US updates

A man who escaped from a northwest Ohio prison earlier this month died from drowning, according to autopsy results released Wednesday. Bradley Gillespie, 50, was reported missing May 23 from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima along with another man who authorities said escaped alongside him. Authorities determined the two escaped by concealing themselves in a trash container. OHIO INMATE WHO ESCAPED PRISON FOUND DEAD AFTER BOATER FINDS BODY FLOATING IN RIVER: POLICE The other man, James Lee, 47, was caught the next day in Henderson, Kentucky , after a police pursuit of a stolen car the men were in ended in a crash and a foot chase, but Gillespie avoided capture. His body was spotted Sunday in the Ohio River, not far from the area where he was last seen. Henderson is a city across the river from Indiana and about 350 miles southwest of Lima. The Henderson County coroner’s office released the preliminary autopsy results Wednesday and said toxicology results won’t be ...

The FBI is now investigating after a man fell from his Carnival Cruise stateroom balcony on early Monday morning off the coast of Florida. A Carnival Cruise Lines spokesperson told Fox News Digital that security video shows a 35-year-old man leaning over the railing of his balcony and falling into the water at 4:10 a.m. on Monday. On late Monday afternoon, his companion reported him missing, according to the spokesperson. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the man went overboard off the Carnival Magic vessel around 186 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. "The U.S. Coast Guard has released the ship from any search and rescue efforts and advised the ship’s captain to continue on its way to Norfolk where it arrived as planned on Tuesday," the spokesperson added.  The FBI is the lead investigating agency in the incident, a spokesperson for the agency's Norfolk field office told Fox News Digital. MAN FALLS FROM CRUISE SHIP OFF FLORIDA COAST: 'LIFE OF THE PARTY' ...

An Alabama federal judge has sentenced the man who admits being the leader of a scheme to set fires to Walmart stores along the Gulf Coast to 18 years in prison — double the recommended sentence. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence for Jeffery Sikes, which was the high end of the sentencing guideline range. But U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer said Tuesday he believed those guidelines did not capture the full extent of the defendant’s criminal conduct, WALA-TV reported. "This guideline, as applied, in my opinion, is woefully inadequate for the crime," the judge said. KANSAS FIREFIGHTERS FIND MAN ON FIRE INSIDE WALMART RESTROOM In addition, Moorer ordered Sikes and his co-conspirators to pay nearly $7.3 million to Walmart in compensation for the damage incurred in the fires at stores in Alabama and Mississippi. After his prison term is completed, Sikes will be on probation for three years. Others involved in the fires will be sentence...

A shark was captured on drone footage Monday circling a man and a child swimming at a popular beach in Alabama .  The footage, taken by 15-year-old Jackson Silvio and obtained by Fox News Digital, shows the man and child wading further out into the water at Orange Beach .  The shark can be seen following them, swimming in a circle as it gets closer. At one point, the animal appears to swim just a few feet from the older man before swimming out to sea.  YELLOWSTONE TOURIST GETS SCARE OF HER LIFE WHILE ATTEMPTING TO PET BISON: VIDEO Sharks are not uncommon sightings along the Gulf of Mexico . Per Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, most sharks that inhabit the shallow water near the shore are "really small."  The Gulf of Mexico has around 50 species of sharks, with around 20 to 30 species that beachgoers and fishermen can encounter.  Dr. Sean Powers, head of the University of South Alabama’s Marine and Environmental Sciences Department, told the website t...

A Missouri woman charged with killing her 2-month-old child pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter.  Kayla Brewer and her partner, Jason Williams, were indicted by a Cole County Grand Jury in February 2021 for the September 30, 2020, death of their child .  Initially, the sheriff’s office said foul play was not suspected in the baby’s death, KRCG reported at the time.  The couple was initially charged with drug offenses, endangering the welfare of a child and receiving stolen property after officers seized drugs, a stolen rifle and more than $30,000 from their home. 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL CRITICALLY INJURED IN NASHVILLE DELIBERATE CAR ATTACK An autopsy report showed that the infant had died with a "significant amount" of meth in the baby’s system and the death was later ruled a homicide.  Brewer took the stand Tuesday and pleaded guilty to the charges. She was sentenced to five years of supervised probation. Brewer was originally sentenced to 10 years...

An Illinois jury has found Timothy Bliefnick guilty on all charges in the murder trial of a former "Family Feud" contestant accused of killing his estranged wife, an accomplished nurse and fixture in her local church, amid a grueling divorce and custody battle. Bliefnick, who lived about a mile away from his wife after they separated, was accused of breaking into Rebecca "Becky" Postle Bliefnick's home through a second-story window and shooting her 14 times. Prosecutors alleged that he researched ways to commit the crime on Google, rode to her house on a bicycle, pried open the window with a crowbar and shot her dead. Jury selection in the courthouse in Quincy took place May 22. The trial lasted just over a week, with a break for Memorial Day, before closing arguments Wednesday. ‘FAMILY FEUD’ MURDER SUSPECT DECLINES TO TESTIFY, SETTING STAGE FOR CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN WIFE'S SHOOTING DEATH Postle Bliefnick's father found her body on Feb. 23, accordin...

A Missouri ER doctor and father of eight who vanished last week after texting his new fiancée he'd see her in "a little bit" was found dead Tuesday, his brother said. Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was reported missing May 21 after he didn't report for his 7 p.m. shift at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, a town of about 3,000 deep in the Ozarks. His brother Richard Forsyth said authorities located his body Tuesday in northwest Arkansas. "We're in shock. I suspect foul play," said Richard, who is expecting more details from a detective on Wednesday. TEXAS WOMAN SAYS SHE'S CHICAGO MISSING CHILD FROM OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO: REPORTS "He wouldn’t miss a shift even if his eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets. He's punctual in the extreme," Richard told Fox News Digital. "It was an immediate red flag." Forsyth has worked at the same hospital for 15 years and has never missed a day of work or been late, Richard added. The last person ...

Police in Baltimore County, Maryland, arrested an 18-year-old man after he allegedly shot and killed a man and injured two other people early Monday morning. The Baltimore County Police Department said Jose Diaz-Contrenas was arrested on Monday in connection to the murder of 30-year-old Javier Argueta. At about 3 a.m. on Monday, officers responded to a Motel 6 on 5800 block of Baltimore National Pike. When the officers arrived, they discovered three people suffering from gunshot wounds. Two of the victims were transported to area hospitals while the third victim, Argueta, was pronounced dead at the scene. MARYLAND POLICE MAKE ARRESTS IN BEATING DEATH OF DAD AFTER SCHOOLYARD FIGHT: REPORT FOX 45 in Baltimore reported that Diaz-Contrenas confessed to the shooting. According to the outlet, charging documents revealed Diaz-Contrenas told authorities that he "could not stop" shooting the people once he started pulling the trigger. Police were provided a description of th...

Police in Illinois broke up a large fight on at an amusement park on Monday night, resulting in six teens being arrested. Gurnee police officers and other law enforcement agencies were called to Six Flags Great America at around 7:15 to break up a fight that was near the front gates, according to FOX 32 .  The fight began between two groups and spread into the amusement park's parking lot, witnesses said. Police tried to break up the fight but failed, with one Gurnee police officer deploying pepper spray at the people who were being disruptive.  AMUSEMENT PARK MAYHEM: 4 TIMES OUTDOOR FUN DESCENDED INTO HORRIFYING CHAOS Four Gurnee police officers received minor injuries while trying to break up the fight. Three of the officers were treated at the scene, and one officer was taken to a local hospital and released the same night. CHILD ACCIDENTALLY HANGS HERSELF IN AMUSEMENT PARK INFLATABLE WHILE STAFF STARED AT PHONES: REPORT As the fighting continued, more law enforceme...

Employees at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Maryland were given a new pronoun usage guide that lists dozens of pronouns include "aerself" and "faerself" while staffers navigate a recent inclusive ID policy, Fox News Digital has learned. A pronoun usage guide from Johns Hopkins Medicine details 50 different pronouns that health care employees could use in the workplace, with other options including ve, xe, per and ae.  The guide includes examples of how to use the pronouns, such as: "Ae cleaned the office all by aerself," or "I gave faer the key." The guide also shows how to use titles correctly, such as using "Mr." for men, "Miss" for women, or "Mx." for "nonbinary or gender diverse people."  The guide comes alongside policy that went into effect last year allows workers to use their legal names on badges and can opt for a name that fits with their gender identities. Johns Hopkins Medicine’s program directo...

HOLIDAY HORROR - Multiple people, including children, injured in Memorial Day shooting at beach boardwalk in Florida. Continue reading … ‘VILE’ - Groups call for public law school to face punishment after 'evil, antisemitic' graduation speech. Continue reading …  MUM’S THE WORD -  Durham report reveals Biden and Obama knew truth of Trump collusion hoax but kept silent, Gregg Jarrett writes. Continue reading … FLORIDA FURY -  Upcoming convention goes 18+ in reaction to DeSantis law that prohibits exposing kids to 'adult live entertainment.'  Continue reading … BIG BROTHER -  AI can spy on unsuspecting victims with ‘ease and precision,’ experts warn.  Continue reading … - SHORT ON TIME - Budget deal will leave next Congress, winner of 2024 presidential election with renewed debate. Continue reading … NOW COMES THE HARD PART - Getting debt deal over the finish line will be a momentous task.  Continue reading … ‘NEVER GETS EASIER’ -...

A knife-wielding man was killed by police in South Carolina during a confrontation on Memorial Day after his alleged girlfriend was found stabbed to death in a wheelchair. The Landrum Police Department responded to the Bon Aire Apartments at approximately 4 a.m. Monday to find a woman dead in a wheelchair just outside an apartment, FOX Carolina reported. The woman was later identified by the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office as 53-year-old Shana McClain. An initial exam reportedly showed she suffered multiple "sharp-edged injuries." Edwards and McClain were in a relationship, according to a statement his family gave to News 2. SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL BUS COLLISION SENDS 18 PEOPLE TO HOSPITAL Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told FOX Carolina his deputies were called for additional assistance after the suspect, Freddie Edwards, 58, was holding a large butcher knife and refusing to follow officers' demands to drop it. Officers attempted to detain Edwards b...

Ralph Yarl, the Kansas City teenager who was shot in the head last month after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell, made his first major public appearance since the shooting on Monday. Yarl, now 17, walked with family, friends and other brain injury survivors at Going the Distance for Brain Injury, an annual Memorial Day race held at Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri. As many as 1,000 people participated in this year's event. Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, spoke ahead of the race where she urged the community to stop gun violence: "It takes a community. It takes a family. It takes a support group, all of that." She added: "Let’s raise more awareness to stop the things that cause brain injuries and should not be causing them, especially gun violence." RALPH YARL SHOOTING: KANSAS CITY TEEN SEEN IN FIRST PHOTO SINCE HOSPITAL RELEASE In April, Yarl was shot after attempting to pick up his younger brothers at the wrong home, which was approximately a block awa...

Forget Big Brother. A stranger in a coffee shop can watch you and learn virtually everything about you, where you've been and even predict your movements "with greater ease and precision than ever before," experts say.  All the user would need is a photo and advanced artificial intelligence technology that already exists, said Kevin Baragona, a founder of DeepAI.org. "There are services online that can use a photo of you, and I can find everything. Every instance of your face on the internet, every place you've been and use that for stalker-type purposes ," Baragona told Fox News Digital.  "So, for example, if you run into someone in public, and you're able to get a photo of them, you might be able to find their name using online services. And if you pay enough, you might be able to find where they've been, where they might currently be and even predict where they'll go." FEARS OF AI HITTING BLACK MARKET STIR CONCERNS OF CRIMINALS ...

At least nine people – including minors – were injured Memorial Day after shots rang out near the beach boardwalk in Hollywood, Florida.  Police responded to a call just before 6:45 p.m. local time regarding multiple people shot near Johnson St. Officers rendered aid and the victims were transported to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.  Police said the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two groups. One person of interest has been detained and another remains at large, police said. A department spokesperson said the suspect at large is believed to be a Black male with dreads, a black short sleeve shirt, and camo shorts.  2 DEAD, 2 INJURED IN SHOOTING AT NORTHERN VIRGINIA HOME Videos circulating online shows a packed crowd scrambling on the beach boardwalk after shots rang out.  Police said there would be a heavy presence of officers as the investigation continues. Officials were also setting up an area for family member...

St. Petersburg, Florida , police arrested a man on Sunday after he allegedly shot his 2-year-old son during an argument at his parent’s home earlier that night, according to reports. FOX 13 in Tampa reported that officers with the St. Petersburg Police Department responded to a home on 15th Avenue South at about 8:10 p.m. on Sunday. When officers arrived , they learned 22-year-old Aaron Creary and his parents got into an argument that led him to brandishing a gun, which fired and struck his 2-year-old son, Armani. FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY POURING GAS ON ANOTHER MAN AND LIGHTING HIM ON FIRE: POLICE Creary attempted to drive Armani to the hospital, police said, but along the way he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a parked vehicle in front of a closed building on 34th Street South and 15th Avenue South. After the crash, the child was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Armani turned 2-years-old in April. Creary has been charged w...

A man wounded three people when he opened fire in the parking lot of a Texas strip club early Sunday before being fatally shot by the club's armed security, authorities said. The man opened fire in the direction of people in the parking lot after being asked to leave following a fight inside Temptations Cabaret, located just west of Fort Worth, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said. DALLAS APOLOGIZES AFTER SENDING KIDS HOME WITH WINNIE THE POOH-THEMED SCHOOL SHOOTING BOOK The three people who were shot by the suspect were hospitalized and were expected to survive, authorities said. The suspect died at a hospital. Earlier this month, two people were wounded after being stabbed at the club. DOWNTOWN LA APARTMENT SHOOTING LEAVES 4 VICTIMS HOSPITALIZED Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said he has requested that county officials "take all necessary and legal steps" to close the club. A message could not be left at the phone number listed for the club....

The remains of 18-year-old Medal of Honor recipient Army Pfc. Luther Herschel Story have returned home to Georgia after nearly 73 years.  Story, part of the 9th Infantry Regiment, was wounded during the Korean War and stayed behind on Sept. 1, 1950 to cover the withdrawal of his fellow soldiers as North Korean troops closed in.  Story was never seen alive again, and Judy Wade – Story's niece – told The Associated Press that the family believed he would never be found.  However, in April, the U.S. military revealed lab tests that had matched DNA from Wade and her late mother to the bones of an unidentified American soldier recovered from Korea in October 1950.  MEMORIAL DAY REQUIRES REFLECTION AND REVERENCE FOR THOSE WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM: LAWMAKERS A case agent told her that the remains belonged to her uncle. A burial for Story, with military honors, was scheduled for Monday, Memorial Day, at the Andersonville National Cemetery.  Story's ...

Confusion and alleged "lies" still swirl around the strange case of an Indiana family that claimed a young girl they adopted was actually a full-grown woman who terrorized them, according to an upcoming documentary. "There were arguments on both sides that she was an adult or she was a child," Beth Karas, a New York attorney and former prosecutor featured in the three-part Investigation Discovery documentary called " The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace ," told Fox News Digital.  "I’m leaning toward one side, but I don’t know that we’ll ever know everything," Karas said. In April 2010, Michael Barnett and his then-wife, Kristine Barnett, adopted Natalia Grace, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita and who they thought was a 6-year-old Ukrainian girl. DAD WHO CLAIMS HE ADOPTED VIOLENT ADULT 'MASQUERADING' AS 6-YEAR-OLD BREAKS DOWN OVER 'ABUSE' Just roughly six months later, however, the pa...

A toddler in Chicago was hospitalized Sunday night after she found a gun and shot herself, according to police. Chicago police said the 2-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital after accidentally shooting herself in the hand. She was reported to be in "good condition." The shooting happened on West Jonquil Terrace in the Rogers Park neighborhood around 6:15 p.m., according to FOX 32. It was not immediately clear if a parent or guardian was in the home at the time of the shooting. As of early Monday morning, no one was in custody. FLORIDA CORRECTIONS OFFICER'S 3-YEAR-OLD SON FINDS GUN IN NIGHTSTAND, SHOOTS HIMSELF IN FACE Law enforcement personnel across the country have urged parents and guardians to properly store their firearms as child-involved shootings have resulted in injuries and fatalities. A 3-year-old girl in Houston accidentally shot and killed her four-year-old sister in March after they were left alone in a bedroom, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez...

Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, meaning that more families will be heading back to amusement parks . In 2021 alone, 1,281 people were involved in injuries related to amusement park rides, according to the National Safety Council. Here's a look at some recent amusement park incidents: Fourteen-year-old Tyre Sampson died on March 24, 2022, after falling off the Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida. FLORIDA AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE STOPS MIDAIR WHILE CARRIAGES FLIP WITH UNBELTED RIDERS: 'CAN'T TRUST IT ANYMORE' A report by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services states that the harness of the seat Sampson was in had a proximity sensor that "was manually loosened, adjusted, and tightened to allow a restraint opening of near 7 inches." Normally, the range is around 3 inches, according to the report. An operating manual for the ride states the maximum passenger weight is just over 286 pounds. Sampson was 6-foo...

Hernando County, Florida , law enforcement officials arrested a 41-year-old woman who allegedly carjacked a delivery driver’s vehicle with a 3-year-old child in the back seat. Breanne Lucey, 41, was arrested by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and charged with kidnapping, robbery-carjacking , and fleeing police, according to jail records. Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said in a Facebook post that just before 10 a.m. on Saturday, an independent delivery driver was making a delivery near Ashland Drive and Spring Hill Drive in Spring Hill, Florida. During the delivery, the driver, only identified as a woman, was forced to the ground before Lucey allegedly stole the vehicle. FLORIDA COUPLE ARRESTED IN ‘BONE CHILLING’ CHILD ABUSE CASE, SPECIAL NEEDS 3-YEAR-OLD ‘ROTTING IN BED’: POLICE In the back seat of the vehicle was a 3-year-old child, Nienhuis said, adding that it was not just a nightmare for the caregiver, but also a nightmare for law enforcement officials. Shortly af...

The Lone Star State has taken a step in the right direction to protect children from sexually explicit content without parental consent, a Texas dad told Fox News. "What [Texas is] trying to do here is not ban anything so much as moderate the content that's put in front of children," Juan Saldivar, a father of three, told Fox News. "Make it appropriate for their age and their maturity level and the educational requirement that they're trying to fulfill." WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE A Texas bill headed to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for passage would set new standards and ratings for sexually explicit materials to regulate the books available in public and charter school libraries across the state. The bill defined sexually explicit material as content that included descriptions, illustrations or audio that depicted sexual conduct not relevant to the required school curriculum. "There are certain things that are not design...

Members of the church founded by the Rev. Timothy Keller recounted to Fox News Digital the late New York pastor's influence on their understanding of the Christian faith and how he was able to rise above the political fray. "The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope," Keller would often say, an aphorism multiple sources told Fox News Digital was the most memorable thing he preached from the pulpit of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City . Keller, who died on May 19 following a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, founded Redeemer in 1989 after being appointed as the director of church planting in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He also had served a stint as a young pastor at a small church in Virginia . Redeemer would eventually swell to more than 5,000 weekly congregants at multiple locations. CHRISTIAN AUTHOR, FAMED PASTOR TIM KELLER DEAD AT 72, CHURCH SAY...