5 dead in small plane crash south of Austin, county official says
Cessna Golden Eagle (Francois Joseph Berger / 500px/Getty)
(WIMBERLEY, Texas) — Five people were killed in a plane crash in Texas on Thursday night, investigators said.
Hayes County Judge Ruben Becerra said first responders received a call around 11:00 p.m. local time of a plane down in the area of Wimberley, which is roughly 30 miles southwest of Austin.
Fire and EMS crews found the downed Cessna 421C, along with the bodies of the five deceased passengers. Their identities were not immediately released.
Although a cause of the crash was not immediately determined, investigators said preliminary information shows that there was no midair collision.
“Preliminary information indicates the aircraft was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact,” Becerra said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation, according to the judge.
High U.S. temperatures through the week (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — As a deep freeze continued Tuesday from the Northeast to the Southeast, Southern California and other parts of the West are expected to see another day of balmy weather.
Some areas in the West are poised to break daily high temperature records. Burbank, California, is expected to hit 87 on Tuesday and Long Beach could hit 89.
Other parts of the West, including San Diego, Portland, Oregon, and Great Falls, Montana, could also surpass daily record-high temperature records on Tuesday.
On Monday, several cities in the West set new daily high temperature records, including Escondido, California, which hit 92 degrees, and Phoenix, Arizona, which saw temperatures climb to 85.
The warm weather in the West is expected to continue on Wednesday. While not expected to see a record-breaking daily temperature, Los Angeles is forecast to reach 89 degrees.
Wind advisories are in place for parts of Southern California, especially along the mountain ranges from southeast Los Angeles down to the Mexico border. San Bernardino, Riverside, Corona and Anaheim are expected to see gusts up to 45 mph and isolated gusts of up to 55 mph from 4 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday through noon on Thursday.
The warm weather in the West will slowly spread through the middle of the country next week.
Meanwhile, some areas of Florida will get a break from the cold before cooler temperatures return on Thursday and Friday. Orlando is forecast to top 70 on Wednesday.
Much of Florida remained under a freeze warning on Tuesday morning. A cold weather advisory was also in place for Miami.
On Monday, several cities throughout the Southeast set daily low temperature records, including Gainesville, Florida, which recorded a low of 22; Fayetteville, Arkansas, which saw the temperature plummet to 12; and Greensboro, North Carolina, which got down to 3.
Freezing temperatures are expected to continue in other parts of the East and Northeast this week as another cold blast is expected on Wednesday, Thursday and into the weekend.
d4vd looks on during his arraignment for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on April 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Ted Soqui – Pool/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — The 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains authorities say were found decomposing in the singer D4vd’s towed Tesla last year died by “multiple penetrating injuries,” according to the newly unsealed medical examiner’s report.
D4vd — a 21-year-old Los Angeles resident whose legal name is David Burke — has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of the teen, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, officials said. The “Romantic Homicide” singer was arrested last week following a monthslong investigation.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner found she had two penetrating wounds of her torso, including injury to her liver, and reported evidence of traumatic injury. There were presumptive positives for benzodiazepines and meth/MDMA in her system, the report stated.
There was severe postmortem change to her body based on how long she had been dead.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Feb. 20, 2026. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has “agreed to appear voluntarily” before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Committee Chairman James Comer announced Tuesday.
“I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony,” Comer said in a post on X.
Comer did not specify when the secretary’s appearance will occur.
Lutnick, who lived next door to Epstein for over a decade, previously suggested he had distanced himself from Epstein back in the mid-2000s prior to Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“So, I was never in the room with him socially, for business or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going because he’s gross,” Lutnick said on the “Pod Force One” podcast in October.
The commerce secretary was grilled on Capitol Hill during an appearance last month before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about his past denial following revelations that the two men remained in contact years after Lutnick suggested he had distanced himself from the convicted sex offender.
In his appearance before the appropriations subcommittee, Lutnick was asked repeatedly about his correspondence with Epstein, detailed in files recently released by the Justice Department, in which it was revealed that he visited Epstein’s Caribbean island in 2012 with his family and others.
Lutnick has denied any wrongdoing.
Tuesday’s announcement from Comer came a day after the House Oversight Committee released video of the appearances of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the committee last week.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
