21-year-old man found dead after going missing in Great Smoky Mountains: NPS
View of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are seen in Tennessee. (Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A 21-year-old man was found dead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a multi-day search, according to the National Park Service.
Ryan Lake was last seen in Nashville on Thursday, with officials locating his vehicle on Saturday, the NPS said in a press release on Sunday.
On Monday, park officials said Lakes was found dead at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Sunday in the Big Creek area of the national park.
“Please respect the privacy of the family during this time,” the NPS said in a press release obtained by ABC News.
According to the NPS website, the Big Creek area is a “dense forest” and a “secluded area on the northeast edge of the park near the North Carolina-Tennessee border.”
The area is also known for “numerous streams and waterfalls,” according to the NPS website.
Park officials previously said “several organizations” were assisting the NPS with search efforts.
To learn more about how to stay safe when embarking on a multi-day hike excursion, click here.
Jessica Leslie, 34, pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court on Monday to a charge of criminal contempt that accused her of willfully disobeying court rules against disclosure of grand jury information, the DOJ said.
Leslie had served on the grand jury as part of the investigation into Read, who was ultimately acquitted of murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend.
Federal prosecutors said that between Aug. 11, 2022, and March 4, 2024, Leslie disclosed “sealed information to unauthorized individuals, including the names of various witnesses appearing before a federal grand jury, the substance of witness testimony and other evidence presented to the grand jury.”
Leslie agreed to a sentence of incarceration for one day, deemed served, and 24 months of supervised release, court records said. Her sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 26.
While the charging document did not specify that Leslie was a grand juror in the Read case, sources confirmed the case to ABC News.
Federal prosecutors did not say how they learned Leslie had disclosed secret grand jury information, but sources said authorities had been monitoring social media accounts and other communications during a case that received widespread attention.
Read was originally indicted by a Boston grand jury in June 2022 in the death of her police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe. Prosecutors alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her car outside the home of a fellow police officer after a night of heavy drinking in January 2022 and then left him to die there during a major blizzard.
The first trial ended in a mistrial last year after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
In a second trial that ended in June, Read was found not guilty of the most serious charges against her — murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene after an accident. She was convicted of operating under the influence of liquor and sentenced to one year of probation.
Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing for the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 21, 2025 in New York City. (Curtis Means – Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Fast fashion giant Shein is conducting an investigation of its internal processes after using the likeness of Luigi Mangione to model clothing.
The company has since taken down the image of Mangione – who is accused of carrying out the assassination-style killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year – and vowed to review their monitoring processes.
“The image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery. We have stringent standards for all listings on our platform. We are conducting a thorough investigation, strengthening our monitoring processes, and will take appropriate action against the vendor in line with our policies,” a Shein spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
In an archived page from Shein’s website, an image of Mangione’s likeness was used to advertise a patterned short-sleeve shirt that retailed for about $10.
The exact origin of the image and how long it was used by Chinese e-commerce giant is unclear. A Shein spokesperson said the image was provided by a “third party vendor,” who they plan to take “appropriate action against.”
An analysis of the image conducted by ABC News could not conclusively determine if artificial intelligence was used to generate the image.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan Street in December. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Mangione is convicted. His trial date has not been set.
Prosecutors at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment about the image.
(CALABASAS, Calif.) — A large oak tree limb fell on a group of kids attending summer camp in Southern California, fatally injuring one child, officials said.
The incident occurred at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas on Wednesday afternoon, authorities noted. Children attending Camp Wildcraft — an art and nature camp based in Los Angeles — were gathering at the end of the day under a large oak tree for shade when they “heard cracks and suddenly a very large branch fell on top of them,” according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
Five people were injured during the incident — an 11-year-old girl with a broken leg, a 5-year-old boy with cuts and a head laceration, a 22-year-old man with abrasions to his head and a 73-year-old man who sustained a concussion, the sheriff’s department said in a statement. An 8-year-old boy who was critically injured was transported to a local hospital and later pronounced deceased, according to the department.
The branch, which officials estimate fell on up to nine kids, was around 25 to 30 feet long, the department said.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the operators of the land where the incident occurred, said in a statement they are “devastated by the tragic loss” and they are closely working with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and other officials to “understand exactly what happened, and we are fully committed to supporting a thorough and transparent investigation.”
“Words cannot express the depth of our sorrow,” the recreation and conservation authority said.
It remains unclear how the oak tree branch fell.
“My heart is with everyone impacted by the tragic situation at King Gillette Ranch. We are actively working to provide all possible support. We hold everyone involved in our thoughts and pray for their safety,” L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement on X.
Officials said they will continue to look into the incident, which they noted is now an accidental death investigation.
Oak trees are protected in the city of Calabasas due to the Oak Tree Ordinance, which requires “reforestation, registration and preservation of all healthy oak trees, unless reasonable and conforming use of a property justifies the removal, transplanting, altering and/or encroachment in the oak tree’s protected zone,” according to the city’s website.
The ordinance also states that any person or entity that “owns, controls or has custody or possession of any real property within the city shall maintain all oak trees and scrub oak habitat located thereon in a state of good health pursuant to the Oak Tree Preservation and Protection Guidelines.”
ABC News’ Jennifer Watts and Kayna Whitworth contributed to this report.
