In a troubling incident, authorities have arrested a man from California who faces accusations of sending threatening messages to a woman connected to the mysterious disappearance of Nolan Wells. The individual targeted was the mother of a friend who accompanied Wells on the day he vanished.

Eighteen-year-old Wells went missing on July 4 following a boat outing with friends to Horn Island, a scenic barrier island situated off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. After a frantic two-day search, rescue teams halted their efforts when a National Parks Service ranger located his body on the island’s northwestern edge on July 6.

Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, aged 27, was apprehended on Thursday for allegedly making interstate threats, as detailed in federal court filings. The criminal complaint reveals that Dumarce used Facebook Messenger to send multiple menacing messages to Jackson County Chancery Court Judge Ashlee Cole, including a grave claim of intending to dispatch a bomb to her office.

The alleged suspect, Dumarce, hails from Sacramento, California.

“There will be a package coming to your guys office in the next few days,” Dumarce allegedly sent Cole on July 11. “It’s gonna blow you away when you see it lol. probably best to have the boys there to see as well.”

“Blood. So much blood everywhere. Hard to clean. Especially from a boat. But yours will be quick I promise. I got all your info. Not even the FBI can stop this. Once that package is opened the timer will start. And then you have maybe 10 seconds or less to ask god forgiveness,” Dumarce allegedly messaged Cole.

Dumarce also allegedly called numbers associated with the office of the Jackson County Chancery Court on July 11 at 1:27 a.m.

Dumarce was identified by authorities through the email associated with his Facebook account. The charge Dumarce faces carries a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Cole is the mother of Warren Hudson, who was with Wells the day he disappeared. Hudson hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing, and records from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources indicate Wells chose to stay on Horn Island rather than return to the coast with him.

During a July 22 news conference, attorney Ben Crump revealed that an area of “red discoloration” was found on Wells’ head, but said Dr. Roger Mitchell, who performed an independent autopsy, couldn’t come to a conclusion on a cause or manner of death “pending further investigation.” Official autopsy results for Wells’ death have not been released.

Wells was a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College and had hopes to play at the Division I level, according to Crump, an attorney for his family.

The FBI declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Atlanta Falcons’ standout wide receiver, Drake London, took a significant personal step by getting engaged to his partner, Sofia Gabay.

This joyous milestone happened on the heels of London securing a substantial four-year, $141 million contract extension with the Falcons. With this lucrative deal under his belt, London had various options for how he might orchestrate the perfect proposal.

Yet, rather than opting for conventional grandeur, London chose a route that was heartwarming and personal: he incorporated Taco Bell into his proposal for a very sentimental reason.

During their second date, Gabay had mentioned to London that her dream proposal would include a meal from Taco Bell, her favorite quick-bite destination, as noted by ESPN reporter Mark Raimondi.

London took this cherished detail to heart. When the moment for his proposal arrived, he gathered a spread of Crunchwrap Supremes, a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, and an assortment of Taco Bell’s iconic hot sauce packets. He then set the scene with a picturesque view at a desert ranch in Los Angeles to ask Gabay the big question.

When London was speaking about the engagement on Thursday, he was quoted as saying incredulously, “She was actually more stoked about the Taco Bell than the ring.”

While that’s a wild reaction from his fiancée, London is surely joking—a little bit, at least. He didn’t seem to mind regardless, as he added, “It’s telling what type of woman I got. So, I was excited, though. She was, too.”

Even though her Taco Bell enthusiasm might have eclipsed that of her new engagement ring, Gabay’s loyalty to London has never been in question. This was shown when she taunted Philadelphia Eagles fans after London’s game-winning touchdown against them in a game back in 2024.

London and Gabay met at USC, as she has a degree in cinema from the Southern California school. But she likely doesn’t have to worry about employment at that point, now that she’s getting hitched to one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers.

Disturbing ransom notes sent to Today show host Savannah Guthrie have surfaced, revealing sinister claims about her missing mother. One note heartbreakingly indicates that her mother “perished shortly after she was taken” and is now “buried in nature.”

The shocking contents of the notes were made public by the sheriff’s office on Friday. The initial note demanded a staggering ransom of $4 million, while the subsequent message, echoing the first in its ominous tone, alleged that 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie had died and included a cryptic apology from her supposed captor.

As the relentless mission to uncover the truth about Guthrie’s disappearance crosses the six-month threshold, urgency intensifies. Nancy Guthrie mysteriously vanished from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1, marking a turbulent chapter for her family.

Both notes were addressed to Guthrie and swiftly handed over to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. They were initially received by 13 News on February 2 and February 6, purportedly authored by her abductors.

The first letter: 

‘Hello Savannah,

We have your mother Nancy. She is safe but scared. She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed. We will be holding her for a maximum of 7 days. You will need to send bitcoin in the amount of $4 million USD before 5PM on Thursday the 5th. If payment is not received, the ransom will be increased to 6 million USD which will need to be paid by 5PM on Monday the 9th. Once payment is received to the bitcoin address below she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop off location back in Tucson. If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5PM, she will be killed. Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me from here on out, there will be no negotiation. Do not play games, law enforcement will not be able to help you.

Bitcoin address: ********

She had a white smart watch on the floor of the foot of her bed and the white flood light in backyard was destroyed.’

Unlike the first note, the second made no demands but instead laid out what it claimed were haunting details about Guthrie’s final days. 

The second letter: 

‘Guthrie Family, We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.

Bitcoin address: ********’ 

Investigators still have few clues and no official suspects, despite security footage capturing a masked man at her door and DNA reportedly being discovered inside her home. 

But the sheriff’s department, which is still investigating the case as a kidnapping-for-ransom, said it is ‘working this as hard as we can’ and insisted it will not go cold.

‘We have gathered a lot of evidence in this case and I wish you knew it, I wish the community could know all of the evidence, but that’s just not how investigations work,’ Sheriff Chris Nanos said, according to the outlet.

‘Whether it’s this case or any case. We have an obligation, we have a duty and a responsibility, to protect that case and its integrity,’ he added.

Meanwhile, two men who were arrested and later released in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance are preparing to file a $3.5 million lawsuit against the embattled sheriff, according to Fox News. 

Carlos Palazuelos and Daniel Maddox, both from Arizona, filed a notice of claim Monday against Nanos and an unnamed detective, accusing them of wrongful arrest and reputational damage.

Newly revealed details from the notice obtained by NBC News paints a dramatic picture of their arrests, including allegations that officers held the men at gunpoint and ‘ransacked’ one of their homes. 

Palazuelos, a food delivery driver, was arrested on February 10 near the Mexican border in Rio Rico and questioned for eight hours before agents searched his home. He was later released without charges. 

Hours later, Maddox was handcuffed at a home belonging to his mother and detained for several hours as part of the investigation into the still-unsolved case. He too was released without charges.

The notice, which is the first step toward a full lawsuit, said that authorities arrested Palazuelos ‘at gunpoint’ and held him for roughly seven to eight hours without probable cause.

It further claimed that officers carried out the arrest in a public manner before ‘ransacking’ his home. 

According to the action, Palazuelos is innocent, and his detention and hours-long interrogation caused him ‘physical, emotional and reputational harm.’ 

The notice also pointed to a social media post shared by Nanos after one person was arrested, in which the sheriff wrote: ‘The subject is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.’

It alleged that the post, combined with statements from the sheriff’s office, portrayed Palazuelos to the world as a suspect despite there being no evidence to justify that characterization.

‘Despite requests by undersigned counsel, Sheriff Nanos and the PCSD have refused to retract their statements or to make clear that Carlos is innocent and had no involvement in the Guthrie case,’ the notice said, according to NBC.

Palazuelos spoke to Telemundo outside his home and publicly insisted he had nothing to do with Guthrie’s disappearance after he was released from custody.

At the time, he said that his front and back doors were damaged during the search and that agents told him he resembled the person shown in grainy surveillance footage released from Guthrie’s home just hours earlier. 

Maddox, the second man named in the notice, also claimed that his detention was ‘wrongful and has caused him significant physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering.’

The filing alleged that armed men in military gear pointed their guns at Maddox and ordered him to lie on the floor of his own hallway after he stepped out of his room to investigate a loud noise.

It said he was then kept ‘under guard’ inside a van for several hours.   

His mother, Josefina Maddox, who owns the home and was also named in the filing, claimed the property was damaged during the chaotic search.

In the notice, lawyers wrote that they were offering to settle the claims for $2.5 million on behalf of Palazuelos and $500,000 on behalf of Maddox. 

Attorneys are also seeking $250,000 on Josefina’s behalf for the alleged property damage. 

In addition to Nanos and the unnamed detective, the notice listed the county and the sheriff’s department as entities that could face future claims, according to NBC.

The sheriff was questioned about the prior arrests during an ABC 15 interview released Thursday, where he said at least one of the men was not in the clear. 

A third man was arrested on February 13, three days after Maddox and Palazuelos, during a traffic stop near Guthrie’s Tucson neighborhood before being released. That same night, officers raided a home and questioned three people inside. 

‘Because we didn’t make an arrest, or released some people, doesn’t mean they’re cleared. It just means that we don’t have enough to hold you,’ Nanos said. 

He noted that investigators had ‘evidence’ that prompted search warrants at Palazuelos’ home and the other man’s residence, insisting that the evidence remains valid despite the court ordering their release. 

‘The evidence we’ve obtained, who knows, maybe a day from now, a month from now, a year from now, somebody might call in and say, “Oh you missed this.” And guess what? We’ll go back,’ he told the outlet.

When pressed on whether detectives were still investigating the two men, Nanos declined to comment.

His comments appeared to clash with earlier statements from the sheriff’s office, which suggested the detained men – as well as three other people questioned during the home search – were in the clear.

Also on Thursday, the department marked the six-month anniversary of Guthrie’s disappearance in a statement shared on X. 

‘The analysis of DNA and digital evidence has been underway for the past six months. This work is complex and time-intensive, but investigators continue to pursue every credible lead,’ it read.

‘As Savannah Guthrie recently said, it is never too late to do the right thing. Anyone with information is urged to come forward and help bring this case to a resolution.’

On Monday, Savannah publicly addressed her mother for the first time since June 23, when she delivered an emotional broadcast from the NBC anchor desk. 

In an Instagram video, she urged the kidnappers to ‘do the right thing’ and described living through what she called a never-ending nightmare. 

‘Nothing about our situation has changed. We have done our part. We will never stop looking for her,’ she said. 

An F-35 fighter jet from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing experienced a crash on Friday morning, leading to an emergency operation at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The incident, which also sparked a brush fire, was confirmed by a base spokesperson through a statement to Fox News.

Responding to what the Marine Corps referred to as an “aircraft mishap,” emergency teams were dispatched to the flight line around 10 a.m. local time. The F-35, assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 and stationed at MCAS Miramar, was involved in the incident, as noted by 1st Lt. Blake Starbuck.

The U.S. Marines detailed the seriousness of the event, classifying it as a “Class A mishap” involving a Marine Corps F-35B near the Miramar base. Fortunately, the pilot managed to eject safely and was recovered without delay.

While speaking with Fox News, Starbuck mentioned that information about the flight’s purpose, including whether it was a training sortie, and details about any injuries or fatalities were not available at the time.

Currently, the underlying causes of the crash remain unknown, leaving several questions unanswered as investigations continue.

Video from SkyRanger 7 showed the aircraft in two pieces amid a football-field-sized scorched area. A fire burned in a field north of State Route 52 and was visible from the freeway, prompting calls to the California Highway Patrol.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed to Fox News it was assisting with the brush fire, but said the military has jurisdiction over the incident.

No press conference has been scheduled. Officials said additional information will be released as it becomes available.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Joseph Tsai, alongside his soon-to-be-former spouse Clara Wu Tsai, has announced the end of their three-decade-long marriage. The couple, known for their ownership of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, are parting ways.

“Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai have made the joint decision to conclude their marriage, doing so with mutual respect and understanding,” a representative revealed in a statement provided exclusively to Page Six.

The spokesperson added that, over time, the nature of their relationship transformed into a collaborative partnership. Together, they have managed their business ventures and have shared the responsibilities of raising their children. While they have drifted apart personally, their divorce remains amicable, and their professional rapport continues unshaken.

Further clarification was offered regarding the impact of their separation on their business interests.

“Joe will continue to serve as Chairman, while Clara will uphold her role as Vice Chair of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment,” the statement elucidated. “Joe will carry on as Governor of the Brooklyn Nets, and Clara will persist as Governor of the New York Liberty.”

“They will continue to own and be stewards of the teams with professional management in place as they always have. In the long run, they also plan to involve their children.”

Joe and Clara have three adult children: Dash, Alex and Jacob. They married in October 1996.

Ownership of Alibaba, the technology company Joe helped found, will not be impacted.

“There are no plans to sell any Alibaba shares and Joe’s role as Alibaba Chairman is not affected by this development,” the statement read.

“Joe and Clara remain deeply committed to continuing their existing philanthropic and community work. They are both driven by the best interests of their family, businesses, and communities, and are dedicated to continue working together as partners.”

The couple acquired full ownership of the Nets and Liberty in 2019 for $2.35 billion, which was the most expensive purchase of an American sports franchise at the time.

They had obtained a 49 percent stake the year prior. Clara’s involvement led to the Liberty relocating from MSG to the Barclays Center, the home of the Nets in Brooklyn.

A mysterious spread of radioactive contamination beyond a restricted lab at one of America’s largest nuclear sites has raised alarms. The incident came to light when three workers set off contamination alarms while attempting to exit the facility.

Radioactive material was found on the soles of the workers’ shoes, with activity levels ranging from 80,000 to 300,000 disintegrations per minute, surpassing federal limits for contamination.

This concerning event unfolded at the Savannah River Site (SRS), managed by the US Department of Energy in South Carolina. The SRS is crucial for processing tritium and managing plutonium infrastructure, both vital components of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

Details of this incident were quietly included in a federal safety report for the week ending June 26, yet site officials did not publicly announce it at the time.

Subsequent investigations uncovered contamination beyond designated containment areas. However, the source and the mechanism of its spread remain unidentified.

The three workers were decontaminated, and officials found no evidence that they inhaled or absorbed radioactive material.

The incident was one of two safety lapses revealed at the sprawling nuclear complex that week.

At another facility at SRS, an operator began transferring radioactive liquid without first adding a chemical required to protect nuclear-waste tanks from corrosion.

SRS, a 310-square-mile site in Aiken, focused on the production of plutonium and tritium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from its inception in the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War. 

In 1992, the focus at SRS turned to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management and research and development activities.

The site generated more than 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste, which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons, according to Savannah River Mission Completion.

There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use, while eight have been closed.

The three laboratory workers were inside a radiological buffer area, a controlled zone designed to prevent radioactive material from spreading into clean areas, when the personnel contamination monitor started blaring as they exited.

Follow-up radiation monitoring checks identified beta and gamma contamination on the soles of their shoes, according to the report.

Beta and gamma contamination occur when unwanted radioactive material, specifically atoms that emit beta particles or gamma rays, settles on surfaces, skin or inside the body.  

The follow-up investigation later found contamination beyond the laboratory’s restricted areas. 

Investigators learned that workers sometimes carried test wipes from radioactive fume hoods to the edge of those areas to scan them, a practice officials said should be avoided.

They also discovered problems with cleanliness and organization inside the laboratory. 

Although officials could not determine exactly how the contamination escaped, managers pledged to tighten housekeeping rules, increase supervision and retrain radiation-safety staff on proper testing procedures.

At another facility on the site, an operator mistakenly began transferring radioactive liquid between two waste tanks without first adding sodium nitrite, a chemical needed to prevent corrosion.

A control-room manager caught the error 30 minutes into the transfer. Officials decided it could continue because they could adjust the amount of liquid being moved and add the chemical afterward.

Investigators found that the transfer procedure had recently changed and the operator misunderstood when the chemical was supposed to be added. 

Staff acknowledged that the instructions were unusually structured and discussed improving briefings following procedural changes.

A federal inspector also recommended reviewing other procedures to determine whether they contained similarly confusing instructions.

The safety lapses emerged nearly a year after a radioactive wasp nest was discovered near tanks holding liquid nuclear waste at the same sprawling complex.

Workers conducting routine inspections on July 3, 2025, found the contaminated nest attached to a post in the Savannah River Site’s F-Area Tank Farm.

Tests revealed radiation levels 10 times higher than federal limits, although officials said there was no evidence that any of the underground waste tanks had leaked.

The nest was sprayed, removed and disposed of as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, and surveys detected no contamination on the surrounding ground.

Officials blamed the bizarre discovery on ‘onsite legacy contamination,’ radioactive residue left behind by decades of nuclear-weapons production during the Cold War.

However, the Savannah River Site Watch watchdog group criticized the government’s account for failing to identify the precise source of the radiation or explain whether other contaminated nests could remain undiscovered.

‘I’m as mad as a hornet that SRS didn’t explain where the radioactive waste came from or if there is some kind of leak from the waste tanks that the public should be aware of,’ executive director Tom Clements said at the time.

Site officials maintained there was no threat beyond the facility. 

The tank farm sits deep within the complex, while wasps generally travel only a few hundred yards from their nests.

The Daily Mail has contacted the Department of Energy for comment. 

The defense claims that prosecutors have just revealed that there are still some untouched reserve DNA samples related to the murder case. This revelation has sparked their determination to have these samples assessed by an independent laboratory prior to any additional examinations by South Carolina’s investigative team.

Defense attorneys highlighted a concern in their filing, stating that if the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) proceeds with another round of short tandem repeat (STR) testing, it might use up or damage the remaining DNA. This would prevent Texas-based Othram Inc. from having the chance to conduct its own analysis.

According to a memorandum dated July 30, accessed by WSAV in Savannah, Georgia, and evaluated by News Media, Murdaugh’s legal team has petitioned a judge to pass the DNA samples to Othram before SLED carries out any further examinations.

The motion emphasizes the importance of the testing order, arguing that Othram’s particular method—single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP testing—requires DNA that remains untouched or untainted by previous analyses.

“Because SNP testing requires a genetic sample that has not been depleted or degraded by prior analysis, the sequence in which the reserve samples from Items 70 and 71 are tested matters,” the memorandum states. “SLED’s proposed STR retesting risks consuming the very material Othram would need, while proceeding with Othram’s SNP analysis first forecloses no STR testing SLED might still wish to conduct afterward.”

The memorandum noted prosecutors disclosed “for the first time” that reserve DNA samples from Items 70 and 71 remain unprocessed.

The filing described a July 7 Webex conference involving defense attorneys, prosecutors, SLED forensic scientists and Othram CEO Dr. David Mittelman following a June 29 hearing to discuss the proposed testing.

The defense further argued SLED had “articulated no scientific basis” for repeating testing already performed on the evidence. Attorneys wrote that another round of STR testing could permanently reduce the amount of DNA available for independent analysis.

“There is no scientific reason on the current record to consume additional reserve sample material to obtain a second STR result,” the filing states. “Absent some articulated basis for believing repeat STR testing will produce new or different information, the only apparent effect of allowing SLED to proceed is to consume irreplaceable sample material before Othram … has the opportunity to test it.”

The defense also renewed its criticism of SLED’s handling of forensic evidence, citing previous disputes over blood evidence recovered from one of Murdaugh’s T-shirts as further justification for independent testing.

The memorandum estimated Othram could complete its analysis within 60 to 90 days at Murdaugh’s expense.

Last month, prosecutors urged a judge to reject Murdaugh’s latest requests for independent DNA testing and expanded access to electronic case materials while he remains in prison awaiting retrial.

In the June filings, prosecutors opposed two motions from Murdaugh’s legal team: one seeking independent DNA testing tied to evidence recovered from beneath Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails and another requesting permission for Murdaugh to review case materials electronically while incarcerated.

The filings come as Murdaugh prepares for a second murder trial after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his convictions in May, finding former Colleton County court clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill engaged in jury tampering that compromised his right to a fair trial.

Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family’s Colleton County hunting estate in June 2021. The jury also found him guilty of two weapons charges.