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Facebook Marketplace shoppers terrorized at gunpoint after teens lure victims with holiday gift items: police

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Facebook Marketplace shoppers terrorized at gunpoint after teens lure victims with holiday gift items: police

Two teen suspects out of Houston are on the run after allegedly staging Facebook Marketplace scams and then robbing victims, according to police.

Arlando Lyles, 17, is wanted for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and theft from a person, and Christian Ray Pickett, 18, is wanted for theft from a person. Additional charges are pending, according to the Houston Police Department (HPD).

Lyles and Pickett are at least two suspects wanted in a series of incidents stemming from Facebook Marketplace, in which suspects pose as sellers with fake profiles, meet up with buyers in person and then rob the buyers, HPD’s Robbery Division said in a press release.

HPD officers believe there may be more suspects involved who are posing as fake sellers on Facebook Marketplace. Investigators say the robberies have occurred at 15 locations involving 15 different victims, at least, since Sept. 21.

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Christian Ray Pickett, 18, and Arlando Lyles, 17, are wanted for their roles in a string of alleged Facebook Marketplace robberies. ( Houston PD)

Facebook Marketplace is a subsection of Facebook where any user can buy or sell items from other users. 

While the social media selling platform does have certain protections in place for buyers, it is rife with scammers who use fake profile pictures and names to pose as different people online. For example, a scammer might use a fake profile picture showing an elderly couple or young family in an effort to look like a realistic seller. 

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HPD says the 15 robberies since September occurred in “a variety of apartment complex parking lots in Southeast Houston.”

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Lyles allegedly pulled a gun on the mother of a family of five who traveled to a meeting location together in their vehicle while the woman’s 15-year-old son was just a few feet away. The father and their two other children, ages 8 and 10, ducked for cover inside the vehicle, according to ABC 13.

Houston Police Department says the 15 robberies since September occurred in “a variety of apartment complex parking lots in Southeast Houston.” (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

They intended to buy a PlayStation 5 from Lyles, whom the 15-year-old mother had been chatting with on Facebook Marketplace extensively before they met up, mostly in Spanish. However, when they arrived at the meeting location and Lyles did not speak Spanish, the 15-year-old had a feeling something was wrong, according to ABC 13.

THE DARK WORLD OF FACEBOOK ADS WHERE SCAMMERS ARE TRYING TO STEAL YOUR MONEY

“It’s cash in hand, ma’am. I just recently had a lot of bad experiences, not anything toward you,” Lyles allegedly said in one message before meeting up at a parking lot location he allegedly suggested.

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The 15-year-old and his mother got out of their vehicle to complete the transaction when things went south. Lyles allegedly demanded to see the $250 they brought in cash to buy the PlayStation before he handed it over.

Scammers are using the Facebook Marketplace to steal your information. (CyberGuy.com)

“I got [out of] the car, then my mom got off the car and when I was about to open it, he reached into his pocket, pulls [a gun] out, then aims it at mom, like to give him the money, and then he ran with the PS5 too,” the 15-year-old told ABC 13.

“Once the buyer arrives at the location, the suspects then rob the victim by pointing a firearm at them and then taking their money,” the HPD Robbery Division said in a press release.

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Their whereabouts were unknown as of Wednesday morning, and police are still asking the public for help looking for the two wanted teenagers. They are asking anyone who may have seen Lyles or Pickett to contact police.

In a video PSA posted to HPD’s X account on Nov. 26, Robbery Detective C. Lee recommended buyers suggest meeting Facebook Marketplace sellers at a local police department to complete their transactions and “avoid becoming a victim.”

Facebook Marketplace is a subsection of Facebook where any user can buy or sell items from other users. (Nic Coury / AFP)

“Look for things like profile pictures and account activity as good signs,” Lee said. “Many of these accounts that we’re seeing are blank accounts that are only used a few times.”

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The suspects often offer deals that are “too good to be true” and dictate the meeting place to connect with buyers, Lee said.

Police are asking anyone with information about these robberies to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston directly at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or by submitting an online tip at www.crime-stoppers.org. Information leading to an arrest may result in a cash payment of up to $5,000.

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Savannah Guthrie spotted in NYC as search for missing mother enters sixth week with few answers

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Savannah Guthrie spotted in NYC as search for missing mother enters sixth week with few answers

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TUCSON, Ariz. — “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie is back in New York City as the search for her missing mother enters its sixth week with little publicly known progress in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona.

Guthrie was photographed in public for the first time since her mother’s suspected abduction, alongside husband Mike Feldman and their young son in the Big Apple Sunday, days after an emotional reunion with her NBC colleagues and more than a month after her 84-year-old mother Nancy was last seen. 

Nancy’s disappearance shocked the country — especially when the FBI released disturbing surveillance video of a masked man on her doorstep.

Savannah Guthrie spent weeks in Tucson with her siblings as the investigation played out — before she and her older sister, Annie, added bouquets of yellow flowers to a growing display at the foot of their mother’s driveway. She quietly flew home to New York last week.

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Savannah Guthrie is seen out in New York with her husband Michael Feldman as the “Today” show anchor makes her first public appearance more than five weeks after the suspected abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. (ASPN / BACKGRID)

Sunday marked five weeks since the suspected kidnapping.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation, which is now being overseen by a task force consisting of local detectives and FBI agents.

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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

No suspects have been publicly identified.

A masked man who appeared on Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera around the time authorities said she was taken is described as being of average height and build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.

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Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

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He appeared to be armed with a handgun as well. Law enforcement sources said he visited Nancy Guthrie’s home at least once in advance of her disappearance, wearing a similar disguise.

Other identifying details are scarce.

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The use of cadaver dogs is also on hold, according to authorities, who re-canvassed Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood as recently as last week.

When asked if that meant they believed she is still alive, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to discuss evidence in the case.

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“Anything is possible,” he told Fox News Digital.

Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.

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There’s a reward of more than $1.2 million in play for information that leads to Nancy’s recovery.

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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.



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FBI subpoenas 2020 Arizona voting docs as federal push into election administration widens

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FBI subpoenas 2020 Arizona voting docs as federal push into election administration widens

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An Arizona state lawmaker revealed Monday that federal authorities subpoenaed him for records related to the 2020 election, marking the second publicly confirmed jurisdiction the Department of Justice is investigating over the matter.

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, said in a social media post he received the subpoena for material related to the state Senate’s 2020 audit last week and complied with it.

“Late last week I received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County,” Petersen wrote. “The FBI has the records. Any other report is fake news.”

The request represents an expansion of a federal probe tied to 2020 after the DOJ initially targeted Fulton County, Georgia. The development also comes as President Donald Trump has grown increasingly outspoken about election security in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms, renewing his attention on disputes stemming from the last presidential race.

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An election worker removes a ballot from an envelope to count and inspect the pages inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Petersen made the revelation after President Donald Trump shared a Just the News report about the subpoena on Truth Social, writing, “Great!!! FBI secretly seizes election records from Arizona’s largest county as voting probe expands.”

Multiple U.S. officials confirmed the election probe to Fox News, saying the DOJ is looking at a large tranche of Arizona data from 2020 and 2024.

President Donald Trump listens during an event about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

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The White House directed Fox News Digital to the FBI on Monday when asked for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, an elected Democrat, said the new investigation was based on claims that courts and state investigators have proven wrong.

“What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry,” Mayes said in a statement. “It is the weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies.”

JUDGE DISMISSES 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE AGAINST TRUMP

Attendees listen as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks at an “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally advocating passage of the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Sept. 10, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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The subpoena comes as the president increasingly focuses on election security ahead of the 2026 midterms, telling Congress in a social media post on Sunday that he will not sign any legislation into law until it passes the SAVE America Act.

The bill’s primary purpose is to require voters nationwide to show physical identification to prove citizenship to vote in federal elections. The version of the bill Trump is pushing would also ban mail-in ballots except for the military and in other extenuating circumstances.

Maricopa, Arizona’s most populous county, was a hotbed for accusations of voter fraud in 2020. Fulton County, Georgia, faced similar accusations, with the DOJ launching a separate investigation into the 2020 election earlier this year. 

Trump lost Arizona in 2020 by about 0.3 percentage points. The president refused to concede, and his legal team brought a series of lawsuits alleging vote-counting irregularities, but none were successful.

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Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

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Wisconsin man who fled Border Patrol checkpoint in stolen car killed after shootout in Texas, police say

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Wisconsin man who fled Border Patrol checkpoint in stolen car killed after shootout in Texas, police say

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FIRST ON FOX: A Wisconsin man driving a stolen vehicle was killed Wednesday after he fled through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and led authorities on a vehicle chase and shootout in Texas.

The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint in the Big Bend Sector between El Paso and Van Horn, a remote area. 

James Douglas McMillan, 33, of Greenfield, Wis., took off from the checkpoint after a Border Patrol drug K-9 alerted to the vehicle and agents directed McMillan to pull over for a secondary search, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. 

A migrant walks through the Rio Grande as he crosses the U.S.-Mexico border, March 13, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. On Wednesday, a man was shot and killed by authorities near El Paso after fleeing through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

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During the car chase, McMillan opened fire out of his vehicle window at DPS troopers and other authorities from several law enforcement agencies and civilian vehicles, DPS said.  

“As law enforcement returned fire, DPS Troopers performed a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver and successfully stopped the suspect vehicle,” a DPS statement said. 

McMillan barricaded himself in his vehicle and eventually pointed his weapon towards officers, prompting officers to open fire, authorities said. 

He was shot and killed. No law enforcement officers or civilians were hurt.  

Investigators determined McMillan was driving a vehicle reported stolen in Arizona. The shooting is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI and USBP.

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The shooting involved Border Patrol agents and DPS troopers.  (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

In January, a man suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants was shot by federal officers during a gunfire exchange in Arizona. 

Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, fled from authorities on foot and allegedly shot at a CBP helicopter and at agents, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, said at the time. 

A U.S. Border Patrol officer watches a USBP helicopter.  (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)

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Schlegal, a U.S. citizen from Arizona, underwent surgery and survived. No one else was harmed, authorities said. 

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