Deputies served a search warrant at a property in the 500 block of East Branch Street in San Luis Obispo, Calif., May 5, 2026, in connection with the 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart. (San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office)
(SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.) — Nearly 30 years after 19-year-old Kristin Smart disappeared, California investigators conducted new search warrants as part of their ongoing probe into the location of her body.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that deputies executed a search warrant at the 500 block of East Branch Street.
The sheriff’s office declined to provide further details about the operation.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family. No further information is available,” it said in a statement.
Smart attended an off-campus party at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she was a freshman, on May 24, 1996, but never returned to her dormitory.
Investigators declared Smart legally dead in 2002 and the case remained cold until 17 years later, when the true crime podcast “Your Own Backyard” launched and helped investigators to get new witnesses and evidence.
In 2021, investigators arrested and charged Paul Flores, who was a student at the college at the time of Smart’s disappearance.
Detectives said that some classmates found Smart passed out during the early morning hours of May 25, 1996, and Flores appeared out of nowhere. He claimed to the other classmates that he knew where she lived and offered to help her to her dorm, detectives said.
Flores was interviewed by officers following Smart’s disappearance, but he was not charged.
In 2021, police searched the home belonging to Flores’ father, Ruben Flores, and allegedly found human blood and fibers in the dirt that matched the colors of the clothing Smart had been wearing when she went missing.
Craig Berry is seen in an undated photo released by the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office. (Stewart County Sheriff’s Office)
(STEWART COUNTY, Tenn.) — An Army Special Forces veteran accused of trying to kill his wife then fleeing into the woods has been added to the Tennessee Most Wanted list, authorities said Wednesday, as a manhunt involving state and federal agencies continues.
Craig Berry, 53, went into the woods near his home in Dover on May 1 after allegedly shooting his wife, according to the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to a domestic altercation at his residence around 1:30 a.m. on May 1, and Berry was gone before deputies arrived, authorities said. His wife was transported to a medical facility, according to the sheriff’s office, which did not provide details on her condition.
He is wanted for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic assault, and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Berry is an Army Special Forces veteran with “extensive military training,” according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which on Tuesday also issued a wanted bulletin for the suspect.
He has “extensive training in survival tactics,” the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office said, warning that it could be a “lengthy process” to capture him.
The U.S. Marshals Service, Tennessee Highway Patrol and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are assisting in the search, the sheriff’s office said. State troopers have employed helicopters in the manhunt.
Berry was last seen in the wooded area near Old Paris Landing in Dover on May 2, according to the U.S. Marshals.
He is armed with “at least one handgun” and may have taken extra ammunition, Stewart County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Paulette Redman said in a statement on Monday.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information on Berry, while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is offering $2,500.
Authorities said he is 5’11” and 185 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He was captured by a trail camera wearing camouflage clothing, the sheriff’s office said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact 1-800-TBI-FIND or the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office at 931-232-6863.
A still from video that federal prosecutors say shows Michael Marx running from U.S. Secret Service officers. (Department of Justice)
(WASHINGTON) — A 45-year-old Texas man has been charged in connection with a shooting near the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in which a teenage bystander was hit by gunfire, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Michael Marx faces three charges in connection with Monday’s shooting — felony assault of federal officers with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm, the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The complaint includes new images from CCTV showing the frantic scene during the shooting, which occurred at a busy intersection where multiple civilians were crossing the street Monday afternoon.
After a plainclothes Secret Service agent observed Marx in possession of a firearm, several uniformed Secret Service officers responded and located the suspect at 15th Street and Independence Avenue SW, at the time Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade was departing the White House, according to the complaint.
Officers gave “verbal commands” to the suspect, who began to run, according to the complaint. As officers chased him, the suspect pulled a firearm from his waistband while running and began firing toward one of them once he reached the sidewalk, according to the complaint. A bystander behind the officer was struck in the leg, it said.
Officers returned fire, striking Marx in his hand, left arm and upper abdomen and collapsed at the intersection, according to the complaint.
Investigators recovered a handgun loaded with 9mm ammunition from the area where Marx fell, according to federal prosecutors. He does not hold a license to carry a handgun in Washington, they said.
As U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro first told ABC News on Tuesday, Marx allegedly made statements to officers, including “F— the White House” and “Kill me, kill me, kill me,” while being transported in an ambulance to a hospital.
“We will prove this defendant carried an illegal firearm into the heart of Washington, D.C., opened fire at Secret Service officers near a crowded intersection, and shot an innocent bystander who was simply crossing the street with his family,” Pirro said in a statement Wednesday. “My office will pursue the most serious charges available against anyone who brings gun violence to our streets, particularly when that violence unfolds steps from the seat of our government and the path of the Vice President of the United States.”
Court records do not list any attorney information for Marx at this time.
The teen injured in the shooting has since been released from the hospital, Pirro told ABC News.
E. Jean Carroll arrives for her civil defamation trial against President Donald Trump at Manhattan Federal Court on January 22, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court in New York to pause its ruling rejecting his challenge to the writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit so he can pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages in 2024 after she successfully argued that Trump defamed her with comments he made disputing her claim that he sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined last week to re-hear Trump’s claim of immunity and his attempt to substitute the United States as a defendant in Carroll’s case.
Trump on Wednesday asked the 2nd Circuit to stay its ruling in order to allow him “to present important questions relating to, without limitation, Presidential immunity and the Westfall Act to the Supreme Court.”
If the stay is not granted, Trump’s attorneys said he would suffer irreparable harm.
The jury in 2024 found that, as a result of Trump’s comments, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
A separate jury in an earlier trial awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after holding Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse.
Turner Enterprises CEO Ted Turner address the Newsmaker Luncheon on renewable and alternative energy at the National Press Club April 19, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ted Turner, the television and media mogul who launched CNN — the first 24-hour cable news network — and a roster of successful TV and entertainment brands, died on Wednesday, according to the network. He was 87.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” according to a statement from Mark Thompson, the chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and our world.”
“On behalf of the Turner family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of philanthropist, environmentalist and cable pioneer Ted Turner who died peacefully today at age 87, surrounded by his family,” a statement from Turner Enterprises said.
The company added, “He charmed people he met with his warmth and general lack of conceit, despite his many successes and celebrity – an attribute made apparent in his response to anyone who addressed him as “Mr. Turner” – he’d always reply, “Call me Ted!”
A private family service is planned and a public memorial will be held at a later date, Turner Enterprises said.
Turner announced in 2018 he was battling the progressive brain disorder Lewy body dementia, acknowledging issues with his memory.
Born in Cincinnati, Robert Edward Turner III was raised in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Brown University briefly before leaving the university and joining the U.S. Coastal Guard Reserve during the Vietnam War.
Turner began his career as an executive at his father’s advertising business, Turner Advertising Company. Following the death of his father, he became president and chief executive of the company and turned the firm into a global enterprise.
He entered the television business in the early 1970’s when he acquired an Atlanta UHF station, WJRJ, and renamed it WTCG. The station originated the “superstation” concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems across the country. Later renamed TBS, the station became a precedent for the modern basic cable station.
On June 1, 1980, Turner Broadcasting System launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network. In his launch speech at the network’s Atlanta headquarters in June 1980, he expressed hope that CNN’s national and international coverage would “bring together in brotherhood and kindness and friendship and in peace the people of this nation and this world.”
CNN quickly made its mark covering major news events such as the 1982 Lebanon War and the 1986 Challenger explosion as they happened.
A chain of successful cable television brands followed for Turner, including CNN International, Cartoon Network, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. Turner Broadcasting later acquired the film studios Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema.
Turner’s company also expanded into sports starting in the late 1970s, acquiring the MLB’s Atlanta Braves and the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks won three division titles under the company’s ownership. The Braves won the 1995 World Series.
In 1988, Turner ventured into the professional wrestling business, purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions and renaming it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The company served as the main competitor to Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) over the next decade. WCW was purchased by McMahon’s company in 2001.
In October 1996, Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner Inc., and in 2001, Time Warner merged with AOL to create AOL Time Warner.
Turner also made his mark as a philanthropist. In 1990, he founded Turner Foundation which supports efforts for improving air and water quality, developing initiatives to protect the climate and maintaining wildlife habitat protection, among other initiatives. The Turner Foundation says it has given more than $380 million to hundreds of organizations since its founding.
In 1997, Turner announced a historic pledge of up to $1 billion to the United Nations and the following year, he created the United Nations Foundation (UNF). The organization supports the goals and objectives of the United Nations to promote “a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.”
Speaking to ABC’s “This Week” in 2012, he described his interest in supporting U.N. efforts.
“Everybody needs help sometime, no matter how rich and powerful you are,” he said. “I did not know for sure when I started that it was going to work…there were a lot of things that weren’t getting done, that are getting done now, done a lot more quickly.”
He added, “Saving the world is a hard job.”
Turner also launched the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a think tank he co-chaired with former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia that seeks to reduce “nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity.”
He was the recipient of numerous awards, including Time Magazine’s 1991 “Man of the Year,” the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement Award, the Audubon Medal from the Audubon Society, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communication. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.
Turner was married three times, including to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001. He is survived by five children, fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
(WASHINGTON) — Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on four counts — three of which he had already been charged by criminal complaint.
Those initial charges he was indicted on are attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The fourth new charge is assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to the indictment.
The California native was tackled by law enforcement after the gunfire April 25 inside the Washington, D.C., Hilton hotel, where thousands of journalists, as well as President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet, were gathered for the annual dinner.
Allen did not reach the ballroom, where the dinner was underway. A Secret Service member was shot during the incident, but the bullet hit the agent’s protective vest, officials said.
Allen — who officials say traveled by train from California to D.C. — allegedly left a note which said that administration officials were his targets and were “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to the criminal complaint against him.
The suspect allegedly wrote that Secret Service agents were targets “only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible,” the complaint said.
Allen has not yet entered a plea.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A chemical leak was reported in Duson, Louisiana, on May 5, 2026. (Duson Police Department)
(DUSON, La.) — Ten people were transported to the hospital due to a chemical leak at a facility in Louisiana that prompted evacuations, police said.
The “hazardous materials incident” was reported to authorities shortly after 7 a.m. CT on Tuesday in Duson, located about 10 miles west of Lafayette, according to Louisiana State Police. The incident occurred at FIBA Technologies, the Duson Police Department said.
A “valve malfunction” resulted in a boron trifluoride leak, state police said. The gas has a “pungent, suffocating odor,” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Video from the scene posted by state police showed a white cloud billowing from the facility.
Hazardous materials crews responded and successfully contained the leak after about an hour, authorities said.
Six employees at the business, three first responders and one employee from a nearby business were transported to area hospitals for treatment due to exposure, police said. They are in stable condition and their injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening, police said.
The surrounding area, including businesses in an adjacent industrial park, was evacuated as a precaution amid the response. All evacuation and shelter-in-place orders have since been lifted and there is no threat to the immediate area, police said.
FIBA Technologies provides gas containment equipment and services for the industrial gas industry. ABC News has reached out to the company for comment.
Booking photo of Renee Lambert, 34, who was arrested, May 2, 2026, in Fort Myers, Florida, after she allegedly ran onto a football field and assaulted a child during a Pop Warner football game, according to police. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — A Florida mother was arrested after police alleged she charged onto a football field over the weekend and repeatedly kicked a 13-year-old player during a youth football game brawl.
The woman, 34-year-old Renee Lambert, was arrested on Saturday on charges of child abuse without great bodily harm and resisting an officer without violence, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident unfolded on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Park in Fort Myers during a Southwest Florida Panthers Youth Football game, according to the sheriff’s office and the league’s president.
During the game, an on-field fight broke out between players, authorities said. As coaches attempted to break up the fight, bystander video captured Lambert — who had been cheering on her son’s team, the Falcons — rushing onto the field. The footage appeared to show her kicking the child on the opposing team while he was on the ground, officials said.
“Witnesses stated that after an incident on the field with the youth players fighting, some parents came onto the field to intervene,” according to a probable cause statement released by the sheriff’s office. “A witness reported seeing the adult female kick a juvenile male multiple times.”
At least two on-duty sheriff’s deputies were at the park patrolling when the altercation occurred, according to the probable cause statement.
The sheriff’s department released body-camera video of deputies detaining Lambert near a concession stand after witnesses pointed her out.
Lambert allegedly became “confrontational” while speaking with deputies, according to the statement.
“Lambert refused to listen and was getting agitated, prompting deputies to give her lawful orders to comply with being handcuffed, at which time, Lambert pushed and pulled away from deputies, refusing to give her hands as they attempted to handcuff her,” the statement alleges.
She was eventually detained and placed in a patrol car, according to the statement.
Child welfare officials were notified because Lambert’s children were present during the incident.
Deputies located the player whom Lambert allegedly kicked, and the alleged victim’s mother signed a document expressing a “desire to prosecute,” according to the statement.
The victim told deputies that he was kicked in the leg, but no visible injuries were detected, according to the sheriff’s office.
ABC News has not been able to reach Lambert for comment.
In the body-camera video, Lambert complained that the player struck her first with his helmet.
“I’m the one who got hit,” Lambert is heard telling a deputy in the body camera footage and asking why the deputies were “mad” at her.
“I’m mad at an adult for attacking a kid,” one of the deputies is heard replying to Lambert in the footage.
The sheriff’s office said they have found no evidence to support Lambert’s claim that she was struck during the altercation.
Lambert complained of head pain following her arrest and she was taken to a hospital to be examined before she was booked at the Lee County Jail, according to the probable cause statement.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told ABC affiliate station WZVN in Naples that “it’s sad” such violence occurred at a youth football game.
“We need to have law and order. We need to protect everyone,” Marceno said. “As sheriff, I’m not going to tolerate it.”
Jose Davila, president of Southwest Florida Panthers Youth Football, released a statement to WZVN, saying, “We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
“One moment does not define the character, values, or integrity of the programs involved,” Davila said. “We want to be very clear, one bad apple does not define who the Fort Myers Falcons are.”
Police officials inspect the crime scene following an exchange of gunfire by the U.S. Secret Service and a gunman on the National Mall on May 4, 2026, in Washington, DC. Police say a gunman shot at a Secret Service agent and wounded a bystander before being shot by police. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secret Service officers exchanged gunfire with an armed man near the White House property in Washington, D.C., on Monday, authorities said.
The suspect and a juvenile bystander were struck during the exchange of gunfire, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Michael Marx, according to multiple law enforcement sources. He has a Texas driver’s license and no obvious connection to Washington, and authorities are working to learn why he was in the city, sources said Tuesday.
Authorities are executing search warrants on his phone, digital media and other locations to try and determine if he posed any threat to specific individuals or entities, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, sources said.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. Monday near the National Mall, outside the perimeter of the White House complex, according to U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn.
A plainclothes Secret Service officer observed a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm,” Quinn said during a press briefing.
Uniformed Secret Service police briefly followed the suspect and, upon making contact, he fled on foot and fired in the direction of the officers, Quinn said.
The officers returned fire, striking the suspect, Quinn said. The suspect was transported to a hospital, according to Quinn.
Marx was struck multiple times and remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, sources said.
At least one bystander, a male juvenile, is believed to have been shot by the suspect and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to Quinn. The victim is also being treated at a hospital, he said.
“Everything I’ve seen leads me to believe, and the investigators believe, he was struck by the suspect,” Quinn said.
Marx has not yet been charged.
The shooting comes over a week after an alleged assassination attempt on Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know, but we will find out,” Quinn said.
Not long before the shooting occurred, Vance’s motorcade passed through the area, Quinn said. The suspect did not approach the motorcade, according to Quinn.
The use-of-force investigation will be conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department, Quinn said.
The incident prompted a brief evacuation of the White House North Lawn.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr and Jack Date contributed to this report.
(SPOKANE, Wash.) — A woman was arrested last week in Spokane, Washington, after she allegedly drove up on the sidewalk and nearly hit a child who was riding their bike, police said.
In the April 28 incident, Wendy A. Clemente, 56, was caught on camera driving in her silver Ford Focus when she turned onto the sidewalk where the child was riding their bike, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
“The driver chased the juvenile on the sidewalk before reentering the roadway and leaving the area. Thankfully, the juvenile was not hit or injured,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday.
Deputies began searching the area for the driver when they received a call about a reported burglary at a home about a mile away, the sheriff’s office said.
The officers found Clemente at the home and her car in the driveway, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office alleged Clemente denied drinking alcohol or consuming any drugs, “but later changed her story and admitted to drinking alcohol.”
The suspect was charged with 1st degree assault (attempted), DUI and 1st degree criminal trespass, according to the sheriff’s office.
On April 29, a judge ordered Clemente to be released on her own recognizance until her next court date, according to the sheriff’s office.
Attorney information for the suspect was not immediately available.
