YouTube survival challenge contestant rescued after spending nearly 18 hours in the woods: Police
A 36-year-old woman, who was participating in a YouTube survival challenge, was rescued after spending nearly 18 hours in the woods, according to Michigan State Police. Michigan State Police.
(MICHIGAN) — A 36-year-old woman who was participating in a YouTube survival challenge was rescued after spending nearly 18 hours in the woods, according to Michigan State Police.
State Police Troopers on Saturday responded to the Pigeon River State Forest to assist the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office in locating a “woman missing from California,” officials said in a statement.
The woman, who was “participating in a YouTube outdoor survival contest,” left the “designated base camp to search for water” at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday, and when she did not return, the contest hosts “initiated their own search efforts,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
After “unsuccessful attempts to locate her,” someone called 911 at around 5 a.m. on Saturday, which prompted a “coordinated search effort” looking through the “dense forest,” officials said.
At approximately 10:40 a.m. on Saturday, officials located the missing woman and “directed the canine units to her,” police said. She was located within a “swampy area” and had been missing in the “cold and rain for almost 18 hours,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities were able to “walk her out of the woods safely,” according to police said. She was released with no serious injuries, the sheriff’s office noted.
Officials did not identify the woman in their public statements, but applauded the rescue effort.
“Great work by all first responders on the scene,” police said.
In a statement sent to ABC News, YouTube said it had “no involvement or awareness of this event, and YouTube does not provide or contribute to this type of content.”
(MCALLEN, Texas) — A suspect is dead following an active shooter incident at the entrance of the Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen, Texas, according to a Department of Homeland Security official.
Border Patrol agents and local police “neutralized” the shooter, according to DHS.
A photo of the door of the building showed the damage from bullets striking the glass.
One McAllen police officer was struck in the leg, apparently when officers returned fire at the suspect, according to two officials familiar with the incident.
City officials said all flights at nearby McAllen International Airport are delayed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(KANSAS CITY, Kan.) — A 26-year-old Kansas police officer was killed when police say a suspect intentionally plowed into him while fleeing authorities during a pursuit.
Kansas City, Kansas, Police Officer Hunter Simoncic was deploying stop sticks in response to the pursuit early Tuesday when the suspect drove toward him and struck him, then continued to flee the area, police said.
Simoncic was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The suspect — Dennis Mitchell III, 31, of Kansas City — was taken into custody after crashing the vehicle and was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
“This was an intentional act, a willful act, to evade custody by striking the officer,” Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman said during a press briefing Tuesday, calling the death of the officer “devastating.”
“It’s just difficult. It makes no sense,” he said. “I have no words for it.”
The incident unfolded shortly around 12:30 a.m., when officers with the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department were dispatched to a call of shots fired, according to the KBI. Officers shortly found Mitchell unconscious in the driver’s seat of a truck, the KBI said.
“As officers approached the driver, he woke up and fled the scene,” the KBI said in a release.
Mitchell abandoned the vehicle for another truck that was “stashed in the woods” and continued fleeing from officers, Oakman said.
During the pursuit, Simoncic exited his vehicle to stage stop sticks, in an attempt to safely puncture and deflate the tires on the fleeing vehicle, police said.
“The suspect continued through the stop sticks and veered his vehicle directly at Officer Simoncic, striking him at the scene,” Oakman said.
Shortly before 1 a.m., Mitchell crashed the truck, KBI said. He was taken into custody and treated at an area hospital before being booked into the Wyandotte County Jail, according to the KBI.
He also faces charges of vehicular homicide, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, theft, criminal possession of a firearm, and aggravated failure to appear, the KBI said. Formal charges are pending, police said. It is unclear if he has an attorney at this time.
Police later learned that both trucks driven by the suspect had been reported stolen, according to the KBI.
Oakman said the suspect has several outstanding warrants, but did not go into detail amid the investigation, which is being conducted by the KBI.
Simoncic was following protocol in deploying the stage sticks, the police chief said.
“This was a situation that we do across the metro thousands of times a year, deploying stop sticks, and this individual felt the need to run Hunter down and kill him,” Oakman said. “That is not a vehicle accident. This was an intentional act of homicide on a police officer.”
Simoncic, who was from Galesburg, Kansas, graduated from the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department Police Academy in 2023. He is survived by his mother, father and brother, Oakman said.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner condemned the “shameful acts of violence” in the community.
“I went to the hospital — what words do you say to a family, a brother, a mother and a father, grieving, knowing that that life has been snuffed out and it didn’t have to be?” Garner said during the press briefing.
Simoncic volunteered to read and mentor children in local schools, the mayor said, adding, “That says a lot about the type of individual he was.”
“My heart hurts for this police department, for our chief, for his command staff, for all the men and women of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, for all our public safety professionals, for our community,” Garner said. “I just don’t have a lot of words to say to comfort this community. And sometimes, saying, ‘Thoughts and prayers,’ just isn’t enough. It’s just going to take a lot more than that.”
(FALL RIVER, Mass.) — Nine people have been killed and dozens are hurt as a fire tore through an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, officials said.
About 50 firefighters, including about 30 who were off duty, descended on the scene of the Sunday night fire at the Gabriel House assisted-living facility, officials said.
Some people were rescued through their windows at the hard-to-access building, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said.
Thirty people, including five firefighters, were taken to local hospitals after the five-alarm fire, Bacon said.
One person is in critical condition, Bacon said. The five firefighters have already been released, officials said.
The building — which was home to about 70 people — is now clear, officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. One official briefed on the probe told ABC News that, as a preliminary matter, the fire does not appear to have been set intentionally. More likely, the source said, it appears to have been caused by some sort of electrical or mechanical problem.
It’s not clear if the sprinklers went off, officials said.
“My heart goes out to those who are waking up to the most horrific news imaginable about their loved ones this morning,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement on Monday. “I’m grateful to the firefighters and first responders whose heroic efforts saved lives. We are all praying for those who lost loved ones and for the full recovery of those who were injured.”
“A full investigation is already underway,” she continued. “I know the people of Fall River are strong and resilience, and now is the time for us to all come together to support one another through this terrible tragedy.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Matt Foster and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
