Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t a member of the insurer, a company spokesperson said.
“Brian Thompson’s killer was not a member of UnitedHealthcare,” the company told ABC News.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Mangione for the killing of Thompson, sources told ABC News.
The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters.
An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. His next court date in Pennsylvania is Dec. 30.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities are still looking to access a phone recovered by police in an alley following the shooting that is believed to be linked to the suspect, sources said Thursday. Police have obtained a search warrant for the phone, sources said.
At least two other search warrants have been issued so far in the New York case. They include to search the hostel where the suspect stayed in New York City, as well as the backpack containing Monopoly money and a jacket that was found in Central Park and is believed to belong to him, sources said.
Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after nearly one week on the run following the Dec. 4 slaying.
Three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday.
Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
(NEW YORK) — An American Airlines flight departing New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Thursday evening had to divert to nearby John F. Kennedy International shortly after takeoff after a reported bird strike caused damage to one of the aircraft’s engines.
The aircraft, powered by its second engine, landed safely and without incident shortly after 8 p.m., the Port Authority New York and New Jersey said. There were no reported injuries.
“The aircraft landed safely at JFK where it will be inspected by our maintenance team,” American said in a statement. “We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
Charlotte, North Carolina-bound flight 1722 had 190 passengers and six crew members on board. The aircraft was an Airbus A321. Passengers were expected to board another flight to Charlotte on Friday morning.
Who killed JonBenét Ramsey? The all-new ABC News interview with JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, airs during 20/20 – premiering Friday, Nov. 13th on ABC Network.
(NEW YORK) — Advancements in DNA technology and a surge of public interest are rekindling hope for breakthroughs in the long-unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, a case that has remained a haunting mystery for nearly 28 years.
As new techniques emerge and fresh attention is drawn to the evidence, many are eager for answers that could finally bring closure to this tragic story.
JonBenét, who was found dead in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home in 1996, remains frozen in time. Her father, John Ramsey, has endured nearly three decades without justice, answers or his daughter.
“JonBenét’s still my 6-year-old blond-headed daughter who I love dearly,” Ramsey told ABC News. “I did run into one of her little friends on the street who is now, you know, 30 and an adult. And it was, it was a little bit of a shock. This little girl played with JonBenét at our house all the time. And that was a little bit of a jolt to think, wow, that could have been JonBenét.”
Ramsey, now 81 years old, has renewed hope that his daughter’s killer can finally be found. He is confident that advances in DNA technology, including genetic genealogy that has helped to solve several high-profile cold case, are the key to solving this mystery.
“Let’s do a reverse family tree and see if he had a relative living in Boulder in 1996. The interesting thing about these cold cases,” Ramsey said. “The ultimate first arrest came out of nowhere. They were on no one’s radar. They’ve done this horrible crime and nobody said that that guy’s a suspect. That’s what we’re asking the police to do.”
Over the years, Ramsey expressed frustration with the police for not solving his daughter’s case. He was unhappy with being a prime suspect for 12 years and that the department rejected offers of help to find viable evidence. He recently took part in a new Netflix docuseries, “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?” The series dives into lingering mysteries surrounding the tragic case, exploring evidence, interviews and theories that have emerged over the years.
Ramsey collaborated with director Joe Berlinger, who aimed to illuminate what he described as one of the most victimized families in American history.
“Obviously, he wasn’t legally wrongfully convicted, but he was wrongfully convicted,” Berlinger said. “And his wife Patsy — the family were wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion.”
The popular docuseries ignited a new wave of interest among viewers.
Ramsey is hopeful that recent changes in the Boulder Police Department’s leadership and better communication with his family may lead to a resolution in the case.
The Boulder police department has addressed the recent scrutiny. Last month, the current police chief released a video statement.
“So much of how law enforcement works has changed in the last 30 years,” Stephen Redfearn said. “There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that could have been done better and we acknowledge that as true. However, it is important to emphasize that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1996, our goal is to find JonBenét Ramsey’s killer.”
That tragic day in 1996 began in the picturesque Boulder neighborhood where the Ramsey family lived. On Dec. 26, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find that JonBenét, a child beauty queen, was missing.
A handwritten ransom note demanding $118,000 — the exact sum of John’s bonus that year — was discovered on the kitchen stairs. Seven hours later, John found his daughter’s lifeless body in a small basement room.
An autopsy determined JonBenét was sexually assaulted and strangled, and her skull was fractured. Unknown DNA was found under her fingernails and in her underwear.
The Ramseys quickly became suspects, even though no evidence connected them to the crime.
The family has always denied any involvement in JonBenét’s murder. However, the Boulder District Attorney’s Office took 12 years to fully exonerate the Ramseys and their son Burke, who was 9 years old when his sister died.
As weeks went by without any arrests in the case, a media frenzy began to build, fueled by relentless tabloid images of JonBenét participating in beauty pageants.
A number of leads emerged, including a man named John Mark Karr, who confessed to the killing in 2006. However, his DNA did not match the evidence and he was not in Boulder at the time of the murder, so he was eliminated as a suspect. The case remained unsolved.
John Ramsey believes that a cloud still hangs over his family, as he thinks there are people in the country who think he and his late wife, Patsy, who died in 2006, are responsible for JonBenét’s murder.
Investigator Lou Smit, who was initially brought into the case by Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, came to believe early in his investigation that the Ramseys were innocent. He thought that the police should be looking at the possibility of an intruder.“I’m not saying parents don’t kill their kids … parents do kill their children,” Smit said in his tapes. “But [the police] are trying to say Patsy did it. … Their actions before, during and after [JonBenét’s death] are all consistent with innocent people. … They didn’t do it.”
As the investigation progressed Smit became increasingly concerned that authorities had completely ruled out the chance of an intruder being responsible for JonBenét’s death. As a result, they weren’t searching for evidence that might support this possibility.Smit continued to maintain that an unidentified intruder was responsible for JonBenét’s murder. However, he was running out of time due to his colon cancer diagnosis in 2010.
Before Smit died on Aug. 11 of that year, he diligently compiled a detailed list of persons of interest, hoping that his years of investigative work would eventually pay off. Smit passed his files to his surviving children, including a spreadsheet with 887 names of potential suspects to be investigated.That list is extensive, but Smit’s family is determined to continue their search. Since his death, the team has cleared several individuals from that list, according to Smit’s granddaughter Jessa Van Der Woerd. However, the process is slow due to the time and costs involved in locating each person, obtaining their DNA and testing it.
“We’ve let the killer walk for more than 28 years,” John Ramsey said. “I think it’s imperative that we investigate every credible suspect that’s been provided.”
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors leading the case against Bryan Kohberger are pushing back against his attorneys’ claims that investigators improperly obtained potentially key evidence — and are asking the judge to deny requests to exclude that evidence from trial.
In a series of highly-technical filings posted late Thursday, prosecutors said that the searches of Kohberger’s person and belongings, including his car, phone records, Apple accounts and homes, were appropriate. They noted the “burden of proof is on the defendant to show that the search was invalid.”
Kohberger, a former criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, in connection with the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho students — Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 — in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. The trial is scheduled for August 2025.
Lawyers for Kohberger have accused investigators of an overbroad attempt to build their case, arguing their search warrants cast too wide a net. But prosecutors, responding on Thursday to the defense’s lengthy series of motions posted Nov. 15, contend that taken together with other elements of the case, their probe for evidence was “sufficiently particular and valid” and “considering the information available” at the time, the Moscow detective seeking the information “could not reasonably narrow the scope further.”
The “warrant must allow the searcher to reasonably ascertain and identify the things which are authorized to be seized,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ashley Jennings, citing legal precedent. She added, “broad language may be permissible where the warrant constrains the search to evidence of a specific crime.”
“The rationale is that ‘criminals don’t advertise where they keep evidence,'” prosecutors wrote. And since the potential evidence they sought “could be located in multiple formats and areas,” particularly electronic data, prosecutors here said, a wide enough investigative aperture is necessary.
“Applied to electronic devices ‘criminals can — and often do — hide, mislabel, or manipulate files to conceal criminal activity [such that] a broad, expansive search of the [device] may be required,'” prosecutors wrote, again citing legal precedent.
Jennings said the “seizure of items was limited to” the crime Kohberger is accused of committing — the killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in their off-campus home.
And though Kohberger has a right to privacy, that right does not shield criminal conduct, prosecutors said. In fact, it is because he had that right that they sought, and obtained, search warrants, they said.
Though the man accused of stabbing to death four college students in Nov. 2022 indeed “had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his vehicle located at his parents’ residence,” there was “substantial probable cause” to search it, prosecutors said. And Kohberger also had a “privacy interest” in his AT&T account and phone records — and “as such, the State sought and was granted a search warrant to review those records.”
The Thursday filings were accompanied by a series of requests to seal corresponding exhibits meant to bolster prosecutors’ argument.
Prosecutors didn’t include in Thursday’s filings an extensive address of Kohberger’s challenge to DNA evidence, or the search of his Amazon account.
Judge Steven Hippler, who is now overseeing the case in Boise, has not yet scheduled a public hearing on the matter.
(LAKELAND, Fla.) — A Florida woman was arrested and charged this week for ending a phone call with her health insurance provider with threats that mimicked wording associated with the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter.
The incident occurred Tuesday when Briana Boston, a 42-year-old woman from Lakeland, was speaking with a representative from Blue Cross Blue Shield after she had been told that her medical claim was denied.
In an arrest affidavit obtained by ABC News, police said that near the end of the recorded conversation with the insurance provider, Boston can be heard saying, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next.”
Boston’s apparent threats nearly echo the words that were engraved on the bullet shell casings that authorities recovered from the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot earlier this month.
Those engraved words were “deny,” “defend” and “depose.”
However, Boston’s words do match the title of a 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The book was written by legal scholar and insurance expert Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey. It explores abuses of auto and homeowners insurance to “avoid paying justified claims,” according to its summary.
Luigi Mangione is a suspect in the killing, which has catapulted the nation’s health care industry into the spotlight. Mangione faces second-degree murder and a slew of other charges in both Pennsylvania and New York.
When Lakeland Police confronted Boston about the perceived threats, she apologized and said that she “used those words because it’s what is in the news right now,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Boston told authorities she does not own any guns and is not a threat, but went on to say that health care companies “deserve karma” and that they are “evil,” according to the document.
“Boston further stated the health care companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil,” police said in the affidavit.
ABC News has reached out to Blue Cross Blue Shield for comment.
Following the investigation, Boston was charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism and booked at a jail in Polk County, according to police.
(LAKELAND, Fla.) — A Florida woman was arrested and charged this week for ending a phone call with her health insurance provider with threats that mimicked wording associated with the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter.
The incident occurred Tuesday when Briana Boston, a 42-year-old woman from Lakeland, was speaking with a representative from Blue Cross Blue Shield after she had been told that her medical claim was denied.
In an arrest affidavit obtained by ABC News, police said that near the end of the recorded conversation with the insurance provider, Boston can be heard saying, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next.”
Boston’s apparent threats nearly echo the words that were engraved on the bullet shell casings that authorities recovered from the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot earlier this month.
Those engraved words were “deny,” “defend” and “depose.”
However, Boston’s words do match the title of a 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The book was written by legal scholar and insurance expert Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey. It explores abuses of auto and homeowners insurance to “avoid paying justified claims,” according to its summary.
Luigi Mangione is a suspect in the killing, which has catapulted the nation’s health care industry into the spotlight. Mangione faces second-degree murder and a slew of other charges in both Pennsylvania and New York.
When Lakeland Police confronted Boston about the perceived threats, she apologized and said that she “used those words because it’s what is in the news right now,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Boston told authorities she does not own any guns and is not a threat, but went on to say that health care companies “deserve karma” and that they are “evil,” according to the document.
“Boston further stated the health care companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil,” police said in the affidavit.
ABC News has reached out to Blue Cross Blue Shield for comment.
Following the investigation, Boston was charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism and booked at a jail in Polk County, according to police.
(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with incoming border czar Thomas Homan to discuss their plans to remove what he says were violent undocumented immigrants.
Thursday’s closed-door meeting was the latest correspondence between the incoming Trump administration and Adams, who is facing federal bribery and fraud charges.
The mayor spoke about his meeting at a news conference, where he began by admonishing reporters for having “preconceived notions” and “distorted views” about his immigration policies.”
While Adams said the city is going to “protect the rights, of immigrants who are hard-working and giving back to the city in a positive way,” the mayor repeatedly said that he and Homan agreed that they do not share the same courtesy for immigrants who he says commits violent crimes.
“We will not be a safe haven for those who commit violent acts. We don’t do it for those who are citizens and we are not going to do it for undocumented citizens,” Adams said.
Homan, who served as the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration, has vowed a “shock and awe” action against undocumented immigrants on day one. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants once he takes office and has threatened local leaders who have opposed his proposal.
States and municipalities can’t outright act as immigration enforcement for the federal government without an agreement, according to federal law.
Sixty counties and police districts, many of them in Florida, have entered into 287(g) agreements with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, in which local law enforcement can conduct immigration policies on behalf of the federal government such as executing warrants and detaining undocumented immigrants, Elora Mukherjee, the director of Columbia Law School’s immigration clinic, told ABC News last month.
The mayor said his legal team is speaking with the ICE’s legal team about ways to work together. Adams said he is considering using executive orders but didn’t give any specifics.
He also mentioned South American gang activity in the city and Long Island when asked about more specifics on violent crime involving undocumented immigrants, but didn’t go into further detail.
Adams was mum when asked by a reporter if he and Homan discussed proposals to deport undocumented immigrants who didn’t commit any crime in the city.
“From what I heard from the incoming head of ICE is that we have the same desire to go after those who are committing violent acts, repeated violent acts against innocent New Yorkers, migrants and asylum seekers,” the mayor said.
Adams has had several conversations with the Trump team since the election, which has raised questions from critics about the discussions and the mayor’s ongoing criminal case.
He became the first sitting New York City mayor to be indicted when federal prosecutors charged him in September with bribery, fraud and accepting unsolicited donations from a foreign donor.
An investigation dating back to Adams’ time as Brooklyn borough president alleged the mayor had traded political favors with Turkish businessmen and officials in exchange for lavish gifts, hotel stays and flights.
The five-count indictment also alleges that Adams was involved with a foreign straw donor scheme that helped him get matching funds for his 2021 mayoral campaign.
Adams pleaded not guilty, brushed aside calls for his resignation and denied any wrongdoing. He has also dodged questions about whether he has sought a pardon by Trump.
The trial is slated for April and prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.
Many of the mayor’s critics, including City Comptroller Brad Lander who will run against Adams in the Democratic primary, chastised the mayor for meeting with Homan.
“Eric Adams is so focused on cozying up to Trump that he is willing to deny people due process and put the safety of families at risk. This open-armed embrace of Trump’s xenophobic policies is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home,” he said in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — As New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to bring murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr.
Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Thursday afternoon had raised over $50,000.
The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee,” apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company’s shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel.
“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation,” the anonymous group said in a statement.
The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation.”
The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company “operates with a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence.”
“Our platform does not adjudicate legal matters or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. Importantly, we do allow campaigns for legal defense funds, as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process,” the GiveSendGo spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added, “We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may choose a different approach, GiveSendGo’s core value is to provide a space where all individuals, no matter their situation, can seek and receive support, with donors making their own informed decisions.”
Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defense.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes,” the crowdfunding website said in a statement. “The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”
Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading “Free Luigi” and the phrase “Deny, Defend, Depose,” words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson’s homicide.
“Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It’s deeply disturbing,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. “And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready.”
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday.
Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York.
Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, “People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I’m glad he had some support.”
But law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted “wanted posters” outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives.
A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, “Deny, Defend, Depose.”
“Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting ‘hit lists,'” the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads.
Meanwhile, New York Police Department investigators continue to build a murder case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of ghost gun and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the three shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson’s shooting matched the gun found in Mangione possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, sources told ABC News.
The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters.
An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday.
Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.
In Pennsylvania, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
Megan Piphus, a musician and the first Black female puppeteer on “Sesame Street,” and her pupper Mini lead vocal exercises during the recording of nonprofit Saving Our Daughters’ first album; ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Saving Our Daughters brought star power into the recording booth to help empower some young women working on the group’s first album.
The nonprofit, founded in 2014, is dedicated to supporting young girls of color in overcoming barriers. The girls, known as “Student Cinderellas,” are a part of the collaborative album called “Cinderella Sweep.”
They’re teamed with women of color from the entertainment industry who play the role of “Celebrity Godparents.” Saving Our Daughters recruited musician Megan Piphus, the first Black female puppeteer on “Sesame Street,” who wrote a song called “Stop Me Now” as she started work on her next children’s music project.
“After writing it, I immediately thought of the work that I’ve gotten to do with Saving Our Daughters,” she said. “And so, we then thought, what if we made this entire project for young girls, and then partnered with Saving Our Daughters to get the girls to actually be on the album.”
She noted that there were no women who looked like her doing puppetry when she started doing it as a 10-year-old, but she still drew inspiration from people she admired.
“Now I’m in a position to be able to mentor young girls and provide them a view, a representation of what it looks like for a girl of color to be in the entertainment industry, to be a producer, to be a singer,” she said.
Piphus also brought her puppet Mini to the session, adding an extra layer of fun to the girls’ vocal warmups.
“I want the girls to listen to this album and really think past any limits in their mind and dream beyond their wildest dreams,” Piphus said.
Saving Our Daughters also got Broadway actress Jasmine Forsberg, star of the musical “Six,” to join the group.
“Music is all about finding your voice,” Forsberg said. “It is a universal language, and it’s a beautiful opportunity for girls around the world to be able to come together and express themselves through song.”
She’s thankful for the “incredible artistic mentors” she had when she was a little girl.
“I always knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be able to pay that forward,” Forsberg said.
The initiative seemed to inspire some of the girls.
“My dream is to be a professional dancer or be a CEO of finance or beauty,” one said.
Another suggested she has multi-pronged ambitions.
“I want to be a singer, a doctor and a fashion designer when I grow up,” she said.
One appeared to want to follow in Forsberg’s footsteps.
“When I get older, I think maybe like a Broadway star, because they sing and sometimes also dance,” she said at the session.
Regardless of where their paths lead, Piphus is hopeful that this experience sticks with them.
“There’s so much memory, I think, involved in music, and so I’m hoping that the sound and the messaging is something that they will remember for a lifetime,” she said.
