At least 10 dead after record-breaking snowstorm swept across the South
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(NEW YORK) — The Gulf Coast is digging out from a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm that struck from Texas to Florida, closing airports, crippling roadways and leaving freezing temperatures in its wake.
At least 10 deaths have been attributed to the storm and accompanying cold blast.
In Dale County, Alabama, one person was killed in a house fire after leaving their stove on to keep them warm and a second person was killed in a car accident, according to the local corner.
One person died from hypothermia in Georgia and two people died in the cold in Austin, Texas, officials said.
Southwest of San Antonio, five people died when a tractor-trailer collided with other vehicles on an icy road, the Texas Department of Safety said.
This storm brought more snow to some cities than any other storm in at least the last 130 years.
Florida saw its most snow on record, with 9.8 inches of snow recorded in Milton, northeast of Pensacola.
Pensacola also saw an all-time record for the city with 8.9 inches.
Texas experienced its first-ever blizzard warning. Beaumont, Texas, recorded 5.2 inches of snow — an all-time record. Mobile, Alabama, saw an all-time record high of 7.5 inches.
In Louisiana, Baton Rouge saw 7.6 inches.
New Orleans recorded 8 inches, marking the most snow in the city since 1895.
And the danger isn’t over. An extreme cold warning is in effect Thursday morning from Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle, with temperatures dropping as low as 12 degrees in parts of the Gulf Coast.
For Louisiana, this is the coldest it’s been in over 100 years, state climatologist Jay Grymes said.
While snow has melted in many areas, the freeze remains a serious threat. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Joe Donahue is urging “everyone to avoid unnecessary travel.”
Many of the areas hit hard by the storm will thaw soon; temperatures are expected to climb to the 50s and 60s by Sunday.
(OHIO) — Four Chilean nationals were arrested in connection with the burglary that occurred at Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home in December, according to court records.
On Jan. 10, 2025, a special agent with the Ohio State Highway Patrol spotted suspicious luggage being carried into a vehicle outside of a hotel in Fairborn, Ohio, according to court records.
When the agent pulled the car over, Alexander Chavez, Bastian Morales, Jordan Sanchez and Sergio Cabello, allegedly showed the agent fake identification. The car smelled of marijuana and it was later confirmed that the four men were in the country illegally, court records filed in Clark County, Ohio, say.
When police searched the car, they say they found “two Husky automatic center punch pools wrapped in a cloth towel behind the glove box.”
Police say these tools are used by South American theft groups to break glass and enter houses.
The affidavit says that in the vehicle police found an “old LSU shirt and Bengals hat believed to be stolen from the December 9, 2024 burglary in Hamilton County, Ohio.”
On Dec. 9, Joe Burrow’s home in Hamilton County, Ohio, was burglarized, according to police records.
The affidavit says the men were brought to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for further questioning. When a detective called one of the cell phone numbers that was placed at the scene via cellphone data, Morales’ phone started ringing, according to court records.
Morales was also seen allegedly carrying a Louis Vuitton style bag and was previously identified “as a male possibly involved in a burglary offense” on the day of the burglary at Burrow’s home.
“This is an ongoing investigating involving multiple burglaries across the United States of America, specifically targeting multi-million dollar residences and your affiant and brother investigators have arrested at least six different South American burglary groups, five of which were Chilean nationals,” a criminal complaint says.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers found this sinkhole while searching for a missing woman; Pennsylvania State Police
(UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa.) — Rescuers are desperately searching for a grandmother they believe fell into a deep sinkhole — holding out hope of finding her despite the difficult rescue conditions.
Elizabeth Pollard, who was last seen Monday evening, has not yet been found amid the complicated search effort in Unity Township, Pennsylvania, police said Wednesday morning.
The sinkhole is believed to be tied to an abandoned coal mine and formed while Pollard was walking in the area, officials said. Search crews have been able to make entry into the mine area, though the integrity of the mine has been compromised by the water they are using to break up the ground, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said during a briefing Wednesday.
The search will continue as long as needed pending any safety concerns, though the digging process may be slower now, he said.
“Hopefully she’s in an air pocket,” Limani said during a briefing Tuesday evening, noting that there have been incidents in the region where people have survived similar situations in underground mines. “This is a rescue to me until something says that it’s not.”
Rescue teams from nearby areas have joined forces, swapping shifts to keep the effort going. Oxygen tankers are being delivered regularly to supply the mine shaft, and crews have made progress entering the underground area.
The conditions are tough, with clay-like soil making it difficult to dig, but rescuers remain determined.
“We’re doing everything we can, and no one is giving up,” said Limani.
He added, “It’s heartbreaking for her family and everyone here. But we’re not stopping. We’re all hoping for a miracle.”
Pollard was reported missing by a family member shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, Limani said at an earlier press conference Tuesday.
Pollard was last seen around 5 p.m. Monday, Limani said. The family member said Pollard had gone out to look for her cat Monday afternoon but has not been heard from since, he said.
Pollard’s vehicle was located shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday with her 5-year-old granddaughter inside, though Pollard was nowhere to be seen, police said.
“At that point in time we realized this could be a very bad situation,” Limani said.
While searching for Pollard in the area, troopers found an apparent sinkhole with an opening about the “size of a manhole” 15 to 20 feet away from the vehicle, Limani said.
Emergency responders were called to the scene in what is currently being considered a rescue mission, authorities said. Local firefighters, a technical rescue team and the state’s Bureau of Mine Safety are among those working alongside an excavation team to remove dirt to access the sinkhole, Limani said.
The current evidence points toward Pollard being in the sinkhole, Limani said.
“We don’t feel a reason that we should be looking elsewhere,” he said.
The sinkhole appears to have been created during the time that Pollard was walking around, Limani said, noting there is no evidence the hole was there before she started looking for her cat.
The area where the sinkhole formed has a “very thin layer of earth” and appears to have been deteriorating “for a long time,” Limani said.
“It appears to be mostly just grass interwoven where she had stepped,” he said. “There wasn’t much earth at all to hold up that space.”
A camera inserted into the opening of the sinkhole showed a “big void, and it was all different depths,” Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham told reporters during the earlier press briefing.
A camera did not pick up any sounds, though authorities did see a “modern-type” shoe in the sinkhole, according to Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha.
“The process is long and it is tedious,” Graham said of the search effort.
The mine last operated in 1952, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The depth to the coal seam in this area is approximately 20 feet, a department spokesperson said.
Once the scene is clear, the department will investigate the site “to determine if this issue is the result of historic mine subsidence,” the spokesperson said.
Pollard’s granddaughter is safe, despite the cold temperatures overnight, and is currently with her parents, Limani said.
The family is asking for privacy at this time and is hoping for “good news,” he said.
“We need to get a little bit lucky,” Limani said. “We’re going to do everything we can.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul and Jason Volack contributed to this report.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — A former nurse who was employed at the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, was charged on Friday with malicious wounding and felony child abuse for allegedly intentionally injuring an infant at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman of Chesterfield County was charged with one count of felony child neglect which carries up to 10 years in prison, as well as one count of felony malicious wounding for an injury sustained by an infant which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor, whose office is prosecuting this case.
The charges are connected to an incident that allegedly occurred on Nov. 10, 2024.
According to WRIC, the ABC affiliate in Richmond, Strotman was arraigned on Friday.
Public defender Scott Cardani, who is representing Strotman, told ABC News on Tuesday that she has not yet entered a plea and he declined to comment on the charges. According to court records, Strotman’s next hearing is scheduled for March 24, 2025. She was denied bond, according to Taylor’s office, and was ordered by the court to not have any contact with children under the age of 18.
Taylor told ABC News on Tuesday that while Strotman was charged in connection to a single incident, the investigation is ongoing and law enforcement officials have so far identified seven potential victims, but added that the number could increase.
“Thus far, we have four babies identified from 2023 and three babies identified from 2024,” Taylor said. “However, both Henrico Police Division and myself have made public statements encouraging families to reach out if they believe that their babies were impacted. Thus, this number may increase.”
Taylor said that her office has been in touch with the families who have been identified so far, but officials did not name the alleged potential victims involved in this case.
According to the Henrico Police Department, law enforcement officials began to probe this case after the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital launched an internal investigation into “unexplained fractures” sustained by babies in the hospital’s NICU from 2023 to 2024.
“All of the previously closed cases related to these incidents have been reopened as part of the recent broader investigation,” Henrico Police said in a statement on Dec. 31 2024. “All of the families involved in this current broader investigation have been notified, to include those from 2023.”
Dominique Hackey, a father of twins, told WRIC in an interview published on Jan. 1 that his son Noah’s case is one of those that has been reopened.
“We want to make it clear that Noah didn’t have a bone disease. It wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t from his birth,” Hackey said. “Somebody did this to our son and we’re going to find out who did this.”
As this case gained national attention, the Henrico Police Department dispelled rumors that the alleged victims were targeted based on their racial identity, telling ABC News in a statement on Tuesday those allegations are “not factual” based on the “preliminary investigation.”
Henrico Chief of Police Eric D. English said that police recognize that this case has generated feelings and emotions, but asked the public for “patience as our detectives work to investigate every piece of evidence in connection to these cases.”
As part of the investigation, police said that they are reviewing dozens of videos from inside the NICU as they pursue a wider investigation with the assistance of Henrico’s Child Protective Services (Department of Social Services), the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General.
A spokesperson for the Henrico Police Department confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing.
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital announced on their website that the hospital’s NICU is “not admitting new patients” at this time.
“We have been assisting law enforcement in their ongoing investigation and will continue to do so. Any media questions or inquiries about that investigation should be directed to law enforcement,” the hospital said in a statement on Jan. 3. “We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation.”
ABC News reached out to a hospital spokesperson for further comment.
