Nevada
Southern Nevada family fights rare ‘childhood Alzheimer’s’ disease while pushing for a cure
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A 4-year-old Las Vegas boy is battling Niemann-Pick Type C, a fatal disease affecting just 4 children in Nevada. His family is fighting insurance barriers, traveling cross-country for care.
Jordan and Jennifer Mitchell’s home is filled with love. Their son Liam, just 4 and a half years old, is doing what kids his age do — giggling and playing. But inside his body, a race against time is underway.
VIDEO: Abel Garcia talks to the Mitchell Family about their fight for their son and rare disease
Southern Nevada family fights rare ‘childhood Alzheimer’s’ disease while pushing for a cure
Liam is one of just four children in Nevada diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, a rare neurodegenerative condition often called “childhood Alzheimer’s.” The disease slowly takes away a child’s ability to walk, talk and even swallow, and it is always fatal. Without treatment, children with Liam’s form of NPC may not live past age 5.
“When he was born, he had a lot of complications right from birth… and that helped us get to a diagnosis — as terrible as it is, we found out early,” Jordan Mitchell said.
The family says they have seen progress through a careful regimen of medications and spinal injections. But keeping Liam stable comes at an extraordinary cost — between $1.3 million and $3.1 million a year — and the Mitchells say they have already faced pushback from their insurance provider.
“Knowing that these medications do work… but if the insurance says they’re too expensive, that’s it — that’s not easy to live with,” Jennifer Mitchell said.
When I asked the Mitchells about access to healthcare in Southern Nevada, Jordan was direct.
“The healthcare in the valley is not good for preventative or trying to treat these long-term problems,” Jordan Mitchell said. “They ultimately said we couldn’t figure it out… and ultimately we had to go out of state to get him treated.”
Because Liam cannot fly due to his compromised immune system, the family makes cross-country drives to access treatment and research.
“We don’t fly… we’ve done eight or ten drives to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and now to the test sites in Chicago once a year,” Jennifer Mitchell said.
Now, the family says hope is coming from a groundbreaking gene therapy study led by University of Iowa researcher Dr. Mark Schultz, which is showing promising results.
“We were able to prove that a gene therapy can cure Niemann-Pick Type C… we’ve funded a mouse liver study and we’re in the process of publishing that work,” Jordan Mitchell said.
To help fund that research, the Mitchells created a nonprofit — the Life for Liam and Friends Foundation — and host annual fundraisers in Southern Nevada.
“Don’t give up hope. If you aren’t trying, there’s no chance you’re going to get help… I am hopeful Nevada can improve healthcare so anyone can find the treatment they need,” Mitchell said.
The Mitchells say they will keep pushing, keep driving and keep loving their son for as long as they can.
Because families like the Mitchells have struggled to find specialized care here, I reached out to find out what else is being done. A spokesperson with Intermountain Health told me their first stand-alone children’s hospital planned for Southern Nevada will include neurology, with specialists on staff, when the hospital opens in 2030.
Meanwhile, 66 members of the Class of 2028 at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV received their white coats, marking their official transition from classroom studies to direct, hands-on patient care — a milestone that represents continued investment in building the next generation of doctors here in Southern Nevada.
If there’s something you’d like me to look into, email me at abel.garcia@ktnv.com.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Another platform is coming under fire by the State of Nevada over alleged unsafe conditions for children.
On Wednesday, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford filed a lawsuit against Discord, which is a communication platform that facilitates instant, text, and chat messaging as well as voice and video calls. Users are also able to share media, including photos and videos.
“Discord’s popularity with minors also makes it popular with a much more dangerous cohort: child predators, who seek to groom and exploit minor users,” the 100-page complaint reads in part. “Discord knows that the children on its platform are at risk, and further knows that children and their parents and guardians are afraid of malicious actors on the platform. Yet Discord has done very little to protect these children, and has refused to implement safety features that it knows would greatly ameliorate the risk.”
The complaint lists several cases as alleged proof that the platform is dangerous:
- In 2023, a Las Vegas man was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a minor and producing child pornography of his victim, whom he groomed on Discord.
- In 2024, a Reno man was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime supervised release for grooming a minor on Discord.
- In 2025, a sting captured eight individuals who had used Discord — among other communications platforms — to solicit sex from law enforcement agents posing as children.
According to the complaint, a group called 764, which was located on a Discord server that contained violent videos and “how-to” guides on sexually exploiting and extorting minors online, “has acknowledged a presence in Nevada”. The FBI’s Las Vegas field office is part of one or more of the agency’s 250 investigations into the organization.
Ford’s team also alleges that Discord has several flaws in its design, which is putting children at risk. For example, insufficient barriers for strangers contacting children, misleading and/or ineffective filters, parental control issues, and an “absence of age or identity verification in the account creation process.”
In February 2026, Discord tried to implement a requirement where users had to authenticate their age “with a face scan or by uploading a form of ID if they want to access adult content.” However, the complaint states that after user backlash to that announcement, “Discord immediately went into damage control mode and walked backed its commitment.”
According to the complaint, Ford’s team is seeking civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation of the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act and up to $25,000 for each violation directed at a minor.
Discord has denied the claims made in the complaint and sent Channel 13 the following statement:
“The lawsuit’s characterization of Discord does not reflect the platform we have built or the investments we have made in user safety. Discord is a communications platform built to connect people around playing games. Users join Discord communities intentionally, based on their interests, and unlike social media, the platform has no algorithmic feed, infinite scroll, or public “likes” pushing content to mass audiences.
Our safety systems combine advanced technology and human-led investigations, alongside user reports to help identify accounts or spaces engaged in harmful activity, including exploitative and child sexual abuse materials. We require all users to be at least 13 to use Discord and also provide teen users and their parents and guardians with important privacy and safety tools, including Teen Safety Assist and our Family Center. We look forward to collaborating with policymakers in working toward a safer online experience for all users on Discord and across the internet.”
Discord Spokesperson
This is not the only platform that is facing lawsuits in Nevada.
Last month, Ford announced the State of Nevada had reached a settlement with the online gaming platform Roblox.
In addition to abuse concerns, 13 Investigates partnered with ABC News Investigates to tell you how teenagers were being recruited on Roblox to become hackers.
WATCH: 2023 cybersecurity incidents lead to Nevada Gaming Control Board changes
2023 cybersecurity incidents lead to Nevada Gaming Control Board changes
As part of that settlement, Roblox officials agreed to several changes to make the platform safer, including age verification, content control, enhanced parental controls, and agreements to spend $2.5 million for online safety awareness campaigns as well as workshops and training for law enforcement.
APRIL 2026: Nevada reaches settlement with gaming platform Roblox
FULL PRESSER: State of Nevada reaches settlement with online gaming platform Roblox
Ford’s office has filed similar consumer protection lawsuits against TikTok, Snap, Meta, YouTube, and Kik, all alleging harmful design features and a lack of common-sense online safety measures for children.
According to Ford’s office, they’re set to go to trial against TikTok and Snap next year.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada is teaming up with a screen tourism app to help visitors find, and go to, the real-world locations behind famous movie and TV moments.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Film Nevada announced a new partnership with SetJetters, an app that maps filming locations around the world and encourages users to visit them in person.
Film Nevada Director Kim Spurgeon says the app makes it easier for fans to “relive their favorite cinematic moments,” pointing to Nevada staples like The Shootist house in Carson City, Genoa’s main street featured in Misery, the Ocean’s Eleven closing scene at the Fountains of Bellagio, and the Hangover quote many visitors still repeat in Las Vegas: “Did Caesar live here?”
AMPLIFIED: New guidebook highlights hidden gems across Las Vegas for locals, visitors alike
So what changes for movie fans—and for Nevada tourism?
Through the SetJetters campaign, users will be able to discover more movie, TV, and video-game locations across Nevada, along with additional film-related points of interest. There’s also a new Las Vegas-area badge users can earn by visiting 12 select scenes, and the app allows people to submit filming locations they think should be included.
“Screen tourism is no longer a niche campaign idea; it’s a core travel channel,” said SetJetters CEO Erik Nachtrieb. “Nevada’s cinematic history, from mountain and desert backdrops to the neon of Las Vegas and Reno, makes it a natural stage for this next phase of bringing films to the state. The real opportunity now is conversion, and this is exactly where Film Nevada’s partnership with SetJetters comes in. What we’re really looking at is the evolution from destination marketing to destination storytelling with screen content at the center.”
You can download the app from Apple or Google.
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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — State officials say they are ready to provide assistance to the 999 people laid off from Spirit Airlines.
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) said it will support former Spirit employees with reemployment services, retraining opportunities and more.
Impacted workers can also file for unemployment insurance at NUI.nv.gov.
“DETR is committed to supporting every Nevada worker affected by the Spirit Airlines layoffs,” department Director Christopher Sewell said in a statement. “Our team is ready to provide timely resources, guidance, and individualized assistance to help impacted employees navigate their next steps.”
Rapid Response is a free program that provides strategies for layoffs and plant closures. It quickly coordinates services and provides immediate support to employers and affected workers.
Employees can access no-cost career and training services through EmployNV. This includes career counseling and job-search assistance, skills assessments and re-skilling opportunities, and training grants for high-demand career fields.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo encouraged anyone who was laid off to use DETR’s resources.
“Our priority is getting folks back to work right away, and the state stands ready to assist with no-cost employment services to help with the transition,” Lombardo said in a statement.
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Spirit ceased operations on May 2 after failing to secure a government bailout. The company notified Nevada DETR that it was laying off 999 employees based at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas as a result.
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