An Anaheim man is facing federal charges that he falsely claimed to have placed pipe bombs inside Disneyland before Vice President JD Vance visited the park with his family last year.
Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, is accused of posting threatening messages on Disneyland’s official Instagram page after learning that Vance was visiting the park on July 12, according to a federal indictment.
Aguayo was charged Wednesday with one count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, according to the complaint.
He was taken into custody Friday afternoon, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Court Watch, a newsletter, was first to report the charges.
“We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement.
News of Vance’s surprise visit to Disneyland quickly spread on social media and news outlets after Air Force 2 landed at John Wayne Airport after 5 p.m. on July 12. The vice president’s visit prompted protests outside Disneyland’s Grand California Hotel & Spa, where Vance and his family were rumored to be staying.
The visit came as a surprise, as Disneyland had not been placed on the vice president’s public schedule.
Aguayo posted three comments threatening the vice president at 6:14 p.m. that day under the username “@jesses_andamy,” according to the federal complaint filed Wednesday by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Marjorie Edens.
“Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” the first comment read.
“It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it,” read the second.
“Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians,” read the third.
The Instagram account used to make the comments appeared to be unavailable Friday morning.
Aguayo could not be reached for comment. Court records did not note whether he has retained counsel.
Edens and an Anaheim Police sergeant visited Aguayo at his apartment the day Vance arrived to question him about the posts.
Aguayo initially denied knowing anything about the posts and suggested his social account might have been hacked, but later admitted to writing them, according to the federal affidavit.
“He claimed that he intended it merely as a joke to provoke attention and laughter,” according to the affidavit.
Aguayo allegedly told the agent he had intended to delete the posts but forgot.
Secret Service agents, who secured a search warrant, reviewed Aguayo’s phone and a shared laptop and found four Instagram accounts.
The threat did not appear to affect Disneyland operations. A spokesperson for the theme park declined to comment.
SAN FRANCISCO — As California struggles with homelessness and healthcare cuts, some activists are taking on an unexpected cause: fighting for billionaires.
About a dozen people took part in the “March for Billionaires” on Saturday morning in San Francisco to raise awareness about the plight of the ultrarich. Although some assumed the event was satire, organizer Derik Kauffman said it was a sincere protest against a potential new tax on the state’s wealthiest residents.
“We must not judge billionaires as a class but by their individual merits,” he said, speaking outside the San Francisco Civic Center. “There are good billionaires and bad billionaires, just like there are good people and bad people. California is extraordinarily lucky that this is where people come to start companies and build fortunes and we should do our best to keep it that way.”
The Billionaire Tax Act is a proposed state ballot initiative that would levy a one-time, 5% tax on the state’s billionaires to help offset recent federal cuts that have affected healthcare and food-assistance programs. The tax would apply to their overall net worth but would exclude pensions, real estate and retirement accounts.
Supporters say it would benefit the majority of the state’s residents and help ensure billionaires pay their fair share. Opponents — including Gov. Gavin Newsom — argue it will cause billionaires and the businesses they own to flee the state, taking jobs and tax dollars with them.
Kauffman echoed those concerns Saturday and said everyone should want billionaires to remain in California.
“This tax will drive billionaires out; it already has,” he said. “The founders of Google — they left the state and they are taking their money with them.”
Google is still headquartered in California, but other companies tied to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recently lef the state, including T-Rex Holdings, which moved from Palo Alto to Reno last year.
Two counter-protesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by playing characters they dubbed “Oli Garch” and “Trilly O’Naire.”
(Katie King / Los Angeles Times)
The event attracted a few dozen humorous counterprotesters.
Razelle Swimmer carried around a puppet of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, brandishing knives and wearing an apron that said “Eat the Rich.” Swimmer told The Times she doesn’t believe billionaires need more protections.
“If they aren’t willing to pay more taxes, then I don’t really care if they leave,” she said.
Other counterprotesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by donning crowns or top hats. A man and woman, playing characters called Oli Garch and Trilly O’Naire, said they worried what would happen if the tax passed.
“There is a small chance that my helicopter won’t be able to have a sauna in it just because apparently some kids want dental work or something,” said the woman, as she adjusted her tiara.
At one point, a man wearing a gold crown and carrying a sign that said “Let them eat cake” ran through the crowd shouting, “Keep the poors away from me.”
The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the main backer of the tax proposal, needs to collect about 875,000 signatures by June 24 in order to get the measure on the November ballot.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office, which offers guidance to the Legislature about budgetary issues, has cautioned that the tax might lead to only short-term benefits.
“It is likely that some billionaires decide to leave California,” the agency stated in a recent analysis. “The income taxes they currently pay to the state would go away with their departure. The reduction in state revenues from these kinds of responses could be hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.”
California has roughly 200 billionaires, the most of any state. Their collective wealth was $2.2 trillion in October, up from $300 billion in 2011, according to a December report from law and economics professors at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and the University of Missouri.
The researchers concluded that billionaires in the United States pay less in taxes, relative to income, than the average American.
“It is estimated that, including all taxes at all levels of government, billionaires paid only 24% of their true economic income in taxes in years 2018-20 while the U.S.-wide average was 30%,” the report states.
IRVINE — When Jackson LaCombe sat in the locker room on his first day of training camp in 2023, he had all the not-so-commanding presence of a gangly teenager holding up the wall at a high-school dance.
That was reflected on the ice for much of his first season, too, when the murmurs were many.
Was he an ‘alpha’? Should he have spent a year in the minors between college and the NHL? Would he get lost amid a crop of higher-profile Ducks prospects on the blue line?
But as LaCombe was breaking in his red, white and blue gear for the Olympics, hockey’s premier tournament, there was a different question: would he become the only American defenseman ever to win gold at the World Championships, World Junior Championships and Winter Olympics?
LaCombe departed for Milan, where he’ll skate with Team USA, the second most likely gold medalist according to experts and oddsmakers alike. If the Americans can ascend to the top of the medal stand, LaCombe and Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson will be the first two U.S. players to capture gold at the Olympics, World Championships and U20 World Junior Championships.
It’s a feat that’s even rarer than the vaunted 30-member Triple Gold Club, which is composed of players who triumphed at the Olympics and Worlds as well as won the Stanley Cup.
“That’d be really special, to be part of that, and that’s our objective, is to win,” LaCombe said.
LaCombe, 25, played in a national title game in college, won World Junior gold alongside some future Ducks teammates (Trevor Zegras and Sam Colangelo) and was part of the first group of Americans to win the Worlds in over 90 years last spring. But at the NCAA and NHL levels, he took a season to get acclimated. He was well aware there would be little or no grace period in Italy.
“Everything happens really fast. It’s important to build that team chemistry quickly. Everyone’s so good and everyone knows what to do and how to play in different systems,” LaCombe said.
Major steps in LaCombe’s development came off the ice, with his work on the Jiu-Jitsu mat and on the psychological side of his profession both coming to the fore in the summer of 2024. He said he had considered the emotional side of this opportunity, having been named to Team USA as a replacement for the injured Seth Jones.
“There’s a lot of excitement and other feelings, but you’ve just got to take a step back, relax and just enjoy the moment,” he said.
Ducks captain Radko Gudas, who will join goalie Lukáš Dostál with Czechia’s Olympic selection, said he had a close vantage point as LaCombe emerged from his shell and transformed from face in the crowd to a No. 1 defenseman with the numbers, salary and minutes to match.
“Confidence would be the biggest thing. He started trusting himself, moving his feet a lot more and believing in his own ability to break out and make plays,” Gudas said. “He had all the tools (as a rookie), he just didn’t believe in his own abilities or didn’t trust that he could make those plays.”
Gudas said that while LaCombe was devouring ice time and playing in every imaginable situation for the Ducks, his role would likely be more measured on the second-ranked team in the world. Or perhaps not.
“Who knows? Maybe after two games, they’re going to realize how good of a player he is, and they’re gonna play him 30 minutes,” Gudas said. “He’s one of a kind, he’s a great skater and a humble kid who would do anything for his country.”
Gudas said that playing both with and against the elite among the elite would have lasting impact on LaCombe and raise his level even higher when he returned to Orange County.
“When you’ve got the best of the best playing around you, you want to be, if not better, you want to be out there and match their greatness,” Gudas said.
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville concurred. He coached two of the most accomplished players of all-time in Joe Sakic and Jonathan Toews during previous stops with Colorado and Chicago, respectively.
Sakic not only won gold at the Olympics, Worlds and World Juniors, but also the World Cup, in addition to winning two Stanley Cups as a player and a third as an executive. Toews won three Stanley Cups, two World Junior titles, two Olympic gold medals, a World Championship and a World Cup.
“It’s an eye-opener, it’s a great honor, it’s a great opportunity just to absorb as much as you can absorb, and, at the same time, enjoy it,” said Quenneville of the Olympic experience. “Every guy’s got a different opportunity, in terms of quantity or quality of ice time.”
“Just being part of that is so special,” he continued. “You have a lifetime moment that you can always share at the appropriate time, whether it’s when you first get back or during your first playoff run or whenever it may be. There’s gonna be some moments where somebody’s gotta step up and say something meaningful that’ll hit home.”
Quenneville, who is in his first year with the Ducks, praised LaCombe’s disposition and saw his mild manner matter-of-factly, expressing confidence in his ability to handle the bright lights of the Olympic stage.
“He quietly goes about his business. When I say quiet, I mean really quiet,” Quenneville said. “His play will do a lot of the talking for him.”
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — American ski racer Breezy Johnson won the Olympic downhill Sunday with a hard-charging run on a day marred by teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash that saw her being taken off the mountain in a helicopter.
Johnson was the sixth racer and found speed with a risk-taking trip along the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina. She was in the leader’s box when Vonn, the No. 13 racer, cut a corner too close and was spun around before crashing. The race was put on hold for more than 20 minutes.
The 30-year-old Johnson joins Vonn, 41, as the only American women to win the Olympic downhill. Johnson finished in 1 minute, 36.10 seconds to hold off Emma Aicher of Germany by just .04 seconds, securing the first medal for the United States of these Winter Games in the process. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill winner and 2022 silver medalist, finished with the bronze.
The tears began welling in the eyes of Johnson as racer after racer couldn’t top her time. Johnson wiped them away with her mitten.
It’s been a tumultuous road to the top for Johnson, who sat out the 2022 Beijing Olympics with a knee injury. She was given a 14-month ban that expired in December 2024 for missing three anti-doping exams and violating “whereabouts” rules. She returned to win the world championship last February.
Now, she’s an Olympic downhill gold medalist. Teammate Jacqueline Wiles finished just .27 seconds away from a medal in a tie for fourth place.
“I think that this was the best run Breezy’s ever skied,” teammate Bella Wright said. “I’ve seen her ski ever since I was 8 years old.”
Vonn’s crash put a somber mood over the event. Vonn, who won the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games, was a gold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland last week when she suffered a ruptured ACL for her latest major knee injury.
She returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years and after receiving a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee.
Cande Moreno of Andorra had her left knee buckle while landing on a jump. Like Vonn, she was taken off the course by helicopter and the race was again put on hold.
Both downhill golds this weekend were won by the reigning world champions after Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland won the men’s race on Saturday. Both races alsofeatured up-and-coming silver medalists (Aicher, Giovanni Franzoni of Italy) and Italian veterans in bronze position (Goggia, Dominik Paris).
With her bronze medal, Goggia now has an Olympic downhill medal of every color.
MINNEAPOLIS — Public health officials and community leaders say that even before federal immigration authorities launched a crackdown in Minneapolis, a crisis was brewing.
Measles vaccination rates among the state’s large Somali community had plummeted, with the myth that the shot causes autism spreading. Not even four measles outbreaks since 2011 made a dent in the trend. But recently, immunization advocates noted small victories, including mobile clinics and a vaccine confidence task force.
“People are worried about survival,” said nurse practitioner Munira Maalimisaq, CEO of the Inspire Change Clinic, near a Minneapolis neighborhood where many Somalis live. “Vaccines are the last thing on people’s minds. But it is a big issue.”
A discussion group for Somali mothers at Inspire Change has shifted online indefinitely. In community WhatsApp groups and other channels, parents have more pressing priorities: Who will care for kids when they can’t go to school? How can we safely get groceries and prescriptions?
In 2006, 92% of Somali 2-year-olds were up-to-date on the measles vaccine, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Today’s rate is closer to 24%, according to state data. A 95% rate is needed to prevent outbreaks of measles, an extremely contagious disease.
Community vaccination efforts go through cycles, Maalimisaq said, with initiatives starting and stopping.
Imam Yusuf Abdulle said immigration enforcement has put everything on hold.
“People are stuck in their homes, cannot go to work,” he said. “It is madness. And the last thing to think about is talking about autism, talking about childhood vaccination. Adults cannot get out of the house, forget about kids.”
Estimated autism rates in Somali 4-year-olds are 3.5 times higher than those of white 4-year-olds in Minnesota, according to University of Minnesota data. Researchers say they don’t know why. And in this vacuum of scientific certainty, inaccurate beliefs thrive.
Many blame the measles, mumps and rubella shot — a single injection proven to safely protect against the three viruses, with the first dose recommended when children are 12 to 15 months old.
In November, at one of Maalimisaq’s last Motherhood Circle gatherings, Somali mothers and grandmothers volleyed questions at facilitators. Won’t a shot for three viruses overwhelm a baby? Why does autism seem more prevalent here than back home?
Vaccines are tested for safety, Maalimisaq and her panel explained. Delaying a shot is risky, they warned, because of what measles — which is seeing its highest spread in the country in more than three decades — can do.
Local health officials have long followed best practices: enlisting community members to champion vaccines, hosting mobile clinics and uplifting the work of Somali health providers like Maalimisaq.
But initiatives have been start-and-stop. Federal funding cuts affected efforts, and public health officials admit their outreach could be more consistent and comprehensive.
Most parents here vaccinate their children eventually. Many Somali families prefer to wait until a child is 5, despite a lack of evidence that doing so cuts autism rates. Measles is endemic in Somalia, where war and international aid cuts have crippled the medical system, and elsewhere in East Africa where residents here often travel.
“Measles is just a plane ride away, and measles is going to find the unvaccinated,” said Carly Edson, the state health department’s immunization outreach coordinator. “We are always at risk.”
About 84,000 Somalis live in the Twin Cities area, of 260,000 nationwide. The community is the country’s largest, and most are U.S. citizens. Before the immigration crackdown, mosques and malls buzzed, with people gathering during evenings to sip chai or have henna drawn on their hands.
Now, many in the community want to lie low. People are afraid to seek routine medical care. Without those touchpoints, trust quickly erodes, Maalimisaq said.
Among the last cohort of Somali moms at the clinic, 83% had vaccinated their kids by the end of the 12-month program, she said. Some were making 10-second videos explaining why they vaccinated. But efforts have paused.
Parents here have long dealt with racism and isolation, though they’ve built a strong community. They want answers for the autism rates, but science has no simple answers for what causes the lifelong neurological condition, said Mahdi Warsama, the Somali Parents Autism Network’s CEO.
Warsama said Trump’s unproven claims last fall that taking Tylenol during pregnancy could cause autism sparked fears and questions here. The idea that the MMR shot should be split into three vaccines — one backed, with no scientific basis, by acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jim O’Neill, though no standalone shots are available in the U.S. — has spread, too.
Warsama traces the issue back more than a decade, when discredited researcher Andrew Wakefield published his study — since retracted — claiming a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Wakefield visited with Twin Cities Somalis in 2011.
“The misinformers will always fill the void,” Warsama said.
Parents want to be heard, not debated — that’s why short doctor appointments don’t work, said Fatuma Sharif-Mohamed, a Somali community health educator.
“That 15 minutes will not change the mind of a parent,” she said.
Some doctors are pushing beyond the exam room — work they describe as slow and taxing. Changing one family’s mind can take multiple visits, even years.
Dr. Bryan Fate, leader of a Children’s Minnesota vaccine confidence committee, said new strategies are underway, including social media videos from doctors and possibly a prenatal classes for expectant parents.
“I’m going to call you in five days,” Fate said he tells hesitant parents, “and there’ll be no changes to this speech.”
Overall, Minnesota’s kindergarten MMR vaccination rate has dropped more than 6 percentage points in the past five years, compared with a 2-point drop nationwide.
State data suggests the effort to catch kids up may be effective: While less than 1 in 4 Somali kids in Minnesota is vaccinated against measles by age 2, 86% get at least one dose by age 6 — just short of the statewide rate, 89%.
Doctors worry in particular about unprotected young children, for whom severe complications — pneumonia, brain swelling and blindness — are more common.
Imam Abdulle said when parents ask him about the vaccine, he tells his own story. He wasn’t opposed to it but decided to err on the side of waiting. His son was diagnosed with autism at age 3, Abdulle said, and later was vaccinated.
Correlation, he reminds parents, is not causation.
The community doesn’t want to be painted as a source of disease, Abdulle said. But after outbreaks in 2011, 2017, 2022 and 2024, there’s also open acknowledgment that measles isn’t going away.
“Our kids are the ones who are getting sick,” Abdulle said. “Our community is suffering.”
Last year, Minnesota logged 26 measles cases. The state health department said the cases were across several different communities with pockets of unvaccinated people.
In Maalimisaq’s Motherhood Circles, the most effective words often come not from doctors but fellow parents, such as Mirad Farah. Farah’s daughter was born premature. She worried the MMR shot would be too much and delayed vaccination. Her daughter still developed autism.
“So what did that tell me?” she asked the room. “It confirmed that autism is not from the MMR.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BAGHDAD — Hundreds of traders and customs clearance company owners protested in central Baghdad on Sunday, demanding that Iraq’s government reverse recently imposed customs tariffs that they say have sharply increased their costs and disrupted trade.
The new tariffs that came into effect on Jan. 1 were imposed as part of an attempt to decrease the country’s debt and its reliance on oil revenues as oil prices have dropped.
Iraq faces debt of more than 90 trillion Iraqi dinars ($69 billion) — and a state budget that remains reliant on oil for about 90% of revenues, despite attempts to diversify.
But traders say the new tariffs — in some cases as high as 30% — have placed an unfair burden on them. Opponents have filed a lawsuit aiming to reduce the decision, which Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court is set to rule on Wednesday.
The demonstrators gathered outside the General Customs Directorate Sunday, chanting slogans against corruption and rejecting the new fees.
“We used to pay about 3 million dinars per container, but now in some cases they ask for up to 14 million,” said Haider al-Safi, a transport and customs clearance company owner. “Even infant milk fees rose from about 495,000 dinars to nearly 3 million.”
He said that the new tariffs have caused a backlog of goods at the Umm Qasr port in southern Iraq and added that electric vehicles, previously exempt from customs duties, are now subject to a 15% fee.
“The main victim is the citizen with limited income, and government employee whose salary barely covers his daily living, those who have to pay rent, and have children with school expenses — they all will be affected by the market,” said Mohammed Samir, a wholesale trader from Baghdad.
Protesters also accused influential groups of facilitating the release of goods in exchange for lower unofficial payments, calling it widespread corruption. Many traders, they said, are now considering routing their imports through the Kurdistan region, where fees are lower.
The protests coincided with a nationwide strike by shop owners, who closed markets and stores in several parts of Baghdad to oppose the tariff increase. In major commercial districts, shops remained shut and hung up banners reading “Customs fees are killing citizens.”
ZAPOPAN, Mexico — The Mexican state of Jalisco on Thursday issued a health alert and mandated the use of face masks in schools as a measles outbreak hit the state capital, a key host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The measures come on the heels of an epidemiological alert issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) earlier this week over the spread of the preventable disease across the Americas, particularly in Mexico, which leads the region with 1,981 cases confirmed by authorities this year and more than 5,200 suspected cases.
Jalisco is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 1,163 cases confirmed this year and 2,092 suspected cases, according to Mexico’s government.
The measles outbreak in Mexico began last year in the northern state of Chihuahua, after a Mennonite child fell ill while visiting relatives in a region in Texas that was suffering an outbreak. Cases surged in Mennonite communities — which have high rates of vaccine hesitancy — and have rippled out across Mexico in the country’s biggest outbreak in decades. Scientists say rising outbreaks across the hemisphere are linked to declining vaccination rates.
Jalisco health authorities announced Thursday that masks will be required in Guadalajara schools across seven specific neighborhoods for the next 30 days.
Jalisco was the first Mexican state to take such measures as medical groups urged the local government to take urgent action, marking the country’s first such public health mandate since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Classes were also recently suspended in 15 schools in Jalisco and the central state of Aguascalientes due to outbreaks of the highly contagious airborne virus.
The outbreak comes as Mexico prepares to host visitors from across the world for the World Cup, which will be held simultaneously in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Guadalajara is one of the main venues in Mexico for the soccer tournament.
Canada lost its measles-free status in November and the U.S. and Mexico face the risk of meeting the same fate. Both governments have requested a two-month extension to try to control the outbreak, although in January the Trump administration withdrew from the World Health Organization, under whose umbrella PAHO operates.
In the first three weeks of this year, 1,031 additional measles cases were confirmed in seven countries in the Americas with no deaths reported — a figure 43 times higher than that recorded in the same period last year — PAHO said Wednesday in a statement.
The Mexican government has spent weeks encouraging the population to get vaccinated against the measles, which is preventable with two doses of the vaccine, and announced the launch of vaccination sites in places such as airports and bus stations.
“We received your message and we understand,” Guthrie said in the brief video posted to Instagram. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen Jan. 31, and authorities have said they believe she was abducted from her home.
U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, accompanied by her siblings Annie and Camron, speaks in a video message, addressing that they are willing to pay for the release of their elderly mother, Nancy Guthrie, who went missing from her Arizona home several days ago, in this screen grab obtained from social media video taken at an unspecified location and released February 7, 2026. Savannah Guthrie via Instagram/via REUTERS
Savannah Guthrie Via Instagram/via Reuters
“We are aware of the video posted by the Guthrie family. But don’t have any additional information to share,” a spokesperson for Pima Sheriff said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday following the release of the latest video from the family.
The message Savannah Guthrie references in her new Instagram post is the same message the FBI and Pima Sheriff said they were studying Friday, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Investigators still have not confirmed the authenticity of the latest message which was received by a Tucson television station, nor any of the other ransom notes mentioning Nancy Guthrie, according to the source.
A drone view shows investigators searching the home of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, who went missing from her home in Tucson, U.S. February 6, 2026.
Rebecca Noble/Reuters
However, investigators continue to take all of the messages seriously.
There are no new leads that developed Saturday, the source said, echoing an earlier statement from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information that could lead to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or an arrest and conviction in her abduction.
Nancy Guthrie was dropped off at home in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson, Arizona, shortly after 10 p.m. on Jan. 31, after having dinner with her family, according to authorities. She was reported missing the next morning after she did not show up to church, according to authorities.
In this image provided by NBCUniversal, Savannah Guthrie, right, her mom Nancy speak, Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in New York.
Nathan Congleton/AP
A doorbell camera at her home was disconnected at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday morning, authorities said. Shortly before 2:30 a.m. her pacemaker app indicated it was disconnected from her phone, according to authorities.
This image provided by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on Feb. 2, 2026, shows a missing person alert for Nancy Guthrie.
AP
Her blood was also found on the porch of her home, according to the sheriff.
Investigators have not identified a suspect or person of interest in the case, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said during a press briefing on Thursday.
Ransom notes have been sent to several local and national media outlets, according to the FBI.
Prior to the video on Saturday, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have posted other videos urging their mother’s suspected kidnappers to make contact with them and provide proof she is still alive.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky andTrevor Ault contributed to this report.
Sunday night’s matchup is about more than a game for Levi’s, aiming to share their story – CBS News
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The countdown is on for the big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Kris Van Kleave is outside what’s been called the Field of Jeans.
London — Gamers around the world can now buy and play at home a pared-down version of a first-person drone training program developed and used by the Ukrainian armed forces. The game’s evolution — from battlefield training tool to home entertainment — is a notable first, and it is tied directly to Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to repel Russia’s four-year, full-scale invasion.
“Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator” (UFDS) is available to buy online for about $30. It features the same ultra-realistic physics and piloting controls that have helped teach Ukrainian drone pilots to seek out and destroy Russian tanks, missile launchers and troops. The Full Simulator is available, for free, to all members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use.
Vlad Plaksin, CEO of the Drone Fight Club Academy, a facility that trains Ukrainian military drone pilots, was one of the lead developers and driving forces behind UFDS. The academy has trained more than 5,000 Ukrainian military drone pilots since it was established early in the war, and it collaborated last year with the U.S. Air Force for a training session at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Plaksin told CBS News one objective in turning the military program into a video game is to train young Ukrainians to fly drones, to “give them a possibility not to go to the trench with rifles.”
A screenshot from the “Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator” video game shows the first-person view perspective of a player moments before the simulated drone impacts a Russian truck.
Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator
Interest in anything drone-related among young Ukrainians has soared during the war, thanks largely to the country’s military drone pilots, whom Plaksin said had achieved heroic status.
“Most young people want to fly, want to hit [Russian targets], want to grow up in this new world of robotics,” he told CBS News.
The game’s creators call it a “public adaptation of a leading ultra-realistic FPV [first person view] drone trainer, built on lessons from the Ukrainian front line,” offering players an opportunity to “learn to fly like a front-line pilot, take on real-world mission scenarios, and feel the rush of modern FPV warfare.”
In hyperrealistic detail, it includes different types of drones to pilot on combat missions against Russian targets, with weather conditions and other variables that aim to provide an experience realistic enough for anyone to learn and practice the basics of drone warfare.
There are many games that offer similar FPV warfare experiences, including driving tanks, piloting fighter jets, and commanding submarines. But UFDS is the first to be developed directly from military software.
Ethical concerns?
While many games have likely been used by armed forces around the world as teaching tools, they have been developed as games first. UFDS flips that model around, bringing a real-world military training tool to screens in people’s homes.
Plaksin acknowledged ethical concerns around creating a game that allows young people to pretend they’re piloting deadly drones in such a realistic way, calling it “a very sensitive question,” but noting that the game is not unique in this regard.
“There are many other simulators which do the same, and we are not opening something new,” he said.
The view from a simulated drone just after it releases a bomb over a Russian trench, as seen in a screenshot from the Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator video game.
Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator
UFDS is not the first video game to be used as a pseudo recruitment tool by a military, either.
The “America’s Army” series, launched in 2002 and developed by the U.S. Army, is widely seen as the first overt use of video games to drive recruitment by a national military. While the series was nowhere near as realistic as UFDS, it served a similar purpose.
Could Russia take advantage?
Plaksin says the Ukrainian game, at its core, is a tool for people to gain “a basic knowledge for the drones, but also at the same time, we try to do it maximum safety, for not sharing the sensitive information.”
To avoid revealing details that Russia’s military could potentially use to train its own pilots, there are significant differences between the publicly available version of UFDS and the version used at the Drone Fight Club Academy to train Ukrainian military operators.
Ukrainian soldiers with a drone unit from the 24th Mechanized Brigade prepare a Ukrainian-designed R18 octocopter UAV during a training exercise in eastern Ukraine, in early October 2023.
CBS News
Those differences are “mostly about tactics,” Plaksin told CBS News. “It gives you everything that you need, but it will not give you the tactics. I think it’s the main difference between the versions.”
He said some of that just involves paring down what, for gamers, might be the more tedious parts of drone warfare. Gamers may not want to spend 30 minutes flying their virtual drone to reach an objective, for instance. So the gameplay is deliberately made more arcade-style, while maintaining highly realistic controls and user experience.
This means that there is “less understanding of missions, less understanding of how to fly for a huge distance” which is a vital part of training drone pilots.
“When you fly on the [real] drones, you see the area and you need to read the map and compare it with what you see,” Plaksin said. “In missions, it’s very important. In arcade games, it’s not important, and we don’t put it inside because it will not be interesting for the players.”
UFDS is still a very niche game, with only around 50 people playing online daily. Such detailed military simulation games often garner small but loyal followings, and rarely break into the wider gaming community.
But Plaksin is trying to change that, and broaden appeal. He’s helping to organize a championship he hopes will “maximise the level of people playing the game” and encourage competition between players.
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It was just before 9 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2023, when police arrived on scene in Friendswood, Texas.
OFFICER (bodycam): What happened?
CONNOR HILTON: I screwed up so bad.
OFFICER: Somebody hurt?
CONNOR HILTON: (nods to affirm)
Bodycam video shows Connor Hilton, 17, center, sitting on the curb outside his Friendswood, Texas, home, on Dec. 23, 2023. He is holding up two fingers in response to the officer’s question “Somebody hurt?”
OFFICER: Who’s hurt?
CONNOR HILTON (holds up two fingers): Two people.
OFFICER: Two people. …
OFFICER: Where are they at in the house?
OFFICER: Where are your friends at?
CONNOR HILTON: They’re — they’re in the walkway. They’re in the walkway. (crying)
Two Texas teens shot in the head at their friend’s home
OFFICER (bodycam/entering home): Oh, s***
When police entered Connor Hilton’s home,they found 18-year-old Ethan Riley and 19-year-old Benjamin Bliek lying on the floor. Each with a gunshot wound to the head.
15-YEAR-OLD (bodycam): Hello?
OFFICER: Hello? Who’s — who’s in here?
15-YEAR-OLD: I’m the caller in the bathroom.
They also discovered the boy who called 911. He was 15.
OFFICER (bodycam): Open the door. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands.
15-YEAR-OLD (opens door): It’s just me. I’m on crutches.
OFFICER: Pull your shirt up. Pull your shirt up. Let me see the back. Turn around.
OFFICER (bodycam outside home): Is there anybody else that’s supposed to be in the house?
15-YEAR-OLD: No.
OFFICER: How many? Four total?
15-YEAR-OLD: It — it was four total.
The teen told police officers how quickly everything unfolded.
15-YEAR-OLD (bodycam): … We, as we, we literally 10 — not even a, two minutes of being in the house, uh – I – we come in, he’s, uh, on the couch or something, he stands up. I walk right to the bathroom, I have to pee. And then I heard two loud gunshots … And everybody was quiet. And I felt like I could hear laughing, but I think it was just them breathing. And Connor was like, “What have I done? What have I done?” And started crying. And I don’t know where — I don’t know where y’all found him. But I thought he was gonna shoot through the door or something. …
When police arrived, Ethan Riley, 18, and Benjamin Bliek, 19, were found lying on the floor of Connor Hilton’s Friendswood, Texas, home, each with a gunshot wound to the head.
In the house, unbelievably, paramedics saw signs of life in Ben and Ethan and worked to keep them alive.
OFFICER (bodycam): Where’s the gun at, bud?
CONNOR HILTON: I — I really have no clue.
Outside, police bagged Connor’s hands to preserve evidence before putting him into a squad car.
CONNOR HILTON (bodycam): I need to be put in a mental hospital.
Connor, at first, claimed he fired the gun in self-defense.
CONNOR HILTON: We got into an argument.
OFFICER: OK.
CONNOR HILTON: And Ethan tried to — he tried to come at me and … He tried to come at me and I freaked out and, um — He – he – he — he tried to grab for my throat.
At the time of the shooting, Connor’s mother, Johnece Hilton, wasn’t home.
Johnece Hilton: I got a message from my neighbor that said, hey, something is going on at your house. … And I was already on my way home. …
OFFICER: I — I’m gonna talk to you something that’s gonna be very hard to talk about.
JOHNECE HILTON: OK.
Johnece Hilton: The police had me sit in a car … and he told me. …
JOHNECE HILTON (in police car): I cannot believe this.
OFFICER: Yeah. No, you know —
JOHNECE HILTON: This is insanity. …
Tracy Smith: What was going through your mind?
Johnece Hilton: I was just like, how could this happen? … I was just there 45 minutes ago and he — he was perfectly fine. …
It wasn’t long before Connor’s father, Neal Hilton, received word. Johnece and Neal divorced back when Connor was a toddler.
Neal Hilton: Never in a million years would you think you would get — I would get that kind of phone call, just knowing — you know, just knowing my son. …
Ben and Ethan were taken to area hospitals where they were fighting for their lives. Nick McCanless, then a detective with the Friendswood Police Department, was tasked with calling Ben’s mom, Shannon Bliek.
Det. Nick McCanless: I get her phone number through dispatch and uh, call her up and I said, “Look … your son has been injured … and I need you to come up here.”
Shannon Bliek: I just got in the car, and I just started praying. …
Tracy Smith: And what happened when you got to the hospital?
Shannon Bliek: Nick met me outside the doors, and he told me that Ben had been shot. And I remember falling to my knees. And he, you know, was like, come on, let’s go upstairs, and wait in the waiting room and let’s find out what’s going on.
Eventually, a doctor came out to speak with them.
Shannon Bliek: He said that Benjamin had been shot in the head. … It was all very surreal. It just didn’t make any sense. … I just kneeled on the floor and just prayed.
Tracy Smith: What did you say in that prayer?
Shannon Bliek: I just asked that He’d be with Ben and that He please get us through this. …
While Ben underwent surgery, Connor Hilton was taken to the Friendswood Police Department.
CONNOR HILTON (in police car): Where am I being transported to?
OFFICER: Friendswood.
CONNOR HILTON: I know this isn’t a time to be — be bringing this up, but are you having a good Christmas, officer? …
Nothing about that night was making sense.
DETECTIVE SEAGO (police interview): Listen, what I’ve gotta do —
CONNOR HILTON: Is read me my Miranda rights. I have the right to attorney —
DETECTIVE SEAGO: So, well. Yeah. But I’m — I’m gonna read ’em, man.
Soon, Connor would end up in an interrogation room, with an entirely new story to tell.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): Let me just cut straight to the chase …
Det. Nick McCanless: He literally just kind of opened up, right? And it was an emotional roller coaster. …
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): You know what, I need to be honest with you guys. I just need to be… (crying) Oh, my God. …
“The idea of murder is super interesting for me,” Connor Hilton tells detectives
DETECTIVE SEAGO (police interview): Hey man, how are you?
CONNOR HILTON: Doing good. How are you?
DETECTIVE SEAGO: Good, man. I’m Detective Seago.
CONNOR HILTON: Do you know if my parents are here?
DETECTIVE SEAGO: Yeah, I think your mom and dad.
As his two friends were in the hospital fighting for their lives, Connor Hilton was in a Friendswood Police Department interrogation room so that detectives could start to unravel the truth of what happened.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): How you doing, sir?
DETECTIVE SEAGO: This is Detective McCanless.
Det. Nick McCanless: I knew nothing about him … I kind of went in blind. … And so I had no idea if he was going to be aggressive towards me …
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS (police interview): I don’t know you, man. You know what I mean? I’m trying to get to know you, right? Just trying to understand, you know?
CONNOR HILTON: Yes, sir.
Det. Nick McCanless: Yes, sir. No, sir. …
Tracy Smith: Very polite.
Det. Nick McCanless: Very polite. … Not who I normally would sit across from and interview right after a shooting.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): Let me just cut straight to the chase …
It appeared the 17-year-old didn’t want to waste any time. He launched into a story and this time, he didn’t mention an argument. Instead, he said it was an accident.
Connor Hilton, left, with detectives Seago, center, and McCanless of the Friendswood Police Department.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): I don’t — I don’t know. It just all kind of — it just all happened (crying) …
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS: Tell me how the gun goes off.
CONNOR HILTON: It happened so fast. I – I — I had it in my hand. I — I really don’t know (crying). I was just standing next to Ethan. (Crying) I — I don’t know. … But I — I — I heard it —I heard it — I heard it go off.
Det. Nick McCanless: I’m letting him stick with his story about it just went off, right?
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): My f******* idiot self had the stupid finger on the trigger.
Det. Nick McCanless: So I’m like, OK, well, how did it go off the second time? … And so, I said, Connor …
DET. MCCANLESS (police interview): I’ve got two guys that are — that have both been shot in the head, right? So, you know what I mean? Like, how does that happen as an accident? That’s what I want you to explain to me …
That’s when Connor Hilton broke down.
Det. Nick McCanless: It’s like his whole personality, everything changed.
And so did his story, yet again.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): You know what, I need to be honest with you guys. I just need to be (crying) — Oh, my God. OK. I’ve had suicidal, homicidal thoughts for so long. I’ve — I — I — I went up (crying) — I went up to — to Ethan and just— (simulates shooting, crying) … I’m sorry for lying to you guys.
Detective: That’s OK.
CONNOR HILTON: I really am sorry.
And Connor didn’t stop there.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): I convinced my mom to buy that gun for me so I could either shoot myself or shoot somebody. Oh, this feels so much better. (gasps)
Connor told the detectives that he hadn’t told anyone, including his mom, that he had been experiencing those suicidal and homicidal thoughts.
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS (police interview): What did you think you were going to be able to achieve, to help you, by doing this tonight? Was it something you felt you had to do to be able to get this pressure off of you?
CONNOR HILTON: Yes. You — you said it right there. Those are the exact words … I know it’s going to sound really like psychopathic and just like straight up disgusting and just weird, but the idea of (crying) murder is just super interesting for me. I don’t know why. I don’t know why. It is. I don’t know why. (crying)
DETECTIVE SEAGO: Listen, listen, hey — it’s OK …
Det. Nick McCanless: That interview … was probably one of the most honest interviews I’ve ever had with a suspect in a case where literally they just poured everything out on the table. And like, you could see the sigh of relief …
Tracy Smith: So walk me though what Connor said happened.
Det. Nick McCanless: Connor says that he had planned this … His plan all along was to shoot his friends.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): Been planning it for so long.
But he said he had no specific target in mind. He had invited a whole group of friends over that night; Ethan and Ben just happened to be the ones who showed up.
15-YEAR-OLD (bodycam): I was convinced maybe he was gonna try to kill me, too.
As for that 15-year-old who went to the bathroom as soon as he got there? He simply got lucky.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): He closed the bathroom door. … I — I thought it was risky to either shoot through the door or go — ’cause he locked the door.
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS: OK.
CONNOR HILTON: And I’m really glad. I’m really. I’m so, so glad that he closed the door and I didn’t kill him. (crying)
Before the interview ended, Connor made yet another admission:
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): What I did was wrong. I need to do the punishment. I know that. But I also need help. I need really, really—I need some help. (crying)
Det. Nick McCanless: I could tell he was struggling that night with, I knew this is what I felt, I knew this is what I wanted to do, but how I got here? I don’t know. …
Connor Hilton was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. That night, in jail, Hilton was allowed to make a phone call to his mother.
CONNOR HILTON (jail phone call): Mom, I need — I need help. I need like — like mental — like mental—like mentally help. (crying)
JOHNECE HILTON: I know, sweetheart. It’s OK. We’ll get it for you, OK?
CONNOR HILTON: I did—I did—I did a very bad thing.
The next day – Christmas Eve – Connor was released on bond.
Johnece Hilton: We … got him home … and then he just lost it, fell on the floor.
Neal Hilton: Yeah.
Johnece Hilton: Like crying (crying). …
Tracy Smith: Did he tell you what happened? …
Johnece Hilton: I — I couldn’t hear any of it. … I, like I, mentally, didn’t want to hear.
The Riley family spent their Christmas Eve in the hospital and were there when their son, Ethan, died.
On Christmas night, officers were back at Connor Hilton’s door to arrest him on a murder charge.
Connor Hilton: I look out the window and there’s a SWAT truck outside.
OFFICER (bodycam | officers enter home): Johnece —
JOHNECE HILTON: Yes, sir.
OFFICER: Hey, is he here?
Tracy Smith: They came in.
Connor Hilton: Yeah, they came in …
OFFICER (bodycam): Where’s he at?
OFFICER: Where’s he at?
JOHNECE HILTON: He’s right there. He’s right there.
OFFICER: Hands, hands, hands. Show me your hands.
Connor Hilton: I was kind of like in the back of the house sort of, and I just had my hands up.
OFFICER (bodycam): Turn around. Face away from me.
Tracy Smith: And they had their guns drawn?
Connor Hilton: Yes, ma’am.
OFFICER (bodycam): You’re under arrest for murder, OK bud? (Connor crying) Alright, come on, bro. …
JOHNECE HILTON: May I give him a hug?
OFFICER: No.
JOHNECE HILTON: No hugs?
OFFICER: No hugs.
NEAL HILTON: Connor —
OFFICER: Go. Let’s go.
NEAL HILTON: No hug? Hey, we love you, Connor.
JOHNECE HILTON: Please. I love you, bubby.
NEAL HILTON: Connor, we’re working on it, OK? Be strong.
Connor was booked into jail, but again, the stay was short-lived. He was eventually given a bond, and his family posted it.
As Connor’s parents began grappling with what their son had done, Shannon Bliek was still in the ICU with her son, Ben.
Shannon Bliek: His head was bandaged significantly.
She’ll never forget the moment she was first allowed to see him.
Shannon Bliek: I saw him, and I started to hyperventilate. … And a nurse grabbed me and hugged me. … I composed myself and I walked over … I said, “Benjamin, Ben, mama’s here.” And Ben opened his eyes. … Kind of like, I hear you, you know? …
If there is any good news in this story, it’s that Ben Bliek survived.
The Accutane defense
Shannon Bliek: He has shown more resilience and more grit than any person I could ever … even know. … It’s just like he’s on a mission to get better. And he just does it.
Shannon Bliek believes it’s a miracle her son Ben survived.
Shannon Bliek: Both bone flaps were removed, meaning the two big parts of the — the skull. … He had a tracheotomy put in to breathe and he had a feeding tube put in to eat. … And he was paralyzed on the right side.
Following the shooting, Ben spent more than three weeks in the hospital before being transferred to an inpatient rehab. Not long after arriving there, remarkably, he was up and walking.
Shannon Bliek: He was working so hard, so hard. …
According to Shannon, Ben would stay in that rehab for over a month.
Shannon Bliek: He had to learn to swallow again. I mean, everything.
During that time, Shannon shielded her son from the details of the shooting. Ben doesn’t remember anything from that night. It wasn’t until he came across an article on his mom’s phone that he learned his friend Connor Hilton pulled the trigger—and that his best friend,Ethan Riley, was killed.
Survivor Ben Bliek
CBS News
Ben Bliek: I was really sad. …
Tracy Smith: What was Ethan like?
Ben Bliek: He was just an outstanding guy. (emotional) … He … looked on things with a positive light (emotional). …
Tracy Smith: You learned that this guy that you were friendly with was the one who shot you and shot Ethan. …
Ben Bliek: I was furious …
But Ben forced himself to stay focused on his recovery. At that point, Connor Hilton was out on house arrest awaiting trial. His parents say they were still dumbfounded.
Neal Hilton: We knew that our son, not in a million years, in his right mind would do that. We knew that. …
Tracy Smith: You think he wasn’t in his right mind?
Neal Hilton: Oh yeah, he definitely wasn’t. … In his right mind, he would never do this. … He’s always been the sweetest, loving boy ever.
In search of an explanation, Connor’s father Neal began researching a prescription acne medication his son had been taking called Accutane. The drug label warns of risk of “depression, psychosis … suicide, and aggressive and/or violent behaviors.” Neal encouraged his son’s lawyers to look into it.
Isotretinoin is the generic version of Accutane, a medication prescribed for acne.
Alamy
Adam Brown, J.L. Carpenter and Rick DeToto make up Connor’s defense team.
J.L. Carpenter: Connor had … no trouble with the law, no trouble with school …
Adam Brown: This doesn’t make sense. …
Rick DeToto: Something changed. … The kid changed. What changed him? …
J.L. Carpenter: What it came down to in our research was the acne medication. … And my research led me to Dr. Bremner.
Dr. Doug Bremner: My name is Dr. Doug Bremner. I’m a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University School of Medicine …
J.L. Carpenter: His CV is 96 pages long. …
Adam Brown: We didn’t play around when we got our expert …
J.L. Carpenter: I don’t think there’s another human being on this Earth who knows more about this topic … than Dr. Douglas Bremner.
Dr. Bremner says he has done extensive research on isotretinoin, the generic version of Accutane. The drug is sold under several brand names. He also gets paid to testify in cases.
Dr. Doug Bremner: It’s a very strong medication … There’s a large number of people, you know, throughout the world that have experienced side effects from it … including psychiatric side effects.
Tracy Smith: Why is it still on the market?
Dr. Doug Bremner: Well, it’s a great treatment for acne, especially … severe acne that’s cystic.
And that’s what Connor Hilton says he has.
Connor Hilton: Ever since I was little, I’ve always had these bumps … on my bottom … Sometimes on my arm pit. … They would be extremely painful. … I couldn’t even walk. Like, that’s how bad they were … We tried all sorts of medicine to … make it go away. … And then one day we went to the dermatologist, and they said, hey, we’re gonna give you Accutane.
That was in late July 2022, about a year-and-a-half before the shooting. Connor was 15 at the time. His mother signed a document acknowledging the risks. According to court-admitted dermatology records, about a month later, Connor reported that he stopped taking the medication because he was “feeling symptoms of depression.”
Connor Hilton: I was feeling real down … and didn’t really feel like doing anything.
But Bremner interviewed Connor at the defense’s request, and Connor told himthat he wasn’t completely honest back then. He said that it was after he started on the medication that he began experiencing homicidal thoughts, too.
Connor Hilton and his parents talked exclusively with “48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith.
CBS News
Tracy Smith: Did you tell anybody that you were having these thoughts? Did you try to get help? …
Connor Hilton: I was scared to tell people of my actual thoughts because I didn’t wanna go to a mental hospital and people think I’m crazy.
Connor told Bremner that when he stopped taking the medication, the thoughts subsided.
Connor Hilton: They slowly disappeared. … I was feeling more energetic, more like will to do stuff … but I was also in pain ’cause of the bumps. They got worse again because I wasn’t taking Accutane …
In January 2023, after several months of being off the medication, Connor’s dermatology records show that he went back on it. This time, he was given a lower dose than initially prescribed.
Tracy Smith: Were you at all apprehensive? Like, oh, this messed with my mind the first time maybe I shouldn’t go back on this stuff. …
Connor Hilton: The bumps were so painful. I — I just needed something to cure it because it was so un — it was just unbearable. …
Tracy Smith: Did the thoughts come back?
Connor Hilton: Yes, ma’am … slowly, but yes, it did, suicidal and homicidal thoughts. …
Connor told Bremner that the thoughts eventually became consuming.
Connor Hilton: It just amplified the longer I was on it.
But he never reported any issues to his dermatologist again.
Connor would continue taking the medication on and off for the next 11 months — up until the time of the shooting. Connor told Bremner that on that day, he took doublehis prescribed dose.
Dr. Doug Bremner: He said that he had missed the dose the day before. So instead of taking two pills, he took four pills. …
After pulling the trigger that night, Connor said he stopped taking Accutane and never experienced homicidal thoughts again. After speaking to Connor, and reviewing the evidence in the case, Bremner formed an opinion.
Tracy Smith: Why do you believe Connor Hilton shot his friends that night?
Dr. Doug Bremner: I think he became psychotic on Accutane, and he had recurrent homicidal ideation that he was not able to control …
Bremner is firm in his opinion.
Dr. Doug Bremner: These … thoughts did not occur before he took Accutane. … He went off the drug and those thoughts went away. And then he started the drug again and the thoughts came back. So that’s considered to be proof basically of a causal effect between a drug and a symptom. …
Tracy Smith: You know that people are gonna look at this and say, this is just a family looking for an excuse for the horrible thing that their kid did.
Dr. Doug Bremner: Well, I think that, you know, there was no motivation, there was no history whatsoever of conflict. … This person was psychotic. …
JG Pharma, the distributor listed on the box of Accutane that Connor Hilton was taking at the time of the shooting, did not respond to “48 Hours”‘ request for comment.
But Connor’s defense attorneys would build their entire case around Bremner’s opinion, even though they were unaware of any other homicide case in which an Accutane defense worked.
Adam Brown: You see this kid … you see how upset he is, you see how remorseful he is. … It’s not just some young man deciding, I’m just gonna go on this rampage. That’s not what we have here. …
But prosecutors wouldn’t be so convinced.
Kayla Allen: It’s not Accutane, he was evil.
What led Connor Hilton to kill?
In August 2025, just weeks before Connor Hilton’s murder trial was scheduled to begin, a hearing was held to determine whether defense expert Dr. Doug Bremner would be allowed to testify.
Rick DeToto: He’s the most qualified expert I’ve ever had on a case.
Defense attorney Rick DeToto had to convince a judge that the doctor’s testimony was reliable and relevant.
Rick DeToto: What we’re arguing is that through the expert … Connor … was in psychosis from the Accutane and he could not control himself. … Murder … has gotta be done intentionally and knowingly. … He could not control his behavior. And that takes out the element of intentionally and knowingly in murder. …
At the hearing, Dr. Bremner testified that it was his opinion that Hilton was suffering from a medication psychotic disorder on the night of the incident.
CONNOR HILTON (bodycam | night of shooting): (Wails) Why did I do this? (stomps feet)
He pointed to a study he conducted which found that isotretinoin, the generic version of Accutane, impacts a part of the brain that regulates emotion.
See the reddish area on the left? It’s not on the right. Dr. Bremner says that illustrates the brain on Accutane has less activity.
Dr. Douglas Bremner
DR. DOUG BREMNER (at hearing): There’s the brain on the left before treatment; and then, after three months of treatment, you can see there’s a — a visible decrease in function in the upper part of the brain.
A slide from Bremner’s study shown at the hearing(pictured above), shows a reddish area on the brain on the left that’s not on the right. Bremner says that illustrates the brain on Accutane has less activity.
RICK DETOTO (at hearing): Why is that important to what we have been talking about?
DR. DOUG BREMNER: Because we know that that part of the brain is involved in depression and also impulsivity.
Ben Bliek and his mother were in the courtroom.
Ben Bliek: It is a bunch of horse s***.
Shannon Bliek: It was very convincing listening to that gentleman speak. … And then once questions were asked on the prosecution side … It just fell apart.
PROSECUTOR SHAWN CONNALLY: Have you ever performed a brain scan of Connor Hilton?
DR. DOUG BREMNER: No.
Tracy Smith: What was your reaction when you heard that their defense was going to be that this acne medication caused psychosis?
Kayla Allen: Well, I thought it was ridiculous. …
Kayla Allen is the lead prosecutor on the case.
Kayla Allen: I don’t think a jury was going to buy the Accutane … made me do it defense.
At the hearing, prosecutors argued Bremner’s testimony should be excluded. And they introduced a more recent study that found that: “… isotretinoin users donot have an increased risk of suicide or psychiatric conditions …” For Allen, the case is simple:
Kayla Allen: I think that he just wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone.
Tracy Smith: And that had nothing to do with the acne medication he was on?
Kayla Allen: I don’t believe it did. No. …
She argues Connor was in his right mind at the time of the shooting and points to that statement he made on scene as proof.
Kayla Allen: He tried to make a statement … That … one of the boys had come at him.
CONNOR HILTON (bodycam): We got into an argument …
CONNOR HILTON (bodycam): Ethan … he tried to come at me, and … he — he — he — he tried to grab for my throat. …
Kayla Allen: He’s working a self-defense argument right from the beginning. … Someone … who’s insane at the time they’ve committed a crime can’t automatically start forming a defense for themselves. … By the time he got to the police station, it was like, look, I’m sorry, I lied to you. I’m not gonna lie to you anymore. I’m gonna tell you the truth.
And Allen says Connor’s police interview is also key.
Kayla Allen: He told police officers that he had been planning it.
He had acknowledged that he knew right from wrong, too.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): I need to do the punishment. I know what I did was wrong …
Kayla Allen: He knew by loading that gun … and putting it up to someone and pulling that trigger that he was going to kill them. … That’s what he wanted to do. …
Tracy Smith: These were his friends.
Kayla Allen: Yes.
Tracy Smith: Why would he shoot them?
Kayla Allen: I don’t know. …
Tracy Smith: Because there’s no clear motive in this case, doesn’t that support the defense’s argument that Connor went into some sort of a psychosis?
Kayla Allen: I don’t think it does. … There’s just people that are evil and do evil things.
Allen argues Connor Hilton is one of those people.
Tracy Smith: Had you ever seen Connor pull out this gun before?
Ben Bliek: Yeah.
Connor Hilton
Neal Hilton
His friends told detectives about things he’d said in the months leading up to the shooting.
Kayla Allen: He would say, one day I wanna be important. … I wanna leave a legacy. And he would make comments about killing people.
And detectives also pulled Connor’s online activity. On YouTube, he downloaded numerous videos about murder. His social media posts referenced it as well. Connor’s friends reported this post was made just hours before the shooting — it contains the lyrics, “Murder one, better run … Killing plenty is so fun.”
J.L. Carpenter: That’s chemically induced …
Connor’s defense attorneys argue Connor became obsessed with murder after he went on Accutane.
Tracy Smith: So, all of that can be blamed on the acne medication?
J.L. Carpenter: Absolutely.
And they say the police investigation supports their case, because several of Connor’s friends told police they noticed a change in him during sophomore year, which was afterhe went on the drug.
Tracy Smith: And when you say they noticed a change, what are they saying?
J.L. Carpenter: He was starting to isolate. He was getting more involved into true crime. He wanted to be a homicide detective. …
But Allen insists Connor’s behavior had nothing to do with Accutane.
Kayla Allen: That’s just what the defense wants the community to believe because it gives them an excuse. … He was having problems already before Accutane was even introduced in his life about not wanting to go to school …
In fact, Connor was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac months before he started on Accutane. But Connor says he was only struggling with normal teenage anxiety then.
Connor Hilton: I was a freshman. I was nervous. … Do I fit in? Do I not? …
Tracy Smith: And during that freshman year, did you have suicidal, homicidal thoughts?
Connor Hilton: No, ma’am.
But after that hearing to determine whether Bremner would be allowed to testify, the judge dealt the defense a blow and ruled Bremner would only be allowed to testify during the punishment phase of the trial, if necessary.
J.L. Carpenter: So, in Texas, we have two phases, guilt/innocence, and then if there’s a guilty verdict, the punishment phase. …
Tracy Smith: So, what will you do during the first phase of the trial, the guilt/innocence phase, if you can’t present your expert? …
Rick DeToto: There’s not much you can do. You just have to sit there and take it and wait ’til you get to punishment. And then we put on an aggressive case regarding the Accutane.
There was still a lot on the line. Because in Texas criminal court, Connor Hilton was considered an adult, and a jury could sentence him to as little as five years in prison all the way up to 99 years — or life.
Tracy Smith: How high are the stakes here?
Adam Brown: I don’t think you get much higher
J.L. Carpenter: It’s a kid’s life.
Survivor faces his shooter in court
Two weeks before Connor Hilton was set to stand trial, there was a big development. Prosecutors offered him a deal: 50 years in prison if he pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He would also have to waive his right to appeal.
Neal Hilton: We know … Connor would’ve never done this if it wasn’t for the Accutane. …
Tracy Smith: So, you didn’t wanna take the plea deal?
Neal Hilton: I didn’t.
Tracy Smith: You didn’t wanna take the plea deal?
Johnece Hilton: No. No. …
Tracy Smith: But Connor?
Neal Hilton: Well, he did. …
Tracy Smith: What did Connor tell you?
Johnece Hilton: I don’t want the families to have to go through that. (crying)
They say their son didn’t want Ethan Riley’s family and Ben Bliek and his family to have to suffer through a trial. And he also didn’t want to risk receiving a life sentence.
Neal Hilton: He was trying to get us on board with it … And I said, “Bud,” I said, “it’s just a long time.” (emotional)
But ultimately, the decision was Connor’s and he chose to accept the deal. Connor’s defense attorneys say they didn’t counsel him one way or the other, but they believe he made the right call.
Rick DeToto: I think the consensus between the three of us was there was a very strong possibility that he would get life. … That bodycam video walking in the house … It’s a very difficult bodycam video to watch.
But while Connor Hilton and his defense team had worried about the possibility of a life sentence, prosecutor Kayla Allen had worried about the opposite.
Kayla Allen: My main concern was he was a young kid. … And I think that at times it hurts jury’s hearts to sentence a young kid to life. … We did not plea the case because we were worried about the Accutane … It was more his age. …
She says she offered the deal only after confirming the victims’ families were on board.
On Sept. 2, 2025, a plea hearing was held.
JUDGE REBECCA MILLO: It’s my understanding you’re here this morning to enter a plea on both of these charges. Is that correct?
CONNOR HILTON: Yes, your Honor. (crying)
JUDGE REBECCA MILLO: How do you plea to each of these charges?
CONNOR HILTON: Guilty.
Connor Hilton, with his attorneys, pleads guilty to murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in exchange for 50 years in prison. He also waived his right to appeal.
CBS News
Ben Bliek: He was crying because he was going to prison. And not because —
Shannon Bliek: He felt bad for what he did. …
Tracy Smith: Do you think that Connor’s acne medication played any role? …
Ben Bliek: No.
Shannon Bliek: No. … We know a lot of people who’ve taken that medication.
Tracy Smith: And they don’t have homicidal tendencies?
Shannon Bliek: Correct. …
Tracy Smith: Why do you think Connor pulled the trigger?
Ben Bliek: Because he wanted to murder somebody.
After Connor Hilton formally accepted the plea, Ben got the chance to make a victim impact statement. He made it clear to Connor how he felt.
Ben Bliek addresses Connor Hilton in court: “I will never forgive you.”
CBS News
BEN BLIEK (in court): First of all, stop sniveling. Stop crying. You did this to yourself … Secondly, the grief you have caused the Rileys, and my own family, I will never forgive you. …
Shannon addressed the court next. She turned her attention to Connor’s mother.
SHANNON BLIEK (in court): We are all living this nightmare because a mother chose not to tell her son no when he asked her to buy a gun … This mother put the gun in the hand of a child who should not have had it … Shame on you.
Remember, Connor had told police his mother bought him the gun.
CONNOR HILTON (police interview): I convinced my mom to buy that gun for me …
And in the hours after the crime, Johnece also told that to police.
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS (police interview): What was the reason for buying the gun?
JOHNECE HILTON: He wanted to get it.
DETECTIVE MCCANLESS: OK.
But when we interviewed both Connor and Johnece Hilton, they denied that the gun was purchased for him.
Johnece Hilton: I purchased that for myself …
Tracy Smith: Why did you tell the police that you did buy it for him?
Johnece Hilton: I have no idea. I — I don’t even remember that — they showed me the interview. (crying) I don’t have — I have no memory of that. …
Tracy Smith: Do you think you were covering for him? Why would you say that?
Johnece Hilton: I have no idea. I have no idea. (crying)
Johnece Hilton has not been charged with any crime in connection with the case. And even though she bought the gun less than two months before the crime, she insists she had no idea her son was homicidal.
Tracy Smith: There were these social media posts that he made about murder cases.
Johnece Hilton: Mm-hmm.
Tracy Smith: He watched a lot of murder videos.
Johnece Hilton: Yes. …
Tracy Smith: Weren’t these warning signs?
Johnece Hilton: No, I didn’t think so. …
The Hiltons continue to blame the acne medication.
Tracy Smith: You bought the gun in November. You didn’t see any effects of the acne medication, psychologically, that would lead you to think I shouldn’t have a gun in the house?
Neal Hilton: I didn’t.
Johnece Hilton: I didn’t, no. …
Still, Johnece says she lives with an enormous amount of regret.
Johnece Hilton: And I’m so sorry that this happened, and — and I do feel responsible. (crying) … I wish I could go back and change everything. … I wouldn’t not have purchased the firearm. I wouldn’t have made him take the acne medicine. (crying)
The last person to address the court during Connor Hilton’s plea hearing was Matthew Riley, Ethan Riley’s father.
MATTHEW RILEY (in court): I sit here with so much love—love in my heart for my son, Ethan Matthew Riley.
Ethan’s mother, Tara Riley, stood behind him. They declined “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview.
Ethan Riley
Ethan Riley obituary
MATTHEW RILEY (in court): He is a beautiful soul, full of love and light … You could see that light in his eyes and hear it in his laughter … (emotional)
After that, Connor Hilton was taken into custody. We spoke to him inside the Galveston County Jail the next day.
Connor Hilton (in jail): Just the feeling of loneliness yesterday was unbearable. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I did it to myself. I’m the reason why I’m here. But it — it just — it sucks. …
Ben Bliek playing pickleball with “48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith. “Go easy on me, my friend. Oops. See my backhand is bad too,” said Smith. “Yours is not as bad as my mom’s,” Ben replied.
CBS News
For Ben Bliek, everyday life remains a challenge. He plays pickle ball and basketball to help restore his mobility — but he says one person has helped him the most.
Ben Bliek: My mom. (Mom becomes emotional) … She’s always there for me. …
Tracy Smith: Can you explain how difficult this has been?
Ben Bliek: It is very difficult, but pouting about it is not going to get Ethan back. (crying) So —
Shannon Bliek: You just gotta keep going.
Ben Bliek: Yeah. …
Connor Hilton will be eligible for parole in August 2050. He will be 43 years old.
Produced by Stephanie Slifer. Gary Winter and Doreen Schechter are the producer-editors. Jenna Jackson is the development producer. Emma Steele is the field producer. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
LA VERNE, Calif. /California Newswire/ — As national attention increasingly turns toward brain health and healthy aging, Hillcrest, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community in Southern California, is translating research into daily practice by offering seniors brain-healthy foods at every meal, every day. Hillcrest is the only senior living community in the region to fully integrate the MIND diet, a science-backed lifestyle approach to maintaining cognitive strength through nutrition, into its daily dining.
National media continue to profile how the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet protects the brain and might influence dementia risk. According to a recent article in The New York Times [1], studies show those who follow the MIND diet report better cognitive functioning, a lower risk of dementia and slower disease progression in people with Alzheimer’s. Research cited in the article indicates people may benefit from the diet regardless of whether they start it in midlife or later.
While many senior communities reference brain health in programming, Hillcrest distinguishes itself with its commitment to providing a research-driven, brain-healthy diet as part of the daily experience for its residents, one that is part of an overarching dementia-centered suite of initiatives adopted in 2019.
“We do not treat brain health as a trend. We treat it as a responsibility. When the research showed the MIND diet could meaningfully support cognitive health, we made the decision seven years ago to serve it every day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” says Ryan Harrison, PsyD, Certified Wellness Professional and Director of Resident Life and Wellness at Hillcrest. “Our residents enjoy delicious, thoughtful meals, and they also understand why those choices matter. That consistency is what sets Hillcrest apart.”
In addition to daily MIND diet menus, Hillcrest offers regular educational sessions to help residents understand the science behind brain-healthy nutrition and how food choices support overall wellness. Residents frequently report feeling supported, empowered, and satisfied by the variety and quality of meals offered.
“We understand the importance of nutrition’s role in maintaining cognitive longevity,” says Harrison. “I’m proud that Hillcrest’s health and wellness programs are committed to making brain health a priority.”
About Hillcrest
Hillcrest is an upscale 501(c)(3) nonprofit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) centrally located in the San Gabriel Valley, less than 30 minutes from Los Angeles, Anaheim, Pasadena, and San Bernardino and at the gateway to the Inland Empire. Located in a quiet residential neighborhood just off Foothill Boulevard in La Verne, California, Hillcrest offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing with an emphasis on wellness and health. For more information, visit: https://liveathillcrest.org/.
CAPTION: Hillcrest in La Verne, Calif., offers MIND diet entrees at every meal, every day, as part of its overall wellness programs supporting cognitive health among its residents.
Information is believed accurate but is not guaranteed. For questions about the above news, contact the company/org/person noted in the text and NOT this website.
When a loved one enters rehab, many families wonder how or when they can see them again, and that worry is completely normal. Staying connected to family and friends can be a big part of healing, but every rehab program has its own rules about visitors.
In this article, we’ll walk through how visitation typically works, why policies differ from one place to another, and how to support someone in treatment while respecting their recovery.
How Rehab Visitation Works
Rehab programs usually allow some form of visitor access, but it is structured and follows a clear schedule rather than being open all the time. Visits often happen in a common area or designated visiting room, and they are typically scheduled, usually on specific days and times each week. The exact rules depend on the facility, the type of program, and how far along the person is in treatment.
Setting clear schedules and limits on visit length ensures that visits remain supportive and do not interfere with therapy, group sessions, and the person’s need for rest and reflection. This balance allows loved ones to stay involved in a meaningful way while still protecting the person’s focus and emotional safety, so visitation becomes a real asset in the recovery process rather than a source of stress.
According to the team at Recovery Beach in California, visitation tends to be most helpful when it is purposeful and structured rather than informal or unpredictable. In practice, that usually means set visiting hours, clear expectations, and boundaries that protect the treatment schedule and a person’s need for rest. When handled this way, visits can support healthier communication and help rebuild trust while recovery remains the main focus.
What Different Programs Typically Allow
Most rehab programs fall into a few main types, and each has a different approach to visitation:
Inpatient / Residential Rehab
Typically has structured visitation schedules, such as weekends or specific days.
Visiting hours are often limited to a set time window (for example, a few hours per visit).
The number of visitors may be restricted to avoid disrupting the treatment environment.
Outpatient Programs
Generally allow more flexible visitation since clients return home after daily treatment sessions.
Visits often take place between sessions or after treatment hours.
Some programs permit more frequent or informal contact with family and loved ones.
Detox Units
Usually enforce stricter visitation rules, especially during the first few days of medical stabilization.
Visits may be shorter, limited in number, or supervised by staff.
These rules help maintain safety, reduce stress, and support medical monitoring.
When Is Visiting Encouraged?
Many rehab programs encourage visitation once the person is settled into the routine and is making progress in treatment. These visits give families and close friends a chance to see how their loved one is healing, rebuild trust, and learn how to support recovery in a healthy way. They also help the person in treatment feel connected to important relationships instead of isolated or abandoned.
However, visitation may be limited or paused in certain situations. If a relationship has been very chaotic, violent, or deeply tied to substance use, the treatment team may hold off on visits until safety and stability come first. Likewise, if a visitor is disruptive, brings contraband, or pressures the person to leave early, the rehab may restrict visits to protect the person’s recovery. Recovery Beach’s rehab in Orange County, CA., balances structure and connection by offering regular visitation windows that support family involvement while still prioritizing the person’s safety and focus on recovery.
How Visiting Rules Differ Across Rehab Types
Visiting rules can vary quite a bit depending on the kind of rehab someone is in. Short‑term, medically focused rehab stays (like 7 to 14 days) often have fewer and shorter visits, sometimes only once or twice, to keep the person focused on medical stabilization and early recovery. Longer residential programs (such as 30, 60, or 90 days) usually include more regular visiting hours as part of a broader family support plan.
Gender‑specific programs or those that specialize in trauma or dual diagnosis may also have more cautious policies to maintain a safe, healing environment for everyone. The staff at addiction treatment centers tailor visits to each person’s needs, balancing the benefit of family connection with the need for a calm, structured recovery setting. These differences are why it helps to ask about the specific visitation policy when choosing a program.
How to Prepare for a Visit to Rehab
Before going to visit someone in rehab, it helps to call or email the facility to understand their rules and schedule. Ask about visiting hours, how long visits last, what documents are needed (like an ID), and whether there are limits on who can come, especially if children or teens are involved. Knowing the rules in advance helps avoid confusion or disappointment on the day of the visit.
It is also important to respect the treatment environment by not bringing drugs, alcohol, weapons, or other items that are not allowed. Dress comfortably and appropriately, and try to keep the tone positive and supportive during the visit. It’s also suggested that families focus on listening, expressing care, and reinforcing the person’s recovery without diving into old conflicts or making big promises about the future.
How Family Involvement Fits Into Treatment
Visiting is often just one part of how families can be involved in their loved one’s treatment. Many rehab programs include family therapy sessions where the person in treatment, their therapist, and family members can work together to improve communication, set boundaries, and repair damage from addiction. These sessions help families understand addiction as a medical condition and learn how to support recovery without enabling unhealthy behaviors.
Educational groups for families are also common, teaching about triggers, relapse warning signs, and how to build a sober home environment. Some programs also offer alumni or family support groups that continue after treatment ends. Involving the family in this way is seen as a key part of long‑term recovery, not just a one‑time visit.
How to Handle a No‑Visiting Period
If a program does not allow visits right away or temporarily pauses visitation, it can be very hard for families who miss their loved one. It is important to remember that these rules are usually not personal but are put in place to protect the person’s safety and give them time to stabilize and focus on the rehab. Many people need that space to adjust before visits can be truly helpful.
Until in‑person visits are allowed, families can stay connected in other ways, like sending letters, cards, photos, or short messages through the rehab staff. Attending family therapy sessions or support groups, even if the person is not ready for visits, is another way to stay involved and work on one’s own healing. Most recovery programs encourage families to use this time to build healthier relationships, so visits can be positive when they do happen.
What to Do If Visitation Feels Unfair or Unsupportive
If visits are not allowed or are very limited, it can feel painful or confusing, especially if the person seems to be doing well. In these moments, the best step is to talk with the clinical team, case manager, or family coordinator about the reasons behind the rules. They can explain how visitation fits into the treatment plan and what needs to happen before visits can be approved or increased.
Families can also ask what they can do to become an approved support person, such as attending therapy, staying clean if they also use, or completing education about addiction and recovery. Phone calls or video visits may still be possible even when in‑person visits are paused, and centers should work with families to keep communication lines open in safe, supportive ways.
Practical Tips for Visiting Someone in Rehab
When visiting someone in rehab, a few thoughtful choices can make the visit much more helpful and comforting:
Arrive on time and follow the facility’s visitation rules, including any restrictions on who can attend.
Bring only what is allowed. Avoid drugs, alcohol, weapons, cash, or anything that could be seen as contraband.
Keep your tone calm and positive, and focus on expressing pride in the person’s effort rather than bringing up old conflicts or broken promises.
Listen more than you talk so the person can share how they feel about their recovery journey.
Avoid putting pressure on them to make specific plans for life after rehab, such as jobs, housing, or relationships.
Do not bring people who are still using substances or who tend to create tension or conflict.
Visits tend to go best when families stay supportive, patient, and focused on the person’s healing and progress.
Conclusion
Rehab visitation rules may at first seem strict, but they exist to protect the person’s recovery and keep the treatment environment safe and focused. With time and patience, most programs allow visiting as the person grows more stable and ready to reconnect in a healthy way. Staying involved through letters, calls, therapy, and, when possible, visits can be one of the most powerful supports in recovery.
If you are unsure about the rules at a particular facility, reaching out to staff to ask about the visitation policy can ease a lot of worry. Recovery centers design their visitation plans to help families stay connected without overwhelming the recovery process, because healing happens not just within the person but also within the relationships that matter most.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A heralded defense vs. an underrated one. A celebrated second-year quarterback vs. a veteran QB who has gone from perceived bust to beloved. An All-Pro wide receiver vs. one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks.
And it starts with the coaches who will lead their teams onto the field.
Being a part of the final game of the NFL season is nothing new for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player with New England.
Vrabel, 50, can become the fifth person in NFL history to win the Super Bowl as both a player and a head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Tom Flores as well as Doug Pederson.
He’ll match wits with 38-year-old Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who is in his first Super Bowl in just his second year in Seattle.
When the Patriots have the ball
New England wouldn’t be here without the play of Drake Maye. After showing flashes of his potential to develop into a franchise quarterback as a rookie, Maye has solidified that status in Year 2 under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
He finished second in MVP voting and led the NFL by completing 72% of his passes this season. He threw for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns with only eight interceptions thanks to production from a group of receivers led by veteran Stefon Diggs.
It’s the main reason that Maye could become the fifth quarterback to win the Super Bowl in his first or second season, joining Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and Russell Wilson.
But he’ll have to find a way to put points on the board against a Seattle defense that finished in the top seven in the league in sacks and interceptions.
Maye is the first quarterback in history to win three games against top-five defenses in a single playoffs — the Chargers (No. 5), Texans (No. 1) and Broncos (No. 2). The Seahawks are No. 6.
The Patriots also are in good position because of a defense that finished the regular season ranked in the top 10 in total defense, rush defense, pass defense and points allowed. New England’s defense has allowed just two touchdowns this postseason.
That has helped silence voices from the outside that were critical of New England’s regular-season schedule, which ranked as the easiest in the NFL, with opponents finishing with a combined 113-176 record.
When the Seahawks have the ball
Seattle’s offense, which ranked fifth in the NFL in points per game, is a multidimensional unit, even though it is led by the league’s leading receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak — who is expected to land a job as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders — has put a system in place that brings out the best in its players, both in the run and passing games.
Quarterback Sam Darnold is fresh off his second Pro Bowl season and has shown that he is not afraid of slinging the ball downfield or even making a few mistakes. During the regular season, Darnold led all NFL quarterbacks in turnovers, but he displayed some of his best football in the playoffs, including when he played through an oblique injury and completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers in the NFC championship game.
The Seahawks’ run game is surging, too, led by running back Kenneth Walker III, who is in a contract year and could be playing his final game in a Seattle uniform. Walker has a penchant for running outside the tackles and busting runs around the right and left sides of the offensive line.
And then there’s veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who continues to lead on and off the field in his first season with the Seahawks after eight standout ones with the Los Angeles Rams.
Even if Seattle’s offense struggles, it should be buoyed by a defense that is arguably its greatest strength. No team allowed fewer points per game (17.2) this season, and Seattle finished in the top seven in the league in sacks and interceptions.
Special teams
If Sunday’s game is dominated by defense, this matchup could be key.
The Patriots always have a chance to get into the end zone when returning punts, thanks to the explosiveness of Marcus Jones. He had punt returns of 94 and 87 yards this season while finishing tied with Tennessee Titans receiver Chimere Dike with a 17.3-yard punt return average.
Rookie kicker Anthony Borregales also has been dependable, connecting on 27 of 32 field-goal attempts, including all four of 50-plus yards.
But the Seahawks are anything but slouches when it comes to special teams, led by second-year coordinator Jay Harbaugh. Including these playoffs, Seattle has scored five special teams touchdowns, four of them on returns.
Vrabel’s biggest attribute this season was inspiring a locker room that before this season had only 18 players who’d ever appeared in a playoff game.
He trusts his coaching staff and has benefited from having an offensive coordinator in McDaniels, who was around for each of New England’s six Super Bowl wins.
Regardless of how Super Bowl 60 shakes out, the Seahawks’ coaching staff is not expected to stay together as currently configured for much longer. Kubiak appears to be on his way to Las Vegas, and it’s unclear who may follow the offensive coordinator.
While this technically is a rematch of Super Bowl 49, won by the Patriots in dramatic fashion thanks to Malcolm Butler’s interception of Russell Wilson, this is certainly a new era for both teams.
New England’s season has a Cinderella-like feel to it, but the belief and trust that Vrabel’s players have in him is very real. They feel like they are taking the field with a guy who gets what they’ve gone through.
And that could be the thing that gets this Patriots team over the hump.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, dominated this season in a way that they expected of themselves. En route to rattling off the most regular-season wins in franchise history, Seattle nicknamed its defense the “Dark Side.”
The confidence this group exudes is abundantly clear, whether it be in practices, games or media availabilities.
For Seattle, this Super Bowl is not a shot at redemption for 11 years ago; rather, it is a chance to separate itself as one of the best teams in franchise history.
MILAN — The Milano Ice Skating Arena has less ambiance than a truck stop on the way from Tucson to Tucumcari.
The Olympic figure skating venue is so ugly that local officials seemingly stuck it 30 minutes from Milano’s city center, past the end of the Metro line, next to a freeway, in hopes no one would notice it on their way to Genoa.
The arena known prior to the Games as the Milan Forum is 36 years old and although it seems decades older, the late 1980s time frame makes sense given that it appears to be designed and constructed by Soviet architects who were Star Wars fans but only had leftovers from the Chernobyl disaster to work with; a Death Star waiting to be put out its misThe building is just as much a dump inside, dark and dingy with cracks all over the joint.
Whether Saturday night’s team figure skating men’s short program exposed cracks in Ilia Malinin’s invincibility or whether the sport’s self-proclaimed Quad God was simply saving his superpowers for later in the Games remains to be seen.
Malinin, the two-time World champion and overwhelming favorite to retain for the U.S. the Olympic men’s gold medal Nathan Chen won four years ago in Beijing, finished second to Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.
Malinin’s second place and Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ victory in ice dancing later Saturday night gave Team USA a 44-39 lead against Japan going into Sunday’s final three sections of the team competition: the pairs, women’s and men’s free skates.
Although Malinin said after the short program that he was uncertain whether he will compete in the team free skate, U.S. Figure Skating announced just before midnight that he would in fact compete Sunday.
“I’ll go back and talk about it with a lot of people and really just make a decision, what’s going to be worth it for me,” Malinin said after the short program.
Skating Sunday means Malinin will skate four competitive programs in seven days at these Games. Which is why he said he was playing the long game Saturday night.
Malinin, who hasn’t lost a major international competition in more than two years, landed only two quad jumps, one less than he had in winning a fourth U.S. title last month while “playing it safe” and five fewer than the record seven quads he hit at the ISU Grand Prix final in December. He did not attempt a Quad Axel, the sport’s hardest jump of which only Malinin has landed in competition.
“I wasn’t expecting to go out here and win the competition,” Malinin said. “That was not my goal here for the team event. My team event was to focus on myself and how I feel, just overall. And you know, I’m pretty happy with what I did, because that’s only 50 percent of my full potential here. So overall, that’s just really proud of everything like that.”
But Malinin, who struggled with boot and foot issues at the U.S. Championships, was unusually shaky on more than one landing Saturday. Even so, Malinin appeared disappointed when his score flashed on the scoreboard, putting him more than 10 points behind Kagiyama — 108.67 to 98.00.
“Not really,” Malinin said when asked if he was surprised by his score. “I’m not thinking about the score. I’m just thinking about the moment, and I just want to enjoy every single Olympic moment I have here.”
Saturday was Malinin’s Olympic debut. Four years ago, he was a surprising second at the U.S. Championships, essentially the Olympic Trials, but was not selected to compete in the Beijing Games. Seven months later, he landed skating’s first quad axel in competition, and a year later, he won the first of four consecutive U.S. titles.
“It was such an unreal moment coming to the Olympics,” Malinin said. “You know, everyone has been talking about the Olympics for years, ever since I’ve started skating from a young age. And it was something that I’ve dreamed upon going and really just being out there on that Olympic ice was just, you know, the best moment of itself.”
And even at 50 percent, Malinin still delivered the best moment of the night, a back flip halfway through his routine, giving a couple thousand less than capacity crowd a buzz as they tried not to slip through the arena’s cracks as they headed back to town.
“I need to do such incredible like that,” he said. “The roar, the feeling in the environment just once I do that back flip, everyone’s like, you know, screaming for joy, and they’re just out of control. And I think it’s really something that’s really bringing back the popularity of the sport. … So I think just having that really just can bring in the non figure skating crowd as well. “
Investigators again scoured the desert brush outside the Tucson home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, as officials were reviewing a new message that could be tied to her abduction.
At the same time, President Trump said on Air Force One on Friday night that investigators have “very strong” clues, believing “we could have some answers coming up fairly soon.”
“We have some things, I think that will maybe come out reasonably soon, from DOJ or FBI, or whoever, that could be, could be definitive. A lot has taken place in the last couple of hours. A lot of things have happened with regard to that horrible situation in the last couple of hours,” he said.
FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s officials confirmed they were aware of the message, and said they are “actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.”
Guthrie was last seen by her family just after 9:45 p.m. Saturday, which officials said matched with when her garage door opened and closed that night.
About four hours later, at 1:47 a.m., officials said her doorbell camera disconnected. An empty frame for the camera had been previously noted at her home.
Then at 2:12 a.m., the security camera software at Guthrie’s home detected a person — or an animal — on one of the home’s cameras, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said they have not been able to recover that footage and don’t know which camera recorded the movement.
About 15 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker app shows that it was a disconnect from the phone, Nanos said. That appears to be exactly when she left her home, as her phone was left behind.
Her family went to check on her at home, finding her missing, just before noon Sunday, after she hadn’t shown up for church. They almost immediately called 911, Nanos said.
An earlier ransom note appears to be at the center of the effort to find her.
Although the entire note has not been released, some details that were included have been shared publicly. The letter contained a first deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday and a second demand with a Monday deadline, said Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division. He declined to say what, if anything, was requested at each deadline, or if there was a threat if the deadlines weren’t met.
Nancy’s son, Camron Guthrie, released a video statement pleading with the kidnapper Thursday afternoon, around the time of the ransom letter’s first deadline.
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.”
Harvey Levin, founder of celebrity news website TMZ, has reviewed one of the three identical letters that were sent to media outlets and told CNN on Thursday that “the Monday deadline is far more consequential.”
TMZ reported receiving the alleged note earlier this week via email, and said the letter demanded millions in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s release. Levin said Thursday night that TMZ had confirmed the bitcoin address was real.
The family and authorities are particularly worried because Nancy Guthrie has many physical ailments and requires a daily medication that she appears to be without. Officials said they haven’t yet received any proof that Guthrie is alive, but they are operating on that assumption — despite real concerns she could be dead.
A police pursuit that started in Anaheim on Wednesday night ended with the suspect’s vehicle colliding with another car, killing the driver, officials said.
The suspect, identified Thursday as 21-year-old Darvin Felipe Bahamon Martinez, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of felony evading police and vehicular manslaughter, according to the Placentia Police Department. The victim was identified only as a Placentia man in his 60s, according to Anaheim Police Sgt. Eric Anderson.
Anaheim police initiated an enforcement stop at 7:41 p.m. Wednesday when officers saw a dark-colored Jeep Gladiator driving recklessly in the area of Mira Loma and Lawrence avenues, Anaheim police said. The driver initially yielded, but as officers approached his car on foot, he suddenly accelerated.
Anaheim police then used emergency lights and a siren to attempt to perform a second enforcement stop as the driver fled into the neighboring city of Placentia.
Three minutes later, he crashed into another vehicle near Bradford and Madison avenues, killing the other driver, Anaheim police said.
A third vehicle was then struck in the crash. That driver, identified only as an elderly female, suffered minor injuries, Anderson said.
“I saw a car driving like at least 70 mph, and he ran the red light, so I was able to brake in time,” Maria Torres told KABC. “I just saw the cops running behind him. It seemed like it was a pursuit, so I called 911 and it confirmed that it was a pursuit. It must’ve been like less than a foot away from hitting me.”
The Placentia Police Department is handling the ongoing criminal investigation into the crash. It is unclear whether Martinez was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the incident.
Two dozen people who sued the owners and tenants of a Carson-based warehouse responsible for a putrid smell emanating from the Dominguez Channel waterway, which led to hospital visits and headaches, won a multimillion-dollar verdict Friday.
Those plaintiffs were awarded $6 million in punitive damages along with $2.89 million in compensatory damages in a mass tort lawsuit that dates back to 2021.
“Carson is a working-class community of janitors, barbers, bus drivers and longshoremen,” said attorney Gary Praglin of the Santa Monica-based law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. “The defendants forced us to trial because they didn’t want to pay these people and this is recognition of their suffering.”
The punitive damages will be split equally among 24 Carson-area residents, amounting to $250,000 for each. The compensatory damages for medical claims ranged between $40,000 and $240,000 per client.
What remains to be seen is what happens to 13,750 additional plaintiffs who are also seeking compensation.
The court will determine the next steps, whether that’s additional trial proceedings or settlements. But should the remaining plaintiffs ultimately receive similar compensation, “we’re talking about the largest recovery for breathing toxic fumes in the history of California,” Praglin said.
On the hook for damages are San Francisco-based logistics company Prologis and its subsidiary Liberty Property LP, which owned the warehouse next to the Dominguez Channel in Carson. Prologis did not respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
Also included among the defendants are the Nourollah brothers of Los Angeles, who owned two businesses — Virgin Scent and Day to Day Imports — that operated out of that warehouse.
A call to an attorney for the Nourollahs was not immediately returned Friday.
The roots of the legal action date back to Sept. 30, 2021, when a large fire engulfed the warehouse and distribution center of the cosmetics corporation Virgin Scent. The blaze lasted multiple days and required the services of 200 firefighters to extinguish.
The warehouse and surrounding storage areas were filled with stacks of pallets and cardboard boxes containing highly flammable ethanol-based hand sanitizer, according to court documents.
The fire took place days before the Food and Drug Administration released a warning that some Virgin Scent hand sanitizers contained unacceptable levels of benzene, acetal and acetaldehyde, each of which are hazardous and potentially carcinogenic.
Though the fire was eventually put out, large amounts of soggy, charred debris and hand sanitizer remained all around the warehouse, according to court documents.
That debris eventually found its way into storm drains that flow into the Dominguez Channel, which manages water runoff from surrounding communities.
These toxic elements sat in the channel’s then-stagnant water, which led to a die-off of all vegetation and the emission of foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide.
Within a month, at least 3,000 residents left Carson for out-of-area hotels provided by Los Angeles County. Thousands of others opted for air purifiers.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District responded to more than 4,700 odor complaints within the first month from residents in Carson, Gardena, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Wilmington.
The agency eventually issued five notices of violation to Virgin Scent for a variety of infractions, including for discharging “such quantities of air contaminants to cause injury, detriment, nuisance or annoyance to a considerable number of persons.”
An 18-year-old motorcyclist was struck by a car driven by an unlicensed 15-year-old with passengers during a walkout at Heritage High School on Friday, authorities said.
The crash was reported around 9:30 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Briggs Road and Highway 74, where responding officers found an off-road motorcycle and a Nissan vehicle involved in the crash, according to the Menifee Police Department.
At the time of the collision, Heritage High School students were taking part in a walkout with approximately 200 students protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the area.
The motorcyclist reported a minor complaint of pain related to the crash, but he did not require hospital transportation, officials said.
The driver of the Nissan, an unlicensed 15-year-old, was also contacted along with passengers, but none of them was injured, police said. The passengers were also juveniles, according to the police department.
The Nissan driver allegedly attempted to make a U-turn to locate parking and join the walkout, and struck the motorcyclist. The teenager subsequently parked in a nearby lot and waited for police.
Investigators believe the crash was unintentional, and drugs and alcohol were not believed to be a factor.
Anyone with additional information about the accident is encouraged to contact Officer Clay from the Menifee PD Traffic Unit at 951-723-1566.
LONDON — The European Union on Friday accused TikTok of breaching the bloc’s digital rules with “addictive design” features including autoplay and infinite scroll, in preliminary charges that strike at the heart of the popular video sharing app’s operating model.
EU regulators said their investigation found that TikTok hasn’t done enough to assess how its features could harm the physical and mental health of users, including children and “vulnerable adults.”
The European Commission said it believes TikTok should change the “basic design” of its service. The commission is the EU’s executive arm and enforcer of the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping rulebook that requires social media companies to clean up their platforms and protect users, under threat of hefty fines.
TikTok denied the accusations.
“The Commission’s preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us,” the company said in a statement.
TikTok now has a chance to reply to the commission’s findings, which could lead to a so-called non-compliance decision and possible fine worth up to 6% of the company’s total annual revenue.
“Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a press statement. “The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects they can have on their users. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online.”
The preliminary findings from Brussels are the latest example of pressure that TikTok and other social media platforms are facing over youth addiction.
Australia has banned social media for under-16s while governments in Spain, France, and Denmark want to introduce similar measures. In the U.S., TikTok last month settled a landmark social media addiction lawsuit while two other companies named in the suit — Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — still face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children.
The commission said that TikTok fuels the urge to keep scrolling because it constantly rewards users with new content, leading to reduced self control.
It said TikTok ignores signs that someone is compulsively using the app, such as the amount of time that minors spend on it at night, and how often the app is opened.
The company has failed to put in place “reasonable, proportionate and effective” measures to offset the risks, it said.
The commission said TikTok’s existing time management controls are easy to dismiss and “introduce limited friction,” while parental tools need “additional time and skills” from parents.
Changes that the commission wants TikTok to make include disabling features like infinite scroll; putting in more effective breaks for screen time, including at night; and changing its “highly personalized” recommender system, which feeds users an endless stream of video shorts based on their preferences.
TikTok says it has numerous tools, such as custom screen time limits and sleep reminders, that let users make “intentional decisions” about how they spend their time on the app.
Man accused of threatening to put pipe bombs at Disneyland ahead of Vance visit
An Anaheim man is facing federal charges that he falsely claimed to have placed pipe bombs inside Disneyland before Vice President JD Vance visited the park with his family last year.
Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, is accused of posting threatening messages on Disneyland’s official Instagram page after learning that Vance was visiting the park on July 12, according to a federal indictment.
Aguayo was charged Wednesday with one count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, according to the complaint.
He was taken into custody Friday afternoon, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Court Watch, a newsletter, was first to report the charges.
“We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement.
News of Vance’s surprise visit to Disneyland quickly spread on social media and news outlets after Air Force 2 landed at John Wayne Airport after 5 p.m. on July 12. The vice president’s visit prompted protests outside Disneyland’s Grand California Hotel & Spa, where Vance and his family were rumored to be staying.
The visit came as a surprise, as Disneyland had not been placed on the vice president’s public schedule.
Aguayo posted three comments threatening the vice president at 6:14 p.m. that day under the username “@jesses_andamy,” according to the federal complaint filed Wednesday by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Marjorie Edens.
“Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” the first comment read.
“It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it,” read the second.
“Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians,” read the third.
The Instagram account used to make the comments appeared to be unavailable Friday morning.
Aguayo could not be reached for comment. Court records did not note whether he has retained counsel.
Edens and an Anaheim Police sergeant visited Aguayo at his apartment the day Vance arrived to question him about the posts.
Aguayo initially denied knowing anything about the posts and suggested his social account might have been hacked, but later admitted to writing them, according to the federal affidavit.
“He claimed that he intended it merely as a joke to provoke attention and laughter,” according to the affidavit.
Aguayo allegedly told the agent he had intended to delete the posts but forgot.
Secret Service agents, who secured a search warrant, reviewed Aguayo’s phone and a shared laptop and found four Instagram accounts.
The threat did not appear to affect Disneyland operations. A spokesperson for the theme park declined to comment.
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