Missing woman found alive after being stuck in mud puddle for days

(NEW YORK) — The judge overseeing Luigi Mangione’s murder case in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is set to issue a critical ruling Monday on what evidence and testimony prosecutors can use during the accused assassin’s murder trial.

New York Judge Gregory Carro is considering Mangione’s request to prohibit prosecutors from using the evidence that police seized from Mangione’s backpack — including the alleged murder weapon and writings that prosecutors say amount to a confession — as well as Mangione’s statements to law enforcement when he was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting.

Mangione’s state murder trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8, and Carro’s decision will help define the contours of the high-profile criminal trial. If he limits the use of evidence from Mangione’s backpack, prosecutors would be barred from showing the jury the purported murder weapon, writings allegedly outlining his escape route, a fake driver’s license, and thousands of dollars in cash.

Prosecutors would still have available surveillance footage of Thompson’s shooting death, as well as fingerprint and DNA evidence and a phone retrieved by police.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett — who is overseeing Mangione’s federal stalking case — reached a ruling in January allowing the use of the same evidence during Mangione’s federal trial, which is scheduled to begin in January 2027. In that case, Judge Garnett decided that the evidence in the backpack would have inevitably been discovered by law enforcement. 

However, defense lawyers have argued that the search of the backpack without a warrant violated Mangione’s rights, and have repeatedly urged Judge Carro to block prosecutors from using the evidence. 

“At the hearing, Altoona law enforcement officers repeatedly attempted to justify their warrantless search of Mr. Mangione’s backpack … instead, all these officers demonstrated was an utter disregard for a defendant’s constitutional rights and a shocking ignorance of basic search and seizure caselaw,” Mangione’s attorneys wrote in a state court filing. 

Lawyers from the Manhattan district attorney’s office pushed back on those claims, arguing the officers acted “in deliberate and painstaking fashion” when they searched the backpack.

“At every step, the Altoona officers responded to this unexpected and alarming situation reasonably,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in a court filing, adding that officers later obtained a warrant for the bag “establishing an independent source for recovering the backpack’s contents.”

Mangione pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges after he was arrested for allegedly gunning down Thompson, a husband and father of two, on a Midtown Manhattan street in December 2024.

As Mangione prepares for his upcoming trial in September, his supporters continue to fund part of his legal defense. Earlier this month, on Mangione’s 28th birthday, his legal defense fund surpassed $1.5 million.

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(AFFTON, Mo.) — Police in Missouri said the report of a 5-year-old girl who went missing after she was left unattended in a running vehicle that was then stolen was a “hoax” — and that two women involved are expected to face charges.

An Amber Alert had been issued for an “Aleise Dawson,” who had been reported taken shortly before 8 a.m. local time in Affton, Missouri, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.

The Amber Alert has since been canceled after detectives learned a child had never been abducted, police said Monday afternoon. The reporting party recanted their story “after an intense investigation,” according to the St. Louis County Police Department.

“While we are extremely grateful that there is no child in danger, we want to be very clear — we will use all available resources to ensure our community members, especially the most vulnerable among us, are safe,” the St. Louis County Police Department said in a statement.

St. Louis County Police Lt. Col. Jerry Lohr said the department is seeking charges for filing a false police report.

“It’s important to note the amount of time and resources and the allocation of our resources that go into something like this. We take this very, very seriously,” he said during a press briefing Monday afternoon.

The story “unraveled” as police began to ask more questions about the reported missing child, Lohr said.

According to Lohr, one of the women involved told police that she was taking care of her dead sister’s child, who had been left in her car that was then stolen. The woman’s roommate had a similar story, he said.

Once detectives began contacting other family members, “it became apparent that that was not the case,” he said.

Amid the search, the police department said it did not have a photograph of the child. The lack of photos, as well as any children’s clothing or sightings of the child by other people, were “indicators” that led police to believe there was no missing child, Lohr said.

There was, however, a stolen car, Lohr said. A motive remains under investigation as to why a child was falsely reported missing, he said.

“I don’t know if there was a sense of panic. I don’t know if the individual thought that they would get more response to the fact that their vehicle had been stolen,” Lohr said. “I can’t speak to the motivation of the individual.”

It was reported to police that the guardian had placed the child in the car, gone inside a residence to get something and “came back out and the car was gone,” St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson Vera Clay during a press briefing earlier Monday.

Officers responded to search for the reported missing child, and the vehicle was located several blocks away about two hours after the 911 call, according to Lohr.

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