Search underway after 2-year-old Virginia girl goes missing
Bridget Maeve Zeigler, 2, went missing in Cumberland County, Va. on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Virginia State Police)
(NEW YORK) — A 2-year-old girl went missing Thursday evening in Southwest Virginia, setting off a search by police and help from the local school district, according to officials.
The child, Bridget Maeve Zeigler, is described as a white female with short brown hair and blue eyes, and is about 2 feet tall and 30 pounds, according to a Virginia State Police alert.
Zeigler was last seen at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Cumberland County, Virginia in an area that appears to be heavily forested, according to police.
Zeigler was last seen wearing an orange dress, blue coat and white tennis shoes, according to the alert.
Police said the child is believed to be on foot.
Virginia State Police issued a CODI alert at approximately 11:30 p.m. Thursday on behalf of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Cumberland County Public Schools also issued an alert, encouraging community members to contact authorities with any information regarding Zeigler’s whereabouts.
Anyone with knowledge of the child’s location or disappearance is directed to reach out to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at (804) 492-4120.
A 31-page report on the White House ballroom submitted to the panels reviewing the project show the proposed addition to the White House from additional angles and features new renderings of the project. Commission of Fine Arts
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s plans to build a White House ballroom are in the hands of three appellate judges who will hear oral arguments Friday over whether construction should be allowed to continue.
The panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will weigh the Trump administration’s request to throw out a lower court judge’s order halting the construction, in a lawsuit brought by historic preservationists.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in late March that Trump has gone beyond his authority in building the ballroom, given that it has not been authorized by Congress. Leon’s order was administratively stayed by the appellate panel on April 17, a move that has allowed construction to continue since then.
The Trump administration has argued in court papers that beyond the president’s desire to build a large, permanent event space to host future inaugurations and state dinners, the ballroom — part of a broader “East Wing Modernization Project” — is essential to national security.
The Justice Department points to recent shootings that have occurred in relatively close proximity to the president, including at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April and on Pennsylvania Avenue in May, as examples of why the ballroom is needed for security reasons. Both of those incidents had gunmen allegedly exchanging fire with Secret Service police officers.
The government’s filings in the case have described the ballroom project as a fortification of the entire White House complex, saying that with its “deeply ensconced bunker, and its attendant bomb shelters, hospitals, medical facilities, and other National Security functions, to the highly sophisticated Drone Port and Sniper Nests atop the Ballroom, the complex is a highly knitted, unified whole.”
The administration also argues that the group that has sued, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lacks the standing necessary to bring a case.
Lawyers for the National Trust say that it’s Congress, not the president, that controls the grounds of the White House, and that Leon was correct to determine in his ruling that no statute “comes close” to giving Trump the authority he claims to construct a large edifice next to the executive mansion.
“The public’s interest in its government following the law, and the maintenance of the President’s proper role in our system of separated powers, underscore that the district court did not abuse its discretion,” they write in a brief, urging the appeals court judges to let Judge Leon’s injunction stand.
Prior to beginning consideration this week of an immigration enforcement funding bill, Senate Republicans removed a $1 billion provision, drafted in response to a request from the Secret Service, that officials said a portion of which would have gone toward security-related aspects of the ballroom project.
Arguments in the case will be heard by Obama-appointee Patricia Millett, Trump-appointee Neomi Rao and Biden-appointee Brad Garcia.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
ormer FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on August 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the cryptocurrency fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The opinion came the same week Bankman-Fried submitted his application for a presidential pardon.
Bankman-Fried was convicted of masterminding one of the largest financial frauds in history stemming from the collapse of the crypto-exchange FTX. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
(BOISE, Idaho) — Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty last year to the University of Idaho murders, is trying to challenge his conviction, according to new court documents.
Kohberger filed a petition on Monday for post-conviction relief with the Ada County District Court. He is currently representing himself, according to the docket.
The family of victim Kaylee Goncalves said in a statement Monday that Kohberger admitted his guilt in his plea and “chose not to leave his fate — or the facts of the case — to a jury.”
“We would have preferred a death-penalty trial; we believe fully in the evidence,” the family said. “Instead, [Kohberger] received exactly what he asked for: a deal that spared his life. Know this — he hates that life. He wants another chance to roll the dice.”
If Kohberger is granted a hearing, the family said that day in court will offer him a “welcome break from solitary confinement: a ride, perhaps different food, photos taken, and the spotlight once again fixed on him and his supposed ‘innocence.'”
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a statement Monday, “My heart goes out to the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan, who have already endured unimaginable loss and now must face today’s deeply painful news. My office stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out.”
Kohberger was arrested for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students — roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — at the girls’ off-campus house in 2022.
DNA from a knife sheath left at the crime scene was found to be a “statistical match” to Kohberger, authorities said. Kohberger’s phone was also near the victims’ house at least 12 times before the murders, court documents said, with all of those times, except for one, late at night or early in the morning.
In July 2025, weeks before his trial was set to start, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all counts. As part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table.
Kohberger was given four consecutive life sentences for four first-degree murder counts as well as 10 years for the burglary count. Kohberger — a criminology student at Washington State University at the time of the murders — didn’t address the court at sentencing.
Authorities said last year that the motive remained unknown and they didn’t know which victim was the specific target.
