Search for missing miner in flooded West Virginia coal mine enters 4th day
Allegheny Mountains (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Rescuers are racing to find a miner who’s been trapped in a flooded West Virginia coal mine for days.
Crews are pumping out thousands of gallons of water per minute at the Rolling Thunder Mine to help locate the miner after the site flooded Saturday, according to West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
“Rescue operations continue at the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County, where crews are now pumping water at a rate of approximately 6,000 gallons per minute – a significant increase from earlier efforts as additional pumps became available,” Gov. Morrisey posted Tuesday on X.
“This is another step forward in the ongoing effort to reach the missing miner. As water levels continue to drop, crews are also advancing on the drilling portion of the rescue as they prepare for additional heavy equipment to arrive,” he added.
The identity of the miner has not been publicly released.
At a press conference Monday, Morrisey said dive teams were working to find pockets of air where the miner may be located.
“This has been an around-the-clock response since Saturday, and we’re going to continue to do everything imaginable to help,” said Morrisey. “We’re going to continue to push because we want to make sure that we give the miner every opportunity to live.”
Nicholas County Commissioner Garrett Cole posted a statement on Facebook Sunday night, saying that the missing miner was helping his crew escape to safety.
“According to state wide reporting, the missing miner is said to be a foreman of a crew who worked to ensure that everyone on his crew was getting out of the mine but got trapped behind,” he said.
Rolling Thunder Mine is operated by Tennessee-based Alpha Metallurgical Resources, which operates 19 underground and surfaces mines across West Virginia and Virginia, according to its website.
A spokesperson for Alpha Metallurgical Resources did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
The weekend episode at Rolling Thunder Mine is the second mining incident in West Virginia this month, following the death of a miner at a different mine on Thursday, according to Morrisey.
“Our coal miners are among the hardest-working and most courageous people in our state. They represent the strength, humility, and resolve that define West Virginia. We owe these men and women an enduring debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to power our communities and our nation,” Morrisey posted on Facebook.
A bouquet is left outside of the engineering and physics building at Brown University, the site of a mass shooting yesterday that left at least two people dead and nine others injured, on December 14, 2025, in Providence, Rhode Island. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — New security video released on Monday by the Rhode Island police showed a person of interest wanted for questioning in the deadly mass shooting that erupted over the weekend on the campus of Brown University.
The video was taken shortly after Saturday’s shooting and shows a figure dressed in black walking along Waterman Street, which appears to be about three blocks north of the Brown campus, according to the Providence Police Department.
“We are sharing a video of a person of interest and plan to release additional video as part of the ongoing investigation,” the police department said in a statement, asking anyone who recognizes the individual in the video to contact investigators immediately.
The new video was made public after authorities announced that a person of interest detained early Sunday morning for questioning had been released.
In an interview on ABC News’ “GMA3” on Monday, Rhode Island State Attorney General Peter Neronha said the person initially detained in connection with the mass shooting has been “effectively cleared.”
“The evidence that we have, the scientific evidence that we have available to us, after it was analyzed, made clear that this was not someone who should be detained in connection with this case,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said on ABC News’ “GMA3.” “So we released him and then moved on, looking at other evidence and pursuing other leads pointing at additional potential individuals.”
Investigators are now bringing additional teams to canvass for video, analyze images, and sweep the crime scene for fingerprints as they work to build a more detailed timeline and, potentially, identify a suspect.
ABC News observed members of the FBI evidence response unit using a K-9 on Monday to canvas the area around the crime scene at Brown University. FBI agents were also viewed on campus searching bushes and raking the snow-covered ground for evidence.
“We understand that there’s a high degree of anxiety and after this individual was released last night, I understand that anxiety level has risen in our community,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told ABC News on Monday. “But it’s no different than a day ago, which is that we’ve received — continue to receive zero credible threats to our community, Brown or the broader community.”
Smiley’s comments came as federal and local law enforcement officials were continuing their investigation early on Monday, two days after the mass shooting in an academic building in Providence on Saturday.
A person of interest in the case, who had been taken into custody early on Sunday, was released later in the day, after authorities said that there was no basis to continue detaining them.
“Tonight, we announced that the person of interest is being released. The investigation has been ongoing and remains fully active between all agencies,” the Providence Police Department said in a statement early on Monday. “Since the first call to 911, we have not received any specific threats to our community.”
Smiley wouldn’t on Monday definitely say whether the person of interest who was released was cleared of all connection to the case. He also declined to say whether the investigation was pointing toward a student or someone from off-campus.
“We cannot comment on that and we’re exploring all possible leads,” he said.
Two people were killed and nine were injured in the shooting, according to officials. The injured victims were transported to local hospitals amid a day of “devastating gun violence,” Christina H. Paxson, the university’s president, said in a statement posted early on Sunday.
“Every year, emergency responders and students drill for the unthinkable — a shooting at our schools,” Gov. Dan McKee said in his own statement. “Yesterday, that action became all too real when a gunman opened fire on a classroom of innocent Brown University students.”
The FBI and other law enforcement officials shared a short video clip of someone whom they described as a person of interest. The individual in the clip is seen dressed in dark clothing, including what appeared to be a hood, as they walk along Hope Street and take a corner heading north.
The person’s right hand appeared to be in their jacket pocket as they walked northward along Waterman Street before exiting from the frame.
Officials said they still believe the person seen in that video is a person of interest in the shooting.
The person of interest who was detained and released on Sunday was initially caught at about 3:45 a.m. at a hotel in Coventry, about 28 miles south of Providence, according to law enforcement sources and Coventry police.
Law enforcement sources described the detained person of interest as a man in his mid-20s from Wisconsin. At the time the person was detained, the individual was allegedly in possession of two guns, according to sources.
There was “no basis” to keep the person detained, Attorney General of Rhode Island Peter Neronha said.
“Sometimes you head in one direction and have to regroup and go in another,” Neronha said. “That’s exactly what’s happened over the last 24 hours or so.”
Police said anyone with information about the case can contact investigators through an online Tip Center at www.fbi.gov/brownuniversityshooting or by calling (401) 272-3121.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Luke Barr and Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
Frezja Matisse Baker in a photo released by police. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Missing North Carolina mother Frezja Matisse Baker was pronounced dead by police after she was found in a vehicle on Thursday, officials said. Her death is now being investigated as a murder, according to police.
Baker was found unresponsive in her vehicle at around 9:35 a.m. before being pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Her cause of death has not yet been determined, police noted.
Baker was last seen just before 10 p.m. last Thursday, Dec. 4, driving her gray blue 2004 Honda Accord, authorities said.
Baker’s family members expressed concern for her well-being earlier this week and had been seeking information on her whereabouts, according to police.
“I just want my baby home, I just want her home, I just want her home, in good health and good, that’s all,” Baker’s mother, who requested anonymity, told WSOC.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-8477 (TIPS) and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective — Detective Buhr is the lead detective assigned to this case. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or Charlotte Crime Stoppers.
