year-old Kevin Reed, whose body was found at Whitney Mesa Park in Henderson after a massive brush fire swept through the area last week.

Fire investigators discovered Reed’s body following the blaze that ravaged roughly 3 acres of the park and caused damage to nearby homes. Police are investigating both the cause of the fire and Reed’s death.

“It’s really hard. It’s something we didn’t expect. I don’t think anybody ever expects something so hard,” said Summer Carpenter, Reed’s sister.

Carpenter, who is just a year older than Kevin, said this tragedy is unfortunately one her family has experienced before.

“A lot of people that know us, know that we had to bury our mom, and now we have to bury him,” Carpenter said.

Of seven siblings, both Kevin and Summer were in the middle of the pack. Carpenter described her brother as goofy and protective.

“Very goofy. Loved to be outdoors. Very spunky. Very protective, you know, needed anything, he was there,” Carpenter said.

She said Kevin grew up going to Whitney Mesa Park with his foster parents and was always active in the area.

“Always in the biking trails, whether it was the park, on the bikes, hiking, by the water over there. He was always over there; he enjoyed being over there,” Carpenter said.

When Carpenter learned about the large fire on social media, she knew something was wrong.

“Something didn’t feel right, so I called the coroner’s and then they ended up calling me back…. His wallet was with him, which had his ID,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter isn’t sure why her brother was at the park the morning of the fire, but said she has many questions about the tragic morning.

A memorial now stands along the trail at Whitney Mesa Park, serving as a bright symbol of love, honor and remembrance amid the charred trees and ash-dusted brush.

As the investigation continues, Carpenter hopes Kevin’s cheerful spirit will be remembered forever.

“I want him to be remembered as the kind, loving soul that he was,” Carpenter said.

The Henderson Fire Department has not yet released the cause of the fire.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. ­­­KTNV verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Zoe Hunt

Click here for updates on this story

    MARINA, Calif. (KSBW) — A growing memorial is forming at the scene of Sunday’s deadly police shooting in Marina, where a mother says she wants answers and full transparency from law enforcement.

Valencia Richardson identified her son, Ronald Tinsley, as the man shot and killed by Marina police during a traffic stop near Marina Heights Drive just before 5 p.m.

“Today has been very overwhelming. I lost my firstborn son. I lost one of the legacies of my family,” Richardson said.

Police have released limited details about what led up to the shooting. Richardson said she arrived at the scene and repeatedly asked officers for information as she watched her son placed into an ambulance.

“I kept asking the police if my son was alive. Or was he dead, or what was going on with my son? I couldn’t get any information,” she said.

Richardson said she received confirmation that her son had died around 1 a.m., hours after police confirmed there had been a fatality.

“I just feel like they just stole moments from me yesterday. And they also stole my son. He didn’t deserve to be shot,” she said.

Richardson described Tinsley as a well-known member of the Seaside community and a local rapper

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 Maricela De La Cruz

Click here for updates on this story

    STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) — A violent shooting erupted at a Stockton flea market on Sunday, leaving two men dead and a woman injured, as described by Salvador Cervantes, a longtime resident and jewelry business owner.

“Yesterday, we were working, and I was working on a watch,” Cervantes said, recalling the moment the day was shattered by gunfire. “When all of a sudden, I hear this gunfire coming from places.”

Cervantes recounted the terrifying moment when an armed individual walked out of his booth.

“This individual came, was walking out of my booth with the gun pointing, and I threw myself on the floor when I saw him,” he said. “There was an exchange of fire between my son and them. My son is the one who saved my life for the second time, so I’m pretty much blessed that he was around again for the second time.”

While police have not confirmed these details, they did confirm that two men were killed and one woman was injured in the incident.

For Cervantes, the violence is hauntingly familiar. In 2012, his father was shot and killed while selling jewelry at the same flea market.

“They just killed him pretty much. They didn’t even ask for anything that time. They just came up to him, and they just shot him, and they had me at gunpoint, so I couldn’t do anything,” Cervantes said.

A decade later, the trauma continued when robbers targeted his business again, this time at his home.

“In 2022, they came to my house to do the same thing. They came over because I used to go to the Galt flea market, so I would transport my merchandise, so I’m assuming they had been watching me or following me, and they decided to do that at my house,” Cervantes explained.

After years of loss, Cervantes expressed frustration with what he perceives as a lack of follow-up from Stockton police.

“They don’t do much of anything, I’d say, because I haven’t heard from them since they killed my dad. They haven’t said, ‘hey, we got this suspect who was involved in your dad’s death,'” he said.

Despite the recent shooting, Cervantes remains determined to continue his business.

“I’m here trying to clean up and buy the glasses again and put them back together again, so it’s pretty intense,” he said.

Stockton police have not confirmed if the two people shot and killed were suspected robbers, nor have they stated whether this was an attempted robbery, how many suspects were involved, or if anyone is in custody.

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 Peyton Headlee

Click here for updates on this story

    PLACERVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) — A few dozen people made their way to the Placerville Observatory on Monday night, hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights, which were visible only through a camera lens.

“We came over here to see the aurora and see if we can try to see it like through our phones, and we’ve been seeing it like, through waves, and it’s been really pretty,” 11-year-old Evelyn Strange said. “It was just like reddish pinkish and it was really light.”

The observatory, located away from city lights and above the fog line, offered a prime location to attempt to view the Northern Lights.

“It’s rare to see the aurora down this far south,” Raj Dixit of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society said. “I, quite frankly, thought I might never see them during my own lifetime unless I was willing to pony up for a trip to Norway or Alaska or Iceland or Finland. Normally, you have to go to the Arctic Circle.”

The aurora was spawned from a coronal mass ejection, known as a CME, which created a strong geomagnetic storm in Earth’s magnetic fields.

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 Robert Desaulniers

Click here for updates on this story

    SNOQUALMIE PASS, Washington (KAPP) — Kittitas County officials are warning folks to be cautious around frozen ponds and lakes after rescuers were able to help out a woman and her dog who fell through thin ice into freezing water last Thursday.

According to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office, in the evening of January 15, deputies heard a report that a woman and her dog had fallen through the ice at Gold Creek Pond near Snoqualmie Pass. Deputies said that while they were on they way, they asked for extra help from Kittitas County Fire District 7, Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue, and Eastside Fire and Rescue, who happened to be training nearby.

Deputies said the woman had been in the water long enough that rescuers feared she may have suffered fatal injuries. However, because of the speedy response and teamwork from multiple agencies, rescuers were able to get both the woman and her dog to safety before the freezing water overtook them.

Kittitas County deputies warned that ice may look solid, but can still shatter without warning, especially in a moderate winter such as the current one. Folks are urged to stay off frozen ponds and lakes, and if someone does fall through, to call 911 immediately and avoid going onto the ice.

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.