Missing Texas college student found safe, campus police say
Brianna Arango is seen in an undated photo released by the Southern Methodist University Police Department. Southern Methodist University Police Department
(DALLAS) — A missing Texas college student has been found safe, police said Friday.
Brianna Arango, 21, a student at Southern Methodist University, was reported missing on Thursday, according to police.
A family member contacted SMU Police at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday to report that Arango did not meet with them as planned earlier that afternoon, campus police said. She had a class at 1 p.m. that she also did not attend, police said.
She was last seen that day on the Dallas campus around 12:30 p.m. near Harold Simmons Hall, according to the Southern Methodist University Police Department.
SMU Police said in an advisory on Thursday that they were working to locate her and were “treating this as a matter of concern” while asking for the campus community’s help in locating her.
Campus police updated Friday that they had located Arangao and she is safe.
The incident remains under investigation, police said.
“We know this situation was concerning for many in our community, and we are grateful for your attention and assistance,” SMU Police said. “This remains an active investigation, and law enforcement is limited in the details that can be shared at this time.”
Prince William County police seal the street in front of the home of suspected Jan. 6, 2021, pipe bomber on Dec. 4, 2025, in Woodbridge, Virginia. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal magistrate judge did not immediately rule Tuesday on whether the Virginia man charged with placing pipe bombs outside of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars pending trial, after saying both prosecutors and the defendant’s attorneys raised important legal issues that he will have to take under further consideration.
During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones urged Judge Matthew Sharbaugh to reject arguments from suspect Brian Cole Jr.’s attorneys that he would pose no danger if released and remained under house arrest — noting such a setting was similar to where he had carried out his alleged planning to plant the pipe bombs in the first place.
Cole was arrested by federal authorities earlier this month following a massive probe that had stymied investigators for almost five years. He appeared in court on Dec. 5, where a judge detailed the two charges he currently faces. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years if he is convicted.
Cole’s attorneys had urged the judge to release him pending trial, arguing the government has presented no evidence that shows he poses a danger to the general public.
Cole, who has not entered a plea, allegedly told investigators in a lengthy confession that he wasn’t targeting the joint session of Congress that was convening to certify former President Joe Biden’s election win, according to previous court filing from the Department of Justice.
On Tuesday, Jones said that on the morning of his arrest, Cole allegedly wiped the memory from his phone for the 943rd time since December 2020, just days before he allegedly planted the devices.
“This is not a case that involves an isolated, impulsive act,” Jones said. “This is a case in which the government’s request for detention is based off of a pattern of concerning and disturbing conduct, including planned acts of extreme political violence, experimentation with explosive materials, destruction of evidence, persistent inclination and proclivity for hiding incriminating information from those around him, including his family.”
After Cole saw himself on the news in videos released by the FBI seeking tips on his identity, he said in the interview that he discarded all of his bomb-making materials at a nearby dump and said he never told anyone about his actions in the nearly five years since Jan. 6, according to the filing.
Cole’s attorney Mario Williams argued the tally of instances where he deleted his phone messages was being taken out of context and suggested it was more attributable to his diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum and having obsessive compulsive disorder.
Judge Sharbaugh said he did find it “concerning” the evidence put forward by the government that allegedly showed Cole continued to purchase bomb-making components even after he allegedly placed the bombs outside the RNC and DNC.
Sharbaugh also questioned whether the government had made any determination about what the impact or “blast radius” of the pipe bombs would have been had they detonated. Jones responded that it wasn’t entirely clear given the number of variables at play with pipe bombs, but that for anyone in near proximity it could be “life threatening.”
Throughout the arguments, Williams seemed to provide a partial roadmap for how they plan to present Cole’s defense should the case move forward to trial. Williams accused the government of overstating its evidence of Cole’s apparent radicalization leading up to Jan. 6, saying it had put forward no evidence similar to what prosecutors were able to gather in their investigations of the Capitol riot defendants who often had texts or social media activity that included fringe or even violent political rhetoric.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Sharbaugh did not provide a specific timeline on when he would expect to rule on Cole’s detention, but said he would seek to do so “expeditiously.”
Ballots arrive at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operation Center on election night on November 5, 2024 in Fairburn, Georgia. Megan Varner/Getty Images
(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — A top Fulton County official on Thursday blasted the Trump administration for the FBI’s seizure of 2020 election ballots, saying the move is about “intimidation and distraction.”
County officials said the FBI seized original 2020 voting records Wednesday while serving a search warrant at the county’s Elections Hub and Operations Center.
The development comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there was voter fraud in the 2020 election, specifically in Georgia, that contributed to his election loss. Georgia officials audited and certified the results following the election.
“Every audit, every recount, every court ruling has confirmed what we the people of Fulton County already knew: Our elections were fair and accurate and every legal vote was counted,” Robb Pitts, the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, said at a press briefing Thursday.
“These ongoing efforts are about intimidation and distraction, not facts,” Pitts said.
Last month, the Justice Department sued Fulton County for access to its 2020 election records, including ballot stubs and signature envelopes.
Asked why the county did not turn over the records then, Pitts said “there is a fight” over the ballots, but that county attorneys reviewed the warrant and said was in their best interest to comply.
“Fulton County has nothing to hide,” he said, “Fulton County elections are fair and lawful, and the outcome of the 2020 election will not change.”
The search warrant authorized the FBI to search for “All physical ballots from the 2020 General Election,” in addition to tabulator tapes from voting machines and 2020 voter rolls, among other documents, according to a copy of the warrant obtained by ABC affiliate WSB.
The warrant says the material “constitutes evidence of the commission of a criminal offense” and had been “used as the means of committing a criminal offense.” It was signed by federal magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas.
Specifically, the warrant listed possible violations of two statutes — one which requires election records to be retained for a certain amount of time, and another which outlines criminal penalties for people, including election officials, who intimidate voters or to knowingly procure false votes or false voter registrations.
Stock image of gavel. (Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images)
(HONOLULU) — Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in the trial of a doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a Hawaii hiking trail last year.
Gerhardt Konig has been charged with second-degree attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The trial is set to get underway at 9 a.m. local time in Honolulu.
The anesthesiologist is accused of beating his wife, Arielle Konig, with a rock on the Pali Puka Trail on Oahu on March 24, 2025.
He allegedly pushed her and hit her in the head with a rock approximately 10 times while grabbing the back of her head and smashing her face into the ground, according to the probable cause statement for his arrest. He also allegedly attempted to use two syringes on her, according to the document.
Arielle Konig suffered injuries, including large lacerations to her face and head and was hospitalized in serious condition following the alleged attack, according to the probable cause document.
Gerhardt Konig has been in jail since his arrest. A judge denied his motion to dismiss the indictment last month.
Arielle Konig’s attorney has previously told reporters that she intends to testify during the trial. She filed for divorce in May 2025, online court records show.
In a petition for a restraining order filed shortly after the arrest, she said Gerhardt Konig had previously accused her of having an affair, “which led to extreme jealousy on his part” and led him to try to “control and monitor all of my communications.”
Konig worked as an anesthesiologist on Maui. Following his arrest, Maui Health said his medical staff privileges at Maui Memorial Medical Center have been suspended pending investigation.
