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Multiple dead after helicopter crash near downtown Houston
According to city officials, the helicopter came from Ellington and crashed a little before 8 p.m.
HOUSTON — A helicopter crashed into a radio tower, killing multiple, including a child, near downtown Houston Sunday night, according to the Houston Fire Department.
HFD received a report around 7:55 p.m. of the crash near Engelke Street near Ennis Street and Navigation Boulevard, causing the fire to break out.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, HFD Chief Thomas Muñoz, HPD Chief Noe Diaz and DPS gathered for a news conference following the crash. Mayor Whitmire said the Houston Fire Department was there within minutes.
“We got a fire station, 17, one of our major stations a block away,” he said. “They heard the explosion and responded. First ones on the scene were Houston fire to secured the area, make sure considerations for electricity, gas and other provisions were taken care of. “
Officials confirmed all four people on the helicopter, including a child, died in the crash. Their names and ages have not been released. According to Chief Diaz, family members haven’t been notified yet.
The helicopter was an R44 private aircraft coming from Ellington. At this point, it’s not clear where the helicopter was going.
No outside structures were damaged. According to officials, the fire burned about 100 to 200 yards of grass near the site of the radio tower.
The fire was put out and there’s no threat to the community.
Officials are asking residents that if they see components of an aircraft, don’t touch them and call 911.
A witness told KHOU 11 News he was with some people at a restaurant nearby when they heard the crash. He said it sounded like fireworks or gunshots at first. He ran to try and help. When he got closer to the scene, he saw flames and big chunks of metal nearby homes. He originally thought it was a crane that had been hit.
“I didn’t know if it was a chemical explosion or if there was, I don’t know what had happened,” said Eric Haney, who lives nearby. “So my immediate thought was just to get in my car and evacuate.”
The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, HFD and HPD are investigating the crash.
Per an FAA NOTAM, the lights on the radio tower were reported as inoperable on Oct. 16.
Watch the full update from officials below:
A doorbell cam shows Maddi and her accused killer, Adam Fravel, dropping their children off at daycare. It was the last time she would be seen alive.
MANKATO, Minn. — Jurors in the murder trial of Adam Fravel Monday morning saw a video of Maddi Kingsbury dropping off her children at daycare on March 31, 2023, the last known time that anyone saw her… besides her killer.
In the doorbell video introduced by prosecutors, Maddi is seen walking into the daycare with her two young children and Fravel, whom she was no longer partners with but still lived with in Winona. In the video, Maddi wore a dark turtleneck sweater and a two-toned fluffy brown coat with lapels. “Sorry we’re late,” Kingsbury announced as they walked through the door at the daycare.
Video then shows Fravel hanging up the kids’ coats on hooks before he and Maddi walk out of the daycare together.
Daycare provider Brooke Pelowski took the stand and testified that it was not unusual for Maddi and Fravel to drop off the kids together. She did, however, tell the jury panel that she noticed something different when Fravel came back to pick up the kids later that afternoon.
Pelowski testified that on the rare occasions that Fravel would pick up the kids alone, his daughter would immediately ask, “Where’s Mommy?”
“He would always reply, ‘She’s on her way back home from work, honey, we’ll see her soon,’” Pelowski explained.
But at 4:21 p.m. on the day Maddi disappeared, Pelowski observed a different response when Fravel showed up alone.
“On that day, [the daughter] asked, of course, ‘Where’s Mommy?’ And he (Fravel) answered, ‘Let’s go to Grandma’s,’ which he’s never answered that way,” Pelowski testified.
Next on the stand Monday morning was Winona Police Sgt. Steven Rysted, who answered questions about the daycare video exhibits as well as what he observed about Maddi’s minivan when the investigation began.
Sgt. Rysted pointed out that in the daycare video, Fravel was wearing dark gray sweatpants, a white jacket, red hunter’s cap and white tennis shoes when he dropped off the kids with Maddi. Later when he picked them up alone, he wore the same outfit but with brown boots instead of white shoes.
While showing the jury photographs of Maddi’s minivan, Sgt. Rysted testified that he noticed mud on the driver’s side door handle.
In interviews with police, Fravel said that he used Maddi’s van that day to run errands after dropping off the kids at daycare.
After a break for lunch, prosecutors called Jeremy Loechler to the stand. Loechler, who lived next door to Fravel and Kingsbury’s Winona townhouse, testified that around 9:30 a.m. on the morning Maddi disappeared he noticed something out of the ordinary.
“I noticed the van, which was Madeline Kingsbury’s van, was backed into the driveway that day. And it was not typical for them to do so. They pulled in forward instead of backing in,” Loechler told the courtroom.
Fravel is charged with four counts of murder in Maddi’s death, two first-degree and two second-degree. His trial is being held in Mankato after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled the trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi’s decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
KARE 11’s Lou Raguse was in the Blue Earth Country Courtroom for the third day of testimony in Fravel’s murder trial. He’ll have the latest on Monday evening’s broadcasts.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the driver fled the scene before officers arrived.
MINNEAPOLIS — One person was killed and another injured in a crash early Friday morning in north Minneapolis.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the driver fled the scene before officers arrived.
The single-vehicle crash happened just before 4 a.m. on the 3200 block of Girard Avenue North. When law enforcement arrived, officers said they found a Ford Taurus flipped over and a man lying on the ground. First responders attempted to save the man, but police said he died at the scene.
The other victim, police said, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
MPD said the preliminary investigation shows the Taurus was traveling west on Lowry Avenue when it struck a parked vehicle and flipped. Investigators determined the victims were both passengers and the driver had left the scene.
MPD said there haven’t been any arrests at this time.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will release details about the deceased pending an autopsy.
The owners of a new female-focused health care facility in Plymouth visited KARE 11 News at Noon to discuss a new film designed to help women navigate menopause.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The owners of a female-focused health care facility in Plymouth want to break down the stigma of menopause, saying a new film may help in the mission.
Ivy Emery and Andrea Zimmerman, co-owners of Harmoni Wellness, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to talk about “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause,” an evidence-based project that aims to empower women to make informed decisions about their health and remove the stigma that surrounds menopause and aging.
The two business owners partnered with the movie for an upcoming screening, which will be followed by a panel discussion. It will happen Oct. 23 at The Minneapolis Club from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $30, and are available at this website.
For more on Harmoni Wellness and its mission, click here.
