A U.S. military plane used for refueling crashed into a soybean field in rural Mississippi, killing at least 16 people aboard in a fiery wreck and spreading debris for miles, officials said.

Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a briefing late Monday that 16 bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. A witness said some bodies were found more than a mile from the crash site.

Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns said in a statement that a KC-130 "experienced a mishap" Monday evening but provided no details. The KC-130 is used as a refueling tanker.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who represents North Carolina, said the plane was from the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Tillis, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, said in a statement Tuesday morning that he and his wife were extending their deepest condolences to the families of the Marines killed, as well as to the Cherry Point station.

All 16 people aboard the craft were believed to be dead, and "most but not all" of the bodies had been recovered, Leflore County Director of Emergency Management Fred Randle told NBC News, adding that the search would continue Tuesday.

A defense official told NBC News that the 16 people were military service members.

In a Tuesday morning tweet, President Donald Trump offered condolences.

"Marine Plane crash in Mississippi is heartbreaking. Melania and I send our deepest condolences to all!" Trump wrote.

Andy Jones said he was working on his family's catfish farm just before 4 p.m. when he heard a boom and looked up to see the plane corkscrewing downward with one engine smoking.

"You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around," he said. "It was spinning down."

Jones said the plane hit the ground behind trees in the soybean field, and by the time he and other reached the crash site, fires were burning too intensely to approach the wreckage. The force of the crash nearly flattened the plane, Jones said.

"Beans are about waist-high, and there wasn't much sticking out above the beans," he said.

Jones said a man borrowed his cellphone to report to authorities that there were bodies across U.S. Highway 82, more than a mile from the crash site.

Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks told the Greenwood Commonwealth that debris from the plane was scattered in a radius of about 5 miles (8 kilometers).

Jones said firefighters tried to put out the fire at the main crash site but withdrew after an explosion forced them back. The fire produced towering plumes of black smoke visible for miles across the flat region and continued to burn after dusk, more than four hours after the crash.

Aerial pictures taken by WLBT-TV showed the skeleton of the plane burning strongly.

"It was one of the worst fires you can imagine," Jones said. He said the fire was punctuated by the pops of small explosions.

No more smoke was rising Tuesday morning from the site. State patrol units blocked all farm roads on U.S. Highway 82 about 2 miles (3 kilometers) away from the wreckage to keep anyone who wasn't law enforcement or a response unit out of the area.

Officials did not release information on what caused the crash.

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point is about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southeast of Raleigh and about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean.

The station was authorized by Congress just before the start of World War II. It supports the 2nd Marine Aviation Wing, providing, among other services, KC-130 aircraft used for in-flight refueling. The station covers 45 square miles (115 square kilometers) and has nearly 14,000 Marines, sailors and civilian employees.

An Air Canada plane narrowly averted an aviation disaster after almost landing on a crowded taxiway at San Francisco International Airport Friday, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

The Airbus A320 aircraft had been cleared to land on Runway 28R just before midnight, but the pilot inadvertently lined up to land on Taxiway C, which runs parallel to Runway 28R, according to a statement from the FAA.

In an audio recording of conversations between air traffic control and pilots, the Air Canada pilot tells air traffic control he sees other lights on the runway before being told there are no other planes on 28R. When an air traffic controller realizes the plane was headed for the taxiway, he prompts the plane to abort its landing attempt and try again.

A United Airlines pilot is heard saying "United One, Air Canada just flew directly over us."

Another voice is heard saying, "Where's this guy going? He's on the taxiway."

Flight AC759 from Toronto circled around and landed without incident, the FAA said.

The Mercury News reported Monday that there were four planes fully loaded with passengers and fuel sitting on Taxiway C at the time of the incident, according to the FAA. An aviation expert told the newspaper the "near miss" could have been the worst aviation disaster in history. 

The incident prompted an FAA investigation.

The story behind the stunning photo of a bride gasping in surprise as she walks down the aisle has captured the hearts of tens of thousands of people.

An Alaskan wedding photographer posted to Facebook a series of photos surrounding the touching moment last weekend, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes, shares and comments in days. 

The bride, Becky Turney, had a 19-year-old son, Triston, who died in October 2015 in an accidental shooting, according to Turney's Facebook page. His heart was donated to a young California man named Jacob Kilby, whom Beckey had never met.

Becky's groom, Kelly Turney, surprised her at their wedding by flying Jacob up to Alaska to stand in as a groomsman. Kelly stopped the ceremony to introduce Jacob to Becky for the first time, the photographer recounted. 

"I knew about this surprise but nothing prepares you for the beauty of this moment," the photographer wrote on the Love Adventured Facebook page. 

The photos show Becky gasping, then hugging the 21-year-old Jacob in tears. Another photo shows her smiling as she holds a stethoscope to his chest, then holding her hand to her mouth as she listens to his heart beating. 

Becky's bridal bouquet also had tiny framed photos of Triston wrapped around it. 

The wedding photographer said she was "blown away" by Jacob's story and his "amazing outlook on life." 

"You couldn't ask for a better recipient to receive such a gift," the photographer wrote.

Becky wrote in a subsequent Facebook post of her own, "Jacob, hands down the best gift, most amazing surprise ever!! Thank you for caring for Triston's heart. Thank you for being here! Thank you thank you thank you!!"

Becky had shared the news of her teenage son's death in a public Facebook post dated Oct. 18, 2015. She wrote that the event "was a tragedy and senseless."

"Triston is an organ donor and will be able to help someone's life or allow someone the gift of sight or both," she wrote. "He's one amazing man and I'm quite proud of him."  

The recipient of Triston's heart was Jacob, a surfer from San Diego, who was born with a rare condition where the left side of his heart didn't fully develop, according to a 2014 post written by his aunt on the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association page. He had four open heart surgeries, all of which failed, and finally, before he was 3 years old, got a heart transplant that "saved him just in the nick of time." 

He sailed through school, was liked by everyone and "adored and treasured" by his family; "his smile shines so bright," his aunt wrote. 

But by the time he was 19, he needed a new heart. And, she wrote, he was at a "stage two" on the waitlist, where "he really has no chance of getting a new heart." 

"Those who receive organs are those who are on the list the longest and those who are the sickest," she wrote. "So I guess things haven't changed in that respect in the 17 years that he'd had his donor heart... Here we are again."

Around that time, Make-A-Wish flew Jacob out to Hawaii to meet and surf with local surfing pros Jamie O'Brien and Bruce Irons, according to TheSurfChannel.com. By then, his doctors had advised him to not attend college and to quit his job.

In the end, though, Jacob got a new heart.

San Diego will have its own “official” beer. 

The San Diego Tourism Authority and Bay City Brewing Company will launch the craft beer “72 and Hoppy” today.

The session IPA will be available at local restaurants and attractions.  

A recent study by Cushman & Wakefield found San Diego markets more craft beer breweries than any other city in the country. 

Researchers found the San Diego area had 125 licensed brewing sites in operation, at the end of 2016. 

San Diego also ranked fifth in the U.S. for the number of breweries being planned.  

Encinitas-headquartered RAF Pacifica Group recently began construction on three previously announced industrial developments in North County totaling $110 million in value.

A company statement said the speculative developments, in Carlsbad and San Marcos, total more than a half-million square feet of creative industrial space and are slated for completion in 2018.

RAF founder and Principal Adam Robinson said the developments cater to recent residential and business growth in North County, spurred in part by relocations of companies from other parts of San Diego and other Southern California counties. He pointed to continued employment increases and historically low vacancy rates and rising lease rates in North County.

Ground was recently broken for the $29 million, 171,098-square-foot vec•tor, in the Carlsbad Oaks North business park; the $44 million, 277,410-square-foot dis•trib•ute in Carlsbad; and the $37 million, 219,477-square-foot pro•duc•tion in San Marcos.

RAF officials said the company’s earlier announced, 156,977-square-foot industrial project in Carlsbad, nearly completed and known as el•e•vate, is nearly 100 percent occupied. The company previously reported that it had signed tenants at that project including hair products supplier Unite Eurotherapy and dietary supplement distributor B&D Nutritional Ingredients, both of Vista, and Hydrogenics, a Canadian developer and manufacturer of fuel cells and other clean-energy technology.

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The Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump's eldest son during the campaign exclusively told NBC News Tuesday that she does not have any connection to the Kremlin and insists she was not at the meeting to hand over information about Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

"It is quite possible that maybe they were longing for such information. They wanted it so badly that they could only hear the thought that they wanted," Natalia Veselnitskaya said, when asked how Trump Jr. had the impression she had information about the Democratic National Committee.

The interview comes after a report in The New York Times that Trump Jr. was told in an email that Veselnitskaya had information that was part of a Russian government effort to help Donald Trump's push for the presidency.

Trump Jr. confirmed the meeting occurred, giving a statement to the Times saying it was "a short introductory meeting" with the lawyer that primarily covered adoption.

Veselnitskaya told NBC News she was pressing a client's interest in ending the Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations and led to Russian President Vladimir Putin ending American adoption of Russian kids.

Moments after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted four pages of a email exchange about a meeting with a Russian attorney Tuesday the Dow fell 100 points, CNBC reported. 

Donald Trump Jr. set up a meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya to acquire information on the Hillary Clinton campaign days after President Donald Trump was nominated as a candidate for the Republican party. 

The email exchange was with music publicist Rob Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told the Russian government had information to "incriminate" Hillary Clinton.

In a statement Tuesday, Trump Jr. said he posted the emails "to be totally transparent."

As details of the meeting with a Russian lawyer and top members of the Trump campaign emerge, a talking point among some right-wing pundits has been that collusion, in and of itself, would not be a crime.

Some experts disagree, arguing that assistance by the Russian government to the Trump campaign could amount to an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign principal, NBC News reported.

But even if the lawyer was somehow representing Russia, and even if she passed on national security information, it would be difficult to see a prosecutable case, legal practitioners say.

"I just don't see an easy crime to prove here," said Amy Jeffress, a former top Justice Department national security lawyer in the Obama administration. "Collusion is wrong, but I'm not sure it's a crime."

Other legal experts — who tend to be professors, not practitioners — have argued that collusion itself could run afoul of some anti-corruption statutes.

Still, some say it may be more likely that crimes could have been committed in covering up alleged collusion.

Chula Vista police are investigating the cause of a fatal collision between a vehicle and a parked tractor trailer on Eastlake Parkway early Tuesday.

Officers say the collision occurred at 5:45 a.m.

Several police vehicles blocked the section of Eastlake Parkway between Fenton Street and Otay Lakes Road.

One person died at the scene.

Officers are investigating whether the truck driver will be cited.

“Apparently he parked his vehicle in the bike lane there to go up to the Jack-in-the-Box,” said Sgt. Eric Tarr, Chula Vista Police Traffic Division.

“That’s not parked legally. That’s a bike lane, a marked bike lane,” Tarr added.

Tarr said the driver of the vehicle, a 20-year-old Chula Vista resident, was driving to work at the Kohl's department store.  

Deputies with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department are investigating a shooting at a Vista apartment complex.

Several people reported hearing shots fired just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, at the Pepperwood Apartment Complex on University Drive.

Deputies found an upstairs unit and several cars in the parking lot peppered with multiple handgun rounds. 

Investigators said a fight apparently broke out between residents of the apartment unit and at least one other person.

Deputies said everyone who may have been involved in the fight and shooting had left the apartment complex before they arrived. 

No injuries have been reported.

No other information was available.

The gymnastics doctor at the center of the sport's recent sexual abuse scandal pleaded guilty to child pornography charges Tuesday after striking a deal that has outraged some of his accusers, NBC News reported.

The agreement, which still needs to be accepted by a judge, would mean Larry Nassar does not face federal criminal charges that he molested Olympic and national team gymnasts anywhere outside of Michigan as Team USA's doctor for two decades, though the charges of Michigan-based crimes would still be tried.

Nassar could also have his possible prison sentence for the pornography charges reduced by as much as 38 years. An attorney for some of the elite athletes whose cases will not be prosecuted said, "My clients feel betrayed." 

After a flood of complaints against Nassar that began last summer, federal agents seized hard drives in his home and office that contained tens of thousands of images of child pornography. In court, he admitted to downloading and possessing these and then destroying the evidence.

Kaaboo Del Mar, San Diego's largest music and entertainment festival, has announced the daily lineups for its 2017 three-day event to be held on Sept. 15-17 on the grounds of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Fairgrounds.

Festival-goers will need to sort out their schedules as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, David Guetta and more are scheduled for Friday night (Sept. 15); Pink, Muse, Ice cube, Jane's Addiction and others are tapped for Saturday (Sept. 16); and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Alanis Morissette and Jason Derulo top Sunday's festivities (Sept. 17).

This year marks the third iteration of the festival, which kicked off in 2015 and has featured iconic music acts like Aerosmith, Snoop Dogg and the Killers the last few years. It's expected to draw over 100,000 people over the upcoming autumn weekend.

Back in March, early birds were able to get cheaper tickets -- but on Wednesday (July 12) at 9 a.m. PST, a limited number of single-day and two-day general admission passes will be made available to the public for $119 and $239 respectively (plus fees) with VIP packages beginning at $314.

Visit KAABOODELMAR.COM for passes and more info.

2017 Kaaboo Del Mar Daily Lineups

Friday, Sept. 15

Music:

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Weezer
• David Guetta
• Kesha
• X Ambassadors
• Michael McDonald
• DJ Diesel (Shaquille O’Neal)
• The Magpie Salute
• Smash Mouth
• Dave Mason
• Le Youth
• The Motet
• Little Hurricane
• Kap Slap
• Martin Jensen
• Lawrence
• The Last Internationale
• Luna Aura
• Ethan Tucker
• Tristen
• Trouble in the Wind

Comedy:

• Patton Oswalt
• Nick Swardson
• Arsenio Hall
• Bryan Callen

Saturday, Sept. 16

Music:

• P!nk
• Muse
• Jane’s Addiction
• Ice Cube
• Logic
• Garbage
• The Wallflowers
• Machine Gun Kelly
• The Knocks
• Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Lany
• Eric Burdon & the Animals
• Lost Kings
• The Him
• The Tubes
• Sam Sparro
• Emily Warren
• The Stone Foxes
• One Drop
• SteevieWild
• Darenots
• Ages and Ages
• Armors
• Jared & the Mill
• Lost Beach
• Josh Arbour
• Zeal Levin

Comedy:

• Sebastian Maniscalco
• Norm Macdonald
• Maria Bamford
• Al Madrigal
• Taylor Williamson

Sunday, Sept. 17

Music:

• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• Jason Derulo
• Alanis Morissette
• Jackson Browne
• Andy Grammer
• Live
• Milky Chance
• T-Pain
• Pepper
• Timeflies
• Pete Yorn
• Trevor Hall
• Fishbone
• The Shadowboxers
• Led Zeppelin 2
• Moonsville Collective
• The Steppin Stones
• Cordovas
• Mamafesta
• Kira Lingman

Comedy:

• David Spade
• Demetri Martin
• Bridget Everett

As San Diegans pull out their rainbow flags and get ready to march in the pride parade in Hillcrest, here's a guide on what the weekend will bring.

San Diego Pride weekend, which runs Friday through Sunday, will include a rally, block party, pride parade, music festival, and workshops.

Friday, July 14: Spirit of Stonewall Rally

Come kick off San Diego Pride Weekend with the Spirit of Stonewall Rally Friday at 5 p.m. It will be held at the Hillcrest Pride Flag, located at the intersection of University Avenue and Normal Street.

San Diego Pride’s Spirit of Stonewall Rally is a time to recognize and honor leaders who are working hard to preserve achievements and address challenges still facing the LGBT community.

If you plan to use public transportation to get to this event, visit the Trip Planner page for MTS.

Free parking is available at the San Diego Unified School Central Office parking lot at the 4100 block of Normal St. Public parking is available in any spot on the Normal St. side, in the front loop and on the Campus street size.

Friday, July 14: Pride Block Party                                                         

Rock out with live music, dancing, food, a full-service bar, and much more at the Pride Block Party.

Hillcrest will be hosting its Pride of Hillcrest Block Party on Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the intersection of University Avenue and Normal Street.  

This year the block party will feature local DJ’s K-Swift and DJ Dirty Kurty, along with headliner DJ Nina Sky. Special guest performer, of "American Idol" fame, David Hernandez, will be performing his new hit single "Beautiful."

Pre-sale general admission tickets are $20, and VIP tickets are $55. Tickets can be purchased here.

Saturday, July 15: Pride Parade

The annual San Diego Pride Parade is among the largest in the United States, attracting over 100,000 cheering spectators. The theme this year is "Allied in Action: United for Justice."

The parade will start at 11 a.m. at the Hillcrest Pride Flag, located at the intersection of Normal Street and University Avenue. Head west on University until Sixth Avenue. Then the parade turns south and travels along Sixth Avenue, ending at Laurel Street.

From there, you can enter another part of the festivities, too, the music festival at the Main Gate, located on Balboa Drive south of Laurel Street or the Juniper Gate, east of Sixth Avenue.

Free parking lots are available courtesy of San Diego Pride both Saturday and Sunday at the Old Naval Hospital, located at Park Boulevard and President’s Way. For information on accessibility to the parade, click here.

Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16: Music Festival

The annual San Diego Pride Music Festival in Balboa Park includes multiple stages of entertainment, more than 200 musicians, bands, comedians, and dancers; marvelous shopping at dozens of vendor booths, an art exhibit, cultural presentations and plenty of delicious bites.

Some of the artists at the music festival are En Vogue, Estelle, and Tinashe. For a list of artists and the full lineup, click here.

On Saturday, the music festival will be from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Festival-goers can enter at Balboa Drive and Laurel Street.

Weekend general admission tickets are $20, weekend VIP tickets (21+) are $120, and Estelle Meet & Greet plus VIP tickets are $300. To purchase tickets, click here. For more information on accessibility to the event, click here.

Parking and Transportation

Traffic and parking can be a challenge due to the large crowds at these events.

San Diego Pride organizers will do their best to assist with additional free shuttles and parking. They advise you to try to leave early, bike and walk when possible, use public transportation, or ride-share with Uber. All information on free shuttles and where to park can be found here.

Street Closures

Normal Street and Harvey Milk Street are closed starting at 6 a.m. Friday for the Pride of Hillcrest Block Party.

The following streets will be closed starting at 6 a.m. Friday and open by 4 p.m. on Saturday:

• Centre Street (from University Avenue to Park Boulevard)
• Lincoln Avenue (from Cleveland Avenue to Park Boulevard)
• Normal Street (from University Avenue to Washington Avenue)
• Harvey Milk Street (from Cleveland Avenue to Centre Street)

Additionally, the following streets will be closed starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and open by 4 p.m. that day:

• University Avenue (from Sixth Avenue to Park Boulevard)
• Evans Place (from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue)
• Sixth Avenue (from Upas Street to University Avenue)
• Pennsylvania Avenue (from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue)
• Balboa Drive in Balboa Park
• Brookes Avenue (from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue)
• Robinson Avenue (from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue)
• Ivy Lane (from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue)

For more information about San Diego Pride and events, please visit the San Diego Pride page.

Go ahead and order that second cup.

Studies have found that people who frequently enjoy a cup of joe could live longer lives, according to researchers at the University of Southern California.

"We cannot say drinking coffee will prolong your life, but we see an association," said Veronica W. Setiawan, associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and lead author of a new study, which will be published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and respiratory and kidney disease for African Americans, Japanese Americans, Latinos and whites, according to the study that used data from the Multiethnic Cohort Study.

"Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play an important role in cancer prevention," Setiawan said. "Although this study does not show causation or point to what chemicals in coffee may have this 'elixir effect,' it is clear that coffee can be incorporated into a healthy diet and lifestyle."

Don't do caffeine? The study still stands regardless of whether you enjoy regular or decaffeinated coffee.

People who drink one cup daily were 12 percent less likely to die from these diseases. People who drink up to three cups a day had an 18 percent lower risk of death.

A separate study of more than 520,000 healthy people in 10 European countries, meanwhile, also found coffee drinkers were associated with lower risk for death, specifically from digestive and circulatory diseases, the "Today" show reported. That study was also published in Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday. 

But an editorial in the journal cautioned "it’s 'premature' to recommend that people drink coffee to live longer or prevent disease," the "Today" show reported.

Coffee drinkers could have other things in common that factor into their health.

The editorial instead notes at a takeaway that moderate daily coffee intake "is not associated with adverse health effects in adults and can be incorporated into a healthy diet." 

The Multiethnic Cohort Study, which a team from USC conducted in collaboration with the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, is an ongoing study that proclaims itself as the most ethnically diverse study that examines lifestyle risk factors that may lead to cancer. It has more than 215,000 participants.

The study is important because "lifestyle patterns and disease risks can vary substantially across racial and ethnic backgrounds, and findings in one group may not necessarily apply to others."

But it's safe to say the association applies to other groups, Setiawan said, since it was seen in four different ethnicities.

"If you like to drink coffee, drink up!" Setiawan said.

More than 300 workers reported wage theft in the year after San Diego's minimum wage and sick leave law took effect, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Some victims of alleged wage theft who filed claims with the California Labor Commissioner met in front of the Labor Commissioner's office at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning in San Diego.

Workers described their experiences with wage theft and the challenge of obtaining full payment. Researchers offered analysis of the survey's findings.

The study shared information about the suspected barriers facing workers who suffer wage theft, including their employers' failure to pay minimum wage.

San Diego State University, the Center on Policy Initiatives and the Employee Rights Center of San Diego collaborated to complete the study.

According to a representative for the workers, Mayor Kevin Faulconer has refused to enforce the City's minimum wage laws. A week ago, he directed all complaints to the state office on Metropolitan Drive, which serves San Diego County.

An Escondido man suspected of sneaking into the bedrooms of children and sexually assaulting them could face 300 years to life, the San Diego County District Attorney (DA) said.

Gilbert Andrew Chavarria pleaded not guilty to 22 felony charges on Monday, including assault during a burglary, burglary, lewd acts on a child, to possession of child pornography. 

According to officials, Chavarria, dubbed "the Creeper," broke into homes in Escondido and San Marcos during early morning hours in June and July of 2013 to sexually assault children. He would apparently cut pieces of their pajamas during the assaults.

Many of the incidents happened while parents were sleeping in the same room, according to officials. Most of the victims were teens, though the youngest victim was five years old.

On June 23, 2013, a window screen was cut open and a man shined a light onto a 13-year-old's face, then tried to reach inside and touch her.

One week later, police said a man forced entry into a residence in the Oak Hill neighborhood of Escondido and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl. He apparently cut holes in the victim's pajamas and underwear.

Investigators said another similar incident took place July 7, 2013, when a man assumed to be "the Creeper" forced his way into a home through another cut screen. He then sexually assaulted a 12-year-old and 15-year-old girl and cut holes into their clothing, police said.

The fourth incident of forced entry, sexual assault and cut clothing took place shortly thereafter. A 5-year-old girl and a 9-year-old girl were victims in that case.

Investigators were able to recover evidence and DNA from a family member that linked all of the crimes to the same individual, pinning down a suspect that lived in the vicinity and had been acting suspiciously.

Officers said when they tried to make contact in August 2013, he fled. There were no more "creeper" cases that they knew of after the foot chase.

Officials then submitted the DNA evidence to the California Department of Justice for the Familial DNA Testing Process. On February 5, 2015, the Sheriff's Department and Escondido Police were notified by DOJ officials that Chavarria was their suspect.

Officers conducted a surveillance sting and pulled DNA from a discarded item for testing. Eight hours later, the Sheriff's crime lab matched the DNA from the item to the DNA recovered from the crime scenes.

Police said they do not have an exact number of victims yet, and are seeking the public's help in finding others. Anyone with information about Chavarria or possible victims are urged to call the Sheriff's Department at (858) 565-5200 or the Escondido Police at (760) 839-4722.

Chavarria will next appear in court on Sept. 22 for a readiness conference. He could face 300 years to life if convicted. 

An inmate firefighter died Tuesday from injuries sustained with a chainsaw while battling a brush fire near Lakeside, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

A chainsaw was involved in the fatal incident, confirmed CDCR spokesman Bill Sessa. It was not yet clear how the victim was injured with the chainsaw. There is an investigation underway from Cal Fire.

“We are saddened by the death of Frank Anaya, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,” said CDCR Secretary Scott Kernan, in a statement. 

CDCR officials said Anaya, 22, was working to extinguish a brush fire on July 5, when his leg was severely cut. Other firefighters at the scene immediately performed advanced life support care and performed CPR.

“Anaya provided an invaluable public service and helped protect our communities from devastating fires," added Kernan.

He was rushed to a hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries, said CDCR officials. Unfortunately, one of the main arteries in his leg was damaged.

Anaya underwent multiple surgeries but succumbed to his injuries at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday in the hospital.

The inmate firefighter was serving a three-year sentence at the La Cima Conservation Camp in San Diego County. He began working for CDCR in September 2016.

There are about 3,900 volunteer inmates housed in 43 conservation camps operated by CDCR, Cal Fire and the LA County Fire Department. The inmate fire crews work in groups of 12 to 17 members.

They often work in rugged backcountry conditions, using hand tools to cut containment lines and stop the spread of wildfires, said CDCR officials.

The toddler siblings who died hours after being put to bed in their Bronx home Sunday night appear to have been beaten to death, the New York City medical examiner says. 

Olivia Gee, 2, and her 3-year-old brother Micha Gee, both died of blunt impact injuries to the torso, the medical examiner's office said Tuesday. 

Both children had histories of asthma and 911 was called after they allegedly had trouble breathing, but that condition apparently did not cause their deaths, the medical examiner's report indicates. Both deaths were ruled homicides.

No arrests have been made, though police earlier described an active investigation into the toddlers' deaths. 

Authorities have said the siblings' 31-year-old mother and her boyfriend had put the two to bed in the same room of their Van Cortlandt Park South home around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. The boyfriend woke up around 1 a.m. Monday and went to check on the kids, noticed they had breathing difficulty and called 911, according to the initial police report. 

Both kids were unresponsive when officers arrived; they were pronounced dead at a hospital. 

Olivia and her brother Micha had histories of asthma, and police said Monday it wasn't clear if they were looking at that as a possible factor in their deaths, though that was before the autopsy was completed. 

The boyfriend was interviewed by police and released, according to a law enforcement source. He has asked for a lawyer. 

Detectives hadn't been able to talk to the kids' mother, though, who was so distraught she had to be hospitalized, the source said. 

The siblings lived in an apartment at Amalgamated Houses, a tight-knit co-op community, according to people who live there. The children's grandmother works as director of education for the co-op and has lived there 25 years, building manager Charles Zsebedics told NBC 4 New York. He said Monday the children were "angelic and happy," and that "anyone that sees them knows they are well taken care of." 

Learning on Tuesday the children had been killed, he said, "We're as shocked now as we were yesterday, this is the unthinkable. Our worst fears were realized, we couldn't imagine this is something that could actually happen. We are very, very sorry for the entire family." 

A group out on a whale watching excursion in Oceanside has a whale of a tale to tell: they spotted a shark swimming near their boat – and captured the sea sighting on video.

On Sunday at around 2:30 p.m., the group of about 25 people was aboard the Oceanside Adventures whale and dolphin trip, sailing past the Oceanside Harbor buoy when they saw a gray fin sticking out of the water.

Soon, they realized the fin belonged to what's believed to be a great white shark between 12 and 14 feet long, Carla Mitroff, manager of Oceanside Adventures, told NBC 7.

The shark swam calmly near the bow of the group’s boat, lingering for about three to four minutes before it swam away, Mitroff said. Cellphone video captured by the group and posted on YouTube showed the shark’s fin bobbing in the water; in the video, the shark never popped its head out of the water.

“Cool,” one person aboard the vessel can be heard saying.

“Wow,” says another.

Mitroff said the Oceanside Adventures groups often see juvenile great white and mako sharks while out on excursions, but this was the biggest one they’ve ever seen in their two years of offering the tours. The area by Oceanside Harbor is also known for sea lions, dolphins and stingrays, she said.

Mitroff said no one from the whale watching group was in the water at the time of the sighting. They immediately called lifeguards to report the shark. When lifeguards arrived on jet skis, the shark was gone.

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Oceanside lifeguard Lt. Blake Faumuina told NBC 7 the shark, likely a great white, was about three-quarters of a mile offshore when the boaters spotted it. Because it was close, lifeguards also sent a boat out to scan the area.

Faumuina said no alert was issued. Had the shark been near the pier, lifeguards would have issued a warning. From looking at the video, he said the shark was not displaying aggressive behavior and just appeared to be cruising through the area.

Oceanside Harbor is located about 20 miles south of San Onofre State Beach – the location of many recent shark sightings, including two on Fourth of July weekend.

In late April, San Diego mother Leeanne Ericson was attacked by a shark off San Onofre State Beach as she swam alongside her boyfriend, who was surfing in the area. She survived the shark attack and continues to make progress on her long, challenging road to recovery.

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Breeders’ Cup “Art of the Horse” program ponies are popping up around San Diego, with the first five debuting in Del Mar.

The statues are life-size replicas of the horse atop the Breeders’ Cup trophy, a bronze reproduction of the original Torrie horse created in Florence by Giovanni da Bologna in the late 1850’s.

The “Art of the Horse” program is a series of equine statues to be situated around San Diego to generate  enthusiasm for the Breeders’ Cup.

The Breeders’ Cup debuts at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club November 3^rd and 4^th.  This two day horse racing event attracts the best horses, trainers and owners from around the world.

The Breeders’ Cup consists of 13 Grade 1 horse races with a total purses and awards over $28 million.

Each of the “Art of the Horse” program statues are made of fiberglass and stand seven -feet high and seven-feet long. The plan calls for twenty Torrie horse statues to be decorated by local artists and displayed at prominent locations throughout San Diego.

Each of the twenty statues feature unique, intricate, colorful designs.

The Torrie horse statues will be auctioned off after the Breeders’ Cup with the proceeds benefiting community events and charities.