Southeast
Squatter pirates flushed from vacation spot as authorities crack down on ‘disgusting’ water pollution
Vagrants in South Florida this winter are increasingly moving aboard derelict boats sitting along the coast, in a new squatter “phenomenon” that only surfaced for the local sheriff’s office in the last year, Fox News Digital has learned.
“This is a 2023 epiphany. We have had homeless, vagrant population here in Martin County for quite some time. Not a large one, but we have had people that are transient moving through. And we’ve had the derelict vessel issue. These were two separate problems,” Chief Deputy John Budensiek told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview this week.
“But as our marine deputy started citing, tagging and removing these vessels, they learned last year that a lot of these vessels were inhabited by vagrants,” he continued.
Late last year, local media began reporting on the increases in vagrants moving into derelict boats and how the Martin County Sheriff’s Office was working to remove the boats and squatters, or bring some of the derelict boats up to code. Derelict boats are defined as vessels found in waterways with at least two violations, which can range from not having a motor to leaking fuel. Dumping derelict boats is a state crime that could lead to jail time or fines.
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Martin County is located in South Florida on the state’s eastern coast, roughly 40 miles north of Palm Beach. Budensiek explained to Fox News Digital that the area is a hot spot for boaters, fisherman and tourists, with many sail boats traveling from the area to the Bahamas and back.
Beachgoers enjoy the weather on May 4, 2020 in Jensen Beach, Florida, located in Martin County. (Getty images )
“One of the byproducts of having a lot of vessels in our area, is some of these vessels tend to get rundown hard and become inoperable. And because they become an operable, some of these owners will abandon them or they’ll sell them to someone who doesn’t re-register the vessel. Those people in turn, stay on these boats or run these vessels until they are completely unusable. And they sink or they leak fuel, if they have the capacity to carry fuel, or they leak human waste and they become a real danger to us environmentally,” he said.
“Unfortunately with South Florida, vagrants come from the northern communities where it’s cold this time of year down here.”
Though derelict boats have long been an issue in the area, the deputy chief said that in the last year, the number of derelict boats has only increased. He said that as 2023 drew to a close, the sheriff’s office tallied at least 50 boats that were abandoned in the last year, all of them consequently cited by authorities. Twenty-nine of the 50 boats were removed and destroyed, while the remainder were brought into compliance.
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A derelict boat is shown in this undated file photo beng removed by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Derelict boats have long been an issue in the area, officials say, but squatters and homeless people are increasingly moving into the vessels. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )
Budensiek clarified that the individuals squatting on the boats are overwhelmingly not homeless people who are working to find jobs and get off the streets. Instead, they are described by the deputy chief as vagrants, who are often people addicted to drugs, who suffer from mental illness and are not making attempts to get out of squalor.
“The vagrant population as a whole seems to be transient. Unfortunately with South Florida, vagrants come from the northern communities where it’s cold this time of year down here. We get an influx of them and we do our best, but they have rights … to do certain things. So we want them to succeed, but we don’t want them to come and ruin the quality of life for people that are working hard and paying taxes and trying to keep, especially in this case, our waterways safe and clean,” he said.
Differentiating a rundown boat that is in compliance from a derelict boat inhabited by squatters, however, is a difficult task, Budensiek explained.
Martin County’s Jensen Beach, Florida. Aerial view of Jensen Beach Park and the Atlantic Ocean. (Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“It’s hard to differentiate. There’s a lot of vessels that are functional that people living on, that you and I may not stay on, but they are inhabitable,” he said.
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The sheriff’s office is on a mission to dispose of the derelict boats, or bring them up to code, and works in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard to test boats anchored outside the area’s water channels to see if they are up to code.
Chief Deputy John Budensiek, of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, speaks to Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital )
“We’re going around and testing these boats that are anchored to just outside of our channels, and testing means going and making sure that their lighting functions, so you can see them at night if you’re trying to move through our waterways,” he said.
One sure-fire tell if a boat is derelict, Budensiek said, is testing if a vessel is leaking sewage into the water.
SQUATTERS TURNING FLORIDA NEIGHBORHOOD INTO ‘NIGHTMARE’ AS COPS LEFT ‘HANDCUFFED’: REPORT
“Really what’s of concern us environmentally is most of them don’t have functional bathrooms. So what we find happening here in our county, we have these vagrants that are squatting on the boats, and using the facilities. And the facilities within the boat are just draining right into our estuaries, right into our ocean and our rivers here,” he said.
“Environmentally, it’s a disgusting problem that we’re dealing with, and we are doing everything we can to identify who these people are, which vessels they are, cite them, remove them and get them off of our beaches, off of our shores,” he said.
Authorities drop dye into suspected derelict boats’ toilets, to see if it leaks into the water, he explained.
“They’re also testing them with dye … They’re running this dye through the toilet system in the boats. And if the dye comes out in the water, then we know that that boat is not sound and is in fact leaking sewage into our estuary,” he said.
Reports of people squatting in homes across the U.S. have increased since the pandemic, including in Florida, though Budensiek said that issue has not affected his community as it has others. Instead, the office is dealing with boat squatters as well as people moving to Martin County in RVs.
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“We have not, we’ve only had a few cases of that,” he said when asked if typical squatting issues on land have increased in recent months.”But what we have had here is individuals coming into our county with RVs. Again, it’s kind of the same thing we’re dealing with with these vessels, where they stay in the RV until the RV is not functional anymore. Then they leave it on the side of the road,” he said, adding that squatters taking over derelict boats is a “new phenomenon.”
Removing and destroying the derelict boats comes at a hefty price: anywhere between $7,000 and $40,000. The funds paying for the removals aren’t taken from the resident’s tax base, but from boater registration fees, Budensiek said. A portion of boater registration fees is set aside explicitly for the purpose of removing derelict boats “in order to make our waterways an appealing place for our residents and people that come here to enjoy our waterways,” he said.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is cracking down on derelict boats. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )
Budensiek said that his office is working with state agencies and the Coast Guard to identify and ensure derelict boats are removed or brought up to code, highlighting that local authorities are committed to making Martin County “a safer and more beautiful place to boat.”
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“They use our local ordinances to combat the issue that we’re having. We don’t do it alone. We do it with our state resources, DEP, the Department of Environmental protection, they help us with some of these environmental issues. The Coast Guard is always available to come beside us. So we’re working locally, on the state level, and then on the federal level to combat this issue and make our community a safer and more beautiful place to boat,” he said.
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Southeast
FBI’s renewed push in DC pipe bomb case shows how fresh eyes can change a stalled investigation
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Federal agents searching the Virginia home of Brian Cole Jr., accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, carried out a step-by-step operation this week that indicated investigators have re-energized a case that had seen little movement for years.
Cole was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, last week after federal investigators identified him as the suspect accused of planting the pipe bombs on Jan. 5, 2021, near the Capitol complex, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). His arrest marked the first major break in a case that had been largely dormant for years.
Retired FBI Special Agent Jason Pack, who previously helped lead Evidence Response Teams, told Fox News Digital the search followed the standard sequence used in explosive investigations, beginning with hazard clearing before evidence work. He said the careful pace shows investigators treating the case as if it had just happened.
The operation began with the standard safety sweep used in federal explosives investigations.
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Brian J. Cole was arrested by the FBI for alleged involvement in the D.C. pipe bomb incident. (Department of Justice)
“Federal agents are following a deliberate and familiar sequence as the search of the Woodbridge residence continues,” Pack said. “The presence of explosive ordnance disposal technicians, bomb techs and specialized K-9 teams indicates that the first priority is safety.”
He explained that investigators must first clear the property of possible explosive hazards to protect personnel and preserve the scene before they can begin collecting evidence.
One of the clearest indications of the work underway came from the metal paint cans agents carried out of the home.
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The FBI is carrying out “court enforced activity” at a home in Woodbridge, Va., after authorities arrested a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, sources told Fox News on Dec. 4, 2025. (WTTG)
Pack said metal paint cans are a preferred method for collecting and transporting suspected explosive material because they limit contamination and protect volatile samples. The cans also allow forensic laboratories to analyze residues, components and chemical signatures that might connect a device to a specific individual or technique.
Once the scene is declared safe, evidence teams can move inside the home.
FBI Evidence Response Team members, guided by a federal search warrant and its attachments, typically handle the next phase of the search and use those documents to determine what they are authorized to seize.
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The FBI swarmed the home following the suspect’s arrest. (WTTG)
Those categories include explosive components or precursor chemicals; tools or materials used to construct destructive devices; electronic devices such as phones, hard drives and laptops; records, notes or digital communications that could show planning, motive or knowledge; and items that confirm identity, occupancy or control of the residence.
In this investigation, agents are looking for evidence that establishes intent, capability and any links to the explosive devices planted on Jan. 5, 2021.
Once the evidence is collected, it moves into the long analytical phase of the investigation.
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Sketch of Brian Cole Jr.’s first federal court appearance in Washington, D.C. Friday, December 5, 2025. Cole is the lead suspect in the D.C. pipe incident. (Dana Verkouteren)
Any electronics seized will undergo digital forensics to recover communications, searches or location data that may reveal planning or coordination. Laboratories will also examine residues or components to determine whether they match the devices used at the Capitol complex, the RNC or the DNC.
Pack said the search in Woodbridge shows the FBI is treating the investigation as if it had just begun, which he said can “change the entire trajectory” of the case.
“I have been the fresh set of eyes on cold cases, and I worked them as if the crime happened that morning,” he said. “The initial investigators often do excellent work. A new perspective simply asks different questions and sometimes spots the detail that finally brings the guilty to justice.”
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The suspect is seen walking outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters moments before placing one of two pipe bombs discovered near party offices in Washington, D.C. (FBI)
Pack said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for obtaining the warrants and court orders that move an investigation from suspicion to proof.
“When the immediate danger has passed, older cases often end up folded into the stack of files handled by overworked Assistant United States Attorneys who are already juggling emergencies of their own,” he said. “That can slow down warrants and subpoenas, not because anyone is dragging their feet, but because they are drowning in urgent matters.”
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The same pressures hit FBI agents, Pack said, as new threats emerge each day and older cases get pushed back while “investigators run to the sound of guns.”
“There are only 12,000 FBI agents in the world, and that small group is responsible for handling every threat that comes our way,” Pack said. “When leadership pours fresh resources back into a case, the whole machine turns forward again. Sunlight finds what shadows hide, and a second look often makes all the difference.”
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Cole had his first court appearance Friday after being arrested the day before and charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with maliciously attempting to destroy property using explosive materials.
He has been speaking with investigators and reportedly admitted to planting the devices and expressing doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a source close to the investigation told Fox News.
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Two in three Charlotte, North Carolina, residents say they feel less safe today than they did a year ago, according to a recent survey, as the city reels from two train stabbings.
More than 930 people responded to a survey that the Queen City recently completed before hiring its new police chief, Stella Patterson. Residents overwhelmingly said they want a proactive police force, not a reactive one, with 66% saying they feel less safe.
The results come as Charlotte contends with another stabbing on its light rail system, months after the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
On Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived, they found the victim, identified as Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound, according to warrants.
Oscar Solorzano, 33, was arrested in connection to a stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
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Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested after the stabbing and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to multiple Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Monday morning, Solorzano appeared in court, where he was denied bond. The 33-year-old appeared via Zoom in an orange jumpsuit where he was charged. Authorities revealed that Solorzano, prior to the Dec. 5 attack, was banned by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
The victim told WRAL News that he saw Solorzano yelling at an older woman before Solorzano handed his bike to another passenger and said: “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Dobie said he jumped up and told Solorzano to leave everyone alone. He said Solarzano then grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to grab him back.
Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man from Honduras with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. (WJZY)
According to court documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, Solorzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
WATCH: Migrant who was deported twice accused of Charlotte light rail stabbing
CHARLOTTE MAN CHARGED WITH IRYNA ZARUTSKA’S KILLING COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
Solorzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Solorzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solorzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the White House, Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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The stabbing attack comes months after Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work from a local pizzeria shop.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
Brown had a history of violent crime, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the city of Charlotte and the CMPD for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Koch and Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Chelsea Torres contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Murdaugh trial court clerk pleads guilty to showing sealed crime scene photos to photographer
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A former South Carolina court clerk pleaded guilty Monday in connection with showing sealed court exhibits related to the murder trial of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh to a photographer and lying about it in court.
Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, who served as the court clerk in Colleton County, pleaded guilty to four charges — obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it, plus two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting a book she wrote on the trial through her public office.
“There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them and will carry that shame the rest of my life,” Hill said in a statement read to the court.
She was sentenced to three years of probation.
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Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill is sworn in before taking the stand to testify during the Alex Murdaugh jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP)
Her sentence would have been much harsher had evidence surfaced that she tampered with the murder trial, Judge Heath Taylor told Hill.
During Murdaugjh’s murder trial, Hill was responsible for taking care of the jury, overseeing exhibits and assisting the judge. Murdaugh was eventually convicted of murdering his wife and son after a six-week trial, which drew nationwide attention.
Murdaugh’s lawyers said Hill tried to influence jurors to vote guilty and that she was biased against Murdaugh because of her book.
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Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill smiles after pleading guilty on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in St. Matthews, S.C. Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Solicitor Rick Hubbard told the judge that a journalist informed investigators that Hill showed graphic crime scene photos to several media members.
He did not name the journalist.
The photos were posted online, and the metadata from the images matched a time when Hill’s courthouse key card indicated she was inside the locked room where the photos were kept, Hubbard said.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill is sworn in during a court hearing on Monday in St. Matthews, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Hill resigned in March 2024. One of the charges against her stemmed from money prosecutors said she took for herself. She brought a check to court on Monday to repay nearly $10,000.
Journalist Neil Gordon who worked with Hill on “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” and previously accused her of plagiarism, commented on Hill’s plea to Fox News Digital.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (Fox Nation/ Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)
“I appreciate seeing Becky step up and take responsibility for her actions, including the charge of misconduct in office, as it was directly related to the book I co-authored with her,” he said in a statement. “The specific instance was her decision to arrange a “Facebook Live” from her clerk’s office with the Colleton County Chamber of Commerce solely to promote our book.”
“The fact that it occurred during the workday showed boldness, poor judgement, and frankly ignorance of the oath she took as an elected official.,” he added. “Sadly, poor judgement around our book had been a pattern for Becky, as we later learned she plagiarized its preface.”
Meanwhile, Murdaugh is also serving a prison sentence for stealing money from his family’s law firm and client settlements.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Murdaugh’s attorney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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