Midwest

Video shows ex-‘American Idol’ contestant’s emotional outburst after he allegedly killed his wife

Published

4 weeks ago

March 8, 2026

Video shows ex-‘American Idol’ contestant’s emotional outburst after he allegedly killed his wife

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Newly released bodycam video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the husband of an Ohio teacher, who was shot and killed inside the couple’s home, reacting in the immediate aftermath of her death.

Caleb Flynn, 39, is charged with murder stemming from the death of his wife, Ashley Flynn.

The mother, teacher and volleyball coach was shot and killed inside the family’s Tipp City home on Feb. 16. Caleb Flynn was arrested later the same week after he initially called 911 to report that someone had broken into the family’s home.

Video released by Tipp City police shows officers arriving at the home believing they were responding to a botched burglary attempt, with some clips blurred while showing the inside of the residence.

Ashley and Caleb Flynn in an undated photo with their two children. (GoFundMe)

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The officers subsequently encounter Caleb Flynn inside the home.

“Oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” a sobbing Caleb Flynn says in the video.

“Is she, is she gone?” he asks. “What do I do with my daughters?”

Caleb Flynn continues to appear frantic throughout the initial search of the home, loudly crying and hyperventilating as officers attempt to communicate with him.

At one point, he can be heard calling his own mother to inform her of the situation.

“Ashley’s dead,” he repeats, sobbing, “Mommy, she’s gone. I don’t know what to do.”

FAMILY OF OHIO TEACHER ‘CLINGING TO FAITH’ AFTER EX-‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT HUSBAND CHARGED WITH HER MURDER

Bodycam video shows Caleb Flynn bending down to vomit after his wife’s death inside their home in Tipp City, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2026. (Tipp City Police Department)

Several minutes later, bodycam video captures Caleb Flynn exiting the home before stumbling and falling to the ground.

He is later seen throwing up in the front yard of his home as he is comforted by a woman who arrived at the scene and is later identified as the children’s grandmother.

“The girls don’t know,” he adds, as the woman also breaks down in tears.

The couple shared two daughters, who were asleep inside the home when the shooting happened, according to a 911 call and the bodycam video.

FMR AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANT, HUSBAND OF OHIO TEACHER CHARGED WITH WIFE’S MURDER AFTER SHE WAS FOUND IN HOME

Caleb Flynn and a woman cry in bodycam video recorded on the day Ashley Flynn was killed. (Tipp City Police Department)

In a 911 call obtained by Fox News Digital, Caleb Flynn can be heard telling authorities that someone broke into his house and killed his wife.

“Oh my god, somebody broke into my home, somebody broke into my home and shot my wife,” Caleb Flynn said. “My wife, she’s got two shots to her head, there’s blood everywhere. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my God.”

CHRISTIAN MOTHER, TEACHER FOUND DEAD AS POLICE HUNT HOMICIDE SUSPECT IN OHIO HOME INVASION

The dispatcher then asked if Ashley was breathing, to which he responded, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Ashley, Ashley, baby, baby please, oh my god, there’s no – she’s not!” he said.

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Caleb Flynn then added that he found the door “leading to the garage door” “wide open” at the time of the shooting.

Additionally, the individual who called 911 told dispatchers that the kids were asleep in their rooms at the home, according to News Center 7.

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“Someone broke into the RP [reporting person’s] house, unknown if they are still there. Garage door is open,” the dispatcher said. “There was apparently a female shot in the head. Is not responding currently.”

Caleb Flynn was arraigned in court on Friday, Feb. 20. (Dayton Daily News)

“Squad is en route; they aren’t staged yet. Are they good to respond in?” the dispatcher asked.

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“Yes, one person only,” a first responder replied.

The two young children were reportedly asleep in their bedrooms when the shooting happened.

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“RP and juvenile daughter are locked in a bedroom,” the dispatcher told police, according to the outlet. “Just a correction — the juveniles are going to be in their own rooms asleep currently.”

Three days later, Caleb Flynn was arrested in connection with his wife’s killing.

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He is charged with murder, two counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors allege that “Caleb Flynn murdered his wife [redacted] in the morning hours of February 16, 2026,” according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. He allegedly used a 9mm handgun to kill his wife and later staged a crime scene inside the home, causing responding officers to be “led estray,” documents said.

Caleb Flynn is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Ashley Flynn, inside their Ohio home as their young daughters slept. (Ashley Flynn/Facebook)

He was later booked into the Miami County Jail and arraigned. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and had his bond set at $2 million.

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In a previous statement to Fox News Digital, Caleb Flynn’s attorney, L. Patrick Mulligan, said prosecutors rushed to accuse his client of murder.

“Caleb Flynn entered a plea of Not Guilty this morning and looks forward to defending this case. We are both disappointed and concerned about the short timeline and seeming rush to judgment in this case,” Mulligan said. “When the government runs out of leads or can’t develop leads and looks at a surviving spouse in cases such as these, the chance of a wrongful conviction increases.”

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In 2013, Caleb Flynn was a contestant on “American Idol” and was filmed talking about his love for his wife and their relationship during a Hometown Interview segment.

“I absolutely love the Lord. I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. I love her,” Caleb Flynn said. “But, you know, I’m just a normal person who absolutely loves to sing more than anything in the world.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Flynn’s attorney for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Tessa Hoyos and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.

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South Dakota

South Dakota’s Once-Thriving Prairie Town Now Sits Abandoned – Islands

Published

7 minutes ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota’s Once-Thriving Prairie Town Now Sits Abandoned – Islands

Leah Andrews/Shutterstock

Some ghost towns in the United States used to be popular hotspots along Route 66, the “Mother Road” that extended thousands of miles from Illinois to California. Others, like the once-thriving prairie town of Okaton, South Dakota, were established along historic railroads. Now largely abandoned, the eerie ghost town makes an interesting detour on the way to one of America’s best road trip destinations, Badlands National Park.

Located in south-central South Dakota, about a 45-minute drive east of the national park, Okaton was founded in the early 1900s on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. According to Legends of America, the town was thriving in the years immediately after it was built, home to a farming community as well as a number of railroad workers. However, most of those workers didn’t stick around as the railroad expanded westward, and the town grew quieter. The remaining residents were primarily farmers and homesteaders — and many of them ultimately left, too, in search of employment during the Great Depression. Decades later, in the 1980s, the train tracks fell out of use, and few people stayed there.

Around the same time, one enterprising couple from Illinois, the Westlakes, tried to turn Okaton into a tourist attraction. Signs on the I-90 highway nearby advertised “Westlake’s Ghost Town,” bringing in visitors to enjoy a stroll around the abandoned prairie town (and newly installed features, including a petting zoo and a rock shop). Their venture was moderately successful, but after the owners passed away, their tourist site became a thing of the past. Just like Vinton, Ohio, another abandoned railroad community, Okaton is a ghost town that visitors can still explore today.

Discover the eerie ghost town of Okaton

To get to Okaton, take Exit 183 off I-90, west of Murdo. In the abandoned prairie town, there are a handful of original streets with some buildings still standing. These include several dilapidated houses and shacks, a wooden grain elevator, a general store with gas pumps, and a crumbling old school. Also on view are Okaton’s deteriorated railroad tracks, and out on the fields, visitors can spot rusty farm equipment once used by the region’s cattle ranchers and grain farmers.

Atlas Obscura writes that the ghost town is “a very creepy place to visit, even in the middle of the day, but amazingly photogenic.” Many past visitors echoed the same sentiment, mentioning that it’s a great spot for photographs. As one traveler commented on Instagram, the once-thriving town “felt exactly how I imagined — quiet, worn down, and slowly being reclaimed by time.”

Keep in mind that the ghost town may still have a few residents, even if you don’t see anyone around. The place is no longer a managed tourist attraction — Okaton’s ramshackle buildings are privately owned, and visitors should not attempt to go inside. Luckily, past visitors say that you can take great photos of the crumbling buildings without even getting out of your car. If you love discovering abandoned towns, find out more about visiting Rhyolite, one of the best-preserved and most photographed ghost towns in the country.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin basketball adds SEC opponent to 2026-27 schedule

Published

49 minutes ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin basketball adds SEC opponent to 2026-27 schedule

The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team wasted no time scheduling an SEC opponent for the 2026-27 season.

Alex Rosinski confirmed the Badgers will head to Nashville on December 19 to play Auburn, a team competing for the NIT Championship on April 5.

The Tigers were the talk of the town come Selection Sunday with their 17-16 record. Claiming it had the nation’s best win at Florida on January 24, Auburn did everything in its power to talk its way into the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the team had to settle for the NIT.

Auburn has taken care of business against South Alabama, Seattle U, Nevada, and Illinois State en route to the championship game against Tulsa.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also confirmed Wisconsin’s game against Auburn on December 19 will take place at the Bridgestone Arena. Auburn usually plays its home games at the Neville Arena, which is about a five-hour trip from the home of the Nashville Predators.

Even though Wisconsin is coming off a disappointing tournament loss, Greg Gard isn’t messing around. This is yet another high-profile non-conference game he’s added to the team’s schedule. For what it’s worth, this is only the second all-time meeting between these two teams.

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Detroit, MI

Mitch Albom: Detroit Opening Day tradition embraces the local perfectly

Published

7 hours ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

Mitch Albom: Detroit Opening Day tradition embraces the local perfectly

To many people, it makes no sense. Here was the seventh game of a 162-game baseball season, the Detroit Tigers had lost four of the six already played, yet seemingly the entire city converged on downtown Friday, April 3, to get into the stadium, or sit outside the stadium, or just hang around the stadium.

They stuffed bars and restaurants. They drank beer despite the early hour. They wore orange or blue clothing and caps with an Old English “D.” There is no way to count how many total people swarmed the streets, or how many of them had called in sick to their jobs to be here.

We call it Opening Day, and in Detroit it is virtually a holiday. Not elsewhere. Other cities don’t make this fuss. To many of them, going wild for the seventh game of the season makes no sense.

And that’s OK.

In fact, it’s perfect.

Far from the only nonstandard tradition

Opening Day made me think about how many things we do around these parts that are uniquely ours, traditions that we cherish but which don’t necessarily travel.

The Dream Cruise. It began as a charity event, and is now is a fixture on the August calendar. But if you tell someone in Boston or San Diego that thousands of people sit in lawn chairs along a busy boulevard to watch old cars drive past, you’ll get laughed out of the room.

The Independence Day Fireworks. Yes, other cities have them. No, they don’t have them in late June. We do. Supposedly we do this because of our proximity to Canada, which celebrates on a different schedule. Of course, Canada Day is July 1, and America’s holiday is July 4, so someone should explain how June got in there.

But, hey, maybe they shouldn’t. It’s our tradition. And that’s what’s important.

Sweetest Day. Hate to break this to area lovers, but that’s not really a thing in the most of the country.

Paczki Day – yes, it’s a way to celebrate Fat Tuesday, but it’s much bigger here in the Midwest than in other regions.

The Charity Preview at the Detroit Auto Show. That’s like the Motor City’s Met Gala, but it doesn’t exist elsewhere. And auto shows in general are not the must-see events they are in our town.

Traditions like throwing octopi at hockey games, singing “born and raised in South Detroit!” chanting “Onward Down the Field” when the Lions score or yelling “DEEE-TROIT BAS-KET-BALLLLLL!” are things you will not witness anywhere else.

And it may be a hot dog everywhere else, but it’s a coney here.

If all of this makes us quirky, well, quirky we should be. Because in a world of increasing homogenization, local traditions are in peril.

A taste for tradition

Consider what the internet and multinational corporations desire. Everyone on the same page at the same time.

Apple wants the whole world to line up at a given hour for the new iPhone. Taylor Swift wants the whole world hanging on her latest release. Local coffee shops get swallowed by chains. Local eateries surrender to fast food.

As someone who travels for work, I can tell you, decades ago when you went to the South, you heard different music on the radio. You went out West, you saw different retail outlets. You felt like an outsider. You felt like you were someplace new and wondrous.

Today, Nashville looks like Austin looks like Raleigh looks like Phoenix. There’s your P.F. Chang’s next to your Cheesecake Factory. There’s your Best Buy alongside your Costco. The goal of global economies is scale, big numbers, national – even international – audiences. Everyone wants to be the Super Bowl.

But what of the joy of regional customs? Local traditions? The food you can only get here, the music you can only hear there. As the internet shrinks our distance, it also fades our individuality.

When I was a kid in Philadelphia, they had a parade every New Year’s Day, where string bands marched and people wore these crazy costumes, painted their faces, and competed in different categories. It was called the Mummers Parade, and in my youthful naivete, I thought every city did this. Later I realized it was unique to Philly, and in fact, many outsiders found it silly.

Well, as Paul McCartney sang, it isn’t silly at all. Local color shades who we are. Local activities give us a sense of identity. Local traditions bind us to our hometowns, and our shared memories with neighbors.

So we can ask “Did you go to Opening Day?” around here and people know what we mean. There’s something precious about that. In an age of everyone buying from Amazon and eating at McDonald’s, we should fiercely protect what makes us unique.

So yeah, wearing a “Trammell” jersey or telling your friends, “I’ll meet you at Mario’s before the game for the lobster buffet” may make no sense to outsiders. Good. It’s not supposed to.

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates on his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow @mitchalbom on x.com.

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