Southeast
DC plane crash: Potomac River divers' search for bodies complicated by conditions out of their control
As recovery efforts on the Potomac River continue after a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane on Wednesday night, a Virginia rescue diver and firefighter shed light on the challenges divers may be facing in the frigid waters.
A total of 64 people, including passengers and flight crew members, were aboard AA Flight 5342 from Wichita to Reagan National Airport (DCA). Three soldiers were conducting a training operation on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that came from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
All 67 people onboard both aircraft are presumed dead. As of Friday afternoon, authorities said they had recovered 41 sets of remains and identified 28 of those victims.
“This is incredibly unusual. You know, we’re trained and always ready to answer the call…when the dive call comes in. But that’s typically involving one victim. And in rare occasions, a couple of victims,” Jake Crockett, a firefighter and diver with the Scuba Rescue Team of Chesterfield Fire & EMS, told Fox News Digital.
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Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. A military helicopter collided with the plane on Wednesday. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“But something of this magnitude, you know, having 67 people to account for, along with two aircraft and all the debris is just it’s incredibly out of the ordinary. It’s something that, no doubt, none of them nor myself could have predicted.”
Crockett believes the recovery mission could last weeks, yet he is hopeful that all the victims will be accounted for in the next several days.
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“Obviously, they’re making really good progress in a short amount of time. But I’m sure that recovery of the victims should be the number one priority… providing closure to these families that have lost their loved ones should be the most important thing,” Crockett said.
“Once that is completed, then recovering the two aircraft and then also finding as much of the debris from the collision that they can in the river,” he added. “That is what is probably going to take the longest…they’re going to be looking for every single piece, every nut and bolt that they possibly can for the investigation.”
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FBI agents stand near debris, after a Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines flight 5342 while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. January 30, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Crockett said divers are likely to face a multitude of challenges in the Potomac River, with the largest being water visibility.
“It’s going to be zero visibility or close to zero is that they’ll be diving in, and so looking for small parts of an aircraft in that kind of visibility is going to be extremely challenging…the waters here and the lakes and ponds and rivers…when you go in, it’s just dark,” he said. “You rely 100% on touch and in your training, you fall back on your training of doing accurate search patterns, so that you don’t miss anything. You’re just touching everything that you can get your hands on and feeling it and trying to identify it.”
Without the ability to see in such a large body of water, Crockett explained that certain technology like sonar can help divers detect large objects underwater but added that there are limitations involved.
“At the end of the day, all the technology, it just gives you somewhere to look,” he said. “Someone will have to go down there to still recover, to still verify that this is something related.”
Crockett noted that the river’s temperature may also be an obstacle for divers during the recovery mission.
“The water temperature especially is just above freezing, which is, you know, it would be absolutely unbearable to jump in without, you know, without the appropriate diving suits,” he said. “Even with appropriate PPE, you can only stay in that water for so long before you start to lose dexterity in your hands, which would impact your searching.”
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Crockett said there’s “no telling” how far remains from the wreckage may reach.
“The Potomac is, is massive, you know, from where they are, it goes hundreds of miles all the way out to the Chesapeake Bay,” he said. “It’s a river, so it has a current…that’s another factor for the divers getting in.”
Crockett explained that the river’s current may be a significant factor for several reasons, including divers needing to fight the current and feeling “fatigue” as a result, and the flow of water potentially moving around victims’ remains and wreckage debris.
“They’ve got a really big job ahead of them, which is why I think this is going to be weeks-long, because in order to be thorough, they’re going to be up and down that river for miles looking,” he said.
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Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
What originally began as a search and rescue effort Wednesday turned to a recovery mission once officials believed there were no survivors.
“Once it’s turned over to a recovery mission…our goal is to provide that closure,” Crockett said, adding that the victims’ families “need to be able to properly bury their loved one and grieve and mourn in an appropriate way.”
Crockett added that if his team were called upon to aid in the recovery efforts, they would be prepared for the challenge.
“The first responder family is massive and everyone’s always willing,” he said.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Florida boat capsizes, leaving 1 person dead; Coast Guard suspends search for 3 others, including 2 children
The Coast Guard on Saturday evening, just before 7 p.m., said it was suspending the search for three passengers, including an adult and two children, after a boat capsized on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, near Goat Island, leaving one person dead.
Around 7 p.m. Friday, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville received an alert of a capsized 18-foot vessel with four people atop the overturned boat and four others trapped underneath.
The four people on top of the boat were rescued. None of the passengers were wearing life jackets, the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said it had searched for 17 hours, covering 270 square miles, and the search would be suspended, “pending the development of new information.”
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A Coast Guard member scans the St. Johns River Saturday for three missing boaters after their boat overturned in Jacksonville, Fla. (U.S. Coast Guard)
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of those missing,” Lt. Cmdr. Barton Nanney, a Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a statement. “Suspending search efforts is an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking decision, made only after an exhaustive and thorough search. We are truly grateful to our partner agencies for their relentless efforts and unwavering support.”
The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat and helicopter crew, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission assisted in the search.
“The four people on top of the vessel were rescued by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office marine unit, and one person was recovered from the water unresponsive,” the agency said in a news release Saturday. “A Coast Guard Station Mayport rescue surface swimmer attempted to contact the people reportedly underneath the vessel but received no responses.
“Divers from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office searched underneath the vessel but did not locate any people.”
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A Coast Guard member searches the St. Johns River Saturday for three missing boaters after their boat overturned in Jacksonville, Fla. (U.S. Coast Guard)
“At this point, we have found one person from the missing, and they are deceased,” Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department Capt. Eric Prosswimmer told reporters late Friday. “It’s a really unfortunate situation, and our hearts go out to all the family members.”
Officials haven’t released the age of the person who died.
A Coast Guard boat searches the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Fla. (U.S. Coast Guard)
The cause of the capsizing is under investigation.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department.
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Southeast
'Most hated mom' Casey Anthony returns to national spotlight after acquittal in daughter's murder
“America’s most hated mom,” Casey Anthony, is now promoting a new video series on TikTok in which she intends to speak about legal issues and “advocate” for her daughter, Caylee, whom she was accused of killing in 2008.
Anthony, now 38, was accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter in 2008 but has alleged that her father is the real perpetrator.
“This is my first of probably many recordings on a series I am starting,” Anthony said in a March 1 video posted to TikTok. “I am a legal advocate. I am a researcher. I have been in the legal field since 2011, and in this capacity, I feel that it’s necessary if I’m going to continue to operate appropriately as a legal advocate that I start to advocate for myself and also advocate for my daughter.”
She continued: “For those of you who don’t know, my name is Casey Anthony. My daughter is Caylee Anthony. My parents are George and Cindy Anthony. This is not about them. This is not in response to anything that they have said or done. … The whole point of this is for me to begin to reintroduce myself.”
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Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to law enforcement officers but not guilty of murder charges. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel)
Casey Anthony has become a household name over the last 17 years, inspiring multiple TV series and documentaries, including Peacock’s “Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies,” which premiered in 2022. A jury found Anthony guilty of lying to law enforcement but not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse after a trial in 2011. Caylee’s death remains unsolved.
Here is the timeline of events leading up to and after Caylee Anthony’s disappearance:
June 9, 2008
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Casey Anthony said she dropped her daughter off at her nanny’s apartment — a claim that was later revealed to be false, according to court documents.
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Casey said she then left for her job at Universal Studios Orlando — another claim later determined to be false.
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Casey said she left her job around 5 p.m. and drove back to her nanny’s apartment complex to pick up Caylee. She apparently tried to contact her nanny, but her phone had been disconnected. Casey later alleged that no one was home, so she drove to Jay Blanchard Park.
Caylee Anthony’s death in 2008 remains unsolved. (Orlando Sentinel/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service)
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Casey said she went to her then-boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro’s apartment and stayed with him from then on as she searched for her daughter.
June 12, 2008
Casey alleged she received a “quick call” from her daughter’s nanny on June 12, but she still did not know the whereabouts of the 2-year-old. She also said in a statement ahead of her trial that she had not called police at this point out of fear of her family.
June 15, 2008
Casey later revealed that the last time she saw her daughter was on June 16, 2008.
She said she and Caylee had been resting together in her bed that day because she “wasn’t feeling that great.” She said she thought she had locked the door of the room they were in but was awoken by her father, George, asking her where Caylee was.
“She would never even leave my room without telling me,” Casey told filmmakers in an interview featured in the 2022 Peacock documentary.
She continued: “I immediately started looking around the house. … I go outside, and I’m looking to see where she could be. She’s not in her playhouse. Where is she?”
When filmmakers asked if she looked inside the pool, Casey said she “didn’t have to.”
July 15, 2008
12 p.m.
Casey alleged that over a month after her daughter’s disappearance, on July 15, 2008, she received a phone call from Caylee.
“Today was the first day I have heard her voice in over four weeks,” Casey wrote in a 2008 statement. “I’m afraid of what Caylee is going through. After 31 days, I know that the only thing that matters is getting my daughter back.”
Evening
Casey’s parents, George and Cindy Anthony, called law enforcement multiple times to report their granddaughter missing and other nefarious activity.
“In the first two calls, Cindy Anthony requested police assistance in recovering a vehicle and money allegedly stolen by [Casey],” court records state. “In the third 9-1-1 call, Cindy Anthony reported that her granddaughter, Caylee, had been missing for approximately thirty days. Cindy Anthony testified that she made these phone calls because [Casey] would not tell her where Caylee was.”
CASEY ANTHONY MYSTERY: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
A cross is set up in the Caylee Anthony memorial that has been placed in the area where the 2-year-old’s remains were found on July 16, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. (Joe Raedle)
In the 911 calls, Cindy apparently told police that Casey’s car smelled like a “dead body,” according to Click Orlando.
“I called a little bit ago to the deputy sheriff’s and I’ve found out that my granddaughter has been taken — she has been missing for a month,” Cindy told emergency services. “Her mother had finally admitted that she had been missing.”
“We are talking about a 3-year-old little girl,” Cindy continued. “My daughter finally admitted that the baby sitter stole her. I need to find her.”
“There is something wrong. I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
The 911 operator then asked for clarity on the missing girl’s location.
“She said she took her a month ago and my daughter has been looking for her,” Cindy said. “I told you, my daughter has been missing for a month and I just found her today. But I can’t find my granddaughter. She just admitted to me that she’s been trying to find her by herself. There is something wrong. I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
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A courtroom monitor shows Casey Anthony talking with her father, George Anthony, while she was in jail in a video presented as evidence in her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, Friday, June 3, 2011. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service)
Law enforcement arrived at the Anthony family home that evening, separated the family members and got statements from each of them. Casey Anthony willingly gave a statement to police at the time, telling them she last saw her daughter with the nanny.
July 16, 2008
3:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
A detective arrived at the Anthony residence around 3:30 a.m.
Around 4:10 a.m., the detective spoke with Casey in a spare bedroom with the door open. The interview, which reaffirmed her written statement, was recorded with Casey’s consent.
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The detective then drove with Casey to the nanny’s apartment complex and two other locations where she believed the nanny may have lived later that morning, according to court documents.
Casey was arrested later that day for child neglect, obstruction and making fraudulent statements after authorities determined that her claims about dropping Caylee off with her nanny and working at Universal Studios were determined to be false.
Photo on the left shows wording found on a shirt. The photo on the right shows Caylee Anthony with her mother Casey. Caylee is wearing a shirt with the same lettering. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
July 22, 2008
Police name Casey as a person of interest in her daughter’s disappearance.
Oct. 14, 2008
A grand jury indicts Casey Anthony on a murder charge in connection with her daughter’s presumed death. She is detained in jail until her trial in 2011.
Dec. 11, 2008
A utility worker located Caylee’s skeletal remains in a wooded area about a half-mile from the Anthony family’s home on Dec. 11, 2008. Casey Anthony’s attorneys would later file a court motion implicating the utility worker in connection with the crime. He would file a defamation suit years later in 2013.
Jose Baez, who represented Athony during her trial, argued that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family’s above-ground swimming pool in June 2008 and Casey’s parents then attempted to cover up her death and dispose of her remains, which George and Cindy have vehemently denied. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
May 24, 2011
Casey’s murder trial began on May 24, 2011, and lasted more than six weeks. Her parents and her brother were among those called as witnesses.
Jose Baez, who represented Athony during her trial, argued that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family’s above-ground swimming pool in June 2008 and Casey’s parents then attempted to cover up her death and dispose of her remains, which George and Cindy have vehemently denied.
Prosecutors argued that Casey Anthony suffocated her daughter with chloroform and taped the 2-year-old’s mouth shut.
July 5, 2011
After deliberating for 11 hours, a Florida jury found Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse. She was convicted of lying to law enforcement.
Casey Anthony reacts to being found not guilty on murder charges at the Orange County Courthouse on July 5, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. (Red Huber-Pool)
Anthony admitted to The Associated Press in 2017 that she did lie about Caylee being with a babysitter, about speaking with Caylee over the phone one day before the girl disappeared, about working for Universal Studios and about telling people that her daughter was missing.
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Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Georgia sorority girl seen in 'smiling' mugshot arrested again weeks after 1st run in with police
The University of Georgia sorority girl, who was nicknamed “Miss America,” after her smiling mugshot went viral, was arrested again for the second time in weeks.
Lily Stewart, a sophomore Alpha Chi Omega at the University of Georgia, was arrested for the second time this month after her first arrest at the beginning of March for excessive speeding.
According to Athens-Clarke County online records, Stewart, 20, was arrested on Sunday, March 23, for obstruction of a law enforcement officer and loitering/prowling.
Stewart has since posted her $4,600 bond and was released from police custody shortly before 11 a.m.
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The University of Georgia student, Lily Stewart, who went viral for her smiling mugshot earlier this month, has been arrested again. (TMZ/Athens-Clarke County Jail Records)
Fox News Digital reached out to UGA for details about her latest arrest, but did not immediately receive a response.
An attorney representing Stewart, Stephen Morris, said they had no comment on her latest arrest.
Stewart first made headlines on March 8 after images of her mugshot surfaced when she was pulled over twice in a matter of minutes for speeding “in excess of maximum limits,” the Georgia State Police shared in a previous police report with Fox News Digital. An officer pulled Stewart over for going 79 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to the report.
Stewart was issued a citation, and approximately two minutes later, she was pulled over again in her 2021 Volvo XC40, going at an even faster rate of speed, clocking in at 84 mph in the 55 mph zone.
She told PEOPLE in a previous interview that she was on her way to a party in Milledgeville, Ga. that a fraternity was throwing at Georgia College & State University when she was pulled over.
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Stewart was arrested for the second time in weeks and appeared in another smiling mugshot. (Lily Stewart Facebook)
However, it was her smiling mugshot that attracted attention across the internet.
Stewart even took to TikTok to address her arrest and shared some of the most “unhinged” comments in her video.
“The only crime here is stealing my heart,” one person commented.
“idc what she did, she’s innocent,” another person wrote.
“I don’t know what she did but free her,” another comment read.
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University of Georgia student and Alpha Chi Omega sorority member Lily Stewart was arrested after being caught speeding twice in a matter of minutes on March 8. (Morgan County Sheriff’s Office)
Several people even offered to pay her bail.
Stewart told the outlet that she has gained thousands of new social media followers from her viral mugshot.
“I look like a basic white girl, and I am,” Stewart said, adding, “I think it’s hilarious. One of them was like, ‘We know she has a monogram rain jacket’ — which I do.”
“There are some beautiful mug shots. I don’t think mine’s particularly stunning,” Stewart explained. “I actually think it’s a bad photo of me. If you see me in person, I don’t really look the same as I do in that mug shot. I don’t think it’s a great photo of me.”
Following her first arrest, Stewart interviewed with TMZ and described the entire ordeal to the outlet, claiming being booked into jail was “the craziest experience she had ever seen.”
“I paid my bond, got my mugshot, and another officer drove me to the tow yard where they took my car. It was definitely an experience and never experienced anything like that, hopefully never again.”
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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