Powerball lottery ticket forms at Bluebird Liquor on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 in Hawthorne, CA. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot prize has grown to $1 billion, a cash value of $457.7 million, for Saturday night’s drawing.
This is the game’s seventh largest prize ever, according to Powerball. The largest prize ever was $2.04 billion won on Nov. 7, 2022.
The Powerball jackpot was last hit on Sept. 6 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas that split a $1.787 billion prize. There have been 41 consecutive drawings with no wins.
The Powerball jackpot last rolled Wednesday night, when no ticket matched the five white balls — 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 — and red Powerball 22.
If a player wins on Saturday night, they will have the choice between annual payments worth an estimated $1 billion or an immediate $457.7 million lump sum payment.
According to Powerball, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
The drawing will be held just before 11 p.m. ET in the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.
(NEW YORK) — Another atmospheric river is forecast to pound the Pacific Northwest with several inches of rain on Monday and Tuesday just after a short break in the rain.
Most river levels in Washington and Oregon are now beginning to fall and forecast to remain below major flood stage in the next few days.
A break in heavy rain is forecast on Saturday for Washington and Oregon, but rain will be back on Sunday with the heaviest falling Monday and Tuesday.
Some rivers are forecast to rise again on Wednesday due to this next atmospheric river event. There is no end in sight for this pattern — this is a classic La Nina pattern, and this is a La Nina winter.
Some models are forecasting another 5 to 10 inches of rain in the next seven days for the Pacific Northwest.
Eastern arctic blast Snow and cold alerts are issued for 27 states from Montana to New Jersey and down to Georgia.
A fast-moving storm system is expected to drop several inches of snow on Saturday into the night from the Midwest to the Northeast.
Snow will fall mostly in the Midwest from Iowa to Ohio and Indiana on Saturday, missing Chicago but hitting hard Indianapolis and Cincinnati where a winter storm warning has been issued.
Parts of the Midwest could see up to a half a foot of snow.
Later Saturday, in the early evening, snow and rain will arrive to I-95 corridor.
Rain will change to snow in New York City and Philadelphia late Saturday with heaviest snow falling after midnight and into the early morning hours.
A winter weather advisory has been issued for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City for 1 to as much as 4 inches of snow.
If New York City and Philadelphia get at least 2 inches of snow, this would be the heaviest snow this early in the season since 2018.
Washington D.C. already saw snow this season, and is forecast to get 1 to 3 inches.
The snow is over by mid morning for the East Coast as the bitter cold takes over.
Extreme cold watches and warnings have been issued from the Dakotas all the way to Alabama.
In the Dakotas and Minnesota, the wind chill could drop as low as 45 below zero with actual temperature in the 20s below zero.
Even for Charleston, South Carolina, an extreme cold watch has been issued, where the wind chill could drop to 10 degrees.
In this handout satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Melissa churns northwest through the Caribbean Sea captured at 17:00Z on October 27, 2025. (NOAA via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Celebrities are dedicating their voices, time and talents to helping the island of Jamaica recover from one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the Atlantic basin.
On Oct. 28, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph. The monster storm then swept across western Jamaica, bringing catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge throughout the island.
The destruction left in Melissa’s wake was extensive and widespread. Dozens of people were killed. Entire communities were either demolished or isolated from the direct hit. Power and water was cut off for much nearly 500,000 people. Debris and floodwaters littered roadways.
Officials made clear that the rebuilding process — still not complete from Hurricane Beryl’s impact in 2024 — would be lengthy. When prominent members of the entertainment industry got word of the devastation, they rallied to be of service.
“When I finally connected with some of my folks on the ground there, and they relayed the devastation … it definitely mobilized, for me personally, that I have to get boots on the ground to help,” Mona Scott-Young, famed producer of the “Love and Hip Hop” series, told ABC News.
On Monday, Scott-Young, along with rapper Busta Rhymes and actor and R&B singer Tyrese Gibson, flew to the island aboard a cargo plane filled with supplies.
Upon touching down, they immediately got to work — coordinating where the assistance was needed, getting their hands dirty and even using the gifts that made them famous to raise spirits within the community.
In Norwood, a community in St. James, Rhymes helped to rebuild a roof on a school, putting nails into the wood himself. In the underserved community of Flankers, Rhymes held an impromptu performance. A soccer game was also organized for the kids.
Over the multi-day mission trip, the aim was to lift spirits but also help those affected to gain a sense of normalcy.
“The spirit of the people of Jamaica is still there — just as strong,” Gibson said.
They worked with nonprofits such as Helping Hand for Relief and Development and the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, as well as local groups — a collective of people and organizations who love Jamaica.
Scott-Young “led the charge” and was instrumental in helping to organize such a large relief effort, Rhymes said.
Monday marked the second trip for Scott-Young and Gibson, who were on the ground in Jamaica within two weeks after Melissa battered the island.
They knew that once the hurricane passed, it wouldn’t be long before the public’s focus was no longer on Jamaica.
“We knew that people’s attention span towards the people of Jamaica was gonna be as short as it is on Instagram,” Gibson said.
During the first trip, Scott-Young and Gibson helped to survey the landscape and assess the needs of the island, Gibson said.
When the pair arrived in Flankers, a neighborhood in Montego Bay, they came across a medical center that had no medicine.
That’s when they realized they needed to step up their efforts. Once Rhymes became involved, the scale of the project multiplied exponentially, Gibson said. While they brought about a half a pallet of supplies on the initial trip, they were equipped with more than 50 pallets this week due to Rhymes’s far-reaching influence, Gibson said.
It was “incredibly gratifying” for the group to show up to the bare medical center with medicine, diapers and other provisions needed to care for the community, Scott-Young said.
Each has a direct connection to the island, they said.
Rhymes is Jamaican and has family and friends — many of whom he grew up with — who were affected by the hurricane.
“My whole family is Jamaican,” Rhymes said. “Everything about Busta Rhymes that y’all have known to grow and love was bought up and raised in a Jamaican household.”
Scott-Young, who is from Haiti, felt an interconnectedness with another Caribbean nation, especially as a regular vacation spot for her family, but also knows personally knows people who have lost everything. Gibson has a close family friend who is Jamaican and said he feels a closeness to the culture and its people.
What they witnessed has changed them forever and inspired them to do more, they said.
“This was exactly what God asked me to do,” Gibson said.
The island is still in a state of devastation. People are sleeping on the ground under tarps, Scott-Young said. Basic necessities, including communication and WiFi, are not yet up and running. Diseases are starting to spread, as is a growing rodent problem.
Many communities, especially those on the hillsides, “have not been touched,” Gibson said. They still don’t have water, electricity or any significant aid because the focus is primarily on the epicenter, where the hurricane hit the hardest, Scott-Young said.
Future efforts will especially be focused on reaching the communities in the surrounding areas that have not been the priority over the past six weeks.
The three are already planning more trips to Jamaica and enlisting the assistance of other celebrities connected to the island. Rhymes commended artists Shaggy and Sean Paul, who are both Jamaican, on their endeavors to help their home island as well.
“We’re gonna continue to do our part,” Gibson said. “…The tragedy is not over.”
Brian Walshe during the murder trial of Ana Walshe on December 9, 2025. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(DEDHAM, Mass.) — The jury began deliberations on Friday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe, a father of three accused of killing and dismembering his wife.
The Massachusetts man is accused of killing his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe, around New Year’s Day in 2023. He pleaded guilty last month, ahead of the trial, to lying to police following her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body, though he denies he killed his wife and has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Ana Walshe’s body has not been found.
After deliberating for nearly four hours on Friday following closing arguments, the jurors were dismissed for the day without a verdict. They are set to resume their deliberations Monday morning.
Prior to the closing arguments, Judge Diane Freniere told the jury during instructions that they will be able to choose to convict on second-degree murder, not just the first-degree murder charge the prosecution has argued for and includes the element of premeditation.
During the trial’s opening statements last week, defense attorneys said Brian Walshe found his wife dead in bed on New Year’s Day in 2023 and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance — but maintained he did not kill her.
Brian Walshe allegedly killed and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her remains in dumpsters, according to prosecutors. The internet history on his devices on Jan. 1, 2023, included searches such as “best way to dispose of a body,” “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” prosecutors said.
Defense attorney Larry Tipton argued the Commonwealth hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brian Walshe — whom he described as a “loving father and loving husband” — killed his wife or there was any motive to do so.
Positing what might account for the “unspeakable” internet searches and how someone could “dispose of the body of the woman that he adored,” Tipton said, “Could it be something that was sudden, something that was unexpected, something which was unbelievable, something that only a medical examiner would understand, have knowledge of, but not a man like Brian Walshe?”
Tipton conceded there’s evidence Brian Walshe lied and disposed of a body, but argued there was nothing proving that he planned to harm his wife. He claimed the internet search on murder came six hours after his wife died and “upsetting” searches about dismemberment and “cleaning up” do not point to a plan but rather his “disbelief.”
“Why is a man searching now if he had intended to kill his wife?” Tipton asked the jurors. “Where is the evidence of premeditation in thousands of pages of records?”
At the start of the Commonwealth’s closing argument, prosecutor Anne Yas told jurors, “Ana Walshe is dead because he murdered her,” while pointing toward Brian Walshe in the courtroom.
She argued Ana Walshe didn’t die of natural causes — but Brian Walshe killed her and then disposed of her body to hide the evidence.
“The defendant did not want anyone to find Ana’s body and to know how she died, so the defendant bought cutting tools at Lowe’s and Home Depot and he cut up Ana’s body — the woman that he claimed to love — and he threw her into dumpsters,” she said.
Yas argued the evidence shows Brian Walshe intended to kill his wife and was “methodical” — that his claims he misplaced his phone for two days around New Year’s Eve “allowed him to carry out his plan” and have an explanation for police as to why he hadn’t been in contact with her. She said he had a list when he was shopping at Lowe’s.
Yas said their marriage was in “crisis,” and they had been having arguments about Ana Walshe being away from the family due to her job in Washington, D.C. She also claimed Brian Walshe knew his wife was having an affair, which the defense has denied.
“Please do not allow the defendant’s self-serving act of dismembering and disposing of Ana’s body let him get away with this murder,” Yas said.
She urged jurors to use their “common sense” while they deliberate, and that they will “see that the evidence shows there is only one verdict” — guilty of the premeditated first-degree murder of Ana Walshe.
The defense rested on Thursday without calling any witnesses. Freniere noted in court on Thursday that it appeared that Brian Walshe would testify in his defense, based on the defense’s opening statement. Though he ultimately waived his right.
Evidence presented during the two-week trial in Dedham included surveillance footage of a man believed to be Brian Walshe buying tools and other supplies at a Lowe’s on Jan. 1, 2023. A receipt showed that items, including a hacksaw, utility knife, hammer, snips, Tyvek suit, shoeguards, rags and cleaning supplies totaling $462 were purchased with cash.
Additional surveillance footage presented in court showed someone throwing out trash bags at dumpsters on multiple days in early January 2023.
Several blood-stained items recovered from dumpsters by investigators — including a hacksaw, a piece of rug, a towel and hairs — and an unknown tissue were linked to Ana Walshe through DNA testing, a forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory testified during the trial.
Blood was also found in the basement of the family’s rental home in Cohasset, another forensic scientist with the crime lab testified.
Ana Walshe was reported missing by her employer on Jan. 4, 2023. Brian Walshe told police at the time that she had a “work emergency” at her job in D.C. and left their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day, according to video of his interview shown in court.
At the time, Brian Walshe and their three children were living in Massachusetts while he was awaiting sentencing in a federal fraud case after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings.
Ahead of the murder trial, Brian Walshe admitted to lying to police amid her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body. His defense said during opening statements that he panicked after finding her dead in bed, calling her death sudden and unexplained.
Jurors heard testimony, including from a D.C. man with whom Ana Walshe was having an affair, that the mother of three was upset about being away from her young children so much — who were 2, 4 and 6 at the time — and that there was stress in the marriage. The defense maintained that the couple were happy.
King Charles III departs after receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate at The London Clinic on January 29, 2024, in London, England. The King has been receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, spending three nights at the London Clinic and visited daily by his wife Queen Camilla. Carl Court/Getty Images
(LONDON) — King Charles III announced in a video message Friday that he will be reducing his cancer treatment schedule in the new year, citing his early diagnosis, and urged others to get screened for cancer early as well.
In a pre-recorded video message released Friday as part of Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK’s “Stand Up To Cancer” night, the monarch shared how early cancer diagnosis and treatment had made a difference for him, “enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.”
He added that thanks to his early diagnosis and treatment, “my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year.”
In his video message, Charles also spoke about the importance of cancer screenings and early detection.
The message was shown before a live broadcast from a cancer clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, presented by Davina McCall.
“This is a season when our thoughts turn to celebrations with our friends and families,” Charles said. “In the midst of this festive period, I just wanted to ask you to join me today in finding a special place in your hearts and your minds and prayers for the hundreds of thousands of people across our United Kingdom who receive a cancer diagnosis each year — and for the millions more who love and care for them.”
The king acknowledged that a cancer diagnosis can feel “overwhelming,” citing his own experience, and said that early detection “is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams — and, to their patients, the precious gift of hope.”
“Throughout my own cancer journey, I have been profoundly moved by what I can only call the ‘community of care’ that surrounds every cancer patient — the specialists, the nurses, researchers and volunteers who work tirelessly to save and improve lives,” he continued. “But I have also learned something that troubles me deeply: At least 9 million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them. That is at least 9 million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.”
Charles said the “statistics speak with stark clarity,” noting that for bowel cancer caught at the earliest stage, approximately 9 in 10 people survive for at least five years, according to the U.K.’s National Cancer Intelligence Network.
“When diagnosed late, that falls to just 1 in 10,” the king said.
While Buckingham Palace hasn’t disclosed the type of cancer with which Charles was diagnosed or the type of treatment he has undergone, the monarch said that early detection had made a difference in his own life.
He also called it a “milestone” for him to have his cancer treatment reduced in the new year.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years, testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives,” he said.
Charles concluded his message by highlighting the U.K.’s new national cancer screening checker online, which, according to the Stand Up to Cancer website, helps those in the U.K. determine which cancer screening programs are available to them.
“As I have observed before, the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion. But compassion must be paired with action,” the king said. “This December, as we gather to reflect on the year past, I pray that we can each pledge, as part of our resolutions for the year ahead, to play our part in helping to catch cancer early. Your life, or the life of someone you love, may depend upon it.”
In February 2024, the palace announced that Charles had undergone a procedure for benign prostate enlargement. Following the procedure and subsequent diagnostic tests, “a form of cancer” was identified, according to a statement from the palace at the time.
Charles’ daughter-in-law, Kate, the Princess of Wales, also announced publicly the following month that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Kate, a mother of three and the wife of Charles’ eldest son, Prince William, has not disclosed the type of cancer with which she was diagnosed. She announced in January that her cancer is in remission.
Since Charles’ diagnosis, the king and his wife Queen Camilla have helped raise awareness about the disease. Earlier this year, they hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace where Charles spoke about his cancer diagnosis and treatment and thanked researchers, health care workers and more for their commitment to early diagnosis.
To learn more about cancer screening suggestions specific to U.S., please visit the American Cancer Society website.
Savannah Police are looking for a suspect in conjunction with a crime where police say a woman had an unknown chemical poured on her. Savannah Police Department.
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — A woman is recovering after officials say she was the victim of a chemical assault in Savannah, Georgia.
The victim suffered burns in the incident, officials said. She was walking around Forsyth Park near West Waldburg and Whitaker streets just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday when a man came from behind and poured a chemical on her, according to police.
The victim did not know the man, officials said, and no arrests have been made yet. On Thursday, Savannah police released an image of a man in dark clothing they are trying to locate.
Savannah resident Grace Warner told WJCL that the incident shocked her.
“I walk around this park a lot, even at night,” she said. “You just don’t expect something like this to happen here.”
Savannah Police Chief Lenny B. Gunther noted in a press release that local authorities are investigating the incident.
“Our first priority is the well-being of the victim, and our detectives are working around the clock to determine exactly what happened,” he said. “While this was a disturbing incident, we want to reassure our community that we are actively investigating and have increased patrols in our parks out of an abundance of caution.”
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson also released a statement on social media decrying the incident.
“City leadership is working closely to ensure SPD has every resource needed, from personnel to technology, to bring resolution to this case swiftly,” he said in the Facebook post. “We will continue to keep our community informed, and we thank everyone who has already stepped forward to assist.”
John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, meet with a small selected group of the local Colorado media in Boulder, Colorado on May 1, 1997. Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post via Getty Images
(BOULDER, Colo.) — Nearly 29 years after 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was mysteriously found killed in her Boulder, Colorado, home, police say the case remains a “top priority” and urge anyone with information to come forward.
In the last year, investigators collected new evidence and conducted tests on existing evidence in an effort to find new leads, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said Friday. Police also conducted new interviews and re-interviews, he said.
Redfearn — who released a statement and video as the department’s annual update on JonBenet’s case — said details on what was tested and who was interviewed cannot be released.
The mysterious murder dates back to the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, when John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find their daughter, JonBenet, missing and a handwritten ransom note left on the stairs of their home. Hours later, John Ramsey discovered his daughter dead in their basement.
JonBenet’s autopsy determined she was sexually assaulted and strangled, and her skull was fractured. Unknown DNA was found under her fingernails and in her underwear.
The Ramseys and their son were cleared as suspects in 2008. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006.
Redfearn said he’s met with the Ramsey family and told them “we share the same goal: to find and bring JonBenet’s murderer to justice.”
The case “remains a top priority,” Redfearn said.
“It is never too late for people with knowledge of this terrible crime to come forward, and I urge those responsible for this murder to contact us,” he said.
Luigi Mangione during a pretrial hearing at New York State Supreme Court in New York, US, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. Mangione faces state and federal charges in the killing nearly a year ago of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Photographer: Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Two more Altoona, Pennsylvania, police officers took the stand Friday on Day 7 of accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s evidence suppression hearing as his attorneys work to get evidence excluded from his state murder case.
The marathon hearing will determine what evidence will used against him when he goes on trial on charges of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last year.
Testimony has centered around what transpired at the Altoona McDonald’s where Mangione was apprehended five days after the shooting.
Altoona police officer Samuel McCoy testified Friday that he knew whatever was happening at the McDonald’s on East Plank Road was serious when he saw his lieutenant, William Hanelly, putting on his bulletproof vest on on his way out of the stationhouse.
“Lt. Hanelly leaving with a vest on, that means something’s happening,” McCoy testified. “Significant.”
McCoy walked to a seated Luigi Mangione in the McDonald’s and immediately asked if he had any weapons.
“With the information I had that he was a homicide suspect, it’s very possible that he had weapons or feel desperate which makes people do erratic things,” McCoy testified.
McCoy then noticed a backpack on the floor and is seen on body camera footage moving it.
“I asked him, ‘Is this your property?’ He indicated to me it was,” McCoy testified. He said he moved the bag “so that if he decides he wants to make a dramatic exit, per se, he doesn’t have access to any weapons.”
McCoy is then heard on camera asking Mangione, “Do you know what all this nonsense is about?” The officer said he wanted to gauge Mangione’s reaction.
“Through my experience, if somebody is being questioned and they’re not involved they’ll have one type of reaction and if they are involved, they’ll have a different type of reaction,” McCoy testified.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Mangione is heard answering.
When McCoy asked how he had arrived at the McDonalds, Mangione indicated he did not want to speak.
“I said, ‘That’s fine.’ I did not ask him any more questions,” McCoy testified.
On cross-examination, McCoy said those questions were meant to elicit information.
The defense has argued that police waited too long to read Mangione his Miranda rights and that the police actions amounted to overkill.
McCoy conceded on cross-examination Mangione was largely compliant.
“None of the actions he took that day were frightening, made me fear for my life,” McCoy said.
On re-direct examination, he testified that officers had “established control” of the scene, but that going in he said “there is serious safety concerns,” given Mangione was suspected of committing a homicide.
Sgt. Eric Heuston, who oversaw the search of Mangione at the police station and helped catalog the items seized from him, including cash, clothing, a passport and a handgun, testified that Mangione was carrying “a good bit of property” and “over $7,000” when he was arrested.
All of it was turned over to the NYPD pursuant to a search warrant Heuston drafted, “based on the fact that it could be of value to New York,” Heuston testified.
With Heuston on the witness stand, prosecutors showed three dozen evidence photos, including a full-body picture of Mangione after his strip search in which he stands awkwardly with his shoulders slumped forward, wearing jeans and a blue long-sleeve shirt.
Heuston testified on cross-examination that he read some of Mangione’s writings and decided which ones might have evidentiary value to the NYPD. He’s heard on body-worn camera footage reading Mangione’s “to do” list over the phone to an NYPD contact and listing items that indicated he “more likely than not” was the shooting suspect wanted for the murder of Brian Thompson.
Defense attorney Karen Agnifilo suggested those actions were improper, but as she peppered Heuston with questions about inventory lists, evidence seizures and search warrant drafts, Heuston smiled and said, “I think we’re getting confused here.”
The hearing, which will continue into next week, was adjourned until Tuesday. A written decision from Judge Gregory Carro expected in January.
On Thursday, Lt. Hanelly testified that after the initial call came in he offered a responding officer a free sandwich from his favorite local place, Luigetta’s, if he actually collared the suspected killer.
“If you get the New York City shooter I’ll buy you Luigetta’s for lunch,” Hanelly said he texted patrolman Joseph Detwiler. The text included a wink emoji because, Hanelly testified, it seemed “preposterous” to him that the suspect could actually be sitting in a fast food place five hours away from the scene of the shooting.
(NORFOLK, Va.) — The mother of Angelina “Angie” Resendiz, the 21-year-old Navy sailor whose body was found near her Norfolk, Virginia, base on June 9, days after she was reported missing, is pushing the Navy for accountability as the suspect charged in her daughter’s murder awaits his trial.
Esmeralda Castle spoke with “ABC News Live Prime” from her home in Brownsville, Texas, where she reflected on her grief and healing journey and claimed that the Navy mishandled her daughter’s disappearance and the investigation into her death.
“There is an injustice happening in the way that service members are treated and the way the family is treated,” Castle told ABC News on Thursday, alleging that a culture steeped in silence has prevented her from getting answers about her daughter’s case.
Asked about those allegations, the Navy declined ABC News’ requests for comment.
“I’ve been thinking about Angie and her service. What she represented was something good,” Castle said, reflecting on her fight for justice. “She represented service at its highest. She’s giving herself and all that she is, all her talents and strengths and abilities, her mind, her youth, to the military, to this branch — for us. And that’s an honorable thing.”
Angie’s disappearance
Resendiz, who was from Mexia — a city in central Texas that is located about 30 miles outside of Waco — was a culinary specialist stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.
“She comes from a family of service members. My brother and sister, they’re in the Army. Her father was a Marine,” Castle said, adding that her daughter loved to cook and wanted to be a chef, so joining the Navy in a culinary role was a dream.
“It was ‘a calling’ is what she said, like recruiters were at the high school and they talked to her and she felt it,” she added.
About a year and a half after her daughter joined the Navy, Castle told ABC News that on May 29 her daughter’s friends reached out to her to express concern that they could not reach or locate her. According to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Resendiz was last seen at her barracks in Millner Hall at the Naval Station in Norfolk at around 10 a.m. local time on May 29.
Castle said that she immediately called the Navy and reported her daughter missing, but was told that her daughter was located shortly after.
“He’s like oh yeah. … we found her you know, she’s OK, we found her in another sailor’s room. Everything’s OK,” Castle said. “I believed him.”
When Resendiz didn’t show up to work the next day and her family and friends still couldn’t get a hold of her, Castle said she was worried and reached out to the Navy again. Resendiz’s friends reported her missing to police and, on June 3, a missing person’s alert was issued by the Virginia State Police. On June 6 — more than a week after she was last seen — NCIS released a statement announcing that they were investigating Resendiz’s disappearance.
“It felt like, like a punch, like a punch in your gut,” Castle said. “Like, it takes your air away. … It just brings you to your knees.”
Castle noted that after her daughter’s body was found, she “got a few messages apologizing for the silence.”
ABC News reached out to the Navy multiple times, but they declined requests for comment.
“Given the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to provide amplifying comments on your inquiries,” a spokesperson for NCIS told ABC News.
An individual familiar with the NCIS investigation told ABC News that they “immediately commenced a variety of investigative steps,” including interviewing family, friends and command members, after receiving a notification from the Norfolk Police Department regarding Resendiz’s disappearance on May 31.
“These actions increased in number over the next 10 calendar days and resulted in the recovery of Seaman Resendiz’s remains,” the individual added.
The suspect
Seaman Jeremiah T. Copeland, a culinary specialist in the Navy, was initially held in pre-trial confinement following Resendiz’s death.
On Aug. 22, he was charged with “premeditated murder,” as well as a slew of sexual assault charges related to several alleged survivors, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News. The charges stem from incidents that allegedly took place between July 2024 through June 2025.
Charging documents show that Copeland is also facing charges that stem from alleged actions during the investigation into Resendiz’s death. Copeland is accused of concealing a dead body on June 2, obstructing justice by hiding his cell phone on June 4, as well as making false statements to NCIS investigators on June 1 and June 3.
Copeland appeared in a Naval court in Norfolk on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. It is unclear if he has entered a plea. ABC News reached out to Copeland’s attorney but requests for comment were not returned.
His trial is scheduled to begin next June.
The names of additional alleged victims, as well as Resendiz’s name, were redacted from the charging documents that the Navy shared with ABC News, but Castle confirmed to ABC News in September that the murder charge Copeland is facing is related to her daughter’s death.
“Heartbreak,” Castle said when asked what she is going through after her daughter’s death. “They call it grief, it’s called a process. Different emotions — overwhelming anger, sadness.”
It is unclear when the investigation into Copeland’s actions was launched. ABC News reached out to NCIS and the Navy to inquire about the timeline and ask whether the Navy was aware of other potential victims ahead of Resendiz’s, but requests for comment were denied.
“Given the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to provide amplifying comments on your inquiries,” a spokesperson for NCIS told ABC News.
‘I have to help my kid’
After her daughter’s death, Castle told ABC News that she is turning her pain into purpose by fighting for answers and calling for reform for all military members.
“I have to help my kid,” she said.
Castle announced on Oct. 14 that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for the District 37 seat in the Texas state House of Representatives where she hopes to push for reforms and safeguards to keep women in the military safe.
“This campaign isn’t about politics; it’s about people — about compassion, community, resilience, and hope,” Castle said as she announced her run to ABC News’ affiliate station.
When asked about why she chose to run, Castle echoed her daughter’s sentiment in joining the Navy.
“It feels like a calling,” she told ABC News.
Castle expressed her hope that her daughter’s case will be a “catalyst” for change — and that she will keep fighting at all costs.
She hopes to testify before a congressional committee in Washington, D.C., she said, to push for building protections for all service members and ensuring that the military is held accountable.
“I just remember [Angie] in the best light possible — not a victim,” she said. “She’s a victim, but I want people to remember her as someone who loved her life and lived her life and wasn’t afraid to do whatever she wanted.”
Frezja Matisse Baker in a photo released by police. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Missing North Carolina mother Frezja Matisse Baker was pronounced dead by police after she was found in a vehicle on Thursday, officials said. Her death is now being investigated as a murder, according to police.
Baker was found unresponsive in her vehicle at around 9:35 a.m. before being pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Her cause of death has not yet been determined, police noted.
Baker was last seen just before 10 p.m. last Thursday, Dec. 4, driving her gray blue 2004 Honda Accord, authorities said.
Baker’s family members expressed concern for her well-being earlier this week and had been seeking information on her whereabouts, according to police.
“I just want my baby home, I just want her home, I just want her home, in good health and good, that’s all,” Baker’s mother, who requested anonymity, told WSOC.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-8477 (TIPS) and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective — Detective Buhr is the lead detective assigned to this case. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or Charlotte Crime Stoppers.
