Duck hunters discover human remains deep in wooded area on hunting trip
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(Taylorsville, N.C.) — Two local duck hunters in North Carolina ended up discovering human remains during an outing earlier this week, police said.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon at approximately 5:49 p.m. when two duck hunters were scouting an area in Taylorsville, North Carolina — about 60 miles north of Charlotte — when they came across human remains in a wooded area around the 1600 block of Highway 16 North, according to a statement from the Alexander County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday.
“On January 14th, 2025 the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation processed the scene,” authorities said.
The identity of the human remains is currently unknown and police did not disclose how long they estimated the remains had been there for.
No other details about the case have been released and the person’s death is currently under investigation.
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(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — Samuel Woodward, a California man found guilty of murdering his former classmate in 2018 in a hate crime, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.
Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania — went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found, following a dayslong search, buried in a park in Lake Forest he went to with Woodward the night he went missing, authorities said. He had been stabbed 28 times, prosecutors said.
Woodward, now 27, was charged with first-degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors had argued that Woodward murdered his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.
In issuing the sentence during a lengthy hearing on Friday, Judge Kimberly Menninger said there was evidence that the defendant planned the murder, and that the jury found it true that the crime was committed because of Bernstein’s sexual orientation.
Menninger also denied Woodward probation.
On whether the defendant is remorseful, Menninger said, “Unfortunately for the court and for the defendant, I’ve never seen any evidence of this up to this point in time.”
Woodward was not present at his sentencing hearing due to an illness, according to Menninger.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — E-cigarettes in kid-friendly flavors are driving retail sales and contain more addictive nicotine than ever, according to a new report from the nonprofit CDC Foundation and advocacy group Truth Initiative.
The report showed a 47% increase in e-cigarette sales at U.S. retail outlets between 2019 and 2023, with flavors like fruit, candy, mint, menthol and desserts accounting for more than 80% of those sales.
Most flavored products are not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and are therefore on the market illegally, according to Truth Initiative.
Vaping among youth is declining in the U.S., but more than 1.6 million children still vape, and nearly 90% of them report using flavored products, according to the report.
States that have implemented strong enforcement policies have seen a dramatic drop in sales. Massachusetts, for example, saw an 86% drop in overall e-cigarette sales in brick-and-mortar stores, the report said.
The proliferation of kid-friendly flavored vapes is not authorized by the FDA to be in stores, making the booming sales technically illegal — but that could change if the industry succeeds in a major case before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
Vape makers have sued the FDA, which has blocked the sale and marketing of most flavored products, alleging the agency is stonewalling good science and common sense. They claim flavors like “Jimmy the Juice Man” and “Iced Pineapple Express” are ideal for helping adult smokers quit a cancer-causing habit.
The Supreme Court will delve into the science during arguments on Dec. 2 and decide next year whether the FDA analysis has been flawed and unfair, potentially opening the flood gates to widespread legal production and sale of flavored nicotine products.
There has been a major decline in the number of students who reported current e-cigarette use, according to federal data released last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
The number of users was 2.13 million in 2023 compared to 1.63 million in 2024, the report found. Usage among high school students in particular dropped to 1.56 million from 1.21 million over the same period.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — As thousands of firefighters battled a series of raging wildfires across Los Angeles County, California officials warned the public that fire season should now be considered a yearlong event.
Multiple fires destroyed thousands of homes and prompted some 180,000 evacuations in January demonstrates that the so-called “fire season” is no longer just a spring and summer event, they said. They also emphasized that homeowners outside of fire-prone areas should still be prepared.
“Climate change has made fire season year-round and increased our ever-growing number of wildfires,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an online post. “Firefighters and residents alike are now constantly on heightened alert for the threat of wildfires.”
The warning came just days after the National Interagency Fire Center released a report showing preliminary data on total acres burned in 2024 in the United States. It was 127% above the 10-year average of 55.9 million acres a year, the report said.
While Los Angeles County fire officials said firefighters are ready to respond to wildfires, they stressed that it is crucial more than ever for homeowners to step up their efforts to help reduce deaths and property damage.
“We can’t do this without your cooperation,” fire officials said. “Preparation and prevention go hand-in-hand.”
The notice went out even as Los Angeles fire officials said at a news conference that firefighters have had to rescue people who got trapped by the blazes because they did not heed mandatory evacuation orders.
At one point on Wednesday, six wildfires were burning at once over a 42-square-mile area of Los Angeles County.
Five fire-related deaths had previously been reported when the statement was posted.
However, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon that the death toll was expected to rise.
At the time, the Hurst Fire was still burning out of control in Pasadena and Altadena, two neighboring communities about 11 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Two of the biggest fires — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire — were 0% contained.
Los Angeles County fire officials also emphasized the importance of having a “Ready! Set! Go!” action plan and re-released a video the fire department put out last year showing steps residents can take to reduce the risk of death and property destruction.
Their recommended action plan includes creating defensible space around homes by removing debris and dry vegetation up to 200 feet in diameter of houses. It also recommends clearing pine needles and leaves from roofs and gutters.
However, in addition to “Ready! Set! Go!” officials advised residents to create a personalized disaster action plan detailing evacuation routes and meeting locations.
They also urged homeowners to learn how to turn off gas lines, propane lines and electrical circuits before evacuating.
“When there’s little time to react during an emergency, your personal wildfire action plan will help guide you and your family during those critical moments,” Deputy Chief David Richardson Jr. of the Los Angeles County Fire Department says in the “Ready! Set! Go!” instruction video.
While fire officials believe many residents affected by the Los Angeles fires were saved by creating a disaster action plan, it remains unclear how many lives may have been spared through acts of preparedness.
Los Angeles emergency officials said the unprecedented fire conditions, including hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and drought conditions that dried out vegetation, formed a perfect storm for the fires.
“No, LA County and all 29 fire departments in our country are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,” said Chief Jim McDonnell of the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday.
He added that there were not enough firefighters to address all the fires that were currently burning at the same time in the County of Los Angeles.
