News

The suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer may have had a female accomplice for the 3 victims ... at least according to a lawyer representing the families.

Attorney John Ray, who reps the families of slain Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor, claims Rex Heuermann was not a solo operator and allegedly killed 3 prostitutes on Long Island with help from a mysterious cohort. Police have not linked the Gilbert and Taylor slayings to Heuermann as of now.

Ray pointed to the 2011 death of a 10-month-old baby girl whose body was found swaddled in a blanket near one of the confirmed Gilgo Beach victims. The lawyer insisted that a savage murderer would not have such maternal instincts to wrap the infant in a quilt.

"It's that kind of thing that, if you're such a depraved murderer, you don't take time to do. That to me seems like an act of a mother," Ray said, adding, "We also believe that some of the victims could've been lured by a woman."

Suffolk County Police officials have not commented on Ray's accusations on whether Heuermann had a cohort or if he's being eyed for the baby's murder.

But, Heuermann has enough legal problems to keep him busy. Detectives arrested him last week as he walked from his office in NYC, where he worked as an architect.

Prosecutors charged Heuermann with the murders of three sex workers and he's the top suspect in a fourth slaying. Heuermann allegedly wrapped their bodies in burlap and dumped them near Gilgo Beach between 2009 and 2015.

According to court documents, Heuermann was connected to the crimes through DNA testing and examining his cell phone records.

New video taken the night that Russell disappeared in Alabama appears to show the moment she pulled over on a highway to help a child ... this before mysteriously vanishing.

According to AL.com, the surveillance footage -- which was just published Saturday -- was recorded by an online company that captures and archives live traffic footage ... and it looks like they caught the exact moment that the 25-year-old came to a stop on the shoulder of I-459 in Hoover, Alabama Thursday night ... when she was first reported missing by her family.

It's a disturbing story ... cops say Russell called 911 that night to report seeing a lone child walking along the interstate, and she came to a screeching halt herself to get out and help.

Russell is said to have also been on the phone with her brother's GF, who says she heard Carlee calling out to the child ... asking if they were okay. Then, she claims to have heard Carlee scream before the phone dropped, with only the sound of traffic being heard after.

When police arrived to the scene ... they found her car and belongings -- including her phone, but Russell was nowhere to be found. Ditto for the kid she reported seeing.

Now, in the wake of this new footage -- which police say they have and are examining -- people are picking it apart ... and some even claim to see something that could give a clue as to what happened. In many people's eyes ... this looks to be an abduction via luring.

The reason people believe that -- aside from the eerie details of the case -- has to do with a bright yellow light that can be seen in this footage ... which darts south in the video at a rapid speed, but then goes dark. Unclear what the light may be -- but it seems suspicious.

Her family has been sounding the alarm since, asking the public to help bring her back ... and there's even been a huge reward offered for her return, now increased to $50,000.

Cops released a new photo of Carlee -- seen above, where she's got short hair -- and say this is a more accurate depiction/what she may have looked like the night she went missing.

The new Frontier in the skies is bedlam ... and if you don't believe it, watch this video.

A Frontier Airlines flight bound for Vegas from Philly made an unscheduled stop in Denver ... after 2 women got into a foul-mouthed rant that went all WWE.

The women were actually traveling together, when an argument erupted and they took to the aisle. The screaming became ear-shattering and other passengers eventually got involved.

At least one passenger was hit in the head during the melee.

The plane was diverted to Denver and the 2 women were taken off the plane by cops. The FBI was alerted as well. It's unclear if they were arrested or will face criminal charges.

This has become a thing in the air. Last week a woman was channeling "Final Destination" vibes during a crazy meltdown. There have been scores of disruptions on flights... at least one almost daily.

Leslie Van Houten is likely to kill again after being released from prison -- so says Sharon Tate's sister ... who's deeply offended California cut loose the former Charles Manson follower.

Debra Tate tells TMZ that she's disappointed in the criminal justice system in the state, and especially the governor's office ... which she thinks really dropped the ball in not fighting harder against Van Houten's release.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom said he isn't happy with the decision handed down by the Court of Appeals -- siding with the parole board releasing Van Houten -- he also said he wasn't going to push back, arguing it was a losing effort.

Debra says Newsom could've taken it to a higher court, which is true, and she's taking his surrender as a huge slap in the face to the families of Manson's victims.

As far as how those loved ones feel about Van Houten being a free woman again ... well, she tells us they're absolutely terrified because there's a fear she could resort to her killing ways again in a heartbeat.

Clearly, Debra doesn't buy the parole board's belief Van Houten's rehabilitated. Her rationale boils down to the nature of the crime itself, and the mindset Van Houten was once under. She says once somebody goes down that dark path, in her eyes, it's easy to go back.

Now, while Van Houten wasn't involved in the Tate murders -- remember, it was the LaBiancas she helped butcher -- she's publicly said she really wanted to be present for the slayings of Sharon and 3 friends.

Debra finds that very troubling, and says that's why she has every right to weigh in here.

She adds ... the victims' families are outraged Van Houten gets to live out the rest of her life outside of prison -- despite a life sentence they assumed would be imposed forever more.

Debra's been leading a charge to keep all the Manson family members locked up, with an ongoing online petition she's maintained for a while now.

A transgender woman was crowned Miss Universe Netherlands for the first time ... making history in the Dutch country.

22-year-old Rikkie Valerie Kolle won the pageant Saturday -- which effectively makes her Miss Netherlands ... and which will send her on to compete in the upcoming Miss Universe competition later this year ... where women from all over the world will fight for the crown.

The last Miss Netherlands, Ona Moody, and reigning Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel (from USA) were on hand to give Kolle the big prize ... everyone seemed stoked, RVK included.

Now, she's on to the big show ... which is going to be held in El Salvador in December. While she might be the first trans woman in the Netherlands to compete ... she won't be the first trans woman to vie for the Miss Universe title ... Spain's Angela Ponce did so in 2018.

More trans women have been competing in national Miss Universe pageants in recent years -- in fact, the new owner of the Miss Universe org -- Anne Jakrajutatip -- is transgender herself.

A man was spotted on camera allegedly trying to hold up an ATL nail salon, but ultimately failed -- all thanks to the staff and customers who couldn't care less about his demands.

The attempted robbery gone wrong went down this week at Nail First, and in the security footage, the man holds up what you'd assume is a weapon inside his bag ... shouting at everyone in the spot to hand over the cash.

Shockingly, his brute request fell on deaf ears -- he even goes up to the man behind the counter, who seems too busy for his BS ... taking a phone call and walking away.

The guy does snatch the phone from one woman, who ends up walking out of the building -- but everyone else remains chill ... and after some painfully-awkward silence, the guy just takes off without stealing any dough.

Crime Stoppers is working on finding the wannabe crook, according to Fox5 Atlanta ... and customer Lesa Barrow told the outlet the owner was scared at first but kept his cool to keep everyone else calm.

OceanGate is pressing pause in the wake of the Titan submersible's fatal voyage to the Titanic shipwreck ... the company says it's halting all operations.

In a statement Thursday, OceanGate says it's suspending all exploration and commercial operations in the wake of last month's tragedy, which killed OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four others.

As you know, Stockton was piloting the Titan submersible when it imploded during a dive to the famed shipwreck ... killing everyone on board, including British billionaire Hamish Harding, French researcher/diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.

OceanGate has several other submersibles aside from the Titan, but the company says none will be going below the surface any time soon.

The Titan wreckage was recently recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic ocean ... along with presumed human remains.

Cocaine may have been found inside the White House this weekend -- and it appears to have been discovered in an area that President Biden frequents a lot on the job.

The Secret Service says it discovered a white powdery substance Sunday night in the West Wing during routine rounds. It's unclear where exactly in the West Wing it was found -- but a spokesperson for the agency will only say agents stumbled upon it in a "work area."

The SS rep also notes any notion the substance might've been found in the executive mansion is false. While Secret Service won't disclose where the alleged coke lay, it appears DC's FEMS let the cat outta the bag ... reportedly relaying via dispatch it was in the library.

POTUS was not at the White House during this entire ordeal, BTW.

The discovery of the unknown powder prompted an increased security alert and a brief evacuation of the premises, and tests are being done to decide what it might be. WaPo, citing sources familiar with the matter, says preliminary tests suggest it is, in fact, blow.

Speaking of that dispatch audio from earlier ... it seems a firefighter who was on the ground firmly believed cocaine was the culprit, -- telling the department's hazardous materials team that a test they conducted indicated "cocaine hydrochloride." No ambiguity at all.

Officials are saying the substance did not pose a threat, and an investigation is underway as to how it made its way into the White House ... and, obviously, who brought it in.

Frightening new details have emerged about the 5 people trapped inside the Titanic-bound sub ... and what they experienced leading up to their deaths, which was nothing less than a nightmare come true.

The doomed passengers were engulfed in darkness the entire time they were inside the Titan submersible while descending into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean to view the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18, according to the New York Times.

As you know, Titan imploded after it took off on its voyage from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, killing everybody on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, whose company ran the ill-fated operation.

Christine Dawood, whose husband Shahzada and son Suleman also perished, told the NYT .... Rush turned off all the floodlights on the way down to the ocean floor to conserve battery power for the tour of the Titanic, leaving the passengers in almost total darkness.

Dawood said the only light in the sub came from glowing marine organisms, such as flaming fungus, shimmering squid, and flashing fish. She noted laptop computer screens provided slightly more illumination, but that was it.

Christine also said OceanGate recommended the passengers download their favorite tunes onto their phones so they could listen to the tracks on a Bluetooth speaker for what was supposed to be a four-hour expedition. Country music, though, was barred from everyone's playlist.

Dawood learned all this information because she was present during the tutorial to go over safety procedures before her husband and son launched to sea.

It looked like a scene straight out of, well, a movie on the Warner Bros. lot ... as black smoke billowed into the air from the famous Hollywood plot.

Fire crews raced to the scene in Burbank Friday afternoon after a transformer -- no, not the car/robot kind -- reportedly blew up and started a fire. The good news is no one appears to have been hurt during the melee, and the whole thing was put out super quickly.

As for the lot, it's obviously got a TON of history, so it's a good thing none of the famous sound stages suffered any significant damage in the blaze.

And, if you're wondering ... that iconic WB water tower didn't come in handy for firefighters, it's actually empty.

The Warner Bros. lot served as home base for some of the most popular shows ever on TV -- including "Friends," "The Big Bang Theory," "Shameless," and "Euphoria."

Not to mention, some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters were also filmed on location, including "Jurassic Park," "Batman & Robin," "Casablanca," "Inception" and a ton more.

French Prez Emmanuel Macron got his groove on Thursday night in Paris, as rioters hit the streets protesting a police shooting that killed a 17-year-old.

Macron and his wife hit up Elton John's Farewell Tour in Paris, seeming at least on the surface unbothered by the explosion of violence in his country.

The riots were triggered by a confrontation Tuesday in the city of Nanterre, who French police fatally shot a driver in the chest ... after the 17-year-old tried to leave the scene.

Rioters hit the streets in several cities. So far more than 600 hundred people have been arrested for starting fires, looting and other crimes.

Macron has said the riots are just an excuse to commit crimes, calling it "an unacceptable exploitation of the adolescent's death."

Some rioters have compared the police shooting to the George Floyd murder.

Losing luggage at the airport is bad, but losing a leg is worse ... and that's what happened to a woman in Thailand.

The painful incident went down Thursday morning at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, where a woman lost part of her leg after getting caught in a moving walkway.

The victim, a 57-year-old Thai woman, reportedly suffered the grisly injury while trying to make a 9:45 AM flight ... her foot became trapped in the moving walkway in Terminal 2 and horrified onlookers rushed to hit the emergency off switch as her leg became mangled.

As you can see, the woman's foot is trapped beneath the belt at the end of the walkway ... and a medical team had to amputate her leg above the knee to get her out. Ouch.

The Associated Press reports the woman is trying to get her leg reattached ... and she's been taken to two different hospitals for treatment.

There's been a grisly discovery among the wreckage of the doomed Titan submersible recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean -- presumed human remains.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday the remains were found in the debris field from the submersible's catastrophic implosion, only 1600 feet from the bow of the infamous Titanic shipwreck.

Now, the presumed human remains will be transported to the U.S. for analysis ... as part of an international investigation into the OceanGate sub tragedy.

As we reported ... the sub wreckage is now back on land, several pieces of the Titan were unloaded Wednesday in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada from the Horizon Arctic ship.

We're now getting a first look at the wreckage from the Titan submersible recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The photos, taken Wednesday in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada show crews unloading several pieces of the Titan from the Horizon Arctic ship.

It's tough to tell what the items are, but at least one of them appears to be the black landing gear from the base of the Titan.

From here, investigators will likely take the recovered pieces for additional study in an effort to determine exactly what led to the "catastrophic implosion" that killed 5.

As we reported, the Titan disappeared Sunday June 18 about 2 hours after it started its mission to the wreckage of the Titanic.

A Royal Caribbean passenger is thanking her lucky stars ... after miraculously surviving a terrifying fall off a cruise ship all the way from the 10th deck.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, a 42-year-old woman on RC's Mariner of the Seas ship went overboard Sunday about 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana ... with crew members quickly launching a rescue mission to find the fallen passenger.

You see what appears to be a couple of empty life rafts next to some smoke -- apparently emanating from flares -- as guests onboard the cruise ship anxiously looked out to the ocean, hoping to spot her. Thankfully, the team eventually found her and picked her up in their rescue vehicle.

Matthew Kuhn, who filmed the rescue video, told Fox35 he feared the worst during the search ... saying "I was like, someone just died." He says everyone was on their balcony at the time, and was cheering together once she was finally found.

The woman didn't require medical attention, despite the steep fall ... but she was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Nicki Minaj is fully in the corner of the Chicago 14-year-old who shot and killed a man to protect his mom while she was being attacked, saying she's willing to help him go to college.

The rapper chimed in on the viral case, which has spurred a lot of conversation online over the past week or so. She took to IG to sound off, and it's clear she believes the 14-year-old and his mother did absolutely nothing wrong here ... even if it cost a life.

Nicki passionately writes, "That 14-year-old boy that backed dat hammer out when that grown ass man was punching his mother in the face as if she were a MAN; is a true hero."

She continues ... "If he wants to go to college, I'd love to help. It's what ANY son should've done for their MOTHER. She raised a dope kid & should be so proud. Also, God knew b4 she knew; that she'd be attacked that day & made sure they had protection on DECK."

NM finishes with a simple message, "God is GOOD." Now, as for her offer of assistance for higher education -- she didn't really elaborate ... but ya gotta figure she's talking about cash here. If the kid sees this, it'll be interesting to see if he takes her up on it.

As for the case itself ... it's a doozy. Carlishia Hood and her son were charged with first-degree murder after the teen shot and killed 32-year-old Jeremy Brown on June 18 at a restaurant ... this after an argument ensued inside, and Brown was filmed repeatedly punching Hood in the head.

Right as he's wailing on her, her son enters the restaurant from outside and opens fire on Brown. Cops say Brown then fled, but allege that Hood ordered her son to finish the job and continue shooting him outside ... which he then did. Brown died from gunshot wounds.

Amid a lot of uproar, Cook County prosecutors dropped all the charges against the mother and son ... saying they didn't have enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution. Since then, Hood has sued the City of Chicago and a few cops too ... claiming she was unjustly arrested/charged -- and that the whole ordeal has caused a lot of emotional distress.

Her legal team has been echoing what a lot of others have argued -- namely, that the use of deadly force here was justified and that Hood/her son were simply defending themselves.