Author: CNN Newsource

By Brandon Downs, Richard Ramos

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    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — The body of a hiker who went missing in the Colfax area last week was pulled from the American River on Monday, officials said.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said the search began before 6 p.m. Friday in the area of Codfish Falls Trail when deputies received a call about a woman who may be missing.

Deputies said the woman — identified by authorities as 40-year-old Eryn VanAcker — was last seen walking on the trail with her dog. The dog was later seen alone.

During the search on Friday night, VanAcker’s vehicle was found in the area, and her phone and a dog bowl were found along the river. The dog was located and is safe.

Boats were on the water Sunday, but deputies said VanAcker had not been located. As of Sunday, deputies said there was no evidence that indicated anything other than an accidental incident. All possibilities are still to be evaluated, the sheriff’s office said.

Monday, the sheriff’s office revealed that they believe VanAcker went into the water and was swept upstream from Lake Clementine. The sheriff’s office confirmed to CBS News Sacramento around 4 p.m. that crews had pulled VanAcker’s body from the water in that area.

VanAcker is from the San Francisco Bay Area and was visiting the area with her long-term boyfriend, the sheriff’s office said.

Cal Fire, Auburn State Recreation Area and Cal OES all assisted in the search.

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 Tori Mason

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.

Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.

At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.

“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”

One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.

Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.

“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”

The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.

Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.

“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”

McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.

“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”

While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.

“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”

More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.

Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.

Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.

“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.

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 Nick Sloan

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    KANSAS CITY (KMBC) — As the Kansas City Chiefs closed the book on their season and turned toward the offseason, coach Andy Reid offered an update on quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who tore his ACL in a late-season loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

“First of all he’s doing great for just being three weeks out or so,” Reid said. “He’ll go ahead and most likely stay up here the majority of the time rehabbing.”

Reid said Mahomes is working closely with the Chiefs’ medical staff and plans to remain in Kansas City during much of the rehab period.

“He and (Assistant Athletic Trainer) Julie (Frymyer), she’s the person that does all of that – our PT,” Reid said. “So, he has a lot of trust in her, and he’s been in there grinding and that’s what I can tell you.”

Reid said that the early phase of rehab requires consistency and discipline, even when the process becomes repetitive.

“I think that will just continue until we get started again. Not that he won’t take a break here or there, but right now he’s in that early process where you have to really hit it hard, and it’s not necessarily a fun thing to do every day,” Reid said.

The Chiefs’ offense struggled without Mahomes, scoring just 34 points in the team’s final three games of the season.

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By Alan Gionet

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    Colorado (KCNC) — The family of the hiker killed by a mountain lion last week in Northern Colorado says she died doing something she loved. The Larimer County Coroner’s Office confirmed on Monday that Kristen Marie Kovatch’s death last Thursday was caused by an attacking mountain lion. Their report states she died of asphyxia due to having her neck compressed. It was the first fatal attack in Colorado by a mountain lion on a human this century.

Kovatch was 46 years old and lived in Fort Collins. Her brother released a statement on Monday about her death that read, in part:

“She died doing something she loved deeply-hiking and taking in the beauty of Colorado and its public lands. Kristen was also an ultramarathon runner and someone who found joy and purpose in caring for animals. Her energy, compassion, and independence touched everyone who knew her, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void in our lives.”

Kovatch’s body was found in the middle of the day on Thursday by two hikers on a trail southeast of Glen Haven in Larimer County. A mountain lion was nearby, and they threw rocks to scare it away. One of the hikers, a physician, attended to the victim but did not find a pulse.

Two mountain lions spotted near her body were euthanized. A necropsy revealed human DNA was found on one of those lions, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.

“Those two lions — they are of a family group, a male and female sub-adult lion. The male was found to have human DNA on all four of its paws. The female lion did not have any human DNA that was detected,” said CPW spokeswoman Kara Van Hoose.

The juvenile lions were likely between one and two and a half years old. “At this point, they can go out on their own and kill a deer. So at this point, they are out trying to live like your teenager, right, being as independent as they can without the mother. Their mother is still there helping them out. They’re sharing kills,” said CPW senior wildlife researcher Mat Aldredge.

Van Hoose said the mountain lions tested negative for rabies “and other neurological diseases.”

CPW was also searching for a third mountain lion after the attack, but that search has ended. The trail where the attack happened — Crosier Mountain Trail — is back open.

Mountain lions can weigh up to 130 pounds and grow to more than 6 feet long. They primarily eat deer.

Colorado has an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, which are classified as a big game species in the state and can be hunted.

A Glen Haven man running on the same trail where Kovatch was killed encountered a mountain lion in November. He said it rushed him aggressively, but he fought it off with a stick. A boyfriend and girlfriend hiking near the summit on the Crosier Mountain Trail late in the month encountered lions and managed to haze them after several minutes of threatening behavior. They were two of several mountain lion encounters east of Rocky Mountain National Park in recent months, according to Van Hoose. In two of those cases, the predators killed dogs close to their owners, she said.

Western Larimer County is prime mountain lion habitat in places. It is less likely, said CPW experts, that the lions were after human targets or that the mother lion was teaching her offspring to pursue humans. Their presence in the area is more likely because of the availability of typical prey like elk and deer.

“There are a lot of resources, food resources in and around human populations. It’s a steady, constant food resource, and a lot of our research over the years has shown that females with kittens will actually use those areas more than females without,” explained Aldredge. “There are important resources there that you can utilize for food, and that is probably what is being taught in those situations. Not that humans are OK.”

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By Dacoda Wahpekeche

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    OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — Lawmakers and the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are calling for a man on death row to be granted clemency.

Kendrick Simpson was convicted in 2006 for the double murder in the drive-by shooting of Glen Palmer and Antony Jones. Prosecutors said Simpson fired approximately 20 shots at his victims, and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond recently said that the death row inmate “hunted his victims” and “never demonstrated genuine remorse.”

“Kendrick Simpson hunted his victims, executed them without hesitation, and then boasted about what he had done,” Drummond said in a statement released in late December. “The families left behind have endured unimaginable pain, and nothing in Simpson’s decades on death row has shown that he deserves the mercy he refused to give to others.”

On Tuesday, some state lawmakers, the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and others will rally to argue that Simpson didn’t get a fair trial.

Elizabeth Overman, president of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, argued that Simpson was not well represented and that his background and diagnosed PTSD were overlooked.

“He was put on a path to the death penalty because he was not well represented,” she said.

Overman also highlighted Simpson’s upbringing in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and his exposure to violence and trauma.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board’s clemency hearing for Simpson is scheduled for Jan. 13. His execution date is scheduled for Feb. 12.

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By Nicole Aponte

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — The man accused of smashing windows at Vice President JD Vance’s home in East Walnut Hills made his first appearance in court Tuesday.

William DeFoor, 26, who has a history of encounters with law enforcement, faces both state and federal charges.

Tuesday, he appeared in court of the first time on state charges, which include vandalism, criminal damaging and trespassing.

His defense attorney said he and Secret Service spent “hours,” after DeFoor’s arrest on Monday discussing what happened, saying it had nothing to do with political beliefs and was a mental health issue .

A judge set DeFoor’s bond at $11,000.

Prosecutors say he used a hammer to smash windows at Vance’s home early Monday morning. He’s also accused of trying to break the window of a federal agent’s car.

Vance and his family were not at home at the time.

DeFoor is also facing more serious federal charges, including damaging government property and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.

Prosecutors say he refused commands to drop a hammer and also tried to run away.

They say he caused around $28,000 in damage. If convicted, those federal charges could land him in prison for decades.

A potential motive has not been released, but court records show he has faced charges before.

In 2023, a trespassing case against DeFoor was dropped after he was found not competent to stand trial.

A year later, he was ordered to receive treatment after, police say, he vandalized a business in Hyde Park.

DeFoor is set for a 9 a.m. arraignment Tuesday. A court date has not yet been set for his federal charges.

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By KCCI staff

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    INDIANOLA, Iowa (KCCI) — A judge has accepted a former Indianola police lieutenant’s guilty plea.

Justin Keller pleaded guilty to stalking. According to court documents, Keller was arrested last April after continuously contacting a woman and letting himself into her home.

He was let go from the department in May.

In the plea deal, Keller’s attorney is asking for one year of probation, deferred judgment and a minimum civil penalty.

The judge will hand down Keller’s sentence Jan. 20.

Keller was also named in a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the Indianola Police Department. That lawsuit was settled in October 2025 for $500,000.

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.