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Search called off for 20-year-old Navy sailor who fell overboard

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U.S. Navy via Getty ImagesBY: BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC NEWS

(NEW YORK) — The search for a missing 20-year-old Navy sailor who authorities believe fell overboard while on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier off the coast of Southern California has been called off, officials said.

The search for Ethan Goolsby, an aviation ordnanceman airman apprentice from San Antonio, Texas, ended Saturday evening after Navy officials said search and rescue crews spent more than 55 hours scouring 607 square nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean without finding a sign of the sailor.

The Navy declared Goolsby deceased.

“The loss of our sailor is felt deeply by all on board,” Capt. Eric Anduze, commanding officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt, said in a statement. “The entire Theodore Roosevelt team sends our deepest condolences to the family of our missing shipmate.”

The announcement came just hours after Goolsby’s family posted a message on Facebook, reading, “We are holding out hope for a miracle.”

The search for Goolsby began Thursday morning when a lookout on the USS Theodore Roosevelt reported spotting what appeared to be a sailor in the water about 7:30 a.m., according to a statement from the Navy’s 3rd Fleet in San Diego. Three rescue helicopters and a boat were immediately launched, according to the statement.

“As far as they’re telling us, nobody saw him go over, so they don’t know where he fell from,” Goolsby’s mother, Michelle Goolsby, told Navy Times of the disappearance of her only child. “They wouldn’t tell us if he was floating, if he was struggling, if he was moving. They didn’t know.”

She said Navy officials told her and her husband, Kelly Goolsby, that a second lookout confirmed seeing their son in the water and that a smoke signal and flotation device were thrown to him.

In their Facebook post, the family said Navy officials told them their son was last seen aboard the 1,092-foot-long aircraft carrier between 7 and 7:15 a.m. Thursday at the completion of his night shift.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego on Tuesday ahead of its second deployment of the year, according to Navy Times.

Earlier this year, the Navy reported a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Roosevelt that infected a quarter of the ship’s crew of nearly 5,000. One sailor who contracted the virus died.

Michelle Goolsby said her son surprised them with a visit home in October. When he reported back to duty on Nov. 2 he had to quarantine for five weeks, she said.

“They told us (the Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is investigating and they really can’t share any more information at this point,” Michelle Goolsby told Navy Times. “We know there’s been a lot of things that’s happened on that ship, with the COVID, and I have questions.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Active weather for both coasts to start the week, midweek storm along East Coast

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ABC NewsBY: BRITTANY BORER, ABC NEWS

(NEW YORK) — Two storm systems will be making for messy conditions along the West coast and parts of the southern Rockies through the South today.

A wave of low pressure is expected to ride the jet stream from the southern Rockies into the Southeast bringing rain and some wet snow along with it.

Rain and mountain snow will persist through Monday morning in the Pacific Northwest into parts of California and the northern Rockies.

Winter Weather Alerts are in place for 9 million Americans along the Cascades, Rockies and the Central Plains.

As the front moves onshore Sunday into early Monday snow showers are likely and the higher elevations along The Sierra Nevada could see upwards of 6 to 10 inches of snow while surrounding areas are looking at a general 3 to 6 inches.

Texas will see rounds of rain developing Sunday morning with snow showers possible on the north side of the storm in northern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

This storm moves fairly quickly across the South overnight and ends up on the East Coast by Monday morning and folks in the Appalachians could very well be looking at some snow for the morning commute from Pennsylvania to Virginia in elevated areas. Elsewhere, however, it looks like mostly rain.

Though it’s possible for a few wet snowflakes to be mixed in, it is not looking promising to see much, if any, accumulation east of I-81.

There is still uncertainty with regards to this forecast but we are monitoring the latest guidance very closely for a potential winter storm along the east coast later this week.

Below we have scenarios from two of the major computer forecasting models. You will notice that the impacts are very different in both scenarios so it is too early to give a definitive call on who exactly is getting snow or not.

The European model shows a slightly warmer solution with a very sharp cut off showing low snow accumulation amounts from Washington, D.C. through central New Jersey and into Connecticut. If this case pans out, higher accumulations will be well west of I-95. This particular model is also favoring more rain for NYC and Washington which could lower snow totals but also yield a layer of ice on outdoor surfaces.

The American (GFS) Model shows a slightly colder solution as the center of the low remains offshore. This would allow more of a snow event for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.

Again: the differences in computer guidance are quite pronounced at this time. Impacts will rely heavily on the exact formation and location of the low as well as timing of the system. We will have greater confidence about specific impacts as we get close to the event and will update accordingly.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Snow and rain hit the Midwest as new storm brings snow from the Rockies to the Mississippi Valley

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ABC NewsBY: REED MCDONOUGH, ABC NEWS

(NEW YORK) — Snow fell Friday night into Saturday in parts of the Midwest from Nebraska to Wisconsin. On Saturday morning, snow and rain continue as the storm moves to the North of the country.

The storm is expected to cross the Lower Peninsula of Michigan later in the day and move into Canada. It will bring windy and snowy conditions across the Lower Peninsula and will leave behind up to 10 inches of snow in some parts of the area by Saturday night.

A storm hit the Pacific Northwest Saturday morning bringing rain and snow to a large part of the country. By the end of the weekend, between 1 to 3 inches of rain may fall along the Pacific Northwest coastline from Northern California to southern Washington state.

The storm is bringing light snow in the valleys and heavier snow in the eastern mountains of California. Later in the day, it will cross over parts of the Rocky Mountains and eventually end up in the Southern Plains and Mississippi River Valley by Sunday evening.

It will likely bring up to 10 inches of snow in the higher elevations of eastern California and the Colorado Rockies, while the valleys will see around 3-6 inches. The storm will also bring a few inches of snow across the Southern Plains from southern Kansas to North Texas.

As soon as Saturday’s storm departs the Pacific Northwest, a second storm will move in. Parts of the Pacific Northwest will once again see rain and snow to finish off the weekend and kick off the work week.

While many parts of the country will see cold weather Saturday, the eastern states will see a dramatic warm up. Afternoon highs from the Carolinas to Philadelphia will be near or above 60 degrees Fahrenheit through the weekend before a return to cooler temperatures on Monday. New York City will approach 60 degrees by Sunday afternoon.

Next week, a storm will likely develop in the West and push toward the Northeast by Wednesday. It has the potential to bring in cold air on the backside by Wednesday evening, which poses the threat for a potentially rare early winter storm in major cities like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. This would be significant considering the lack of snowfall over the past few winters in that part of the country.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Coronavirus live updates: US sets records for new cases, deaths, hospitalizations

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narvikk/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER, IVAN PEREIRA, EMILY SHAPIRO and MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 69.8 million people and killed over 1.5 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:

Dec 11, 1:11 pm
US sets records for new cases, deaths, hospitalizations

The U.S. has set new records for the most deaths in one week, the highest number of new cases in a week and the most Americans hospitalized in one week, according to ABC News’ analysis of COVID Tracking Project data.
 
In the past seven days, the U.S. has reported more than 1.4 million COVID-19 cases — roughly equivalent to 142 Americans testing positive for the virus every minute.

Daily case numbers have been on the rise for nearly three months, increasing nationally by 480% since mid-September.

The U.S. broke a hospitalization record again on Thursday, surpassing 107,000 patients, a 6.5% rise from a week earlier. Fifteen states have reported record numbers since Sunday.

With the U.S. is now averaging over 2,300 new coronavirus related deaths a day, more Americans are dying from COVID-19 every day than ever before.

“We are in the timeframe now that probably for the next 60 to 90 days we’re going to have more deaths per day than we had at 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said Thursday at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.

In the 9/ll attacks, almost 3,000 Americans died, and more than 2,400 were killed when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

Dec 11, 12:30 pm
New York City ending indoor dining

Indoor dining will end Monday in New York City to help stem the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

Outdoor dining and takeout will continue.

Indoor dining accounted for 1.43% of recent spread, said Cuomo, adding that a 74% spike in infections is linked to indoor gatherings at private homes.

Indoor dining capacity could be reduced elsewhere in New York depending on the numbers, the governor said.

Before the governor’s announcement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he felt “tremendous empathy for restaurant owners.”

“I feel for them,” the mayor added, “but sometimes it’s smart to say, ‘Look, if you take an action now, you can stop much worse things from happening later.'”

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

Dec 11, 10:56 am
Snow leopard at Louisville Zoo has virus

A snow leopard at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky has SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories.

Testing is ongoing for two other snow leopards.

“Samples from three snow leopards were taken after they showed signs of respiratory illness,” the Department of Agriculture said. “It is suspected that they acquired the infection from an asymptomatic staff member, despite precautions taken by the zoo.”

All three animals are expected to fully recover.

This is the first snow leopard in the U.S. to test positive for SARS-CoV-2, though there have been confirmed cases in other big cats in zoos and conservations centers.

ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.

Dec 11, 7:59 am
HHS secretary says Pfizer vaccine will be approved, vaccinations could start next week

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on ABC News’ Good Morning America Friday morning that COVID-19 vaccinations could come Monday or Tuesday.

He said the Pfizer vaccine will be approved, they are just working out the details and finalizing the fact sheet on allergy warnings.

“We weren’t counting on it in terms of getting to the projections that you and I have talked about about having enough vaccine for the second quarter,” he told George Stephanopoulos. “The Sanofi vaccine could be an important additional technology for later rounds of vaccination as one goes forward later in 2021.”

Azar also said the Food and Drug Administration will proceed with the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

He said 20 million Americans will be vaccinated this month, up to 50 million total in January and the U.S. believes “we could have 100 million vaccinations in arm by the end of February.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

21-year-old arrested in Nashville nurse slaying: Police

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Metropolitan Nashville Police DepartmentBy EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — A 21-year-old man was arrested Friday morning in the slaying of Nashville nurse Caitlyn Kaufman, who was shot dead while driving to work, police said.

Devaunte Hill was arrested at his East Nashville apartment and is being charged with criminal homicide, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a Friday news conference.

“Hill gave a statement implicating himself in Caitlyn’s murder,” Drake said.

Hill did not know Kaufman, Drake said.

Kaufman, 26, was shot and killed on Dec. 3 while driving her gray Mazda SUV on I-440, the Metro Nashville police said. Kaufman was on the way to St. Thomas West Hospital for a 7 p.m. shift, police said.

Drake said the “major break” came after Nashville business owners offered a reward and a “concerned citizen” came forward Thursday afternoon identifying Hill as a suspect.

The concerned citizen gave information about the weapon and the gun was recovered Thursday night, Drake said. Ballistics experts found it to be a match to the scene, Drake said.

The investigation is ongoing and police said they are not ruling out the possibility of additional arrests.

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