(NEW YORK) — The cremated remains of a U.S. Army veteran were delayed reaching a Connecticut family in the mail, according to the late veteran’s family, and they say Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is to blame.
Army Veteran Scot Egan died in July and his remains were supposed to be sent to one of his sisters, according to his other sister, Dr. Jean Egan.
However, she said the remains were lost for 12 days.
“If Postmaster General DeJoy cannot do his duty to the American public, and military families like mine, that he should be removed from his post,” Egan said at a press conference Friday alongside U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut.
The U.S. Postal Service said in a statement to ABC News that they apologized for the delay, though the agency said the package was never lost.
“The Postal Service apologizes to the family for the delay,” according to the statement. “There was misdirection given at the point of mailing and we are working with our personnel around the state to, again, raise awareness in proper procedures for handling cremated remains.”
Egan said the remains eventually were delivered, but she said it took weeks.
Blumenthal praised the postal worker who delivered the remains, saying she “drove for two hours each way, with no overtime, to deliver those remains to Jean’s sister.”
DeJoy has come under fire for allegedly making changes to the agency’s operations to help boost President Donald Trump’s reelection in November. DeJoy, a former logistics executive and longtime Republican financier, faced lawmakers on Friday and called the allegations “outrageous.”
Powerofflowers/iStockBy WILLIAM MANSELL and ELLA TORRES, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 795,000 people worldwide.
Over 22.9 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
The United States is the worst-affected country in the world, with more than 5.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 175,409 deaths. Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
12:11 p.m.: University of Notre Dame sees more cases
Confirmed cases at Notre Dame increased once again, with the university now reporting 372.
That is up from the 336 reported Friday since Aug. 3, when testing began. There have been 2,235 tests conducted.
10:51 a.m.: New lows in NY
The rate of positive tests, hospitalizations and ICU patients reached new lows in New York compared with mid-March, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The rate of positive tests was .69%, while hospitalizations and ICU patients fell to 483 and 116, respectively, Cuomo said.
“This shows that protecting public health and reopening our economy aren’t mutually exclusive if done the right way, and record-high testing doesn’t equal more positive tests,” he said in a statement.
There were four deaths in the last 24 hours.
8:51 a.m.: 51 students quarantined after positive tests at University of Miami
Four students have tested positive for COVID-19 at the University of Miami, the school said, prompting 51 students to be placed in quarantine.
The students who tested positive live in Hecht Residential College, however they were “immediately removed” and placed in another location to isolate, according to a statement from the university.
The quarantine for the 51 other students only applies to those living on the 7th and 8th floor of the building.
“The University of Miami has taken unprecedented steps to reengineer the campus to ensure physical distancing and create a safe environment,” the school’s statement read. “Facial coverings are required at all times, except when students are in their residence hall rooms.” 8:22 a.m.: 15 Minnesota COVID-19 infections linked to Sturgis
At least 15 cases of the novel coronavirus in Minnesota have been linked to the massive annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, according to state health officials. They think those numbers are only going to rise.
“I think that we’re expecting to see many more cases associated with Sturgis. Thousands of people attend that event,” Kris Ehresmann, Minnesota Department of Health Director of Infectious Diseases, said at a press conference Friday. “It’s very likely that we will see more transmission.
Ehresmann said since it takes time for people to develop symptoms, take a test and for officials to get those results, “these will not be the only cases that we see.”
One of those 15 Minnesotans who were in Sturgis and diagnosed with COVID-19, one is currently hospitalized.
In all cases, officials said those 15 people were at multiple bars and campgrounds in Sturgis. All those who went to Sturgis were advised to self-isolate for 14 days once they were back home.
The city of Sturgis began testing all city employees along with some first responders on Friday, according to ABC News affiliate KOTA.
6:10 a.m.: 32 COVID-19 cases, 1 death linked to Maine wedding
At least 32 positive coronavirus cases and now a woman’s death are linked to an Aug. 7 wedding reception at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket, Maine, according to local health officials.
The woman died Friday, 14-days since the outbreak event.
Millinocket Regional Hospital reported that it has tested 366 people linked to the wedding reception. The hospital is still waiting on 103 of those tests, it said in a statement Friday.
“All positive patients have been contacted directly, given care instructions, and further instructed to quarantine,” Robert Peterson, Millinocket Regional Hospital CEO, said in a statement. “The CDC has initiated contact tracing on all positive patients to ascertain the full extent of the outbreak.”
Due to the outbreak, the health care facility said it has a no visitation policy and is limiting its services to essential medical care only through Aug. 30.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said 65 people attended the reception and that all confirmed cases, as of Aug. 17, are tied to Maine residents.
Maine Gov. Janet T. Mills’ executive order says that indoor capacity is 50 and outdoors is 100 in the state. The state says it’s in contact with the event space about adhered to those requirements in relation to the outbreak.
Maine is one of the least-affected states in the U.S., with only 4,286 cases and 129 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — The suspected “Golden State Killer” behind serial rapes and murders across California in the 1970s and 1980s has finally been identified.
Joseph James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer, was arrested this week in the decades-old case.
His alleged “reign of terror” spanned from the Sacramento area in Northern California down to Orange County in Southern California, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Wednesday. DeAngelo is believed to have committed 12 murders, at least 50 rapes and multiple home burglaries.
Here is a closer look at the timeline:
1973-1976
DeAngelo was a police officer in Exeter, California, from 1973 to 1976, officials said.
1976-1979
DeAngelo was then a police officer in Auburn from 1976 to 1979 until he was fired for allegedly stealing a hammer and a can of dog repellent, The Associated Press reported, citing Auburn Journal articles from the time.
1976-1978
The terror started with burglaries and rapes in the eastern district of Sacramento County in the summer of 1976, the FBI said.
The “Golden State Killer” would break into his victims’ homes by prying open a window or door while they slept, the FBI said.
Sometimes he would take jewelry, identification, cash and coins from the victims’ homes.
There were five incidents in 1976 and 17 incidents in 1977, according to SFGate.
1978-1981
The crimes turned to murders in February 1978, when the “Golden State Killer” shot and killed Brian and Katie Maggiore, who were walking their dog in the Sacramento area.
They were the killer’s last victims in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s jurisdiction, according to The Sacramento Bee.
After the attacks in the Sacramento area, crimes continued in the East Bay area of Northern California, and then escalated into rapes and murders along the California coast, the FBI said.
1986
No crimes were attributed to the “Golden State Killer” from July 1981 until 1986, when 18-year-old Janelle Cruz was raped and murdered in Irvine.
That was his last known crime.
2018
Last week, DeAngelo’s name came up for the first time in the investigation, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.
DeAngelo was then surveilled and DNA from an item police had collected of his was confirmed as a match.
“We had our man,” Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said at a news conference Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, DeAngelo was confronted by officers and arrested in Citrus Heights in Sacramento County, said Jones.
He has not yet appeared in court.
2020
On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder in front of dozens of victims and victims’ relatives.
The plea deal also required DeAngelo to admit to multiple uncharged acts, including rapes, which were described in horrific detail by prosecutors.
The death penalty will be taken off the table and he will serve life without parole, prosecutors said.
The Northern California wildfires have taken a deadly turn.
Authorities say at least six people have been killed and two more are missing in the massive wildfires that are raging across Northern California.
More than two dozen major fires are scorching across the state of California after an unprecedented storm dropped nearly 11,000 lightning strikes over 72 hours earlier this week.
In just three days, the flames have spread rapidly, scorching over 560,000 acres and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. At least 175 homes have been destroyed by the flames.
More than 10,000 firefighters are on the frontlines, but fire officials say their resources are waning as some firefighters work overtime.
With a statewide lack of firefighters available to put out the growing inferno, private citizens have taken matters into their own hands. In Napa County, residents formed a renegade fire brigade who used their own hoses and chainsaws to help save a neighbor’s home.
“This is a community. This isn’t the first fire, so yes of course, I know that everybody pitches in and it doesn’t matter whether it’s your property or not,” Flynn McDonald, a Napa County resident, told ABC News.
Officials are warning against residents forming their own fire brigades, saying that it could endanger people’s lives.
For residents still stuck in the aftermath of the fire zone, however, conditions are exacerbated by power outages, a grueling heat wave and poor air quality from the smoke.
California Gov. Gavin Newson appeared at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night to address the state’s devastating wildfires.
“The hots are getting hotter. The dries are getting drier. Climate change is real,” said Newsom, who video called from a cell phone about a mile away from one of the blazes. “If you are in denial about climate change, come to California.”
ABC News’ Clayton Sandell and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s OfficeBy RACHEL WENZLAFF and ALLIE YANG, ABC News
(PHOENIX) — Nearly two decades after 17-year-old Alissa Turney disappeared, Phoenix police have arrested the man believed to be responsible for her death.
Her stepfather Michael Turney was arrested Thursday afternoon in Mesa, Arizona. He faces second-degree murder charges.
“I’m shaking and I’m crying. We did it,” Sarah Turney, Alissa’s sister, posted on social media. “He’s been arrested … Never give up hope that you can get justice. It took almost 20 years but we did it.”
Alissa Turney disappeared in May 2001, the last day of her junior year at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix.
Police believed something was wrong because she left behind her cellphone, her hairbrush and makeup and never touched any of the $1,800 in her bank account.
Authorities also found surveillance equipment inside her house, which her stepfather admitted to setting up, for what he claimed to be safety reasons and not to spy on his children. Police also found all inbound and outbound calls were passively recorded.
In an interview with police, one friend said that Alissa had told him her stepfather had tried sexually abusing her when she was younger.
Turney denied that allegation, denied that he harmed Alissa in any way and said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
In 2009, Michael Turney told ABC News he returned home the day she disappeared to discover she had left a note and said he immediately began looking for her. Her stepfather also said he got a call from her a week later, which would have been the last known contact.
Sarah also spoke to ABC News in 2009, at the time standing by her father’s innocence. But in recent years, she has worked to raise awareness about what she’s concluded to be her father’s guilt, posting on social media with #JusticeforAlissa and working on her podcast, “Voices for Justice.”
During the press conference, officials credited Alissa’s sister, Sarah, for her perseverance in this case.
JetCityImage/iStockBy ELLA TORRES, ABC News
