TAOS, N.M. – A Taos man asked for a restraining order against a private investigator after his missing wife’s remains were found in Carson National Forest.

Melissa Casias’ remains were found last month in Carson National Forest, about a year after she went missing.

Her husband, Amrk Casias, said in court records that private investigator Thomas McNally accused him of murdering her.

According to court documents, Casias claimed McNally launched an “escalating campaign of public harassment, defamation, and criminal threats” against him and his daughters.

Casias also claimed McNally does not hold a valid New Mexico private investigator license.

A hearing on the restraining order request is set for next week.

Police have not charged Casias with wrongdoing in the case.

An autopsy is underway to determine how Melissa Casias died. Police also said they found a gun near her remains.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico faces flood and severe storm risks through the weekend, with Sunday bringing the best chance for more widespread rain statewide.

A small active stretch begins today and continues through the weekend across the Land of Enchantment. For your Friday, things are quiet to start off, just a bit breezy for the metro as the front had finally reached our area late last night.

Our winds will come down over the course of the morning, but may ramp back up in the afternoon with mainly gusty showers/storms nearby or ones that are able to make it into the metro. We have a 10% chance of rain in the metro this afternoon and evening.

By the early afternoon, storms will start building along mountainous terrain – favoring the central mountain chain and western mountains. Storms will move in a generally east-northeast direction. Eastern New Mexico has both marginal risks of severe weather and flooding threats for Friday. Primary threats concerning the severe weather will be strong damaging wind gusts and large hail.

A slightly higher severe threat across far Northeast New Mexico includes all modes of severe weather possible. However, the tornado threat is very low, only a 2% chance of an isolated spin up or two. Based off of this morning’s high-resolution model guidance, timing for storms will begin roughly between 11 a.m. -1 p.m. for the Sacramento Mountains, and just a couple of hours later for western mountainous areas and the rest of the central mountain chain.

If a storm forms upstream or over the burn scars near Ruidoso, rainfall rates could be potentially heavy, leading to the concern of burn scar flooding. No Flood Watches have been issued as of this morning. A low-end risk of flash flooding is spread across nearly all of eastern New Mexico.

The weekend is still looking fairly active, with Sunday seeing the highest overall coverage of rain thanks to a slow-moving cold front entering northeast New Mexico starting late Saturday afternoon/evening, clearing the state by midday Sunday. Each afternoon/evening throughout the weekend will also feature a flood and severe threat.

The flood threat will encompass nearly all of eastern New Mexico again on Saturday (low-end marginal threat) which then expands to all of eastern New Mexico on Sunday (also low-end, but most of Lea County is in a slighter higher risk). Concerning the severe threat, both Saturday and Sunday will be low-end potential as well. For Saturday this will include most of northeast and east-central New Mexico, just bordering the northern portions of Roswell. For Sunday, this shifts to far southeast New Mexico, including Hobbs. Both will have the same primary threats: hail and winds.

Another round of severe weather is looking likely as we kick off the first day of monsoon season on Monday for eastern New Mexico.

Screwworm concerns change animal shelter protocol

Florida agriculture officials implemented an emergency ban restricting rescue groups and animal shelters from bringing dogs and cats into the state from Texas and New Mexico after a flesh-eating parasite emerged out West. FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. – Florida agriculture officials implemented an emergency ban restricting rescue groups and animal shelters from bringing dogs and cats into the state from Texas and New Mexico after a flesh-eating parasite emerged out West.

Florida agriculture ban

What we know:

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson expanded screwworm restrictions on Wednesday, blocking the import of shelter and rescue animals from areas impacted by the New World screwworm.

Courtesy: United States Department of Agriculture

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This parasitic, flesh-eating fly has been detected in Texas livestock and inside a dog in New Mexico. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture dashboard lists nine reported cases of the parasite so far.

Broken containment

Timeline:

“[It] was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, and then eradicated from Mexico and Central America down south past the Darien Gap in Panama in the early 2000s,” said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor of veterinary entomology at the University of Florida. “It’s recently broken containment from the region in Panama and has slowly made its way northward towards the U.S. border over the past two years.”

Previous Florida cases

The backstory:

Florida successfully defeated an outbreak of the same parasite a decade ago. 

Screwworm cases popped up in Key Deer in the Florida Keys in 2016 and 2017. 

During that outbreak, state and federal agencies launched a rapid response and quickly contained the flesh-eating flies.

Animals at highest risk

Why you should care:

Stray animals face the highest risk because they spend long periods outside and often suffer injuries that attract flies, Burgess said. 

The fly larvae eat living flesh, making infestations incredibly painful for animals. 

If travelers visit infected states, a well-maintained pet is unlikely to contract the parasite, but owners should watch for crawling larvae and a foul smell from a wound.

Tampa animal shelters

Local perspective:

Local operations around the Tampa area do not expect major disruptions from the state restrictions. 

Organizations such as SPCA Tampa Bay and the Humane Society of Tampa Bay rarely bring in pets from outside Florida, typically doing so only during disaster relief situations. 

Even then, local workers put every animal through strict health checkups.