A father is pleading for help in finding his daughter, who went missing on Oct. 13 in San Diego.
"It's still pretty much a mystery,” said Edward Ricks, Elizabeth Sullivan's father.
The Navy wife and mother of two hasn't had any contact with her family or friends and was last seen at her home near Liberty Station on Oct. 13.
"I feel like she's in trouble, and I've come out here from Virginia to look for her and to let her know we're here,” Ricks said.
The missing woman's car was found at home, and her cell phone has since been turned off.
Just days after Sullivan was reported missing, police say she was spotted at the soccer fields at Liberty Station. But since then, there has been no communication or sightings. Police say they have no new leads, but her father says the family still has hope.
“I have hope. I have faith. I walk by faith,” Ricks said.
That faith has brought him thousands of miles to help with the search.
"If in any way she hears this and can get to a telephone or in some way reach out to me, we will come and get her, and that's what I want her to know,” Ricks said.
He’s asking San Diegans to be on the lookout for his daughter.
“It can happen to you. When it does, it gets very personal, and it takes on a whole new light when it happens to you," he said. "You get a strength like you never had before because that's my daughter and I'm bringing her home.”
Sullivan's father and police are asking anyone who has seen her or has any information to call San Diego police. There is now a $1,000 reward for accurate information about her whereabouts. The family has also started a Facebook page and a Go Fund Me account to help support their efforts to find her.
Sullivan is described as an African American woman who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 130 pounds. She has dark hair and dark eyes.
The two officers who shot at a woman driving a stolen California Highway Patrol car have been identified.
The ordeal started Thursday on Interstate 5 near Mission Bay Park. CHP officers handcuffed 27-year-old Casaundra Lane in connection to a hit-and-run and placed her in the back of a CHP vehicle. The suspect managed to get her hands in front of her body, climbed in the front seat and tried to run over an officer, according to the San Diego Police Department. Police said she also tried to reach for a rifle in the cruiser’s console.
That officer, identified as Alexander Pereira, fired several shots at Lane as she drove away in the CHP car, police said.
San Diego police officers spotted the stole CHP vehicle in Mission Valley, where it rammed three civilian vehicles. SDPD Officer Vern Colglazier fired a single shot at the CHP car, police said. Lane was not injured and was taken into custody.
She faces a litany of charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, vehicle theft, taking a law enforcement vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
Pereira is a 12-year veteran of the CHP assigned to the San Diego station. Colglazier has been with SDPD for seven years and works out of the Mid-City Division, according to police.
The father of Joseph McStay has claimed his son’s alleged killer would still be free if another sheriff’s department had not taken over the case.
Patrick McStay has criticized the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDCSD), claiming they did not do enough in the three years they investigated the disappearance of his son and his family from their home in Fallbrook in 2010.
It follows Joseph’s brother Michael publically thanking the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBCSD) after detectives arrested 57-year-old Charles "Chase" Merritt, who was charged Friday with killing his former business partner and his family
"I knew they (SDCSD) screwed this thing up," Patrick McStay said, "All the rest was just sugar coating to make it look like they really were interested in solving, doing something. They did virtually nothing."
Patrick McStay said Merritt, who did contracting work with his son, was always someone who he believed could have had something to do with the incident.
"Chase was always somebody, you know, chasing the dollar," Patrick McStay said. "And I think that's what it was it was all about the money."
And while he is happy that a breakthrough appears to have been made in the case, he said he will continue to work to make sure justice is served.
"There’s still things that we're looking into," Patrick McStay said, "It's not over like they say until the fat lady sings, and I don't hear her singing yet."
Joseph McStay, his wife Summer McStay and their two young children went missing in 2010 and their remains were discovered in a shallow desert grave north of Victorville last year.
At one point the SDCSD investigators suggested the missing family had gone to Mexico voluntarily.
SBCSD detectives now believe the McStays were killed in their Fallbrook home, with the cause being blunt force trauma.
The San Diego authorities told NBC4 when they went to the house they did not find any blood, and that at the time they were not looking for a murder scene, but were treating the incident as a missing persons case.
A body found at Mission Beach has been identified as a local man missing since Halloween.
On Saturday, the San Diego County Medical Examiner confirmed a body found Friday is 37-year-old Scott Braswell Bowles of Ocean Beach. A kayaker discovered Bowles’ body floating in the ocean in the 3100 block of Ocean Front Walk, officials said.
The medical examiner did not give details about how Bowles died.
The OB man was reported missing after his vehicle and cellphone were found left in his driveway. Bowles hadn’t been heard from since sending a text on Halloween.
The latest numbers show incumbent Democrat Scott Peters beating Republican challenger Carl DeMaio in the highly contentious race for the 52nd Congressional District.
The San Diego County Registrar released new vote tallies at 4 p.m. Saturday. Peters currently has 94,301 votes, or 51.3 percent, while DeMaio has 89,530 votes, or 48.7 percent. The candidates are separated by 4,771 votes.
The county notes there are about 74,000 mail-in and provisional ballots still to be counted. It is unclear how many of those ballots are from District 52.
DeMaio was leading after Election Night, but Peters' lead has since been expanding.
Check back for updates.
A child was injured in a fireworks mishap at the KGB Sky Show Saturday night, San Diego Police confirmed.
The incident occurred during the fireworks show following the San Diego State University football game against Idaho at Qualcomm Stadium.
As fireworks were shooting from the field, one shoot fell over and fired into the Field Level Section 9, SDPD told NBC 7.
The device struck an 11-year-old in the crowd, injuring the child's leg and torso.
Police said the child's mother took the child to the medics at the stadium.
Officials did not have an update on the child's condition.
No one else was injured, police said.
If you have video or images of the incident or any breaking news, send to isee@nbcsandiego.com.
A Manhattan prosecutor accused of choking a woman during an argument in an Irish bar has been arraigned on an assault charge in the courthouse where he works.
Eli Cherkasky, 35, is accused of grabbing a woman by her arms and shouting at her at about 2 a.m. on Nov. 1 at the bar Failte in Kips Bay. After a few minutes, he attacked her again, pushing her to the floor and choking her with both hands, according to the criminal complaint.
He was released on his own recognizance after being arraigned Friday night, according to court records.
Cherkasky, who has worked eight years for the Manhattan D.A.’s office, is charged with assault, criminal obstruction of breathing, menacing and harassment.
A prosecutor from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office will handle the case to avoid any conflict of interest.
Cherkasky's lawyer did not immediately return a message requesting comment about the charges.
Funerals were held Saturday for the three 13-year-old girls who were struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Halloween.
A service for twin sisters Lexi and Lexandra Perez was held at Our Lady Guadalupe in Santa Ana, California. A service for Andrea Gonzalez was held at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange.
Family, friends and community members gathered at the funerals to remember the girls and provide their support.
"Who wouldn’t be touched?" said Father Marlon Beof of the community’s response, before conducting the ceremony for the twins. "They’re shocked and they’re affected … they feel it."
Elvia Banuelos, who said her niece is a friend of the family, said she doesn’t know what to do other than show up in support.
"What words can you say that are going to make (the twins’ mom) feel better?" she said. "There’s nothing you can."
In Orange, the Holy Family Cathedral filled up with people there to commemorate Andrea.
"Honestly I didn’t think that there was going to be that much people in there," said family friend George Alvarado. "That brought joy to me."
Twelve-year-old Arlene Molina attended Andrea’s funeral to celebrate her friend.
"She was a really nice person. She had a great smile on her face every day," Molina said. "I miss her. It was hard to let go."
The three girls were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash last Friday, which occurred while they were trick-or-treating. They were struck at a crosswalk in the 1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue by a Honda CRV, the driver of which fled the scene.
Jaquinn Ramone Bell, 31, of Orange was arrested Sunday morning at a Motel 6 in Stanton and is being held on $1 million bail.
He faces felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, one felony count of hit-and-run with permanent injury or death, one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license with sentencing enhancement allegations for personally inflicting great bodily injury and fleeing the scene of a crime after committing a vehicular manslaughter. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 17 years in state prison.
Michael Larkin contributed to this report.
A man was found on fire on top of a Metro-North train headed from Stamford, Connecticut, to New York City on Sunday morning.
The train, due to arrive at Grand Central Station at 6:19 a.m, lost power shortly after 5 a.m. at the Riverside Metro-North station in Connecticut, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
While investigating the power outage workers found Brian McClellen, 21, of Ohio, on top of the train and on fire, according to the MTA. They used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.
McClellen was electrocuted and burned after a pantograph — a mechanical arm on top of the train that collects power from the overhead wires — came down on him as the train entered the station, the MTA police said.
The MTA said it is unclear how McClellen ended up on top of the train, but Greenwich police told NBC New York that the man got on the train while it was in motion. Police told News 12 Connecticut that he jumped onto the moving train near the Greenwich/Stamford line and rode it for a while.
A possible explosion happened when the train was at the station in Riverside, Greenwich police told News 12 Connecticut.
McClellen was transported to the burn unit at the Westchester Medical Center, according to police. His condition is unknown at this time, but he is alive, police told News 12 Connecticut.
The train was sent back to the Stamford station for inspection, police told News 12 Connecticut.
Twenty people were on the train at the time of the incident and another train came to pick up the passengers headed to Grand Central station.
Metro-North police are investigating the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a small plane crash near Gilroy that killed both passengers.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, told NBC Bay Area that the accident occurred Saturday evening. The airplane, a Cessna 140, took off from Frazier Lake Skypark east of Gilroy and was flying from Hollister to Watsonville. It crashed under unknown circumstances approximately 4 miles north-west of Hollister, Kenitzer said. The wreckage was discovered Sunday morning.
Deputies responded to a call around 10 a.m. from a rancher who reported the crash near Highway 152 and Canada Road, Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup said.
According to local authorities, there were two people on board the aircraft at the time of the crash. Santa Clara County Sheriff's office tweeted that there were no survivors. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
One of the victims is a woman from San Jose, and the other is a man from Gilroy, officers said.
The tight-knit community of pilots was stunned to learn one of its friends had taken off at the airpark Saturday and never returned.
"I knew him," Raymond Aalsgaard of Hollister said. "It's kind of hard, especially when you have a passenger. You have that responsibility."
One pilot said he often flies out of the airpark.
"Its a safe airport," Robert Couches of Pleasanton said. "I've been coming down here for about 25 years now."
The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the accident. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is also on the scene of the crash. Stenderup described the crash site as a rural area.
"We had to use ATVs and 4x4 to get to the actual crash site," he said.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
There were no survivors at the plane crash site. We aren't releasing any info about the plane or occupants until @NTSB arrives
— SantaClaraCoSheriff (@SCCoSheriff) November 9, 2014
Small plane crash east of Gilroy. @NTSB is on their way to the crash site and will be handling investigation and media.
— SantaClaraCoSheriff (@SCCoSheriff) November 9, 2014
#UPDATE @NTSB is expecting to arrive Monday morning. @SCCSSAR on scene helping with recovery of victims pic.twitter.com/TzyQaL2WUM
— SantaClaraCoSheriff (@SCCoSheriff) November 10, 2014
As police investigated a traffic crash that killed two people early Sunday morning, officers said a drunk driver barreled through the accident scene.
Miami-Dade Police said the driver of a Nissan X-Terra SUV was traveling northbound on NW 32nd Avenue around 4 a.m. when the driver of a Hyundai did not stop for a red light at NW 54th Street and hit the SUV. Both drivers died at the scene. Their names have not yet been released.
Witnesses told investigators that an older model white pick-up truck with blue lettering was at the scene at the time of the crash. Police are now looking for that driver for additional information about the accident.
During the investigation into the crash, police said 29-year-old Juan Frias drove his Nissan Maxima through the accident scene at a high rate of speed, nearly striking several people. Police said Frias struck and killed a dog before driving away.
Officers stopped Frias several blocks from the scene and arrested him for driving under the influence.
Chula Vista police are asking for the public's help to find two sisters.
Dulce Reyes, 12, and Estrella Reyes, 16, were last seen at their Chula Vista home around 3 p.m. Saturday, according to police. Police say the girls may have run away but are still considered at-risk because of their ages.
The girls could be with another female, Angelica, and a 3-year-old child, Sabastian. Officials say the girls may still be in National City or Chula Vista but could be heading to Fresno.
Dulce is described as 5-foot-2 and 112 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Estrella is 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds, also with brown eyes and brown hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call Chula Vista police at 619-691-5151.
A young man died after being shot several times Saturday night at a backyard get-together in Encanto.
The fatal shooting happened around 7:20 p.m. in the 2100 block of Winnet Street.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts by paramedics, according to San Diego police. Officials have not released the victim’s name but said he is in his 20s.
Homicide investigators were on the scene Saturday night interviewing witnesses and collecting forensic evidence. Family and friends who were visibly upset gathered in the area.
Police were seen photographing at least one person and dusting his hands. However, no one is in custody, according to police.
Police said two men escaped after the shooting, but it’s unclear if they fled in a car or on foot. Officers hope witnesses will provide some clues.
“We do have several people that are here that were witnesses to the scene, to the incident, and we're talking to them right now,” said SDPD Lt. Paul Rorrison.
Winnet one block south of Federal Boulevard was blocked off Saturday night during the police investigation.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at a roadside memorial in Los Angeles on Sunday night to honor a 21-year-old Army veteran who was shot and killed earlier following a dispute that erupted after a party, police said.
Francisco Garcia was shot on a Sylmar sidewalk at about 1:30 a.m. by a man who retrieved a handgun from a car, according to Los Angeles Police Department detectives.
Garcia died at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound, the detectives said. No arrests have been made in the case so far.
Lonny Potter, a fellow Army Veteran, said he was touched by Garcia’s story and drove several hours from Mojave so he could pay his respects.
"My heart was struck when he would go abroad to serve our country and then come back to die on our streets,” Potter said. “It's gut-wrenching. No veteran should ever have to face that."
Garcia, who served in Afghanistan, had recently become engaged and looked forward to one day becoming a father, friends said.
"He was really outgoing, he was really friendly,” said Garcia’s friend, Maddy Meraz. “I don't know why this would happen to him. I know he really wanted kids, too. He told me he wanted kids when he came back."
The LAPD released a statement early Sunday morning that Garcia was coming from a party thrown by his girlfriend on Dronfield Street to celebrate his return from Afghanistan about two weeks ago.
"A 22-year-old army veteran, recently returned from Afghanistan, was shot and killed early this morning after a dispute erupted outside a party celebrating his homecoming," read the 4:49 a.m. news release.
An earlier version of this story led with the homecoming detail.
But friends of Garcia's disputed to NBC4 that he had come home recently, and a representative of the County Coroner's Office said Garcia was 21, not 22.
Hours after the initial LAPD release, the department appeared to be backpedaling on its assertion.
A detective involved in the investigation said Sunday afternoon that the department now sees no evidence that the party was held in Garcia's honor, and that he returned from the Army in the summer.
"There was a gathering, but it wasn't specifically for a homecoming," Detective Juan Santa said, though he added it's still possible the party was a homecoming.
Garcia was walking to another location after leaving the party when two vehicles stopped near him and a man exited a dark SUV, Santa confirmed. The suspect, who is not believed to have been at the party, allegedly smashed a beer bottle on the ground and yelled at Garcia before retrieving a handgun from a white sedan and shooting him.
Neighbors said they heard six to eight rounds. No one else was reported injured in the shooting.
Garcia was hoping to join the California Highway Patrol -- he'd already been accepted into the CHP Academy, according to friends. Family members said he was looking forward to earning enough money to take care of his parents.
The friends said Garcia returned from Afghanistan four months ago after being honorably discharged because of an injury. He had served in Afghanistan for 18 months, they said, and was now living at his family's home.
Santa said the information identifying the gathering as a homecoming was sent out based on the "best information that we had at the time."
He noted that the "human element" in the story is not pertinent to the LAPD's investigation.
The commanding office of the Mission Detective Division, Lt. Paul Vernon, said in the early morning statement that the shooting was ironic: "To survive as a soldier in an overseas conflict, only to be killed in your old neighborhood upon your return."
Veterans Day is this Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Garcia's sister set up a fund for funeral arrangements and other expenses. Anyone wishing to donate can do so here.
Correction: An earlier version of this story has incorrectly stated Francisco Garcia's age, based on information provided by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Kate Larsen contributed to this report.
A 91-year-old man was killed and a 79-year-old woman was badly injured in a crash Sunday morning in Carlsbad.
The accident happened around 9:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Monroe Street. A car crossed into the opposite lane, kept going and rammed into trees on the side of the road, according to the Carlsbad Police Department. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
The 91-year-old man, who was the passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene. The 79-year-old female driver was taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital with major injuries, according to police.
Officials have not released the victim’s name or what caused the driver to veer off course. They do not believe alcohol played a role in the crash.
Monroe Street between Marron Road and Hospital Way was closed for several hours after the accident.
Domestic violence charges won't be filed against San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald after his felony arrest in August, the Santa Clara County district attorney announced Monday, saying there was "insufficient evidence" to prosecute him.
"I am relieved that the DA's office has rightfully decided not to file charges," McDonald said in a statement issued through the team, stressing that he "cooperated fully" with the investigation. " I want to thank everyone who was supportive during this difficult time."
The District Attorney's decision - much to the dismay of a leading Silicon Valley domestic violence center - comes more than two months after McDonald's highly publicized, jealousy-fueled fistfight with his pregnant fiancee at his 30th birthday party at his San Jose home Aug. 31. Each blamed the other for the violence, and prosecutors said "verifiable witnesses" could not be found.
Also, no one had significant injuries, and McDonald's fiancee refused to let police take photos of her after she called 911 to report the attack, prosecutors noted in an internal memo released to the public.
"The decision is clear because we have mutual fighting between two parties, each party blaming the other and there are no verifiable eyewitnesses, no one with significant injuries, and no allegation of prior domestic violence by McDonald," Supervising Deputy DA Cindy Seeley Hendrickson and Deputy DA Lindsay Walsh said in the memo. "The fact that the appropriate charging decision is clear does not make it simple or easy. Facts surrounding the incident remain unknown despite extensive investigation."
Both recommended to their boss, DA Jeff Rosen, that he not file charges.
"It was absolutely essential to release this memo," NBC Bay Area Legal Analyst Steven Clark said. "In light of all the NFL domestic violence arrests, especially the Ray Rice video and a national spotlight on the case, if they don't explain their methodology to the public, well, that would have been a big mistake."
But the mistake, according to Kathleen Krenek, executive director of Next Door Solutions in San Jose, was made by the prosecutors in not charging McDonald. "I don't agree with the decision," she said. "I"m disappointed." She ticked off several reasons for her dismay, including the fact that women don't need to want to press charges for charges to be filed, and it doesn't matter if the woman throws the first punch - the overal size of the "dominant agressor" should be taken into account. "It's a shame," she said. "I don't know what the message is to other women."
McDonald was arrested on a felony charge the day after the party, and spoke little to NBC Bay Area after he was released the next morning and posted $25,000 bail. He had steadfastly denied harming his fiancee.
The 49ers have kept McDonald on the field since his arrest. 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh has publicly stated he doesn't condone domestic violence, but he wanted due process to play out. On Monday, the team sent out a statement reiterating this, adding that "there will be no change in Ray's status with the team."
The two prosecutors said they interviewed witnesses at the party who said the woman struck McDonald first, and the "evidence shows injuries consistent with restraint and an ensuing scuffle rather than attack," the memo reads.
The memo did offer new details on the nature of the couple's relationship, and a rare window into the in-depth prosecutors' followup investigation that average citizens do not typically get in a standard domestic violence arrest.
"This was investigated to the fullest," Clark said. "The DA gave it the highest scrutiny. You want people to know that you're taking domestic violence seriously. But without a video, they have to be mindful that they had to prove this case in court."
McDonald and his fiancee have been dating since July 2013 and were engaged in February. As of August, the month the fight was reported, the two had lived together "on and off" for 11 months at McDonald's home. She was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of the birthday party.
During the party, women began flirting with McDonald, and he became concerned about texts he was receiving from women he met the night before, the memo says. He called the 49ers' security director, who connected him with San Jose Police Sgt. Sean Pritchard, who was in uniform, possibly on duty and whom McDonald knew from moonlighting as a 49ers security guard. Pritchard told Pritchard that he was afraid the women would show up at his home and cause problems, according to the memo.
The prosecutors noted that this relationship between the football player and the officer posed some conflict of interest problems, but added it would need to be followed up administratively within the department. The prosecutors also said this relationship did not taint the domestic violence investigation.
Some time between 1:50 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 31, one of the women at the party stopped by McDonald's fiancee's room where she was sleeping to say that some women were getting "too friendly" with McDonald, the report states.
The fiancee got up to confront these women. She asked one of the women to "step outside," the memo states.
McDonald got mad that his fiancee was "embarrassing" him, the memo says, and he was concerned with the "aggressive manner" that his fiancee was talking to the other woman, especially because she was pregnant.
McDonald followed his fiancee inside and began calling her names, calling her an "unfit mother," the report states, and threatening to take her baby.
Then a punch flew.
Both McDonald and his fiancee said she threw it, the prosecutors noted. The woman described it as a "single push." McDonald said she hit him "multiple times with a closed fist."
At some point they ended on the couch. She said McDonald threw her. He said they fell.
Then McDonald "grabbed her neck" to remove her from the house, which resulted in a "visible injury." She said she was "fighting back."
McDonald called Pritchard at 2:39 a.m. to say: “I need to get this female out of my house.”
She called 911 two minutes later to say: “Hello. I’d like to press for a domestic violence… My fiancé… He’s trying to pull me out of the house… He’s drunk… I think he’s calling the cops, he, he’s trying to get me out.”
Prosecutors also said there was a previous altercation at McDonald's home that also couldn't be verified. Prosecutors said the May 24 altercation amounted to a he-said-she-said over whether she fired a gun at McDonald, and the issue couldn't be sorted out because of the couple's conflicting and changing stories.
When police arrived and eventually arrested the 49er, prosecutors said, his fiancee said she did not want her boyfriend taken into custody. She just didn't want to be kicked out of the house.
Later, she sent McDonald a text, according to prosecutors: "S--- got way out of hand."
A yellow cement truck toppled over Monday morning in La Jolla, injuring one person and blocking traffic.
The accident happened around 9:15 a.m. in a residential neighborhood in the 7200 block of Via Capri.
One person was treated at the scene for minor injuries, according to San Diego Fire. There is no word yet on what caused the work truck to overturn.
The accident blocked traffic on Via Capri, and police officers were called to divert traffic in the area.