EL PASO, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety officers and federal agents arrested eight men in a prostitution sting in the El Paso area last week, officials announced Monday. The two-day operation resulted in the arrest of eight suspects from either El Paso or Las Cruces who allegedly solicited sex acts from children or adults
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By Madeline Holcombe, Eric Levenson and Leyla Santiago, CNN The FBI searched the family home of Gabby Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in Florida for hours Monday, a day after investigators across the country found what they believe to be her remains. In the morning, FBI investigators searched Laundrie’s parents’ home in North Port as part
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EL PASO, Texas — Police found bodies in vehicles in a pair of unrelated incidents on Sunday. The first body discovery came in a car parked in the lot of an east El Paso apartment complex in the morning. Investigators were on scene at the Las Casitas Apartments at 9131 Sims Drive and erected yellow
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EL PASO, Texas — A viral TikTok challenge has led to damaged property and stolen items from schools across the nation, including some in Texas who have not been immune to the destructive trend, according to ABC affiliate KTRK. It’s called the “devious lick” challenge, which involves stealing school property and destroying or vandalizing school
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CONVERSE, Texas — A statewide Amber Alert was issued Friday night for a 12-year-old child out of Converse, which is in Bexar County about 15 miles northeast of San Antonio. ABC affiliate KXXV identified the suspect in the child abduction as 28-year-old Marie Rodriguez Pomales. The missing child, Alheirie Rodriguez Pomales, was last seen at her
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — A 53-year-old man jailed in Las Cruces for the sexual assault of a teenager is believed to be a serial attacker and likely has more rape victims across southern New Mexico and west Texas, police said Friday. Carlos Ovalle of Las Cruces was being held in the Dona Ana County
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PEARLAND, Texas — A statewide Amber Alert was issued early Friday for a 6-year-old boy who police say was kidnapped from his mother’s vehicle in Pearland, which is located in the Houston metro area. Authorities are looking for Amari Daniel Baylor. ABC affiliate KTRK reports that Amari’s mother told police that she and her three
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NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP) — A Texas man linked to the “boogaloo” movement who livestreamed threats to kill police was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder of a peace officer. The Texarkana Gazette reports that on Thursday, a jury in Bowie County found 38-year-old Aaron Caleb Swenson guilty
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EL PASO, Texas — Officials said there would be an extra police presence at Americas High School on Friday as a result of a potential threat leveled against the far east El Paso school. In phone and social media messages to parents on Thursday evening, Principal Patricia Cuevas advised that the move was a precautionary
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — A man’s body was found late Thursday afternoon along Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces and just beyond a landfill area. New Mexico State Police were on scene investigating the discovery on I-10 near exit 127, about 15 miles outside of Las Cruces and near the Corralitos Regional Landfill. Authorities were alerted
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EL PASO, Texas — Your child could be blackmailed into sending sexually explicit images to an unknown stranger online, warns the El Paso office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI says “sextortion” targeting children is on the rise. And if the request for explicit pics is not met, the children are threatened or
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UPDATE #2, Sept. 16: ABC-7 obtained court documents on Thursday with details about a deadly shooting that happened in the 8900 block of Robert Drive in northeast El Paso. 28-year-old Eduardo David Blanco is charged with murder in the death of 26-year-old Atravius Burkes. According to the court documents, it all began around 1 a.m.
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UPDATE, Sept. 16, 2021: One of a half-dozen teens arrested last year in a deadly Las Cruces shooting tied to drugs was publicly identified on Thursday as he turned 18 and was transferred from juvenile custody to the Dona Ana County Jail’s adult population. According to jail records, Adrian Chacon is charged with first-degree murder
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EL PASO, Texas — The city of El Paso is considering two ordinances, both of them concerning alcohol, that the police department says could help with crime prevention. During this week’s City Council meeting, the El Paso Police Department proposed an open container ordinance amendment. Right now, consumption of alcohol or possession of an open
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EL PASO, Texas — With the evolution from emails to phone calls and now text messages, scams come in all forms and banking officials want to make sure you don’t become a victim. A form of cyber fraud called “SMiShing” short for “short message service” phishing cost victims across America just over $54 million in
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — One of six inmates involved in a July 2019 attack of two officers at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility has been sentenced. The Dona Ana County District Attorney’s Office says Robert Dyment will have eight and a half years added to his existing sentence. Authorities said the attack happened
Continue Reading The Texas law barring abortions at six weeks of pregnancy has women’s rights advocates up in arms for a number of reasons, including because it makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. CNN’s Randi Kaye reports.
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EL PASO, Texas — What officials described as a ‘criminal activity’ threat led to the lockdown of El Paso High School on Tuesday. An El Paso Independent School District spokesman said the school was “on a brief lockdown due to reports of potential criminal activity on campus.” He declined to elaborate further. El Paso police
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UPDATE, Sept. 14: The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released additional police dash cam video showing a 12-year-old boy leading authorities in a chase in the Las Cruces area after allegedly stealing a vehicle. You can view this latest video in the video player above. ORIGINAL REPORT, Sept. 13: DOÑA ANA COUNTY, New
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AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed into law sweeping GOP-led bail legislation that requires people accused of violent crimes to put up cash to get out of Texas jails. Senate Bill 6 was passed by the Texas Legislature last month, after Abbott declared changes to the state’s bail system an emergency at the beginning of the
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A 17-year-old boy has been arraigned in the shooting death of a man at a Las Cruces house party this summer. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the teen pleaded not guilty Monday at a hearing. He is one of two people charged in the July 31 killing of 23-year-old Nicodemus
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EL PASO, Texas — A motorist backing out their car crashed into a police vehicle on a central El Paso street on Saturday afternoon. The incident happened about 3 p.m. in the 2500 block of McKinley Avenue. No serious injuries were reported; authorities said no one needed to be taken to a hospital. Investigators shut
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UPDATE #2: Police late Friday night identified the man arrested following a central El Paso SWAT standoff earlier in the day as 22-year-old Andrew Elijah Moreno of El Paso. Moreno is facing charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for a robbery and stabbing that detectives say was gang-related. A 21-year-old victim who was allegedly
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UPDATE, Sept. 10: Las Cruces police announced charges Friday against a 16-year-old boy in last weekend’s death of a 31-year-old man. The teen, who police declined to identify because of his age, is charged with an open count of murder and one count of tampering with evidence. The boy is accused of fatally shooting Matthew Portillo
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UPDATE: A police affidavit obtained by ABC-7 outlines an apparent motive for the shootings of a prominent attorney couple in their central El Paso home last year. The court document contends that Joseph Angel Alvarez, whose arrest was announced Thursday, had “extremist religious beliefs” and believed he was “executing and exterminating pro-choice Jewish Satan worshippers” when
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A Las Cruces woman has been sentenced to a nine-year prison term after pleading guilty to what prosecutors described as a vicious, hourslong beating of a toddler. Desirae Vargas pleaded guilty to a felony child abuse charge on Thursday and was immediately sentenced to prison. She will get credit for
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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso police detectives were investigating the discovery of a body late Wednesday afternoon in a south central El Paso waterway. Authorities reported the pulling of a body from a canal between 4 and 5 p.m. The canal where that body was found is located near E. San Antonio Avenue and
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EL PASO, Texas — An El Paso motorist has been jailed on felony drug charges after sheriff’s deputies said they found over $80,000 worth of fentanyl in his car during a traffic stop, authorities announced Wednesday. Jose Perez Lorta, 24, was being held in the El Paso County jail on $200,000 bond on charges of
Continue Reading By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter The Supreme Court granted a request Wednesday from a Texas death row inmate who sought to block his execution because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will not allow the inmate’s pastor to “lay hands” on him and audibly pray during the execution. In a brief order
Continue Reading By PAUL J. WEBER and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is defending a new state law banning most abortions that also offers no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The Republican said Tuesday that the law does not force victims to give birth even though it prohibits abortions
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