(CUSTER COUNTY, Idaho) — A search is underway for an 89-year-old hiker in Idaho who was last seen over a week ago when he was dropped off at a trailhead by a family member, according to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.
Bing Olbum left from Hunter Creek Trailhead, part of the Salmon-Challis National Forest, on Aug. 1 and has not returned to the exit point of the Mcdonald Creek area, officials said.
Olbum had five days of supplies with him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Olbum was reported missing to the sheriff’s office on Aug. 6. Crews were out on the trail searching for him Friday, while helicopters were assisting with the search from the air, according to the sheriff’s office.
Search crews have not found any of Olbum’s belongings on the trail, official said.
He has hiked in other areas, but this was his first time on this trail, according to the sheriff’s office.
(BRIDGETON, N.J.) — Police are seeking a woman who hopped a fence surrounding a tiger enclosure at a New Jersey zoo.
Video of the incident showed the unidentified woman reaching through the enclosure’s fence at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton.
The woman can be seen attempting to pet the animal, then jumping back when it appears to momentarily become aggressive.
“A female at the Cohanzick Zoo went over the wooden fence at the tiger enclosure and began enticing the tiger almost getting bit by putting her hand through the wire enclosure,” police said.
It was not immediately clear when the incident took place, but police released the footage Tuesday.
At the end of the video, the woman is seen turning and hopping back over the wooden fence and walking away.
They also shared a photo of a sign in the area of the enclosure, which warned visitors not to climb over the fence.
Police are asking anyone who recognizes the woman in the video to contact them at 856-451-0033.
(NEW YORK) — A Connecticut woman was found dead at her home on Wednesday, hours before she was scheduled to be sentenced for killing her husband.
Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March in the 2017 death of her husband, 84-year-old Pierluigi Bigazzi, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Police found the University of Connecticut Health doctor and professor dead in the basement of the couple’s Burlington home while responding to a welfare check call from his employer, who had not heard from him for several months, prosecutors said.
Kosuda-Bigazzi also pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny for continuing to receive her husband’s pay following his death, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Investigators found that checks from her husband’s employer were deposited into the couple’s joint checking account from his death in July 2017 until the discovery of his body in February 2018, prosecutors said.
Kosuda-Bigazzi’s hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Her death was “not anticipated,” according to her attorney.
“We were honored to be her legal counsel and did our very best to defend her in a complex case for the past six years,” her attorney, Patrick Tomasiewicz, said in a statement. “She was a very independent woman who was always in control of her own destiny.”
Connecticut State Police said they have opened an “untimely death” investigation in the incident.
Troopers responded to her home Wednesday morning after an individual reported at approximately 10:37 a.m. ET that they were at her residence but were unable to make contact with her, state police said.
With help from the local fire department, troopers entered the residence and found Kosuda-Bigazzi unresponsive inside, state police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
No additional details were released by state police.
ABC News has reached out to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice for comment.
Kosuda-Bigazzi had been out on $1.5 million bail while awaiting sentencing.
Police found handwritten documents at the home in which Kosuda-Bigazzi claimed she had killed her husband in self-defense, according to court records.
Bigazzi’s death was ruled a homicide by blunt injuries to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Bigazzi was a UConn Health faculty member in the School of Medicine for over 40 years. Kosuda-Bigazzi also worked at UConn Health from 1986 to 1998 as a science instructor and she then volunteered, helping her husband through the summer of 2017, school officials said.
(NEW YORK) — Doug and Ashley Benefield seemed to have a fairy tale romance — a beautiful ballerina swept off her feet by a dashing older man, married only 13 days after they started dating. However, less than four years later, Doug would be dead, killed by Ashley in what she claims was self-defense.
The trial is playing out in a Florida courtroom, with prosecutors accusing Ashley of wanting sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson.
“This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother,” prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell said. “Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense.”
However, Ashley Benefield’s attorney argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship, stating that Doug Benefield was a manipulative, controlling and abusive man.
Doug and Ashley met in 2016 at a political event. They instantly connected despite their 30-year age difference. Doug was a recently widowed father to a teenage daughter named Eva.
Doug went as far as reversing his vasectomy so he and Ashley could have a child together. However, their whirlwind romance started to crumble as the ballet company they started together failed, and Ashley claiming Doug became abusive.
“Ms. Benefield was alleging that Doug had been violent toward her,” Stephanie Murphy, a former attorney for Doug, said. “She alleged that he had hit the dog, fired a gun into the ceiling. The biggest allegation was that he was poisoning her and their child in utero with heavy metals.”
On May 6, 2020, Ashley filed a restraining order against Doug.
Things came to a head on Sept. 27, 2020. Doug was helping Ashley load a U-Haul at her mother’s house. They were planning on moving to Maryland, with Doug living separately.
According to court documents filed by the defense, Ashley claims Doug struck her, hitting her on the side of her head, and then tried to keep her from leaving the room.
“When I saw her after the incident, there was edema swelling on the side of her face,” Dr. Barbara Russell said.
Ashley claims she feared for her life, shot Doug multiple times in self-defense, and then ran to her neighbor’s house.
But Eva Benefield told ABC News’ 20/20 that she doesn’t believe it was self-defense.
“If it was self-defense, why did she shoot — why shoot multiple times?” Eva said. “If I was defending myself in a situation I would shoot once and I wouldn’t shoot to kill. I wouldn’t take a life away. And she clearly wanted to take my dad’s life away and ruin her own child’s life and ruin my life.”
The high-profile case has been coined “the Black Swan murder trial,” named after the movie starring Natalie Portman. The movie tells the story of a tortured artist whose quest for perfection leads to mental instability. Ashley’s ballet background inspired the title.
“I think what it comes down to is that ‘the black swan’ has a catchy ring and it sensationalizes my life and my situation, and so they ran with it,” Ashley told ABC News before her trial. “And it’s sad to me that people who don’t even know me have this idea of a monster when they think of me.”
She decided to speak exclusively with ABC because she wanted to help other women who had gone through similar experiences.
“I am really doing it for other people because I know I’m not alone in this,” Ashley said. “There are women all over the country, all over the world, who have gone through or are going through hard situations behind closed doors. The statistic is like 1 in 3, 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence of some sort in their lifetime. And until you have been there or it’s someone that you know and care about, it’s not something that you think about.”
During testimony, Ashley alleged that Doug had been violent toward her.
In submitted text messages, Doug admitted to punching their dog and shooting a gun in the home, writing, “I shot the gun… How many times did I tell you I was having a nervous breakdown?”
Outside the court, advocates for survivors of domestic violence have rallied around Ashley, including her mother and 6-year-old daughter, Emerson.
The case is now in the hands of the jury of five women and one man. Ashley Benefield is facing 25 years to life in prison.
“It’s a horrible reality. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody,” Ashley said. “Emerson’s already been through a lot. I can’t imagine how this would affect her if things were to go poorly at trial.”