A veteran NYPD officer overcome by smoke and carbon monoxide responding to a fire in Coney Island allegedly set by a 16-year-old boy has died, police say.

Dennis Guerra, 38, had been in critical condition since the fire Sunday at an apartment building on Surf Avenue. He and fellow officer, Rosa Rodriguez, 36, took an elevator to the 13th floor to warn residents and help evacuate the building, but when they emerged from the elevator they were overcome by smoke.

Both officers, who are members of the force's housing bureau, were found unconscious by firefighters. Guerra, a married father of four and seven-year NYPD veteran, died shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, police say.

Mayor de Blasio said Guerra was an exemplary officer who went to save people in need. He called him a good man and a brave officer, and vowed to stand by his family.

"He went selflessly towards the flame, selflessly towards those who are in danger, no matter what the risk to him," de Blasio said. "It’s something that our police officers do every day. It’s something our first responders do every day. It is something we need to appreciate every day." 

Guerra had two daughters, 20 and 14, and two sons, 17 and 7.

"The entire city grieves this terrible loss," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement. "It is a startling reminder that what can appear to be a routine assignment can very quickly become deadly."

Rodriguez remains in critical condition at a hospital. 

Teenager Marcell Dockery was arrested Monday on assault, reckless endangerment and arson charges in connection with the fire, which originated from a mattress in the building.

It's not clear if he has an attorney, nor was it known if he would face additional charges following Guerra's death.

Police say Dockery told detectives he lit the mattress on fire because he was bored. They say he said he tried to put out the fire and warn residents as the flames spread.

Five people suffered minor injuries, including two firefighters, authorities said. 

Several children were hospitalized Tuesday after they were accidentally served what parents believe was alcohol at a restaurant in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. Police, though, said tests showed none of the children had any trace of alcohol in their systems.

The children, ages 10 and younger, were at the Home Run Inn pizza restaurant on the 4200 block of West 31st Street for a birthday party. Neyante Eggleston, a mother of a 6-year-old boy who attended the party with her son, said the children at about 9:40 p.m. were eating pizza and drinking what was supposed to be fruit punch.

"The drinks tasted funny to begin with," said Eggleston. "But we didn't pay any attention. We just thought it was us, but they just came and just swooped all the cups up. So we were like, 'OK, what's going on?'"

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Police said the group told the waitress they were one cup short of fruit punch so she went back to the bar and saw a drink that looked like the fruit punch and brought it to the table. She returned to reclaim the cup when she realized there was alcohol in the cup.

A girl at the table took a sip but immediately spit it out, police said. When officers arrived to assist Chicago fire officials, the girl said she drank from the cup. The rest of the children then suddenly said they too drank from the cup.

Some of the children were taken from the restaurant and transported to a hospital.

Eggleston said the waitress was very apologetic and the incident was clearly a mistake but expressed disappointment that no one from the restaurant ever admitted there was alcohol in the cup or apologized for the mix-up.

Police said the restaurant's permits are up to date and it will not be cited.

NBC Chicago's attempt to reach a restaurant spokesperson was not immediately successful.

Two twin girls have died after they were found in a community pool at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex, officials said.

The girls, both two-years-old, were found in the pool at the Tivoli Park apartment complex at 743 Siesta Key Terrace around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

An out-of-town couple staying at the apartment complex went for a dip in the jacuzzi and found the girls and attempted to do CPR, said BSO.

"A guy walking in there was smoking a cigarette," said Louis Gerogianis. "Seen the two children face down."

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The two people, who were visiting from North Carolina, took immediate action, according to officials.

"[The man] jumped into the pool right away, began CPR," said BSO spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. "That's when the female, his companion, noticed the second body in the pool and also pulled that girl out."

The girls, identified as Harmani and Harmony West, were airlifted to Broward Health Medical Center, but could not be revived.

Authorities said the lock to the pool where the toddlers were found was broken, and other bodies of water around the complex are not gated.

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"There's a lake right behind the family's apartment building," Concepcion said. "There were a number of bodies of water where children could have drowned."

Witness Ester Campos said neighbors think the mother was sleeping when the incident took place.

"If there's any message at all it's that children must be supervised," said Broward Fire Rescue Spokesman Mike Jachles. "Children should know how to swim. Parents and children who are old enough should learn CPR."

Stay with NBC6.com for updates on this developing story.

On Aug. 4, 1964, the day Barack Obama turned 3, the remains of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were found in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Miss. The grisly discovery came about six weeks after the three civil rights workers, all in their early 20s, were set upon by a lynch mob.

Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

A jellyfish invasion is taking place in Mission Bay right now as part of a spring ritual in our local waters.

“The last couple of weeks has been crazy with the amount of jellyfish,” said Zach Borba, an employee at Mission Bay Sports Center.

“You’re down here dragging kayaks to the water and stepping on them. It’s like stepping on a banana peel."

Luckily for Borba and others who come in contact with them, this particular kind of jellyfish is harmless.

“Just be careful not to touch your mouth or eyes cause you will get their stingers on you and when they can penetrate the skin, it’s usually the sensitive skin of the lips or mouth,” said Vince Levesque an aquarist with Birch Aquarium at Scripps.

Levesque identified them as “moon jellies” and said, unlike “purple striped jellies” or “black jellies” more commonly found in the ocean, their stingers aren’t big enough to break your skin.

The moon jellies are translucent, and can appear in different colors, but most of the ones seen in Mission Bay look white in the water.

“They probably will disappear around May or June,” said Levesque.

He won the hearts of San Francisco five months ago, when the city morphed into Gotham City to lift the spirits of a 5-year-old battling leukemia.

And Batkid still evoked strong emotions when he took the mound at the Giants home opener at AT&T Park on Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The tiny superhero, aka Miles Scott of Siskyou County, threw the first pitch at the game, where the Giants were victorious, 7-3. An especially poignant image was when the little boy dressed all in black held hands with pitcher Matt Cain on the field.

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Some took to social media to criticize all the attention Miles - who is remission from his cancer - is still getting. The city of San Francisco and 12,000 volunteers pitched in on Nov. 15 to make the boy's dream come true: Allowing him to be his favorite superhero for the day. But some believe that the boy's 15 minutes is up.

On NBC Bay Area's Facebook page, some posters were critical of all the attention he was getting. "There are plenty of other kids out there that could use support or even a couple hours of fun," one person wrote.

But it's also safe to say that Miles has become a symbol of hope for many, especially those in the cancer community, who see that the boy battled his disease.

"Omg!," a poster named Dana Hernandez wrote. "This was so cool! It gave me the chills."

And in a Wednesday morning interview on NBC Bay Area, Giants commentator Mike Krukow called the "blanket of love that everyone" threw Batkid's way, was just "amazing."

"It was the start of a perfect day,"Krukow said during his weekly segment "Kruk on Skype." "And Batkid had a lot to do with it."

Miles Scott, left, dressed as Batkid, throws the ceremonial first pitch next to Batman before an opening day baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 8, 2014.  (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, Pool).

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a man wanted for a series of home invasions, car thefts and business burglaries - all committed in about a 30-minute time frame.

Deputies said they arrested Kevin Knight, 43, Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in Spring Valley.

Deputies responded to a car theft call near a Wendy's at Campo Road and Spring Street. When they arrived, they say Knight ran from the scene. He resisted arrest and deputies used a taser to get him into custody.

Officials released surveillance video of the suspect taking off his shirt inside the Volcano Smoke Shop in Spring Valley.

The same shop they say he returned to rob an hour later on the 9500 block of Jamacha.

"He’s waving the gun around [saying] give me the money and my purse," exclaimed Felomina Calimquin.

Calimquin owns QM Travel right next door. Hours after the crime she was still shaking.

That’s because the suspect came into her business pointing his revolver at her with her granddaughter by her side. The suspect made off with $136 and Calimquin's purse.

Deputies say he also stole a car from the smoke shop next door.

In all deputies say the man believed to be in his late 30s to 40s is responsible for two home invasions, four stolen cars and several businesses burglaries.

One of them, the Hallmark store on Jamacha where deputies say he walked in and stole the keys to an employee’s car.

It was found ditched on 1600-block Sundale Road.

That’s where deputies say he broke into an unlocked home, confronted its owner and stole his truck.

Deputies say in both home invasion cases the doors were left unlocked.

No one was injured in the crimes. All the cars have been recovered.

They are five friends, five students at Polytechnic High School and, as of last week, five new MIT admits.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced Friday that five students from Polytechnic High School’s Math/Science Magnet had been admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"To be honest with you, I cried," student GiMin Choi said. "The fact that all of us got it in, it’s just more happiness to share"

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Ari Bennett, principal of Polytechnic High School, said he is "in awe of our MIT 5." 

"Each one represents the caliber and high standards of our Math/Science Magnet at Poly. Congratulations to these wizards of technology who will change the world one atom at a time," Bennett said.

Those so-called wizards of technology are Raymundo Cano, Andrew Koh, Kevin Escobar Rodriguez, GiMin Choi and William Lopez-Cordero.

"Its just surreal," Rodriguez said.

The five students shared their excitement with NBC4 Tuesday.

"I have to admit, even to this day I still open my decision page and read the whole letter, it seems so unreal," Cano said.

It addition to MIT, all five students were accepted to other top universities. Cano was also accepted Harvard - a university just down the street from MIT.

• Student Accepted to All 8 Ivy League Schools

MIT, considered the nation’s premier program for science and technology, will allow the students to explore their passions.

Choi wants to study either environmental engineering or computer science. Koh is also interested in computer science, but added that he is also interested in biology applications as well. Cano may join his friends in the computer science field, but is also considering a mathematics major.

Lopez-Cordero wants to work at NASA. Rodriguez wants to eventually work in robotics.

Regardless of their field of study, the friends are just happy they’re making the transition to college together.

“Normally after high school, that’s where friendships split. But at least our little crew is going to stay together,” Rodriguez said.

The alleged perpetrator of a brazen theft of a Mac laptop from a San Francisco cafe is in police custody -- thanks to a viral video.

San Francisco police arrested 32-year-old Paul Raynal after a person who saw the video online followed the suspect into a Financial District Starbucks and called police.

"It's absolutely jaw dropping" Ahryun Moon said of the power of social media.

It is Moon's laptop that Raynal is suspected of stealing.

Moon spends her days at Joy's Place in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood building an iPhone app on her computer. There were no witnesses around when Raynal allegedly snagged her laptop and phone.

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But a security camera caught the theft. Cafe owner Stephan Huh pulled more than an hour of video for Moon.

The video shows the suspect in a blue and white striped shirt hanging out at the care for more than an hour. When Moon leaves her computer to use the restroom, the thief makes off with her devices in less than a minute.

Moon posted the video on YouTube and on her blog. The video went viral, netting more than 215,000 views since it was posted on Saturday.

Raynal was also wearing the same clothes worn during the alleged theft when he was arrested, police said.

Moon's laptop and phone are still missing, but she is glad a thief is off the streets.

"My purpose of doing all this is to catch the guy and take him off the street," she said.

In an effort to keep the San Diego Opera from having its final curtain call, supporters of the opera found a very fitting way to address the San Diego City Council during a meeting Tuesday: through a song.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Nick Reveles, director of education and outreach for San Diego Opera, took a moment to speak to the council about everything the opera does for the community, including its work to bring arts education to children.

He also touted the opera’s impact on the local economy.

As Reveles spoke, about 50 members of the White Knight Committee (WKC) – a grassroots movement to keep the opera afloat – and members of the San Diego Opera Chorus and looked on.

Reveles wrapped up his time before the council by saying, "We need our arts to make this city great. We have a gift for you.”

At that moment, members of the chorus stood up and performed for councilmembers who were visibly surprised by the gesture.

Applause erupted from the council, including Marti Emerald, Todd Gloria and David Alvarez, as the chorus finished singing.

On Mar. 19, the San Diego Opera Board announced the opera would be closing in mid-April due to “insurmountable” financial issues. Last week, board members voted to delay the planned closure by two weeks, until Apr. 29, so they could explore alternative solutions.

Since the announcement of the impending closure, the WKC formed to fight to save the opera. The committee is comprised of opera staffers, union locals, seasonal employees, vendors and supporters.

An online petition to save the opera was also launched a couple of weeks ago. As of Tuesday, it had collected more than 20,600 signatures.

On Tuesday before the council, members of the WKC talked about the economic impact of the San Diego Opera, saying that if it shuts down, more than 400 people will lose their jobs and local businesses and San Diego tourism will also lose money. Also, students will miss out on arts and opera education programs in the classroom.

After the city council meeting and, NBC 7 spoke with John David Peters, who has worked for the opera for more than 40 years. He said going before the council with a powerful performance was just another step in saving the company from closure.

“What we were doing today was trying to communicate to everybody that opera is not just a rich kid’s toy. It’s a critical part of our cultural community,” said Peters.

Peters also echoed that the opera plays a big role in the local economy, specifically with jobs.

"What's going to happen is that the City of San Diego is going to be poorer when this company closes because [opera employees] are going to have to find full time employment, perhaps in other communities. They're going to sell their houses, they're going to move out and you're going to lose five or six hundred people,” he said.

On top of that, Peters also said it’s important for the council and the city to know about the positive impact the San Diego Opera has on younger generations.

Native San Diegan Rita Cantos Cartwright, for example, grew up going to the opera and has been singing in it for more than 25 years.

Her concern is the impact the closure will have on future artists.

"You know, we have four major university and college programs now in opera in this town. And they're very competitive here. Where do they go?" she said.

For now, supporters of the opera say their battle isn’t over and they’ll keep pushing to keep the opera alive.

"All I can do is fight for what I believe in and know full well that having opera in this community is an essential corner-stone to our cultural arts," added Peters.

On Friday, San Diego Opera board member Carol Lazier donated $1 million to the opera to encourage the board to rescind their vote to close the company. However, Board President Karen Cohn said the opera would need at least $10 million to put on its 50th anniversary season next year.

Before this recent two-week extension, the opera was set to begin shutting down operations next week, after its final performance of “Don Quixote” on Apr. 13.
 

March 20: Eric and Charlotte Kaufman set sail on a 36-foot sailboat the “Rebel Heart.” They left Mexico for Fatu Hiva with a 13 month-old baby and 3.5 year-old girl.

April 3: Family calls for help, reporting their youngest child, Lyra, was suffering from diarrhea, vomiting and a rash.

April 3: Four pararescuemen from the 129th Rescue Wing jumped into the Pacific Ocean and boarded the family’s sailboat located about 900 nautical miles off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

April 4: Guardsmen report that the baby received antibiotics and appeared to be responding well. Two HH 60G Pave Hawks helicopters and a Combat Shadow refueling tanker were placed on standby in case the child needed to be airlifted to a hospital on land.

April 4: Charlotte Kaufman’s brother James Moriset talked with NBC 7. While he was glad his niece would be okay, he said he believes the whole trip was nuts from the beginning.

April 4: When NBC 7 Facebook readers learned of the rescue, many were concerned for the child's safety. However there were many who questioned the parents' decision to make the journey.

April 5: San Diego-based USS Vandegrift was diverted to intercept the Rebel Heart. The ship reached the family’s sailboat by 4 p.m. and stayed within five miles while they developed a rescue plan.

April 6: USS Vandegrift sailors used an inflatable boat to bring the infant, family and the four pararescumen aboard the Navy ship. Navy officials told the family they could bring what they could carry and then sailors sunk the family’s boat.

April 6: In a statement issued from the Vandegrift, Eric and Charlotte Kaufman defended their decision to sail with two children under the age of 4.

April 7: The Navy ship sets sail for San Diego where the family said they would have the baby seen by their family physician.

April 7: Eric Kaufman posted a message via social media promising to answer questions “after we catch our breath.”

April 7: Officials with the Navy and the California Air National Guard say they do not plan to seek repayment for their rescue efforts.

April 8: The New York times publishes a front page article chronicling the national debate over whether the Kaufmans were responsible in their decision to launch such a trip.

April 8: Relatives report an online fundraiser campaign set up by supporters and friends of the Kaufman family has raised nearly $12,500 for the family in just four days, exceeding its original goal of $10,000.

April 9: Lyra Kaufman and her family safely arrived in San Diego when USS Vandegrift docked at NAS North Island around 10 a.m.

April 9: California Air National Guard official said the parents "did everything right" once they realized the seriousness of the situation.

Civil rights leader Andrew Young is calling on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order allowing a photo option on Social Security cards, ensuring free accessible photo IDs to prevent voter suppression in states adopting voter ID laws.

Adding photos to Social Security cards allows groups less likely to have photo IDs -- senior citizens, minorities, and poor and less educated people -- to still be able to vote, said Young, a former mayor of Atlanta and ambassador to the United Nations.

Young made his remarks Wednesday at the Civil Rights Summit in Austin, Texas, where Obama is set to speak Thursday.

He also wants an update to the Voting Rights Act, citing the blow the Supreme Court dealt it in last year's landmark decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

In that case, the court struck down the formula for determining which states and local governments must get federal approval to change their voting laws and practices, finding the requirement outdated. The decision means no jurisdiction will be subjected to such federal preclearance until Congress enacts a formula based on current data and needs.

Shelby County, Ala., had argued that the blatant racial intimidation and discrimination in voting procedures that existed when the law was written in 1965 and renewed in 1970, 1975 and 1982 no longer exist.

"Last year, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and one major repercussion is the increased likelihood of photo identification laws in states across the country," Young said. "I've said in the past that I'm not against photo identification, but only as long as the cards are free and easily accessible. Providing the ability to obtain a photo on a Social Security card will help to prevent voter suppression in states which have or are trying to adopt voter ID laws."

With 1,300 offices located across the country and already tasked with issuing free cards, the Social Security Administration is ideal for providing photo IDs for all, Young said.

"The rights of voters are currently under attack during a time when our nation is already suffering from staggeringly low turnout," he said. "President Johnson, who we honor here today, said he wanted 'to be the president who helped the poor to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in every election.' We must honor that legacy today and demand voting be made more accessible."

A U.S. Border patrol spokesperson says three people were arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border after a smuggling incident on horseback in mid-March. One was a U.S. citizen, one was a Mexican national with proper documentation and the third was an undocumented immigrant being smuggled into the country illegally.

Border Patrol says there has not been a marked increase in smuggling events involving horses, but the incident did prompt the agency to reach out to the local equestrian community to be aware of what happened, and ask them to help out if they ever see anything suspicious.

Vicki Krauss is the president of the Tijuana River Valley Equestrian Association. During a meeting involving local groups last month, she learned about the recent horseback smuggling arrests.

“He wanted us to know and to get it out to our membership that they might be scrutinized more closely if they’re going for a trail ride on their horse and stopped and asked some questions,” said Krauss. “Neither party, border patrol or us, wanted that to cause any misunderstandings or misconstruing, feeling scared or feeling persecuted. So we sent out a mass email to tell everyone what was going on down here.”

Krauss wrote and sent that email message to members of the Tijuana River Valley Equestrian Association to tell them about the recent arrests.

“I didn’t anyone want to be scared or angry, because they felt they were being unjustly stopped or questioned. Because that hasn’t been the status quo. Normally, they just put right by you in their quads or cars and not even look twice. But now they will be because of this incident.”

Border Patrol says smuggling by horseback is not a new tactic. Still, locals in the Tijuana River Valley say they’re surprised about the recent arrests.

“I’m out here five, six days a week, all day and I’ve never seen it,” said Sarah Crane, who takes customers on horseback tours to the beach.

Jessica Winne owns San Diego Beach Rides, which takes guests on tours through local paths and to the beach.

“I’ve heard stories from some of the locals that have lived here that yeah, that has been something that used to happen in the past before the fence was up all the way, but personally I’ve never experienced anything like that, but that’s not to say it could happen,” said Winne.

During the 2013 fiscal year, Border Patrol made 27,496 arrests in San Diego. The U.S. Border Patrol wants the public to know that if they see any suspicious activity, or even something that seems out-of-the-ordinary, they can contact U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector at (619)498-9900.
 

An Oceanside woman and her young son were on a trip to the laundromat when they witnessed a deadly shooting Tuesday.

Veronica Torres and her 9-year-old son, Luis, were walking to get a cup of coffee when they heard gunshots around 8:15 p.m. on Olive Street.

“We hear more than 8 bullets and then he was down on the floor with blood all over,” Luis Rincon said.

“Once we heard the bullets, we just backed away across the street and we were over there watching everything.”

The child described what he saw next - a family member of the victim "saying bad words" because the ambulance hadn't yet arrived.

Oceanside homicide investigators say a 25-year-old man was transported to a hospital but later died as a result of his injuries.

While police haven't released the victim's name, Torres and Rincon said they knew the man and his family.

"My mom has bought him chips," Luis told NBC 7.

The mother and son did not see the actual shooting, just heard the gunshots and saw the victim afterwards.

Investigators believe the shooting may be gang-related.

Torres said she’s lived in the neighborhood for 8 years and feels for the mother of the victim.

“It’s dangerous when we walk around here to the store, to the laundry,” she said.

She also said she is worried about the gang violence in the community.

“I’m worried because we don’t know what happen in the future with my son. I’m worried for my son,” she said.

Police said they don't have solid evidence on a motive and they're asking the public to call Detective LaVake at (760) 435-4872 with information regarding the shooting.

An unattended school bus could have plowed into a group of school children Monday morning had it not been for Matthew Knight's quick thinking.

Prince George's County Police said the driver of the bus left it running while elementary and middle school-aged children stood in front of High Point High School in Beltsville around 7:30 a.m.

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"Preliminarily, we believe the bus driver left the students unattended on the bus, and then for reasons which remain unclear, the bus started drifting and drifted across Powder Mill Road," police spokeswoman Officer Nicole Hubbard said.

Knight, a reserve Baltimore County officer, was driving in the area when he saw the bus rolling. He said he immediately jumped out of his car and ran as fast as he could to reach the kids.

"I saw the bus looking like it was ready to turn onto Powder Mill Road, when I realized there was no one in the driver's seat," Knight explained. "I got there just as the little boy turned to see the bus strike him. I was able to free him from under the bus."

The 7-year-old boy who was struck by the bus was released from the hospital Monday evening. The driver of the school bus, 61-year-old Arturo Harris, was arrested and faces multiple charges.

The California Air National Guard commander who took the initial call about a family stranded at sea with a sick infant said his crews "got there just in time."

• Read: Baby Rescued at Sea Arrives in San Diego

While the family's decision to take two young children on an around-the-world sailing trip has been criticized in the wake of last week's dramatic rescue, Lt. Col. Nando Polo told NBC 7 that the parents of 1-year-old Lyra Kaufman "did everything right" once they realized the seriousness of the situation.

Polo, who is with the 129th Rescue Wing, was the operations commander who took the initial call concerning the Kaufmans after the family with San Diego roots ran into trouble off the coast of Mexico.

• Read: Timeline of Sick Baby Rescued at Sea
  

After the little girl’s symptoms - diarrhea, vomiting and rash – were evaluated by a flight surgeon, it was determined crews should immediately launch the rescue attempt, Polo said.

The intervention was something his crews have done many times before for marine merchants and fishermen but never for a baby; Polo said he’s never seen anything like this in his 30-year career.

Once the guardsmen got to the sailboat, Polo said it was apparent that, given the seriousness of the situation, his crews had gotten there just in time.

The family returned to San Diego around 10 a.m. Wednesday, Navy officials confirmed.

The Kaufman's two-year voyage of bringing babies to sea has ignited a national debate over their parenting decisions. The topic even made it to the front page of the New York Times.

• Read: Stranded Family Defends Decision to Sail with Babies

As for the criticism the parents face from people across the country, Polo said the Kaufmans did everything right when they realized the baby needed medical attention.

“I understand what it means to be a parent," he said. "I’m also a surfer and I have been in situations where things have not gone right in the ocean.”

On Thursday, Lyra Kaufman fell seriously ill just as the family’s boat, the Rebel Heart, lost its communication and steering abilities.

Thursday night, the California Air National Guard dropped four pararescuemen from a plane into the ocean. Those men climbed aboard the Rebel Heart to stabilize Lyra.

• Read: "The Whole Thing Is Nuts:" Sailing Parents' Family Lambasts Trip

Navy frigate USS Vandegrift reached the boat two days later, and Sunday morning, the Kaufmans boarded the rescue ship.

The child was back in San Diego Wednesday and headed to her family physician, according to Navy officials.

The flying saucers of science fiction movies might be the shape of things to come for future Mars missions that are expected to involve larger payloads that today's landing vehicles are not equipped to handle.

The saucer-shaped landing systems in development, part of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project, will be sent into near-space in June from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. Scientists provided a mission overview Wednesday at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Refresh this page for video from the event.

Current landing technologies rely primarily on parachute designs dating to the 1970s Viking Program. That design placed two landers on Mars in 1976 and the same basic technology was used about 35 years later when the Curiosity rover landed on Mars' surface.

After a parachute deployed high above Mars' surface, rocket thrusters were used to slow Curiosity's landing vehicle. The rover was then dropped by cables from the spacecraft and gently placed on the landing site before the tethers were disconnected and the spacecraft soared clear of the site.

• Download: NBCLA Mobile App

NASA's landing vehicles in development would use the saucer shape to maximize atmospheric drag -- slowing and stabilizing the spacecraft after it enters Mars' atmosphere for final approach, a process described as "six minutes of terror." Increasing drag would save rocket engines and fuel required for complex landing maneuvers.

Friction already slows a spacecraft considerably after it enters Mars' atmosphere during the first four minutes of entry. But the spacecraft is still traveling at about 1,000 mph at that point and decelerates to about 200 mph after parachute deployment, which occurs at about 300 feet from the surface, according to NASA.

Thruster rockets, giant airbag cushions and tethers can all be used for the remainder of the descent, but the larger payloads possible in future Mars missions require something more advanced. The decelerators being developed by NASA -- pufferfish-like inflatable devices and an improved parachute -- can almost double payload mass, according to researchers.

The concept was ground-tested using a rocket sled in June 2012. The balloon-like inflatable devices extend around the vehicle to increase drag. A large parachute would then deploy to scrub off more speed.

The parachute is so large it did not fit in a wind tunnel, so researchers used the rocket-powered sled test at the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake.

The upcoming test flights will give scientists a better idea of how the technology works when the saucer is sent high above Earth. The vehicles could be used in Mars missions as early as 2018, according to NASA.

 

A house fire in the Logan Heights area sparked an arson investigation Wednesday evening, officials said.

At around 4:30 p.m., police and fire crews were called to the 3000-block of National Avenue to investigate reports of arson. When officials arrived on scene, they found a home on fire, and a man barricaded inside a room.

The area was blocked off as firefighters tackled the blaze.

A short time later, the man in the room was taken into custody on suspicion of arson, officials said.

According to police, the man had been threatening to hurt his mother. When police were called, the suspect barricaded himself inside a room and began lighting things on fire.

Officials said the man may have also physically harmed himself, though that's still under investigation. He was taken to a local hospital with unspecified injuries.

The man's name was not immediately released. The San Diego Police Department said further details are forthcoming. The suspect will be charged with arson, and possible other counts.

The investigation is ongoing.

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