Teen rescued from 50-foot deep mine shaft in Northern California
Dong Xudong/Xinhua via Getty Images
(CHINA BAR, Calif.) — A 16-year-old teen was rescued from a 50-foot deep mine shaft in Northern California on Monday after the rope he was using to climb back out of the hole snapped, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The teen was saved after attempting to explore a mine shaft located in the Auburn State Recreation Area near China Bar, officials said.
At approximately 3:27 p.m. on Monday, Placer County Fire Department and Auburn City Fire Department were dispatched to a medical rescue for a “16-year-old male stuck in a vertical mine shaft approximately 50 feet deep,” according to a press release.
The teenager and his friends traveled about 180 feet into the mine shaft and the side of the mountain to explore and rappelled 40 to 50 feet down using a household rope, Cal Fire said.
Upon their ascent back, the rope broke, and the victim fell about 30 feet back to the bottom of the shaft. He attempted to free climb his way back up, but “ultimately lost strength and positioned himself in a precarious ledge awaiting rescuers,” officials said.
Once crews arrived on the scene, the teen’s friends led rescuers to the victim. The Placer County Technical Rescue Team was able to successfully save the teen using a “lightweight, complex rope system and established air monitoring,” Cal Fire said.
The victim was immediately taken to a local trauma center for treatment.
Cal Fire applauded the Placer County rescue team as they were able to “facilitate this technical rescue in a very confined and austere environment 180 feet inside of the mountain.”
“The incident highlights the unique natural hazards ever present within our beautiful and rugged landscape in Placer County,” Cal Fire said. “Our commitment to public safety in these diverse scenarios using highly trained special operations team is paramount in our service to the public.”
The name of the rescued teenager has not yet been released.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday he has ordered state prosecutors to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the “nowactive criminal investigation” into influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate, after they arrived in the state from Romania.
The announcement was first posted to X, saying, “Last week, I directed my office to work with our law enforcement partners to conduct a preliminary inquiry into Andrew and Tristan Tate.”
It continued, “Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers.”
The brothers landed at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 27 after Romania lifted a travel restriction on them, despite its ongoing criminal investigations into the Tates for human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group with the goal of sexually exploiting women in two cases. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape.
The Tate brothers deny all charges against them.
The two had been confined to Romania since late 2022 and were charged in both 2023 and 2024. Romanian officials announced that court restrictions prohibiting the brothers from leaving Romania while awaiting trial had been lifted, but that the charges against them remained in force. The Tates also face another criminal case in the United Kingdom, where an arrest warrant has been issued on separate allegations of human trafficking and rape. The UK government has faced calls to demand the Tates’ extradition from the U.S.
The Tates’ release followed reports of lobbying by President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump denied any knowledge of it when questioned by reporters about their arrival in the United States. But Romania’s foreign minister has confirmed that Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, raised the brothers’ case during a meeting in February, although he denied being pressured. Key Trump officials and allies, including Elon Musk and Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. have previously condemned the case against the Tates.
The charges against the Tates remain in force and they will be expected to return to Romania for court appearances, according to a statement from Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT.) The agency warned that failure to observe the remaining judicial restrictions could result in harsher restrictions being instated.
Despite other Trump allies’ support for the Tates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed surprise and anger at their arrival in Florida, telling reporters on the day that the Tates were “not welcome” given the conduct they are accused of.
Uthmeier, the attorney general, said he had directed state law enforcement to investigate whether any of their alleged crimes relating to human trafficking and violence against women triggered Florida jurisdiction, and pledging to “hold them accountable” if so.
One of the alleged victims at the center of one of the Romanian cases against Tate is a Florida woman. The American citizen has accused the Tates of luring her to Romania under the pretence of romantic relationship and then pressuring her into working as a pornographic webcam model, according to court documents.
The Tates have denied the woman’s accusations.
It is unclear if the new Florida investigation involves the women’s allegations. Uthmeier declined to give details on Tuesday but pledged to use “every tool” to hold the Tates accountable.
“These guys have themselves publicly admitted to participating in what very much appears to be soliciting, trafficking, preying upon women around the world,” he told a local reporter. “People can spin it however they want, but in Florida this type of behaviour is viewed as atrocious. We’re not going to accept it.”
“If these guys did criminal activity here in Florida we will go after them with full force of law and hold them accountable,” he said.
A lawyer representing the Tates, Joseph D. McBride, condemned the investigation, accusing Uthmeier of making “inflammatory, biased” comments and claiming the case was politically motivated.
“Today, Attorney General James Uthmeier threw ethics law out of the window when he publicly took a side in an ongoing Florida lawsuit where Andrew and Tristan Tate are suing a Florida woman,” McBride, wrote on X, challenging the attorney general to present evidence.
McBride blamed the new investigation on DeSantis, calling him “an angry, vertically challenged imp who hates Tate and Trump for being actual men. Attorney General Uthmeier is his pathetic lap dog.”
The Tates brought a defamation lawsuit against the Florida woman in the state in 2023, accusing her and her family of conspiring to damage their reputations by participating in the Romanian case. Last month, the woman brought her own countersuit against the Tates, accusing them of using the defamation lawsuit to try to silence victims. Both cases are currently pending.
A lawyer for the Florida woman in the Romania case praised the attorney general’s move to criminally investigate the Tates.
“Florida AG Uthmeier is right to criminally investigate the Tate brothers who have publicly boasted about exploiting women yet have continuously sought to undermine the Romanian investigation into these crimes,” Dani Pinter, senior vice president at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said in a statement. “Over 40 victims have been identified across Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They deserve justice. Florida’s investigation is a positive step towards justice realized.”
One of the women who is an alleged victim at the center of one of the Romanian cases is an American woman who lives in Florida.
It’s unclear from Uthmeier’s statement what the investigation is examining right now or how it might proceed.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso and T. Michelle Murphy contributed to this report.
An undated photo of 4-year-old Chosen Morris who died after accidentally shooting himself in Davenport, Florida. Davenport Police Department
(DAVENPORT, Fla.) — A 4-year-old boy named Chosen Morris has died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a handgun he found in his parents’ car, according to authorities in Florida.
The “tragic accident” unfolded Friday evening as the Morris family prepared to go out for pizza, the Davenport Police Department said.
Chosen’s dad, Robert Morris, was in the bathroom getting ready and his mom, Quinta Morris, was on the computer in her bedroom, police said.
Quinta Morris said she heard a “pop” and assumed her children broke something, according to police. She went to the living room to talk to them, but only her 7-year-old and 11-year-old were there, police said.
Quinta Morris started looking for Chosen and noticed the door to the garage was open, police said. In the garage, she found Chosen in the driver’s seat of the car with a gunshot wound to his head, police said.
Chosen’s parents rushed him to the hospital where he died on Saturday afternoon, police said.
Authorities believe Chosen was excited about the outing and went to the car to wait for his family, and then found the handgun under the driver’s seat, police said. Robert Morris owns the Smith & Wesson M&P .40 caliber gun, police said.
“This is a tragic accident,” Davenport Police Chief Steve Parker said in a statement. “As a father and grandfather, I can’t imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Morris are going through right now. Our prayers are certainly with the Morris family as they endure this heartbreaking tragedy.”
“It is important that gun owners know where their firearms are at all times, and when not in possession of their firearm, ensure it is properly secured with some type of lock, whether it is a trigger lock or stored in a locked cabinet or box,” Parker told ABC News via email.
There were at least 411 unintentional shootings by children in 2023, marking the worst year on record since Everytown’s tracking started in 2015. There were at least 360 unintentional shootings by children last year, causing 136 fatalities, according to Everytown.
There have been at least 21 unintentional shootings so far this year, resulting in 11 deaths, Everytown said.
(OHIO) — Four Chilean nationals were arrested in connection with the burglary that occurred at Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home in December, according to court records.
On Jan. 10, 2025, a special agent with the Ohio State Highway Patrol spotted suspicious luggage being carried into a vehicle outside of a hotel in Fairborn, Ohio, according to court records.
When the agent pulled the car over, Alexander Chavez, Bastian Morales, Jordan Sanchez and Sergio Cabello, allegedly showed the agent fake identification. The car smelled of marijuana and it was later confirmed that the four men were in the country illegally, court records filed in Clark County, Ohio, say.
When police searched the car, they say they found “two Husky automatic center punch pools wrapped in a cloth towel behind the glove box.”
Police say these tools are used by South American theft groups to break glass and enter houses.
The affidavit says that in the vehicle police found an “old LSU shirt and Bengals hat believed to be stolen from the December 9, 2024 burglary in Hamilton County, Ohio.”
On Dec. 9, Joe Burrow’s home in Hamilton County, Ohio, was burglarized, according to police records.
The affidavit says the men were brought to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for further questioning. When a detective called one of the cell phone numbers that was placed at the scene via cellphone data, Morales’ phone started ringing, according to court records.
Morales was also seen allegedly carrying a Louis Vuitton style bag and was previously identified “as a male possibly involved in a burglary offense” on the day of the burglary at Burrow’s home.
“This is an ongoing investigating involving multiple burglaries across the United States of America, specifically targeting multi-million dollar residences and your affiant and brother investigators have arrested at least six different South American burglary groups, five of which were Chilean nationals,” a criminal complaint says.
