Man arrested for murder after 65-year-old roommate’s remains found inside suitcase in East River
WABC
(NEW YORK) — The human remains found in a suitcase floating in the East River last week have been identified as Edwin Echevarria, a 65-year-old Manhattan man, who was allegedly murdered by 23-year-old Christian Miller, who lived at the same address on Columbia Street, police said.
The grisly discovery was made on Feb. 5 at approximately 5:30 p.m. when the NYPD Harbor Unit discovered the remains near Governor’s Island, police said.
The suitcase contained a man’s torso, which was taken to the medical examiner’s office for investigation, police said.
The torso was zipped into a sleeping bag that was stuffed into the suitcase, according to police sources.
The suitcase also contained what appears to be a reusable grocery store-style bag, the sources said.
Police did not immediately say how long the remains were there or how they ended up in the suitcase but have now confirmed that Miller has been arrested and charged with murder.
The two were roommates, according to police, and no other body parts have been recovered, sources said.
No further details regarding the case have been provided and the investigation into the death is currently ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — The death toll in Kentucky has risen to 14 from a devastating storm that battered the state this weekend as residents brace for up to 6 inches of snow from a new storm.
“This isn’t just a number — these are Kentuckians who will be missed by their families and loved ones,” Gov. Andy Beshear said on social media. “Please pray for our commonwealth and our neighbors who have lost people they love.”
Over 1,000 people have been rescued across the state, the governor said. In Louisville, crews have conducted over 30 rescues in the flash flooding, Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
One storm-related death was also reported in Georgia.
The storm dumped over 8 inches of rain in Kentucky and Tennessee, and 5 inches of rain in Virginia.
Next storm At least 25 states from Montana to Texas to Delaware are now under snow and ice alerts as a new storm moves east.
On Tuesday, heavy snow is falling in Kansas and Missouri while an ice and snow mix is falling as far south as Oklahoma and Texas.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, could get up to 2 inches of a sleet and snow mix while Little Rock, Arkansas, could get up to 3 inches of ice and snow.
A freezing drizzle might reach the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday night, the winter storm will spread to Kentucky and Tennessee, where residents are still recovering from this weekend’s devastating flooding.
Louisville could see up to 6 inches of snow while Memphis and Nashville could see 1 to 4 inches of snow.
By Wednesday morning, the storm will move into the Appalachians and the East Coast. Winter storm alerts were issued in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, where 1 to 6 inches of snow and ice could fall on Wednesday.
The storm will spare the busy Interstate 95 corridor. Light snow is possible in D.C. on Wednesday but no major accumulation is expected.
Record cold Dozens of record low temperatures are forecast this week from the Plains to the South.
Temperatures fell to the negative 30s Tuesday morning in the northern Plains.
The wind chill — what temperature it feels like — could plunge to as low as the minus 50s or 60s in the Heartland.
Later this week, the cold air will move south.
By Thursday morning, Dallas could reach a record low temperature of 15 degrees and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, could fall to 25 degrees.
(NEW YORK) — More than 100 Drug Enforcement Administration agents packed a New York City federal courtroom Friday for the arraignment of the alleged mastermind behind the 1985 murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, the first DEA agent killed on Mexican soil.
Rafael Caro Quintero, 72, was arraigned on multiple drug and weapons offenses in Brooklyn federal court following his extradition Thursday to the U.S. from Mexico.
“Today is a historic event,” Frank Tarentino, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s New York division, said at a press briefing outside the courthouse following the hearing. “We have waited 40 years for this day. This day, when justice would be served.”
Caro Quintero appeared in a bright orange tee shirt beneath a navy smock for his arraignment. He was shackled at the hands before he took his seat in court.
A DEA agent was allowed to join U.S. marshals in escorting Caro Quintero from the courtroom, a symbolic gesture. Forty years after the death of Camarena, the DEA finally has its man.
“After 40 years the man who murdered Enrique Camarena is finally facing justice in the United States,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said in court. “Justice never forgets.”
Komatireddy said Caro Quintero “pioneered Mexican drug trafficking” and the violent enforcement of his cartel’s turf.
His court-appointed attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and did not contest pretrial detention.
Caro Quintero was among 29 top drug operatives Mexico who were expelled and transferred to the U.S. under pressure from the Trump administration.
He was convicted in Mexico in 1985 of the torture and murder of Camarena, one of the most notorious killings in the history of the Mexican narco wars. After serving 28 years of his 40-year sentence, he was released from prison in 2013 when a Mexican judge ruled that he had been improperly tried. Caro Quintero promptly went into hiding, as U.S. officials stridently condemned the release.
In 2018, he was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, with a $20 million reward available for information leading to his arrest or capture.
The criminal ringleader was once again detained in Mexico in 2022, nearly 10 years after his release. At the time, the FBI said that he was allegedly involved in the Sinaloa cartel and the Caro-Quintero drug trafficking organization in the region of Badiraguato in Sinaloa, Mexico, and warned that he should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.”
Caro Quintero is charged in the Eastern District of New York with multiple drug and weapons offenses, including leading a continuing criminal enterprise, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
In his remarks outside the courthouse, Tarentino said Camarena “remains a symbol of strength, honor, courage, unity and determination.”
“Rafael Caro Quintero, the man responsible for Kiki’s kidnapping, torture and murder in 1985 in Guadalajara, Mexico, will answer for his crimes,” Tarentino said.
Camarena joined the DEA in 1974, the year after its founding.
For more than four years in Mexico, Camarena investigated the country’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers.
In early 1985, reportedly close to unlocking a multibillion-dollar drug pipeline, Camarena was kidnapped while headed to meet his wife. The agent’s capture and subsequent murder were dramatized in Netflix’s “Narcos: Mexico.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Social Security numbers and other personal details of at least two former congressional staffers who investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were revealed by this week’s release of declassified records ordered by President Donald Trump.
Joseph diGenova, 80, and Christopher Pyle, 86, both had their names, birth dates, birth places and Social Security numbers unmasked in the document released by the National Archives — potentially putting them at risk of identity theft and fraud.
The Washington Post spoke to both of the former staffers and ABC News confirmed that both men’s Social Security numbers were in the newly-published documents.
It is unclear how many other people whose Social Security numbers are in the documents and are also still alive. The Washington Post reported that data of more than 200 former congressional staffers and others was made public.
Of those, more than 80 people with birth dates between 1930 and 1952 — putting them in their 70s, 80s or 90s — also had their Social Security numbers and birth dates published.
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 23 directing the release of all remaining records related to the assassination, saying it was in the “public interest” to do so.
The records were posted to the National Archives’ website on Tuesday, joining recently released records posted in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2017-2018.
Tuesday’s initial release contained 1,123 records comprising 32,000 pages. A subsequent release on Tuesday night contained 1,059 records comprising 31,400 additional pages.
More than 60,000 pages related to the 1963 assassination were released. Many of the pages had been previously disclosed, but with redactions. Many, but not all, redactions have been removed.
The records were posted to the National Archives webpage under the headline “JFK Assassination Records — 2025 Documents Release.”
