Category: CNN Regional

By Hayley Crombleholme

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    FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that a pizza box helped lead their office to a suspect in a home burglary.

Back in January, a report said a 65-year-old woman left work and arrived at her Pritchard Drive home in Palm Coast to find it ransacked. She reported that anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 in cash had been taken.

A report says the suspect got inside the home and switched off the power breaker, unplugged the internet modem, and covered an interior security camera with a jacket.

“He then ransacked the home,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “In the process, when he was ransacking in the kitchen area, he cut himself and left some blood on a pizza box, which really helped this investigation.”

The sheriff said that DNA was put into a state and federal database, and it came back as a match to 33-year-old William Vargas-Carmona.

“It was determined that the individual was in fact in this country illegally, and had been deported and illegally came back into this country,” Staly said. “But he made the mistake of coming to Flagler County, where we take crime seriously.”

In October, a warrant was issued for Vargas-Carmona’s arrest for burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft. On Nov. 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified the sheriff’s office that they had found him in Jacksonville.

“What surprised me the most is that he was still around,” Staly said. “I’m glad he was. ICE was able to find him and notify us that they had him in custody.”

Vargas-Carmona was taken to a detention center in Baker County.

“He’s not going to be able to victimize any other Florida resident. He is in jail where he belongs,” Staly said.

Court records show Vargas-Carmona is set to be arraigned in Flagler County later this month.

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By Wayne Covil

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    COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Virginia (WTVR) — Three first graders at Lakeview Elementary School in Colonial Heights became unlikely heroes when they sprang into action to save their teacher’s life after she started choking on food.

Madison Swift, 23, was in her first year teaching when the frightening incident occurred a week ago.

“I was eating while working with a student when I suddenly started choking on my food,” Swift said.

That’s when three of her students — 7-year-old Kolton Hersh and 6-year-olds Dereck Contreras-Franco and Bryson Doss — realized something was seriously wrong.

“She choked and she cannot breathe,” Contreras-Franco said.

“All of a sudden, her face and eyes started going red,” Doss said, demonstrating how Swift was gesturing for help.

Each of the three boys took a different approach to helping their teacher. Contreras-Franco went for the emergency call button on the wall, and when the office answered, he and other students began screaming that Swift was choking.

Doss decided to run out the door to get another teacher “because I knew that she was choking and I knew I needed to get another teacher.”

Hersh, who was right beside Swift, took the most direct approach. “Then I pat her on her back to get the food out of her throat,” he said, demonstrating the back blows he performed.

Swift vividly remembers how her students helped save her life that day. “The student next to me bent me over and started doing back blows to my back to where I dislodged the food,” she said.

She praised each boy’s quick thinking. When Contreras-Franco pressed the emergency button, “he and all the other students in my room were letting the office know I was choking and that I needed help.”

Doss “got the teacher across the hallway once he realized it was an emergency.”

Swift has no doubt about what happened that Friday. “They 100% saved my life,” she said.

The first-year teacher believes the strong relationship she built with her students from day one made all the difference. “At the beginning of the year, I built that trust and love relationship so they saw their teacher in crisis and they just kind of jumped into action right away,” Swift said.

Swift has a treasure box in her classroom where students who perform well throughout the week can pick something out. That Friday, Kolton, Dereck and Bryson all got that special opportunity — a small reward for their life-saving heroism.

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

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By Pepper Purpura

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Iowa saw more than 200 crashes on state highways from Nov. 27 through Nov. 30 as a powerful round of snow and ice created dangerous travel conditions across the state, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Eight of those crashes involved snowplows.

The wave of wrecks came as crews worked long hours to clear roads following heavy snowfall that dumped almost 11 inches in Des Moines. Des Moines Public Works said Monday it has now finished plowing residential streets.

Tow truck drivers have also been busy responding to stranded motorists. Andy Deboard of Perry’s Service & Towing said calls spiked immediately after the tow ban lifted Sunday.

“Opened at 7. Phone started ringing. I had three calls within the first 15 seconds,” Deboard said.

He said the combination of holiday travel and deep snow left many drivers unprepared.

“We were just hit with, you know, 10, 12 inches right off the bat and it threw a lot of people a curveball they weren’t expecting,” he said.

Deboard added that dangerous conditions extend beyond plow operators to the tow crews working beside busy roads.

“That’s the most dangerous part of our job is working along the roadside,” he said. “Any time you see flashing lights, whether it be a snowplow, police car or fire truck, tow truck, it doesn’t matter what color those lights are. Pay attention. Slow down. Give them space.”

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By Aaron Cantrell

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    RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tennessee (WTVF) — A Bedford County man is being praised by his community for pulling a driver to safety after a fiery crash along I-24 East over the weekend.

Mikel Lessary was heading home when he spotted a vehicle on fire in the woods near the 74-mile marker in Rutherford County. Authorities said the car had left the roadway and ignited after crashing.

“I don’t see anyone as I was passing the vehicle, and that’s what made me stop initially,” Lessary said. “I thought someone was inside the vehicle and really hurt.”

Lessary said he didn’t hesitate. He pulled over and ran toward the smoke.

“As I’m running towards the vehicle, I see the older man near it…and he collapsed to the ground, so I ran to him,” he said.

Lessary said the driver was severely injured and struggling to stay conscious. Then he heard a loud boom from the burning vehicle — a sign they needed to move farther away.

“I’m telling him, ‘I need you to focus on me. I need you awake. Don’t close your eyes. Is there anything hurting?’” Lessary recalled. “He was telling me his chest was hurting.”

Moments later, a sheriff’s deputy arrived to help pull the man farther from the car as it continued to make explosive sounds.

“She ran towards us to make sure he was okay, and the car boomed again,” Lessary said. “She said, ‘It’s going to explode. We need to move further. We’re not far enough away.”

First responders eventually extinguished the fire and rushed the driver to the hospital. His condition has not been released.

Community members have been calling Lessary a hero — but he doesn’t see himself that way.

“I don’t see myself as a hero,” he said. “I just see myself as someone who needed help, and I was the person there.”

Lessary said he hopes the driver recovers and wants the chance to reconnect.

“I hope you’re okay, and I would love to connect with you and get to know you,” he said.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

This story was reported by reporter Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Aaron and WTVF verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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By Nick Beres

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    DICKSON, Tennessee (WTVF) — It’s the end of the road for Joseph Daniels, but the question of whether he might reveal where he put his son’s body remains.

A jury convicted Daniels of murdering his son, but the remains have never been found.

The Tennessee Supreme Court and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals both denied Joseph Daniels’ request for a new trial.

It was April of 2018, and 5-year-old Joe Clyde disappeared from his Dickson County home.

It was a high-profile case with a massive search effort and, ultimately, no sign of the boy.

His father became the prime suspect, and the case against him went to trial.

“As to the charge of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony crime, how does the jury find?”

The jury left little doubt on the charge of murder: “Guilty, sir.”

Daniels is serving 51 years or life in prison.

“We had a lot of reversible errors in the trial, so he advised he wants to pursue an appeal,” Daniels’ attorney Jake Lockert said after the verdict five years ago.

Since then, every appeal has been denied, talk of the Innocence Project becoming involved has gone nowhere, and Lockert said there’s no indication at all that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case.

Daniels was convicted with no physical evidence, but he did confess.

So now facing the certain prospect of spending the rest life behind bars, one big question remains for Daniels: Will he ever reveal the location of his son’s body?

In the past, he’s taken police out to search, but never led them to the remains.

Lockert said he doesn’t believe Daniels knows the location of the body.

Authorities think he does, but doubt he’ll ever say where.

It’s a tragic prospect for a child who deserves a proper burial.

Technically, Daniels, 35, would be eligible for parole after 51 years.

But under a new state law, his parole can be denied because he refuses to reveal the location of Joe Clyde’s body.

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By Ange Toussaint

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    PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida (WPTV) — Haitian families in Palm Beach County said the federal government’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians has triggered widespread fear and uncertainty throughout the community.

“We feel it in every way. In the churches, everywhere. We feel the impact of the immigration fallout,” Emmanuel Similus said. He also added, “Whether you’re directly impacted, you have a friend, or you have a friend that has a friend, so we all feel it some kind of way.”

Emmanuel Similus, who owns a restaurant in Delray Beach, said even his own niece is facing an immigration deadline.

“She was allowed for two years and her two years was expired,” he said.

Similus said his niece is among the 300,000 Haitians whose TPS will expire in less than 90 days.

The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that TPS for Haitians will end Feb. 3, 2026, saying “Haiti no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also urged Haitian TPS holders to prepare to “depart” if they have no other legal pathway to stay in the United States.

Residents said the impact will be immediate.

“Their jobs are on the line. The driving is on the line. Some of these people have cars, house, you know what,” one community member said.

Haitian immigration attorney Frandley Julien said families are scrambling for answers and running out of time.

“People are panicking, they don’t know what to do,” Julien said. “We have those mixed status families where you have a U.S. citizen spouse and the other spouse is on TPS — they don’t know what to do, what kind of decision they will have to come up with.”

He warns that most TPS holders will have few, if any, options to remain in the country.

“For the vast majority of TPS holders, there will be no options,” Julien said. “We tell them they need to consult with an estate planning attorney, because you may have decisions to make.”

Julien disputes the administration’s justification for ending TPS, saying conditions in Haiti have not improved.

“Haiti is in worst shape today than it has ever been at any TPS designation moment,” he said. “Definitely the administration is mischaracterizing the condition on the ground.”

He said immigration advocates plan to challenge the decision in court. But for thousands of Haitian families, the uncertainty is overwhelming.

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By Kristi Harper

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    BALTIMORE (WMAR) — Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute are urging parents and doctors to watch for a specific type of birthmark that strongly indicates Sturge-Weber syndrome.

Sturge-Weber syndrome is a condition that affects blood vessel development in the skin, eye, and brain.

Dr. Anne Comi, Director of the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Syndrome Center, at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and her team have made significant discoveries about early detection and treatment of this condition that can lead to seizures and other brain function problems.

“Port wine birthmark or capillary malformation is another name for it is enlarged, abnormal blood vessels in the skin, so it’s a pink birthmark, pinkish red birthmark that’s present at birth, and sometimes it’s mistaken for a bruise, but it doesn’t go away,” Comi said.

The size and location of these birthmarks are crucial indicators of risk.

Larger birthmarks pose higher risks, and when a large birthmark appears on both sides of the face, there’s about a 50% chance of eye and brain involvement.

The Kennedy Krieger team has discovered a biomarker to identify the issue early through EEG testing, which examines brain activity patterns.

“A biomarker is a clinical or a patient characteristic or measurement that we can quantify and measure in a very objective way. And with the EEG we’re able to look at the physiology of the brain, brain activity,” Comi said.

In patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome, EEG tests reveal specific patterns during the first year of life.

“In patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome, over time, that first year of life, they frequently develop slowing, decreased amplitude, we call it decreased power and sharps and spikes, that’s abnormal activity that indicates they’re very high risk of beginning to have seizures soon,” Comi said.

The first few years of life represent a critical window for these patients due to brain development patterns and blood flow changes.

“There’s this period of high susceptibility of high risk, the first few years of life for these children, and it has to do with the developing brain. It has to do with the networks coming online and the risk of seizures. It also has to do with the timeline of blood flow in the developing brain, so those 1st 2-3-4 years are critical for these patients, and if you can get them past that, they often remain seizure-free, stable, can come off of the treatment and have continued to do well,” Comi said.

The research brings hope through available treatment options that are both safe and affordable.

“Now we have a therapy to offer them, and it’s an inexpensive, safe treatment. We know how to, if there are any side effects, we know how to manage them. And we have now children who are 6-7-8 years old who have never had a seizure,” Comi said.

This breakthrough creates urgency for early detection because effective treatment is now available.

“Is that what creates the urgency? That that now we have a positive reason.”

“That’s right. That’s right. So prior to us having shown that this treatment can change that prevent the seizures, delay the seizures, and result in better outcomes for these children,” Comi said.

Children with these birthmarks now have a good chance of leading lives free of debilitating issues when properly identified and treated early.

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

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By Eric Lovelace

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    CAPE CORAL, Florida (WFTX) — A Cape Coral woman who learned CPR in high school nearly a decade ago used those skills to save the life of the lone survivor of Saturday’s deadly boat crash.

Julie Quinn was out on the water with her boyfriend and two friends when they witnessed the tragic boat crash that claimed three lives Saturday night. The group immediately rushed to help.

“My boyfriend turned around and he pointed out, that boat just flipped, we just whipped it around, got life jackets out,” Quinn said.

When they arrived at the crash site, Quinn spotted something barely visible above the water’s surface.

“As we pull up, you could see the top of his ears and it was going to his hairline, and everyone’s pointing at him, I’m like is that a person?” Quinn said.

It was Neal Kirby, a lifelong Cape Coral resident and avid boater who became the sole survivor of the devastating crash. Quinn and her friends quickly pulled Kirby onto their boat and began life-saving measures.

Despite learning CPR in a high school class almost 10 years ago, Quinn had never used it in a real emergency until that moment.

“I don’t know, it kicked in instantly, we laid him down and started singing, stay alive, stay alive, and kept pace with that song,” Quinn said.

She said performed chest compressions for around six minutes while they transported Kirby to waiting paramedics. Her efforts proved successful.

“Once we got to the dock, I felt his chest inflate, and he started moaning and making some sounds,” Quinn said.

Kirby remains hospitalized as he continues battling his injuries from the crash. His family has reached out to Quinn to express their gratitude for her quick thinking and life-saving actions.

“Hopefully one day we can see face to face and hug, I would love to see his family and his dad, that would mean the world to me,” Quinn said.

Quinn encourages everyone to learn CPR, emphasizing that you never know when those skills might be needed to save a life.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission identified the victims as Craig Millett, Brenna Millett and Rebecca Knight.

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