2 hikers injured in bear attack at Yellowstone National Park
The wooden entrance sign to Yellowstone National Park, USA. (Jon G. Fuller/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(MYSTIC FALLS, Wyo.) — Two hikers were injured in a bear attack at Yellowstone National Park, prompting some areas of the park to close, the National Park Service said.
The incident occurred Monday afternoon on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Wyoming, the park service said.
The two hikers “sustained injuries by one or more bears,” the park service said in a press release on Tuesday.
National Park Service emergency services personnel responded, and the incident remains under investigation, the park service said.
No additional details were released, including the condition of the hikers or the type of bear suspected in the attack.
Some areas of the national park are temporarily closed due to the ongoing investigation.
The last bear attack in Yellowstone was in September 2025, when a 29-year-old man was injured by a grizzly bear while hiking alone near Turbid Lake.
The last deadly bear attack occurred in 2015, in the Lake Village area of Yellowstone, the park service said.
Alleged serial killer Rex A. Heuermann appears inside Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead for a frye hearing on July 17, 2025 in Riverhead, New York. (Photo by James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images)
Heuermann, a New York City architect, was arrested in 2023 and initially pleaded not guilty to killing seven women. Over 17 years, he targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, prosecutors said. His trial had been set for September.
“Do you feel it’s in your best interest to plead guilty rather than go to trial?” Judge Timothy Mazzei asked.
“Yes, your honor,” Heuermann replied.
Heuermann, 62, agreed to serve three consecutive life sentences followed by four consecutive sentences of 25 years-to-life, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. He will face no other prosecution in connection with the eight victims but must cooperate with the FBI going forward.
His sentencing is set for June 17.
Standing in a dark suit with his hands shackled behind his back, Heuermann admitted he murdered Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
“You killed each victim in the same manner, namely strangulation?” Tierney asked.
“Yes,” Heuermann answered in clinical fashion.
Heuermann also pleaded guilty to strangling to death Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann also admitted to an eighth killing: 34-year-old Karen Vergata. He was not formally charged with Vergata’s death, but admitted to it as part of the plea agreement.
Authorities believe Vergata was working as an escort when she went missing in February 1996, prosecutors said. Some of her remains were found in April 1996 on Long Island’s Fire Island, prosecutors said, and additional remains were recovered in April 2011 on Long Island’s Tobay Beach.
Several of the victims’ relatives sobbed quietly and were seen wiping tears as Heuermann admitted to the killings.
Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and his daughter attended the hearing.
Ellerup leaned forward in her seat, gripping the back of the chair in front of her. Ellerup and her daughter sat in the back row of the courtroom packed with relatives of victims and investigators who have labored over the case for decades.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” Ellerup said after court. “Their loss is immeasurable.”
“She never wanted to believe the man she was married to for 27 years, the father of Victoria, was capable of these heinous acts,” Ellerup’s attorney, Bob Macedonio, said.
The Gilgo Beach killings went unsolved for two decades until the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, New York State Police and the FBI first identified Heuermann as a suspect in 2022 through his Chevrolet Avalanche, a distinctive pickup truck sparsely purchased on Long Island.
From there, prosecutors said they compiled DNA from a hair lifted from burlap used to wrap some of the victims and from pizza crust in the trash outside Heuermann’s Manhattan office.
Heuermann used an alias to communicate with dozens of sex workers and to amass an extensive collection of torture pornography. Prosecutors said he kept a “blueprint” of his killings that included a list of supplies, locations of “dump sites” and reminders to “consider a hit to the neck next time.”
Heuermann’s victims date back to 1993, when Costilla was killed. The final woman, 27-year-old Costello, went missing in September 2010, according to police.
This image released by the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office shows the damage to a home after a Tesla crashed into it, in Katy, Texas, on June 19, 2026. (Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated for clarity.
(KATY, Texas) — A driver in a Tesla vehicle that was allegedly in driver-assist mode crashed into a Texas house Friday night, killing a woman who was inside the home, investigators said.
Michael Butler was traveling in his Tesla Model 3 around 8 p.m. local time in Katy, Texas, and was operating the vehicle “with an automated driving assistance system,” the Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Butler allegedly failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway and struck the residence, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Butler’s Tesla entered through the brick residence, at a high rate of speed, and struck M. Avila who was inside the residence,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Avila was airlifted to a hospital where she was later pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators said Butler, who was injured, showed no signs of intoxication and he was cooperating with officers. Attorney information for the driver wasn’t immediately available.
The investigation is ongoing and as of Saturday afternoon there were no charges.
Federal authorities say this explosive device was found at a TSA checkpoint at the Sacramento International Airport on May 30, 2026. (TSA)
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A man was arrested and faces a federal charge after an explosive device was allegedly found in his carry-on bag at a California airport, federal authorities said.
Kimani Osayande Jones, 49, was detained at the Sacramento International Airport on Saturday after attempting to go through a security checkpoint, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Jones was “wearing a scarf covering his face and latex gloves on his hands” at the time, TSA said in a press release on Wednesday.
In his carry-on bag, he had an M-type explosive device — meaning an improvised explosive — and a “torch lighter capable of lighting the explosive,” TSA said.
His carry-on bag also contained a knife, scissors, scissor blades, an aerosol can and zip ties, according to an affidavit in support of the complaint.
He was traveling with five cellphones, one of which had a 15-minute timer ready to start and another with a message from an unidentified number on the screen stating, “we will be awaiting your call,” according to the affidavit.
Bomb technicians safely removed the device, and upon further examination, its powder and fuse were found to be “viable and energetic,” TSA said. If it had detonated mid-air near a window on a plane, the device had the “potential to damage the aircraft and cause a possible loss of cabin pressure,” the agency said.
Jones, of Sacramento, has been federally charged with unlawful possession of explosive material at an airport. If convicted, he faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
He is being held without bail at the Sacramento County Jail on a federal hold, online jail records show. Online court records do not list any future court dates or any attorney information for him.
Jones’ luggage was also screened at the airport prior to being loaded onto an American Airlines flight headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, and did not trigger anything suspicious, according to the affidavit. Upon arrival in Charlotte, a search of his bag and an inspection of all luggage from the plane using specialized canines found nothing concerning, it said.
According to the affidavit, local authorities had prior contact with Jones, who “had a history of being paranoid.” A man believed to be Jones had previously reached out to the FBI tip line 13 times this year, including the day of his arrest, to report that he was being threatened and intimidated, according to the filing.
