Kidnapped 6-year-old rescued by Kansas trooper during traffic stop
(Mike Hutmacher/Wichita Eagle/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(KANSAS) — One traffic violation on a Kansas highway led to the miraculous rescue of a 6-year-old girl who had been kidnapped.
Kansas Highway Patrol said the rescue happened after a highway trooper stopped an SUV for a traffic violation last month.
During the traffic stop, the trooper discovered that the front-seat passenger had a warrant for his arrest from another state for kidnapping a 6-year-old girl just over a month earlier, officials said in a post on Facebook.
Kansas Highway Patrol said the trooper had observed a girl in the vehicle about that age riding with the two adult male occupants, both of whom were in their 60s.
Officials said the driver of the vehicle had a criminal history that included homicide and numerous weapons violations.
“After the trooper and a deputy from a local sheriff’s office quickly secured both the driver and passenger, the trooper safely removed the little girl from the vehicle,” Kansas Highway Patrol wrote in the post.
Officials said initially the 6-year-old girl gave the trooper a false name and date of birth “after having been coached to do so, in an attempt to keep the adult out of jail.”
The young girl eventually told the trooper her real name when it was confirmed she was the kidnapping victim who had been with the suspect for over a month, officials said.
“Thankfully the girl was unharmed, and the men were taken into custody,” officials added.
The identities of those involved have not yet been released.
ABC News has reached out to the Kansas Highway Patrol for comment.
(MAITLAND, Fla.) — Marcus Jordan, the son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, was arrested on drug and resisting arrest charges in Florida after he got his vehicle stuck on train tracks, according to an arrest affidavit.
The 34-year-old Orlando resident was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday in Maitland after an officer saw a blue Lamborghini SUV that appeared to be stopped on railroad tracks, according to the affidavit. The officer notified SunRail, the commuter rail system, to alert that there was a vehicle on the tracks and approached the SUV, the affidavit said.
The officer reported that he smelled alcohol coming from the vehicle and the driver had slurred speech and “red bloodshot and glassy eyes,” according to the affidavit.
Police learned the vehicle had allegedly just fled from a traffic stop initiated by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan reportedly told the officer that he made a wrong turn and needed help getting his vehicle off the tracks, according to the affidavit. There was a passenger in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
He allegedly told police he had “some drinks” that night but “repeated he was not over the legal limit,” according to the affidavit.
The officer arrested Marcus Jordan for driving under the influence after conducting field sobriety exercises, according to the affidavit.
A “clear plastic baggie with a white powdery substance” was found inside the front right pocket of his pants that ultimately tested positive for cocaine, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan allegedly refused to cooperate when asked to get into the patrol vehicle, according to the affidavit.
He refused to provide breath samples at the Orange County DUI Center, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan was issued a citation for driving under the influence and charged with possession of cocaine and resisting an officer without violence, according to the affidavit. He was booked into the Orange County jail without incident.
He did not answer reporters’ questions upon his release later Tuesday. Online court records do not list any attorney information for him.
Marcus Jordan is one of Michael Jordan’s five children.
He is a former college basketball player, having played for the University of Central Florida. The affidavit noted his current occupation as self-employed.
(NEW YORK) — The Department of Homeland Security has arrested a second student who was involved with Columbia University protests, the agency announced.
Leqaa Korda was arrested by agents from Homeland Security Investigations for allegedly overstaying her expired visa — which terminated on Jan. 26, 2022. She was also allegedly arrested in 2024 for her involvement in the protests, according to DHS.
Korda is a Palestinian from the West Bank, according to DHS.
The arrest comes nearly a week after plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was also involved in the protests at Columbia University.
The agency said another student involved in the protests — Ranjani Srinivasan, an urban planning student at Columbia and Indian citizen — used the CBP Home app to self-deport.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport.”
Federal agents with DHS also searched two Columbia University student residences Thursday night but did not arrest or detain anyone.
In a statement, Columbia President Katrina Armstrong said the DHS agents had two search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge authorizing them to enter non-public areas of the university and conduct searches of two student rooms.
“I am writing heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight,” Armstrong said in the statement. “No one was arrested or detained. No items were removed, and no further action was taken.”
The searches were part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on individuals it has described as espousing the views of Hamas and threatening the safety of Jewish students, according to sources.
Khalil was one of the leaders of the university encampment protests last spring, and is being held in Louisiana.
Khalil, a green card holder who has not been charged with a crime, is set to appear before an immigration judge on March 27.
Trump administration officials have said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas. Baher Azmy, one of Khalil’s lawyers, called his client’s alleged alignment with Hamas “false and preposterous.”
Earlier Thursday, at least 98 people were arrested at a protest in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City calling for Khalil’s release.
Separately, Columbia University announced Thursday that students who occupied the campus’ Hamilton Hall during pro-Palestinian protests last spring have been expelled, suspended for several years or had their degrees temporarily revoked.
After a rash of wildfires broke out over the weekend, scorching thousands of acres in South and North Carolina, firefighters on Monday reported making significant progress in extinguishing the blazes that prompted mass evacuations and threatened numerous homes, officials said.
At one point on Saturday and into Sunday, 175 wildfires erupted in South and North Carolina, fueled by high winds and extremely dry conditions, officials said. The fires prompted South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to declare a state of emergency on Sunday and issue a statewide burning ban.
On Monday, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said firefighters had either extinguished or contained most of the fires.
The largest fire to break out over the weekend was in the Carolina Forest in Horry County. As of Monday, the fire had burned 1,600 acres and threatened the communities of Walkers Woods and Avalon, while spreading to the edge of Myrtle Beach, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
(CAROLINA) — The Carolina Forest fire, which erupted Saturday amid wind gusts of 40 mph, was 30% contained on Monday, the commission said.
More than 400 firefighters — aided by firefighting aircraft, including two South Carolina National Guard helicopter crews making water drops — prevented the fire from spreading to homes in the area, officials said. While some homes were damaged, none have been destroyed, officials said.
No injuries were reported from any of the blazes.
Barbara and Vince Giunta of Myrtle Beach, whose home abuts the Carolina Forest, said the fire spread to near their property line on Saturday.
“Everything was on fire. It was bad. Very, very bad,” Barbara Giunta told ABC News.
Vince Giunta said at one point on Saturday he looked out his kitchen window “and you could see the flames as high as the trees.”
The cause of the Carolina Forest fire remained under investigation.
The second biggest South Carolina wildfire ignited Saturday in Georgetown County, about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach, burned roughly 800 acres and caused evacuations in the town of Prince George. The South Carolina Forestry Commission said Monday that the fire had been contained.
In North Carolina, fire crews continued to battle a blaze near the town of Tryon, close to the South Carolina border, according to the Saluda Fire and Rescue Department. On Monday, the fire was 30% contained after burning 481 acres, officials said.
Gusty winds are expected to the Carolinas on Tuesday with gusts ranging from 15 to 25 mph. A storm system is heading to the East Coast and is expected to bring much-needed rain to the Carolinas on Wednesday, but could also produce damaging winds and tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said Monday that elevated fire danger conditions persist in the Carolinas and much of the South with extremely dry conditions and with minimum relative humidity of 15% to 25% on Monday afternoon.
“While winds are expected to be light and temperatures still on the cool side of normal, dry vegetation due to lack of recent rainfall combined with the dry air will once again result in increased wildfire danger in northeast Georgia, Upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina,” the NWS said.
Most of South Carolina is abnormally dry or under moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 1.2 million residents of the state live in areas experiencing drought, according to the Drought Monitor.
South Carolina only received about 1.87 inches of rain in January, which is below normal, officials said.
According to the Drought Monitor, about 46% of North Carolina is experiencing abnormally dry conditions and 39% of the state is under moderate drought conditions. North Carolina received about 1.62 inches of rain in January, the seventh-driest January on record, according to the Drought Monitor.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement Monday that U.S. Forest Service firefighters helped battle the Carolina fires over the weekend.
“The brave men and women of the U.S. Forest Service began responding immediately to the fires in the Carolinas,” said Rollins, whose agency includes the U.S. Forest Service. “We will ensure they have the resources, personnel and support they need to swiftly put out the fires.”
U.S. Forest Service officials said in a statement that the dry conditions and downed timber from past storms have “elevated wildfire risk” in the Carolinas.
