Month: October 2021

A medical examiner announced in a press conference Tuesday that Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who vanished on a road trip with her boyfriend and later turned up dead in Wyoming, was killed by strangulation. The full autopsy results come more than three weeks after her body was found in Grand Teton National Park, whose mysterious disappearance during a road trip with her fiancé sparked interest nationwide. Teton County Coroner Brent Blue announced on Sept. 21 that Petito died by homicide, but further findings about her cause of death were not disclosed until Tuesday.

Petito and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, embarked on a cross-country journey in July, traveling from Florida to New York in their white Ford van, then heading west. Petito documented their adventures on her YouTube channel and planned to start a blog. However in late August, Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, stopped hearing from her while she was staying in Grand Teton National Park. More than two weeks after their last conversation, Schmidt learned that Laundrie had quietly returned to his parents’ Florida home without her daughter. Petito wasn’t reported missing until Sept. 11, 10 days after Laundrie allegedly arrived back in Florida. On Sept. 15, he was named a person of interest in his fiancée’s disappearance.

For the first several days of Petito’s missing person case, investigators tried unsuccessfully to speak with Laundrie and his parents; the family’s attorney instructed his clients not to speak. On Sept. 17, the Laundrie family spoke with the FBI for the first time, and investigators were informed that Laundrie himself had gone missing, launching a second missing persons case. As of press time, Laundrie has still not been located despite searches in a Florida wildlife preserve, where he is believed to have gone hiking on the day that he vanished. Authorities have yet to name a suspect in Petito’s disappearance and homicide.

A woman was charged with murder in Newburgh, New York after authorities alleged that she starved her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son to death this year. Leticia Bravo, 39, became the primary caretaker for the boy, Peter Cuacuas, in September 2020 after the school year began. Newburgh Police Commissioner Jose A. Gomerez said the child stayed at her home every day until Saturdays, when he want to his father’s apartment. In January of this year, Peter stopped logging into virtual school, and on Feb. 10 he was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police Commissioner Gomerez said: “An autopsy conducted by the Orange County medical examiner concluded that Peter — who weighed just 37 pounds — had died of malnutrition. It is alleged that Bravo left Peter locked and secluded in a bedroom behind doors, locked from the outside since January 2021.”  Bravo is believed to be Peter’s mother, but authorities were unable to confirm that information. She was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter. Authorities said that bail was set at $250,000 cash, but it would be reduced with secured bond; she faces 25 years to life in prison on the top charge of second-degree murder.

Peter’s father, Arturo Cuacuas, was charged with criminally negligent homicide. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Cuacuas was charged because although he had the child only one day a week, he “should have known” the conditions his son was in.”

At least two people were killed when a small plane crashed into a neighborhood near San Diego on Monday. The plane, a twin-engine Cessna C340, crashed into two homes in the neighborhood at around 12:15 p.m. The homes were severely damaged by the fire, with officials saying at least one, if not both, were likely completely destroyed.

The City of Santee Fire Department said on Facebook that multiple crews responded to an aircraft crash in the are of Greencastle and Jeremy, near Santana High School but said there was “no threat to the school.” Authorities confirmed the deaths and said they did not know how many people were on the plane but said they believe the injuries were “non survivable.”

San Diego Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donnell Evans said in a statement that the agency would release the tail number of the aircraft after investigators identify it at the crash site.  Said Evans, “The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”

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The space travel company Blue Origin said on Sunday that the flight set to send Star Trek actor William Shatner and other crew members was delayed until Wednesday due to weather concerns.  In a tweet Sunday afternoon, Blue Origin said the launch was now scheduled to take place at 8: 30 a.m. on Wednesday, due to “forecasted winds” in West Texas on Tuesday, when the launch was originally scheduled.

Founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the aerospace company announced last week that Shatner, who played Capt. Kirk in the Star Trek television series from 1966-1969, would be part of its New Shepard NS-18 crew. The 90-year-old Shatner will make history as the oldest person in space — a title recently given to astronaut Wally Funk during a Blue Origin spaceflight in July. Shatner will be joined on the flight by Blue Origin executive Audrey Powers and crewmates Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries.

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Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday, the second consecutive day of mass cancellations from the airline. The 1,044 flights represents 28% of its scheduled operations for the day, while also reporting 714 delays as of 6 p.m. Sunday evening.

Sunday’s cancellations came after the airline canceled 808 flights on Saturday, representing about a quarter of its daily operations. In a statement Saturday, Southwest said air traffic control issues and “disruptive weather” resulted in a “high volume of cancellations.” Southwest said in a follow-up statement on Sunday: “We’ve continued diligent work throughout the weekend to reset our operation with a focus on getting aircraft and crews repositioned to take care of our customers.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said there have not been any air traffic related cancellations since Friday and that airlines are experiencing delays due to aircraft and crews being out of place. Other major airlines did not appear to be severely impacted, with American Airlines and Spirit Airlines both canceling only 2% of flights.

Southwest has instituted a vaccine mandate for employees but the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the union representing the company’s pilots, issued a statement saying it could “say with confidence that our pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions. Our pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges and remain the most productive pilots in the world. SWAPA pilots are true professionals and will always maintain the highest level of responsibility to their crews, their passengers, and our airline.”

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