In Costa Rica, a California tourist has gone missing amid powerful flash floods and mudslides that hit the area during her hiking trip. The search for her has been hindered by continuous heavy rainfall.

Ashley Phillips, aged 30, was last seen on June 2, and now, 13 days into her disappearance, her family is enduring their “worst nightmare” as search-and-rescue operations have been suspended due to unsafe weather conditions.

Authorities in Costa Rica have declared a nationwide green alert, cautioning that the intensifying rainy season and a developing low-pressure system in the Pacific could lead to further destructive landslides.

Ashley Phillips, 30, went missing on June 2 after severe weather swept through Costa Rica. (Facebook/Ashley Phillips)

In an update on June 12, the family marked 10 days since Phillips’ disappearance, noting search efforts had become difficult because of the weather.

“Due to ongoing severe weather conditions in Costa Rica, the search efforts have been temporarily paused,” the family wrote in a GoFundMe. “However, the search is expected to resume once conditions improve and the drier season begins.”

Two people rock climb over a waterfall in a Costa Rica rainforest. (iStock)

TOURIST HOT SPOT SHAKEN AFTER HUMAN FOOT WASHES ASHORE; POLICE LAUNCH INVESTIGATION: REPORTS

Costa Rica is currently under a nationwide green alert as authorities warnof heavier rains, saturated soils and a growing risk of flooding and landslides across several regions.

On June 4, the National Emergency Commission declared the alert for the entire country with unstable weather expected to continue for the next couple of weeks.

Ashley Phillips’ family and friends set up a GoFundMe for the 30-year-old California woman after she disappeared while going hiking in Costa Rica on June 2. (GoFundMe)

While they continue to wait, Phillips’ loved ones are finding ways to honor her.

“As her family reflects on Ashley’s life, they are finding ways to honor her, especially her deep love for animals,” the family wrote in the update.

“We continue to ask for your prayers for Ashley, for her family, and for peace, strength, and closure during this time,” the family wrote. “Thank you all so much.”

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In response to the recent chemical leak in Garden Grove that led to the evacuation of approximately 50,000 residents, the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance (TRAA) has initiated legal action against two refineries in Southern California.

The lawsuit, submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court, targets the refineries located in Torrance and Wilmington. It demands access to safety documentation as stipulated by the California Public Records Act.

In a public statement, TRAA emphasized, “Garden Grove is not alone in Southern California when it comes to the risk of a major disaster due to an industrial chemical storage facility that could potentially trigger a mass casualty incident.”

TRAA highlighted that these two refineries are the only ones in the state utilizing hydrogen fluoride (HF/MHF) in the production of high-octane gasoline. They warned that the handling and storage of this hazardous substance continue to endanger nearby populations.

The California Public Records Act mandates that government-held records should be made available to the public upon request, unless exceptions for privacy or public safety apply that would prevent such disclosure.

The Torrance refinery has had a history of bad accidents. In 2015, an explosion led to four workers being injured while triggering a 1.7 magnitude earthquake in the surrounding areas. A 40-ton piece of debris was also blasted and landed just five feet away from a tank containing thousands of pounds of modified hydrofluoric acid (corrosive liquid that dissolves glass and burns skin).

In 1979, an explosion resulted in three deaths and forced neighborhood evacuations.

Following the chemical leak in Garden Grove in May, Southern California residents have been on high alert, leading to growing demands for stricter and safer measures at local refineries and plants.

The Post reached out to the refineries but did not hear back.

In Sacramento, California, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has publicly alleged that the U.S. Justice Department is conducting a politically motivated investigation against him and his wife. Newsom claims this move by the Trump administration is a strategic attack as he considers a possible presidential campaign.

In a video shared on the social media platform X, Newsom, who has long been a political adversary of former President Donald Trump, stated that federal agents have approached his friends and former staff members, requesting documents. Although he did not elaborate on the specifics of the investigation, his office indicated that the probe now appears to be delving into personal matters concerning Newsom’s family and professional associates.

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom remarked, alluding to his history of criticizing Trump on social media. “He’s targeting me because I’m contemplating a run for president and because he despises my consistent exposure of his falsehoods and deceit.”

The exact scope and details of the Justice Department’s investigations involving Newsom remain unclear. However, these developments are poised to fuel allegations from critics that the Trump administration might be manipulating the Justice Department to target political rivals.

Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the situation refuted claims of a direct investigation targeting Newsom. Instead, they noted that multiple federal inquiries are ongoing concerning individuals in his circle, including an investigation into his wife’s tax affairs. This particular probe began last year, and according to the source, political leaders in Washington did not influence the decision to initiate it. The individual spoke under anonymity due to the sensitive nature of discussing ongoing investigations publicly.

Another probe is related to Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, who was indicted on federal charges that she was involved in a scheme to steal campaign money from former federal Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. Williamson in May pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud. That investigation, which was launched by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, has expanded to include other staff, the person familiar with the matter said.

Newsom hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing related to Williamson’s case.

The Justice Department declined to comment on Monday. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to answer questions about Newsom during a brief photo opportunity with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon. Blanche had a scheduled meeting with Grassley to discuss his nomination to become attorney general.

They are the latest Justice Department investigations surrounding one of Trump’s political foes foes.

The Justice Department has also opened investigations into or brought prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey,New York Attorney General Letitia James, former CIA director John Brennan and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, among other perceived political enemies of the president.

“One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list, and today I proudly join that list,” Newsom said in the video.

Investigators have subpoenaed records, and agents have reached out to organizations and people connected to the governor and his wife, according to Newsom’s office. The governor’s office accused the Justice Department of “searching for a crime that does not exist.”

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s wife, said the investigation showed that Trump is unfit for office.

“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,” she said in a statement.

The president has repeatedly gone after the Democrat-dominated state during his second term including by curbing a signature plan to reduce planet-warning emissions from cars, withholding aid for wildfire recovery and suing over state policies supporting transgender student-athletes. The state has pushed back by suing the federal government dozens of times.

Newsom also led a push to counteract a Trump-backed effort in Texas to redraw congressional districts to favor Republicans by championing a successful redistricting measure in California designed to win Democrats five additional House seats.

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The teenage stepbrother implicated in the tragic death and assault of Anna Kepner aboard a Caribbean cruise has been apprehended in Florida, as reported by the Daily Mail.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, Timothy Hudson, 16, turned himself in to the US Marshals Service, following a court order that was recently made public.

Initially, Hudson will be detained at the Citrus County Jail in Lecanto, which accommodates juveniles, before facing trial in September. On July 10, he will be moved to Miami Dade County’s Metro-West Detention Center in preparation for the proceedings.

Anna’s parents expressed in a joint statement that the arrest represents “a crucial step in the quest for justice for Anna.”

The judge has mandated a mental health assessment for Hudson and granted him the ability to receive family visits and use the internet for communication with them.

‘The murder is alleged to have followed from a brutal sexual assault, and to have been committed against a member of the defendant’s own household in a setting from which the victim could not escape,’ US District Judge Torres wrote in his unsealed order. 

‘Indeed, we have two alleged grave crimes here. The forcible sexual assault by itself would be enough to find that release on bond posed too heavy a risk for the community. Had defendant only been charged with that serious offense when he was 18 or older, he would have been likely detained on that basis alone.’

‘The level of depravity and psychopathy involved in the commission of that brutal offense would be too hard for most jurists to ignore.’ 

Timothy was sharing a cabin with his 18-year-old stepsister when she was found raped, strangled and stuffed under a bed aboard the Carnival Horizon in November last year. 

Timothy Hudson, 16, has been charged with sexually assaulting and killing his 18-year-old stepsister, Anna Kepner, on a Carnival Cruise last November

The 18-year-old high school senior’s body was found stuffed under her bed and wrapped in a blanket in the room she was sharing with her stepbrother 

Prosecutors have alleged he was ‘obsessed’ with his stepsibling at the time of the slaying. 

‘We have evidence he was obsessed with his sister. He had a crush on her,’ prosecutor Alejandra Lopez said during a court hearing last month. 

He was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in February but released without bond under the Juvenile Delinquency Act to live with his uncle. 

The secretive federal case was finally unsealed in March when Timothy, whose mom Shauntel Hudson is married to Anna’s dad Christopher Kepner, agreed to be tried in US District Court as an adult defendant. 

Prosecutors immediately asked Judge Edwin Torres to review his earlier release order because the youngster’s custody arrangements now fall under the much tougher Bail Reform Act. 

They argued that Timothy, who is accused of the ‘most serious, egregious, and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another,’ should not be around other kids. 

Judge Torres agreed to take the boy into custody but not immediately.

Anna, of Titusville, Florida, had been sharing a room with Timothy and her half-brother when the grisly slaying unfolded en route from Mexico to the US. 

The Daily Mail was the first outlet to report that Anna’s body was found stuffed beneath a bed in the cabin. 

Prosecutors previously alleged Timothy was ‘obsessed’ with Anna and that he had a ‘crush’ on his stepsister

Anna was sharing a room with Timothy and her 14-year-old half-brother when she was raped and strangled aboard the Carnival Horizon on November 7 last year 

She had been wrapped in a blanket and covered with life preservers, according to sources. 

Bruising to Anna’s neck suggested Timothy squeezed his step-sibling’s throat for three to five minutes until she died from mechanical asphyxiation, prosecutors said. 

The attack was so ferocious that her eardrum allegedly burst. 

Anna had gone to bed early the night before, telling her family during dinner that her braces were hurting. 

While her half-brother wandered the ship taking photos, she was left alone with her stepbrother who takes medication for ADHD and insomnia. 

When the younger boy returned, he did not see Anna but assumed she was staying up late with Christopher, Shauntel, or her grandparents Jeffrey and Barbara Kepner. 

He climbed into his bunk and went to sleep – unaware, sources say, that his sister’s body was hidden just feet away beneath her bed. 

It was not until the next morning when the two boys headed to breakfast that the family realized Anna was missing.

By then Timothy had thrown her cell phone into a trash can, according to prosecutors.

Dad-of-three Christopher, 41, was alerted to the cheerleader’s plight when a medical emergency was announced over the ship’s public address system.

He entered her Deck 8 cabin moments after a cleaning crew had discovered the body.

‘I checked her pulse. I pulled her out from under the bed. I knew my daughter was dead long before the medical examiner got there,’ the heartbroken dad previously told the Daily Mail.

Timothy had been put in the same room as his step-sibling to save money, according to prosecutors. 

Anna’s father Christopher Kepner recalled the moment he pulled his daughter Anna’s lifeless body from under a cruise ship bed. The 18-year-old was found dead while on vacation with family including her father, stepmother and stepbrother, all pictured, last year

‘In order to save money they put them in the same room,’ Lopez said, adding that the family considered them to be ‘two peas in a pod.’

Anna and Timothy were alone in the cabin for roughly three hours, prosecutors said.

In the wake of the grim finding, FBI agents swarmed the ship, interviewed the family and scoured CCTV cameras when the Horizon returned to Miami on November 8. 

Timothy was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile. He has pleaded not guilty and invoked his right to remain silent. 

Eric Cohen, Timothy’s public defender, has conceded that Timothy and Anna likely had sex but he’s claimed there isn’t enough evidence to determine that it was non-consensual.

Timothy faces decades in prison if convicted. 

He cannot face the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the alleged slaying. 

Anna had planned on entering the US Navy or becoming a K9 handler in the Titusville Police Department after graduating high school.

She had chronicled her love of travel on TikTok and been on several cruises.

‘Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself,’ relatives wrote in her obituary.

Mourners at her November memorial service were encouraged to wear bright colors instead of black ‘in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.’

In their statement Anna’s parents said: ‘‘While nothing can ever bring our daughter back, we are grateful to see progress toward accountability and remain committed to honoring her memory every step of the way.’ 

A Homeland Security office located near Cleveland faced an evacuation on Monday due to the discovery of a suspicious package containing a live explosive device. Authorities acted swiftly to address the potential threat.

The explosive was detected within an office complex in Brooklyn Heights, leading to the evacuation of at least seven surrounding buildings, as reported by FOX 8 News. The safety protocol was promptly initiated to ensure public safety.

The complex at 925 Keynote Circle includes a Cleveland Homeland Security office, which functions as a satellite branch for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the larger jurisdiction of the Detroit Field Office, per ICE’s official site.

This location also serves other governmental functions, housing the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) bond acceptance facilities. However, it remains uncertain if these specific buildings were directly impacted or evacuated due to the explosive device.

An exterior image shows a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) administrative office and processing center, captured on June 28, 2025. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)