GLOUCESTER — Merlin Hunt Jr. went out of his way to help others, whether it was part of his Tally’s towing business or just wanting to assist someone in need.
A Marine Corps veteran from Gloucester, he spent six years serving his country during the Vietnam War, likely changing him in ways that most people cannot fathom.
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Tera Johnson-Swartz, a 45-year-old Castle Rock woman who taught at STEM School Highlands Ranch, was originally charged with second-degree kidnapping and unlawful electronic sexual communication, both felonies, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Her employment at the school ended on Feb. 14, 2025.
That case was dismissed in May 2025, and a new case was opened shortly after, Douglas County court records show.
“The old case was dropped after new information came to light,” 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tom Mustin said in an email to The Denver Post.
Johnson-Swartz faces the same charges in the new case and three new ones: two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust–pattern of abuse, and one count of sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, according to court records.
She was indicted on all six charges by a grand jury in May 2025, court documents show.
The newly added sexual assault charges are linked to several incidents between Dec. 1, 2024, and Feb. 20, 2025, where Johnson-Swartz initiated sex with a student younger than 18 years old, according to witness testimonies from the grand jury indictment. The name, age and gender of the victim were redacted from the indictment because they are a minor.
Johnson-Swartz would buy the student cigarettes and let the student “take a hit” off her marijuana pen, witnesses testified. Their relationship was discovered when the student’s phone was confiscated by their parents and the student’s mother found deleted text chains with the former teacher.
Roughly 2,400 messages, many containing sexually explicit content, were exchanged between the two in the three weeks prior, according to court documents. At one point, Johnson-Swartz called the text thread a string of “1,000,000,000 ways to get (her) fired/arrested/killed.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Johnson-Swartz on the same day she was indicted by the grand jury, and she was brought into custody.
She is next scheduled to appear in Douglas County District Court on Jan. 21 for an arraignment hearing, according to court records.
KAMPALA, Uganda — The U.N. Human Rights Office said Friday that a presidential election in Uganda next week would be “marked by widespread repression and intimidation” against the opposition and others.
Ugandan authorities in the East African country have used lawfare, including military legislation, to restrict the activities of politicians and others before voting on Jan. 15, the Geneva-based Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, said in a new report.
“Next week’s elections in Uganda will take place in an environment marked by widespread repression and intimidation against the political opposition, human rights defenders, journalists and those with dissenting views,” OHCHR said.
Ugandan police, the military and others have used live ammunition to disperse peaceful assemblies, and the security forces have often used unmarked vans known locally as “drones” to abduct opposition party supporters, the report said.
“The Ugandan authorities must ensure all Ugandans can participate fully and safely in the election, as is their right under international law,” Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement. “They must, among others, ensure that no unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal force, is used to disperse peaceful protests.”
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on allegations in the U.N. report.
The report also cites the ongoing detention of opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who is accused of treason, and Sarah Bireete, a prominent civic leader who is accused of obtaining unlawful access to the national voters’ registry. Both are detained in a maximum security prison in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Bireete runs the Center for Constitutional Governance, a nongovernmental organization in Kampala.
Before she was arrested on Dec. 30, Bireete had been a frequent guest on local television stations and was active on X. She had also spoken to The Associated Press before she was arrested, saying in the interview that Museveni’s Uganda was “a military dictatorship” pretending to be a democracy.
A magistrate remanded Bireete to jail until Jan. 21, a decision that drew condemnation from some civic leaders as politically motivated, because it silenced Bireete’s work as a public commentator before voting.
Bireete’s arrest “is a demonstration of the Uganda government’s continuing intolerance of dissent,” Human Rights Watch said in a recent dispatch.
Critics say the criminal charges against her were provoked by her work as a public commentator who is often critical of the government of President Yoweri Museveni, who seeks a seventh term.
Museveni’s main opponent is the musician-turned-politician known as Bobi Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. Wine told the AP in a recent interview that he and his supporters have repeatedly been victimized by the military, which he accuses of dominating preparations for the election.
The authoritarian Museveni first took power by force as the leader of a guerrilla force fighting for democratic rule after a period of political instability and the cruel dictatorship of Idi Amin. Museveni has kept power since 1986 by repeatedly rewriting the rules. Term and age limits have been scrapped, rivals jailed or sidelined, and state security forces are a constant presence at opposition rallies.
Museveni, 81, is the third-longest-serving leader in Africa. He has since fallen out with many of the comrades who fought alongside him, including some who say he betrayed the democratic ideals of their bush war struggle.
Uganda hasn’t witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Security camera footage shows a man forcing a woman into a Ford F-150 pickup truck Wednesday morning, Dec. 31, 2025. Police say both people have been found safe, and the man has been arrested.
Hialeah Police Department
Hialeah police say they found a man and woman officers were looking for after receiving a frantic report of a possible abduction on New Year’s Eve.
Police on Sunday announced that both have been found safe, and the man, Jose Manuel Gonzalez, 49, has been arrested on kidnapping and domestic battery charges.
Lt. Eddie Rodriguez said in a statement that the woman, who has not been named, went to an area near West 27th Avenue and 52nd Street around 6:45 a.m. “visiting acquaintances,” when Gonzalez, who is her “longtime boyfriend,” showed up and forced her into his pickup truck.
A witness saw the confrontation and called 911. Detectives watched footage from nearby security cameras, which corroborated the witness’ statement, Rodriguez said.
Police then put out an urgent plea to the public asking for help locating the couple that included a description of Gonzalez’s Ford F-150 pickup truck. It was not immediately known how police located Gonzalez and the woman, who Rodriguez said was “safe and uninjured.”
“While the victim is safe, the actions observed warrant serious legal consequences,” Rodriguez said.
Hialeah police Chief George Fuente issued a statement, saying the department “extends its sincere gratitude to the community for their vigilance and assistance during this investigation. Your partnership remains vital in ensuring the safety of our city.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.
A man is facing multiple charges after he was accused of kidnapping a 7-year-old child.
Daniel Jason Summers, 44, was arrested on Friday by New Hanover County sheriff’s deputies after an incident near North Front Street, WECT reports.
According to arrest warrants, Summers is accused of kidnapping the child with “the purpose of terrorizing.” Warrants also say Summers assaulted the child by wrapping both of his arms around them without consent.
He now faces second-degree kidnapping, assault on a child under the age of 12, and resisting a public officer.
Summers is being held at the New Hanover County Detention Center with no bond. He is expected in court on Monday, Jan. 5, at 2 p.m.
A traffic stop in Flagler County on Dec 31. led to the rescue of a missing 11-year-old boy and the arrest of registered sex offender Darnell Hairston. Once separated from Hairston, the 11-year-old victim immediately told a deputy he had been kidnapped, was in danger, and feared for his life.Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies secured the visibly traumatized child before Hairston attempted to flee on foot and was arrested. The child, who had been missing for three days, was taken to a local hospital.FCSO said the victim told them how Hairston had lured him to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where he was choked unconscious.The child stated that when he woke up, he was threatened with a knife and a firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth.Also found in the truck with Hairston and the 11-year-old was a fifteen-year-old boy, who faces charges for allegedly fleeing from deputies in the truck before ramming into a cruiser and crashing. According to an arrest report, the fifteen-year-old and the eleven-year-old were in a group chat on Snapchat where the 11-year-old was talking about Hairston being a sexual predator because of what he did to an unnamed victim. Sheriff Rick Staly said this may have been related to a sexual assault under investigation in saint Johns County, allegedly involving Hairston. “The fifteen-year-old was aware of this information and told Hairston, and it appears that they concocted a plan to lure the 11-year-old to this rural area in Flagler county and then kidnap him and hold him,” Staly said. “Now what they were going to do after that we don’t know…”According to the arrest report, at one point, Hairston told him, “he could cut his throat right now, or he could be respectful and shoot him in the head, front or back.” “Told us that he thought they were going to kill him,” Staly said of the 11-year-old.According to information from the Sheriff’s Office, the victim was held at the campsite for multiple days and forced to hide on the floorboard of Hairston’s truck, covered by a blanket, during travel.Search warrants executed on Hairston’s vehicle, his Hastings residence, and the campsite—with assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office—recovered evidence consistent with the child’s statements, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons.Detectives determined that Hairston was aware the child was missing and endangered, but could not provide a motive for keeping the child from his parents.Sheriff Rick Staly commented, “Clearly, thanks to ‘see something, say something’ and our deputies recognizing the victim was very afraid, we rescued a missing child who was in fear Hairston had planned to kill him.”The investigation remains active and ongoing. The second juvenile who allegedly stole Hairston’s vehicle and fled the traffic stop was arrested on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle. He is in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and is being investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the kidnapping, which may lead to additional charges.Hairston was initially held on a $125,000 bond for resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. However, a subsequent investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit resulted in additional charges being served via a warrant on Friday, Jan. 2. These charges include kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Hairston is currently being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
Once separated from Hairston, the 11-year-old victim immediately told a deputy he had been kidnapped, was in danger, and feared for his life.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies secured the visibly traumatized child before Hairston attempted to flee on foot and was arrested.
The child, who had been missing for three days, was taken to a local hospital.
FCSO said the victim told them how Hairston had lured him to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where he was choked unconscious.
The child stated that when he woke up, he was threatened with a knife and a firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth.
Also found in the truck with Hairston and the 11-year-old was a fifteen-year-old boy, who faces charges for allegedly fleeing from deputies in the truck before ramming into a cruiser and crashing.
According to an arrest report, the fifteen-year-old and the eleven-year-old were in a group chat on Snapchat where the 11-year-old was talking about Hairston being a sexual predator because of what he did to an unnamed victim.
Sheriff Rick Staly said this may have been related to a sexual assault under investigation in saint Johns County, allegedly involving Hairston.
“The fifteen-year-old was aware of this information and told Hairston, and it appears that they concocted a plan to lure the 11-year-old to this rural area in Flagler county and then kidnap him and hold him,” Staly said. “Now what they were going to do after that we don’t know…”
According to the arrest report, at one point, Hairston told him, “he could cut his throat right now, or he could be respectful and shoot him in the head, front or back.”
“Told us that he thought they were going to kill him,” Staly said of the 11-year-old.
According to information from the Sheriff’s Office, the victim was held at the campsite for multiple days and forced to hide on the floorboard of Hairston’s truck, covered by a blanket, during travel.
Search warrants executed on Hairston’s vehicle, his Hastings residence, and the campsite—with assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office—recovered evidence consistent with the child’s statements, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons.
Detectives determined that Hairston was aware the child was missing and endangered, but could not provide a motive for keeping the child from his parents.
Sheriff Rick Staly commented, “Clearly, thanks to ‘see something, say something’ and our deputies recognizing the victim was very afraid, we rescued a missing child who was in fear Hairston had planned to kill him.”
The investigation remains active and ongoing. The second juvenile who allegedly stole Hairston’s vehicle and fled the traffic stop was arrested on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle. He is in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and is being investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the kidnapping, which may lead to additional charges.
Hairston was initially held on a $125,000 bond for resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. However, a subsequent investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit resulted in additional charges being served via a warrant on Friday, Jan. 2. These charges include kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Hairston is currently being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
A 13-year-old Kentucky girl who had been missing since October was found in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Saturday.
13-year-old Wynter Wagoner disappeared from her foster home bedroom on Oct. 14, and her family is doing everything they can to bring her home.(Credit WLEX via CNN)
13-year-old Wynter Wagoner disappeared from her foster home bedroom on Oct. 14, and her family is doing everything they can to bring her home.(Credit WLEX via CNN)
A 13-year-old Kentucky girl who had been missing since October was found in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Saturday.
Montgomery County police said in a release Saturday afternoon that Wynter Wagoner, 13, was located in a Silver Spring home in the 12000 block of Dalewood Drive.
The Rockcastle Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post that Wagoner was last seen in Orlando, Kentucky, on Oct. 14.
Her father, Dusty Wagoner, had pleaded for her to reach out in the weeks leading up to her discovery. The family offered a $5,000 reward for any information that would lead to her safe return.
At an Oct. 22 news conference, officials said Wagoner was picked up early from school by her foster parents and when her parents went to check on her, they discovered she was gone.
Police and U.S. Marshals arrested 37-year-old Christian Alexander Delgado in connection with the case. The Rockcastle Sheriff’s Office is charging Delgado with kidnapping.
He’s awaiting extradition to Kentucky.
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MINNA, Nigeria, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A final group of 130 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren freed by the government on Sunday are expected to be reunited with their families in the central Niger state on Monday, ending a month-long ordeal that drew global concern.
The children were among more than 300 pupils and 12 staff seized from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, a hamlet seven hours’ drive from the Niger capital Minna, on November 21 in one of the country’s worst school kidnappings in recent years.
They are due to be taken to Minna later on Monday to meet their relatives in time for Christmas celebrations, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said.
One hundred students were released on December 8, while 50 pupils escaped in the immediate hours after they were kidnapped.
The abduction caused outrage over worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria, where armed gangs frequently target schools for ransom. School kidnappings surged after Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from Chibok in 2014.
Presidency spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X on Sunday that the latest release followed “a military-intelligence-driven operation,” but did not provide details.
It was unclear whether the children were freed through negotiations with their captors – or payments to them – or in a security raid. Details about the kidnapped staff were also not provided.
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora thanked federal and state authorities, security agencies, and humanitarian partners for their role in securing the children’s freedom.
“We are profoundly grateful… for their efforts and interventions,” Rev. Fr. Jatau Luka Joseph said in a statement.
Mass kidnappings for ransom have become a grim feature of life in northern and central Nigeria, where armed gangs, known locally as bandits, exploit weak security and vast ungoverned rural terrain.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The Nigerian government says armed groups target both Muslims and Christians. It has repeatedly vowed to end the scourge, but attacks persist despite military operations and negotiations.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; additional by Tife Owolabi in Yenagoa; writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Nqobile Dludla; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
(CNN) — The remaining 130 schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State in November have been released, a presidential spokesman said on Sunday, confirming that all abducted pupils are now free.
“Another 130 abducted Niger State pupils released, none left in captivity,” spokesman Sunday Dare said in a post on X, accompanied by a photograph showing the smiling children.
The spokesman did not provide details on the circumstances surrounding their release.
The students were taken in November when armed bandits stormed St. Mary’s Private Catholic School, abducting a total of 303 children and 12 teachers, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The victims included both boys and girls, some as young as 10.
A general view of a classroom at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwarra local government, Niger state, on November 23. Credit: Ifeanyi Immanuel BakwenyeAFP / Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource
Less than 48 hours after the abduction, 50 students managed to escape and return to their families, CAN said at the time. Earlier this month, the Nigerian government announced that security forces had rescued 100 of the kidnapped victims.
Dare’s post on Sunday put the last students being held at 130 – slightly fewer than were thought to remain in captivity. CNN has reached to the office of Nigerian President for clarification.
The November abduction was the latest in a wave of attacks by armed groups targeting vulnerable civilian populations, particularly schools, and carrying out mass kidnappings for ransom. Violence in the country has repeatedly erupted from communal and ethnic tensions, as well as from disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to land and water resources.
A California man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly forced the driver of a single-vehicle collision into his car, and later raped her on two occasions in December 2024 in Maryland.
A California man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly forced the driver of a single-vehicle collision into his car and later raped her on two occasions in December 2024 in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Montgomery County police identified the man as 27-year-old Mauricio Martinez-Garcia, of Madera, California, in a Wednesday news release. He is facing two counts of first-degree rape, one count of third-degree sexual offense, two counts of kidnapping and five counts of second-degree assault.
According to police, the charges date back to Dec. 18, 2024, when a woman ordered a meal at a restaurant on the 16100 block of Shady Grove Road. While waiting for her order at the restaurant bar, an “unknown male” approached her and paid for her meal after insisting on covering the tab.
After returning to her table, the woman ate some of her meal but stopped and left the restaurant before finishing her plate because she felt sick, according to Montgomery County police.
On the drive home, the woman was involved in a single-vehicle collision at the intersection of Sam Eig and Great Seneca Highways. She was approached by Martinez-Garcia, police said, who offered her help but then forced her into his car against her will.
Martinez-Garcia drove away from the crash to his apartment in Montgomery County, where authorities said the woman was raped. She was raped a second time after he drove the woman to her home in Prince George’s County.
Martinez-Garcia was officially arrested Tuesday, nearly a year after the woman reported the assault and underwent a forensic examination. Police said investigators were able to confirm Martinez-Garcia as the suspect after being alerted to a secondary analysis of a DNA sample that had been collected through a separate investigation carried out by the Department of the Army.
Police were not able to confirm to WTOP whether the “unknown male” the woman encountered at the bar was Martinez-Garcia. The case remains under investigation.
While Martinez-Garcia is awaiting extradition from California to Maryland, police are urging anyone with information about the suspect or incident to contact the Montgomery County Department of Police Special Victims Investigations Division at (240) 773-5400.
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WELLINGTON (Reuters) -The New Zealand government announced on Thursday an inquiry into the disappearance of the Phillips children, who were hidden by their fugitive father in dense bush without discovery for several years.
“The inquiry will look into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children,” Attorney-General Judith Collins said in a statement.
Tom Phillips disappeared with his children in late 2021, in a case that drew national attention for his ability to evade arrest.
In September, Phillips was shot dead in a standoff with police following a robbery at a small rural store. A police officer was also shot multiple times in the standoff but he was later discharged from hospital.
One of Phillips’ children was with him during the shooting and the other two children were later found at a campsite in the remote wilderness. Police have said they believe people in the area helped Phillips, but no arrests have been made.
The inquiry, which will determine whether agencies could take steps to prevent or resolve similar situations more quickly or effectively, will deliver a final report in July 2026. The inquiry will be conducted in private.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in WellingtonEditing by Matthew Lewis)
AGWARA, Nigeria (Reuters) -Martha Mathias, her husband and two children were asleep at home when gunmen arrived at St Mary’s Catholic School campus, in central Nigeria, in the early hours of Friday.
“They asked my husband to come out, when he went out, they tied him,” said Mathias, a teacher at the school where more than 300 children and staff were abducted in one of the country’s worst school kidnappings in a decade.
The commotion terrified their youngest daughter who saw her father lying on the ground and started crying.
“They told my daughter if she does not keep quiet, they will shoot her. They put the gun in her mouth telling her to keep quiet.”
Mathias’ husband was taken by the gunmen and is among the 12 staff members and around 253 students still in captivity since the November 21 attack on the school.
The Christian Association of Nigeria said on Sunday that 50 students managed to escape from their captors.
Nigeria’s government says security forces are searching for the missing children and staff.
Emmanuel Bala, chairman of the school’s parent-teacher association, said he had not seen any of the children that escaped.
Another parent, who gave her name as Njinkonye and whose 10-year-old son was among the missing, said she went to the school on Monday.
“I came to the school, I am here, searching and looking whether I will see any child that returned, but I have not seen any child,” she said. The attack happened during the same week that 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school in northwest Kebbi State and 38 people were taken by gunmen during a church service in Kwara, central Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu announced on Sunday that the 38 people taken in Kwara had been released, as he vowed not to relent in efforts to rescue students still held by their captors.
Tinubu has ordered the hiring of 30,000 more police officers to improve security in the country. Mass abductions for ransom have plagued Nigeria since Islamist militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Criminal gangs now target remote schools, forcing closures across several states in northern Nigeria.
(Writing by Ben Ezeamalu; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The mass kidnapping of children in Nigeria caught the world’s attention over a decade ago when 276 high-school students were abducted from Chibok, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media. The phenomenon returned to the limelight this month with another mass abduction and President Trump’s threats to intervene over what he said was the persecution of Christians in one of Africa’s most strategic nations.
The reality is, the kidnappings never really abated.
A 15-year-old girl was found safe late Sunday after she was reported missing hours earlier, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.Deputies are still searching for a teen suspect who they believe kidnapped her.The girl was placed into the temporary custody of Sacramento County Child Protective Services, deputies said.”This is not just a runaway girlfriend with her boyfriend trying to get away,” said Sergeant Amar Gandhi.Citali Itzpapalot Lerma was last seen getting into a dark-colored SUV against her will on Sunday morning in the Rio Linda area, according to a post on the office’s social media. Lerma has long brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a dark gray hoodie, light blue ripped jeans and black New Balance shoes. “We don’t know if it was her current boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend or some sort of dating relationship,” Gandhi added. “The 17-year-old forced her into the car and drove away.”Deputies are also looking for 17-year-old Jesse Carranza in connection to the case. The sheriff’s office says he may have kidnapped Lerma. Carranza was last seen driving a dark SUV in the Rio Linda area and wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans. “The 17-year-old has a bit of a criminal history already and has a felony warrant for an unrelated incident,” Gandhi said. “There is also some history with crimes, potentially some exploitation involving our victim.”It’s believed the victim might be used for sex trafficking. “A lot of these victims are manipulated and they are forced into doing things that they don’t necessarily want to do,” Gandhi added.Sunday afternoon, Lerma posted a message on social media saying she didn’t leave against her will. Deputies aren’t so sure.”We don’t know if that video was made under duress,” Gandhi said. “We don’t know the full circumstances. You can’t see her face.””This is something that happens every day across rural, urban, and suburban communities across the United States, and I think it is imperative to see this as a public health crisis,” said Ashlie Bryant.Bryant is CEO of 3 Stands Global, a local organization that helps victims of sex trafficking.”California has the highest rates of human trafficking as well as online exploitation in the country,” Bryant added. “I wish we didn’t have jobs to combat this. I wish it didn’t exist, but the reality is that it does, and our jobs are to prevent it.”The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help in locating the suspect. Contact their office at (916) 874-5115 with any information. This story is developing. Stay with KCRA 3 for updates. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
RIO LINDA, Calif. —
A 15-year-old girl was found safe late Sunday after she was reported missing hours earlier, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Deputies are still searching for a teen suspect who they believe kidnapped her.
The girl was placed into the temporary custody of Sacramento County Child Protective Services, deputies said.
“This is not just a runaway girlfriend with her boyfriend trying to get away,” said Sergeant Amar Gandhi.
Citali Itzpapalot Lerma was last seen getting into a dark-colored SUV against her will on Sunday morning in the Rio Linda area, according to a post on the office’s social media. Lerma has long brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a dark gray hoodie, light blue ripped jeans and black New Balance shoes.
“We don’t know if it was her current boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend or some sort of dating relationship,” Gandhi added. “The 17-year-old forced her into the car and drove away.”
Deputies are also looking for 17-year-old Jesse Carranza in connection to the case. The sheriff’s office says he may have kidnapped Lerma. Carranza was last seen driving a dark SUV in the Rio Linda area and wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans.
“The 17-year-old has a bit of a criminal history already and has a felony warrant for an unrelated incident,” Gandhi said. “There is also some history with crimes, potentially some exploitation involving our victim.”
It’s believed the victim might be used for sex trafficking.
“A lot of these victims are manipulated and they are forced into doing things that they don’t necessarily want to do,” Gandhi added.
Sunday afternoon, Lerma posted a message on social media saying she didn’t leave against her will. Deputies aren’t so sure.
“We don’t know if that video was made under duress,” Gandhi said. “We don’t know the full circumstances. You can’t see her face.”
“This is something that happens every day across rural, urban, and suburban communities across the United States, and I think it is imperative to see this as a public health crisis,” said Ashlie Bryant.
Bryant is CEO of 3 Stands Global, a local organization that helps victims of sex trafficking.
“California has the highest rates of human trafficking as well as online exploitation in the country,” Bryant added. “I wish we didn’t have jobs to combat this. I wish it didn’t exist, but the reality is that it does, and our jobs are to prevent it.”
The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help in locating the suspect. Contact their office at (916) 874-5115 with any information.
This story is developing. Stay with KCRA 3 for updates.
Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, bringing relief to some distraught families after one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria’s history.
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school. A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still held by the kidnappers, he said in a statement.
“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” Yohanna said.
People stand near a display local newspapers on the street of Lagos with headlines on gunmen abducting schoolchildren and staff of the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri community in Nigeria, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Sunday Alamba / AP
The pupils and students were seized together with their teachers by gunmen who attacked the St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger state’s remote Papiri community, on Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.
It was not immediately clear where the Niger state children were being held or how they managed to return home. Nigeria’s military and police did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry.
“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” Yohanna said.
Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of the schoolchildren and staff of the school, saying at the end of a mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many girls and boys who have been abducted and for their anguished families,” the pontiff said. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”
All schools in Niger state were ordered to close on Saturday in response to the kidnappings, reported BBC, a CBS partner. Dominic Adamu, whose daughters are students at St. Mary’s School but were not abducted, told the outlet that the attack “took everybody by surprise.”
“Everybody is weak,” Adamu said, according to the BBC.
Another woman, who was not identified by name, told the outlet that her 6- and 13-year-old nieces had been kidnapped from the school, adding: “I just want them to go home.”
People stand near a display local newspapers on the street of Lagos with headlines on gunmen abducting schoolchildren and staff of the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri community in Nigeria, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Sunday Alamba / AP
The Niger state attack happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 106 miles away.
Both states are in a northern region of Nigeria where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as one way of dominating remote communities with little government and security presence.
Satellite image shows that the Niger state school compound is attached to an adjoining primary school, with more than 50 classrooms and dormitory buildings. It’s located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.
Niger state hurriedly closed down all schools after Friday’s attack, while some federal colleges in conflict hotspots across the region were also closed by the Nigerian government.
“I will not relent”
The kidnappings are happening against the backdrop of President Trump’s claims of “Christian persecution” in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority town.
Arrests are rare and ransom payments are common in many of the hot spots in northern Nigeria.
Confidence McHarry, a security analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said that while there’s little evidence that Trump’s comments might have inspired the gunmen to launch more attacks in the hope that more attention would bring higher ransoms, “the absence of consequences is what is fuelling these attacks.”
In a statement welcoming the freedom of some of those kidnapped in Niger state and Kebbi state, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said his government will not relent until every hostage is freed.
“Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety — and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” he added.
Gunmen stormed a Catholic school in Nigeria, abducting more than 300 students and teachers at a time when President
Trump is threatening military action to protect Christians in the West African nation.
The attackers hit St. Mary’s Catholic School in central Niger State in the early hours Friday, spraying bullets into the air before rousting students from their dormitories and forcing them into the forest at gunpoint, police said.
Armed men attacked a Catholic boarding school in northwestern region of Nigeria and abducted several schoolchildren and staff early Friday. It’s the latest in a spate of abductions in Africa’s most populous country and came just days after 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped in a neighboring state. The latest abduction comes as the country is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration amid ongoing concern about violence against Christians in the West African nation.
The attack and abductions took place at St. Mary’s School in Niger State. Local officials did not immediately disclose the number of students and staff abducted, nor who might be responsible for the attack. Local Nigerian broadcaster Arise TV said 52 schoolchildren were taken.
The Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday that 303 children and 12 teachers were taken. Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, said the total was determined “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out.”
Nigerian police officials said the abductions took place in the early hours of Friday and that military and security forces have since been deployed to the community. They described St. Mary’s as a secondary school that serves children between the ages of in 12 and 17.
The secretary to the Niger state government, Abubakar Usman, said in a statement that the incident occurred despite prior intelligence warning of heightened threats.
“Regrettably, St. Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the State Government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” the statement said.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu earlier this week postponed his trip to this weekend’s Group of 20 summit after promising to intensify rescue efforts.
A general view of the school from which school children were kidnapped by gunmen in Kebbi, Nigeria, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.
Deeni Jibo/AP
“I am heartbroken by the abduction of our daughters in Kebbi and the painful loss of Brigadier General Musa Uba and the brave soldiers who fell in Borno. Their families, and the families of the kidnapped schoolgirls, are in my prayers,” Tinubu said in a social media post Wednesday. “I have directed the security agencies to act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.”
Nigeria was recently thrust into the spotlight after President Trump singled the country out, stating that Christians are being persecuted — an allegation that the Nigerian government rejected.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing,” to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth social post earlier this month.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar rejected Mr. Trump’s claims in a post on X earlier this month, saying “Nigeria is a God-fearing country where we respect faith, tolerance, diversity, and inclusion.”
In October, Mr. Trump designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” in a list of countries that the State Department says have violated religion freedom.
Earlier this week, Tinubu sent his national security adviser and a wider Nigerian delegation to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials and U.S. lawmakers, the Reuters news agency reported Friday.
The White House is considering sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to place pressure on Abuja to better protect Christian communities and religious freedom, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters Thursday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Niger and Kebbi states, but analysts and locals say gangs often target schools, travelers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransom. Authorities say the gunmen are mostly former herders who have taken up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over strained resources.
Abductions have come to define the insecurity prevailing in Africa’s most populous nation and the painful consequences.
At least 1,500 students have been abducted in the region since Boko Haram jihadi extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago. But bandits are also active in the region, and analysts say gangs often target schools to gain attention.
Analysts and residents blame the insecurity on a failure to prosecute known attackers and the rampant corruption that limits weapons supplies to security forces while ensuring a steady supply to the gangs.
A satellite view shows the school compound, rectangular in shape, surrounded by a wall and attached to an adjoining primary school, with over 50 classroom and dormitory buildings. It is located on the outskirts of the town of Aguara, near the main Yelwa-Mokwa road.
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — More than 300 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution, in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday, updating an earlier tally of 215 schoolchildren.
The tally was updated “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” according to a statement issued by the Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, who visited the school on Friday.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say two Texas men plotted to take over a Haitian island, one going so far as joining the U.S. military to acquire training for an armed attack, with the goal of killing all the men and using the women and children for sex.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, who are from the Dallas area, were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Texas. They were also charged with production of child pornography over allegations they persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
Attorneys for both men said Friday they will enter not guilty pleas.
“They never tried to do any of this,” said John Helms, who is Thomas’ attorney.
An indictment filed in a Texas federal court accuses the men of planning to recruit the homeless to join their coup in Haiti, buy a sailboat and seize power on Gonave Island, which has about 87,000 residents. It covers roughly 290 square miles (751 square kilometers) square miles and is the largest island surrounding Hispaniola.
Helms said that while he has not yet seen the government’s evidence, he thinks prosecutors “are going to have a real hard time” trying to prove that Weisenburg and Thomas actually intended to carry out such a plot.
David Finn, Weisenburg’s attorney, said he encourages everyone to “tap the breaks” and reserve judgment. He said people have been telling him it is “the craziest thing” they have heard, and his response has been: “Yeah, it is.”
According to the indictment, the two men worked on the plot from August 2024 through July and that preparations included researching weapons and ammunition and plans to buy military-type rifles. Prosecutors also allege that both men tried to learn the Haitian Creole language.
Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy around Dallas to receive training that would be useful in the attack but failed out of the school. He then allegedly traveled to Thailand and planned to learn to sail, only to never end up enrolling in lessons because of the cost.
Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January, according to the indictment, and told Weisenburg in a social media message that he had joined the military to further their planned attack. While in the Air Force, Thomas changed his assignment to Andrews Air Base in Maryland to help in the recruiting of homeless people in Washington, D.C., the indictment said.
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations was among the investigating agencies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Air Force did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Thomas’ service on Friday.
The men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge and up to life in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charge.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Klobuchar, who met with the pope for about 20 minutes along with a Ukrainian delegation, said it was an honor to meet him, calling him “a true moral force for peace and justice.”
Klobuchar, Hennepin County’s former top prosecutor, has led on human trafficking issues in the Senate.
“Any path towards peace must start with returning the kidnapped children,” Klobuchar said. “A lot of this are children that are in bombed out areas, orphanages that were bombed out.”
