Police Positively Identify Aniah Blanchard’s Remains
Authorities confirm that human remains found in a wooded area in rural Macon County are those of Aniah Haley Blanchard. Blanchard was reported missing on Oct. 24, 2019.
“I am heartbroken for the family of Aniah Blanchard,” said Gov. Kay Ivey. “Like Alabamians across our state, I was praying for a much different outcome. I appreciate the diligence of the Auburn Police Division, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the many volunteers who were searching for Aniah. She is indeed loved and will be remembered by us all.”
Searchers found the remains on Monday in the 38,000 block of County Road 2 in Shorter, Alabama. In a press release on Wednesday, the Auburn Police Division said that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences positively identified the remains and that the case will move forward as a homicide investigation, with additional charges are forthcoming. Officials have not released the cause or manner of her death.
Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student originally from Homewood, was last seen at a convenience store on Oct. 23 in Auburn. Her vehicle was later found abandoned at an apartment complex in Montgomery. Josh Mixon, a detective with the Auburn Police Department, said Blanchard’s blood was found in the car and it appeared she had suffered a life-threatening injury.
Mixon testified that convenience store video footage showed a man buying a beverage looked over at Blanchard. He said tipsters later identified the man as Ibraheem Yazeed, and a man at the store told investigators he saw Yazeed force Blanchard into her car and drive away.
Yazeed and Antwain Shamar Fisher are charged with first degree kidnapping. Fisher’s father, David Lee Fisher Jr. is charged with hindering prosecution.
You can trust the jobs report, Labor Department workers urge public
A strongly-worded statement from Bureau of Labor Statistics workers comes a month after President Trump attacked the integrity of the jobs numbers they release monthly.
Headed to the FBI, Missouri’s Andrew Bailey opposed abortion, backed Trump
Andrew Bailey rose quickly to be state attorney general of Missouri where he built a record for fighting abortion and defending Donald Trump. Now he's a co-deputy director of the FBI.
How Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans are reacting to Trump’s National Guard threats
Even after a federal court ruled his use of the National Guard in LA was illegal, the president has weighed sending troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans. Here's where things stand in those cities.
Watching a neighbor’s cat turns lethal in ‘Caught Stealing’
Darren Aronofsky's film is a funny, bloody valentine to 1990s New York City. Though awfully engrossing, Caught Stealing's mix of rambunctious slapstick and bone-crunching violence doesn't always gel.
Hundreds of South Koreans are among 475 detained in a Georgia immigration raid
"The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed," a foreign ministry spokesman said after about 300 South Koreans were detained.
Four Democratic senators urge Smithsonian to resist White House attempts to ‘bully the institution’
Sen. Alex Padilla of California and three other Democrats are reminding the Smithsonian's secretary that the institution "is the responsibility of Congress."
