Suitcase with human remains inside discovered in New York City’s East River
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(NEW YORK) — Human remains have been found in a suitcase that was drifting in the East River in New York City, police said.
The discovery was made on Wednesday at approximately 5:30 p.m. when authorities from the NYPD Harbor Unit were called to the East River close to Governor’s Island and retrieved the suitcase with the human remains inside, according to ABC News’ New York City station WABC.
The suitcase was subsequently taken to Pier 16 where an initial investigation was launched and authorities confirmed the existence of human remains in the suitcase.
Police did not immediately confirm how long the body could have been there for or if they had any leads on how the individual could be but did say that the medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death in due course.
No further details regarding the case have been provided and the investigation into the death is currently ongoing.
(WASHINGTON) — Natalya Gudin and her husband, Alexandr Kirsanov, who coached two young figure skaters aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, had a choice to make before the plane took off: Who would go and who would stay.
The couple decided Kirsanov would fly to Wichita, Kansas, to accompany their skaters at the National Development Camp for figure skating, Gudin told ABC News in an interview.
On Wednesday night, the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter both crashed into the icy Potomac River after colliding in midair, launching a desperate overnight search and rescue mission. No survivors are expected, officials said.
“I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends,” Gudin said.
The last time she spoke to her husband was on Wednesday afternoon, when Kirsanov was at the gate at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.
“It’s time for boarding,” Gudin said her husband told her on the phone. They were supposed to talk again when he landed at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia.
That call never came.
Instead, Gudin said she heard from the mother of one of the other figure skaters aboard the flight that there was a crash. Gudin said they should “immediately go to D.C.”
Just before 9 p.m., while on its final approach to the airport, the regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter with three people aboard. Dive teams and other first responders worked through the night in the frigid waters of the Potomac River, where the aircraft had crashed.
Gudin said she stayed up through the night, hoping for good news.
But by Thursday morning, she learned her husband and their students had likely died. Officials said on Thursday that what began as a rescue rescue mission had become a recovery mission.
Authorities had recovered 30 bodies from the jet and one body from the helicopter as of Thursday afternoon, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said they do not expect any survivors.
On Thursday afternoon, Gudin was at a hotel in Virginia waiting for more information about Kirsanov’s remains.
“I need my husband back,” Gudin said. “I need his body back.”
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(NEW YORK) — Google announced Tuesday that it plans to update the names of two major geographical landmarks in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The tech giant said in an X post it plans to update the name of Alaska’s Denali mountain to Mt. McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” Google said in the X post.
Google said in the thread of posts that it uses the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database to determine the names.
“Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too,” Google added in another post.
This comes after Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day that ordered the name Mt. McKinley be reinstated and the Gulf of Mexico be renamed.
“A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent,” Trump said during his inaugural address.
The move was met with some resistance, even from Trump’s own party. In an X post on Jan. 20, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that she “strongly” disagreed with Trump’s decision.
“Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial,” Murkowski said.
(NEW YORK) — Planning to travel by air in the U.S. later this year? A regular driver’s license may not cut it.
Travelers flying through U.S. airports will soon need to show TSA agents a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, a passport or another form of REAL ID-compliant identification if they want to pass through the security screening.
In an announcement this week, the TSA said it’s sticking with a May 7, 2025, deadline to start enforcing REAL ID requirements. However, officials also said they’re planning for a two-year “phased enforcement” that could allow travelers who don’t have REAL IDs to board flights — with a warning notice.
REAL ID is an effort by the federal government to make driver’s licenses and ID cards more reliable, accurate and standardized. Depending on which state your license or ID is from, REAL IDs will have a gold or black star (or a star in a bear, in the case of California) in the upper portion of the card.
The REAL ID requirement was supposed to go into effect years ago, but was delayed — in part due to state motor vehicle departments working through COVID-19 backlogs.
Federal officials are concerned about how many Americans still don’t have a REAL ID. In January 2024, only about 56% of driver’s licenses and IDs in circulation across the country comply with REAL ID. The Department of Homeland Security estimated that only 61.2% of driver’s licenses and IDs will be REAL ID-compliant by the May 7 deadline.
“We have four months ahead of us,” said Stacey Fitzmaurice, TSA’s executive assistant administrator for operations support. “There’s definitely work to be done, so we want travelers to take the time now to get their REAL ID before the deadline.”
What is REAL ID? The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission recommended the federal government set security standards for states to issue driver’s licenses and identification cards.
“This came out of a recommendation that looked at the events of 9/11 and the vulnerabilities associated with that,” said Fitzmaurice. “The REAL ID requirement is as important today as it first was coming out of the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, and we are in a much better spot today, given that all of the states have implemented the changes for REAL ID and are implementing the REAL ID licenses today.”
How to get it? You can get a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license from your state’s DMV. You must be able to prove who you are by bringing documentation that includes your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, two proofs of residence and lawful status. Documents with this information could include a birth certificate, Social Security card or passport.
Who needs it? While travelers boarding commercial flights need a REAL ID or an alternative form of approved documentation, children under 18 do not need to have a REAL ID.
For foreign travelers, foreign passports are an acceptable form of identification, according to a TSA spokesperson. The spokesperson said noncitizens who are lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence, have conditional permanent residence status, have an approved application for asylum or entered the country as refugees can obtain a REAL ID at their state’s DMV.
REAL ID does not work for international travel. If you’re traveling outside of the country, you’ll still need to bring your passport.
What is the ‘phased enforcement’ of the REAL ID deadline? On Jan. 13, TSA published a final rule sticking with the May 7 deadline but allowing two-year phased enforcement of REAL ID until May 2027.
The agency described the need for a phased deadline.
In the example of TSA, if large numbers of individuals arrive at an airport security checkpoint with noncompliant driver’s licenses or ID cards, they would not be able to proceed through screening, “potentially resulting in missed flights,” the published final rule stated. “Additionally, long lines, confusion, and frustrated travelers at the checkpoint may greatly increase security risks both to passengers and TSA personnel by drawing the resources and attention of TSA personnel away from other passengers, including those known to pose an elevated risk.”
A TSA spokesperson told ABC phased enforcement would “introduce and enable a temporary warning period for those travelers.”
The TSA has not yet unveiled its plan for phased enforcement.
The regulations published this week state that agencies could choose to issue a written or verbal warning if someone attempts to use a non-REAL ID after the deadline.
“We want travelers to be prepared so that they don’t come to the checkpoints in May without a REAL ID-compliant or another acceptable form of ID,” said Fitzmaurice. “If they do — come May — not have their real ID, they could experience delays…We need to verify everyone’s identity who is going through the TSA checkpoints. And for those individuals who don’t bring identification or do not have acceptable forms of identification, we oftentimes will have to do additional requirements before they are able to go through security.”
