Nancy Guthrie’s relatives 'cleared as possible suspects' in disappearance, police say

Savannah Guthrie/Instagram

As the search forNancy Guthrieenters its third week, law enforcement is leaning away from considering the elderly woman's relatives as suspects.

Throughout the investigation into the disappearance ofSavannah Guthrie's mother, police have maintained that investigators are not ruling out any individuals or possibilities. However, law enforcement sources have toldNBCandABC Newsthat authorities do not believe the members of Guthrie's family were involved in the crime. Investigators are also leaning away from the man whose home was searched after he was detained in a car stop last week.

"To be clear…the Guthrie family — to include all siblings and spouses — has been cleared as possible suspects in this case," Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a statement toEntertainment Weeklyon Monday. "The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious, and are victims in this case. To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel."

In a previous press blast on Friday, the sheriff's office had said, "Investigators continue to follow up on all leads. The suspect description released by the FBI this week remains a key focus; however, investigators are not ruling out any individuals or possibilities... We ask the public to continue submitting actionable tips."

Savannah Guthrie/Instagram

Despite reports that investigators are focusing on other leads, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told theDaily Mailthat "nobody" has been officially cleared in the investigation, including workers at Nancy's home (who were the subject of two separate SWAT raids) and her own family members.

"I stay in touch with them, mostly Savannah. I've not been in touch with [Nancy's son-in-law Tommaso [Cioni] or [her daughter] Annie [Guthrie] too much," Nanos told the outlet in a Sunday interview. "I have talked to them a little bit, but I know the investigators are in touch with them."

Nanos also addressed speculation about Cioni, who was the last person to see Nancy alive after dropping her off at home the night of her disappearance.

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"I understand the pundits are out there. They're gonna say 'Well, he's the last one to see her alive.' We understand that stuff," Nanos said. "But, my goodness, you're putting a mark on somebody who could be completely innocent. And more important than that, he's family."

Nancy Guthrie was last seen the evening of Jan. 31, after being dropped off at home by family members. The following day, she wasdeclared missing, and a large-scale search was launched. On Feb. 2, Nanos announced that herdisappearance was being investigated as a crime, and declared her home a crime scene, revealing thattraces of Guthrie's bloodhad been discovered on her porch.

Don Arnold/WireImage

Over a week later, on Feb. 10, FBI Director Kash Patelshared the first photos and video footageof a masked man on Guthrie's doorstep that was captured on the night she disappeared. The FBI subsequentlyrevealed new informationabout a suspect in the case as they increased the reward for information leading to Guthrie's location to $100,000.

"The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5'9" - 5'10" tall, with an average build," the bureau said in a statement. "In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter 'Ozark Trail Hiker Pack' backpack. We hope this updated description will help concentrate the public tips we are receiving."

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That same day, authorities announced that they'd detained a person of interest in connection to the case, butlater released him. The man, who identified himself as Carlos, claimed that he did not know who Nancy or Savannah were and had never seen theTodayshow.

Savannah and her siblings, Annie and Camron, have published multiple videospleading with their mother's captors to return her home safe and sound. The sheriff's department and the FBI continue to urge anyone with tips to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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Nancy Guthrie’s relatives 'cleared as possible suspects' in disappearance, police say

Savannah Guthrie/Instagram As the search forNancy Guthrieenters its third week, law enforcement is leaning awa...

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Tennessee businessmen among 4 killed in Colorado Springs plane crash

Authorities have released the names of four people, including two Tennessee businessmen, who died in plane crash bound for northern Colorado late last week.

The Routt County Coroner's Office identified the victims as Aaron Stokes, 47, his son Jakson Stokes, 21, and nephew Colin Stokes, 21, and Austin Huskey, 37, all from Middle Tennessee.

TheFederal Aviation Administration(FAA) reported the plane crashed during the early morning hours of Feb. 13 near Steamboat Springs, a ski town in the state's northern region about 155 miles northwest of Denver.

Maine plane crash:All 6 people killed in Maine private jet crash now identified

Cleanup continued at the industrial site near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport where a UPS plane crashed into in November on Jan. 13, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. In a February 2011 letter to airlines, Boeing noted failures with parts of the pylon, a structural component that connects the engine, during four incidents on three MD-11 airplanes, which is the same model of the UPS plane that crashed Nov. 4. After takeoff, the pylon and left engine UPS Flight 2976 detached from the wing, resulting in a catastrophic crash that killed 15 people, including the three crew members aboard the plane.

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Cleanup continues at site of deadly UPS Flight 2976 crash in Louisville

Cleanup continued at the industrial site near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airportwhere a UPS plane crashed into in Novemberon Jan. 13, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. In a February 2011 letter to airlines,Boeingnoted failures with parts of the pylon, a structural component that connects the engine, during four incidents on three MD-11 airplanes, which is the same model of the UPS plane that crashed Nov. 4. After takeoff,the pylon and left engine UPS Flight 2976 detached from the wing, resulting in acatastrophic crash that killed 15 people, including the three crew members aboard the plane.

According to a preliminary FAA report, the single-engine Epic Aircraft E1000 crashed under unknown circumstances near Emerald Mountain. Online flight tracking shows the plane took off from the Kansas City Downtown Airport just after 10 p.m., for Bob Adams Airport before it crashed southeast of the city-owned airport.

The plane, manufactured in 2024, was registered to ALS Aviation LCC in Franklin, Tenn.

Plane crash Steamboat Springs

Aaron Stokeslived in Franklin according to information from his obituary,The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

Franklin is city in Williamson County, about 20 miles south of downtown Nashville.

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According to hisLinkedIn page, he founded Shop Fix Academy, owned and operated five auto repair shops and hosted a radio show "Fixin' Cars with Aaron Stokes" on 99.7 WTN.

In a post on Facebook, Annie Stokes called her brother "a great leader and coach and businessman."

"The loss has deeply impacted his family, the Shop Fix Academy team, and the broader automotive community," the company released in a statement onFacebook. "Stokes helped thousands of auto repair shop owners, and countless other business leaders, achieve meaningful growth in their businesses and leadership... His legacy extends far beyond financial performance."

USA TODAY has reached out to the victims' families.

Husky, his company, confirmed was the CEO of Husky Building Supply, also located in Franklin.

In a separate post onInstagram, Huskey Building Supply released this statement: "With heavy hearts, we grieve the unexpected passing of our CEO, Austin Huskey. Austin was a fearless leader, a gracious man, a devoted father and husband, and a faithful follower of Christ."

The National Transportation Safety Boardposted on Xit was investigating the cause of the crash.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:4 killed in Colorado plane crash in Steamboat Springs

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February 16, 2026

Tennessee businessmen among 4 killed in Colorado Springs plane crash

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Prosecutors plan to charge an Israeli settler with killing a Palestinian activist in the West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli prosecutors said Monday that they plan to charge a settler in the killing of a Palestinian activist during a confrontation that was caught on video, opening a rare prosecution ofviolence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Attacks from settlers and home demolitions by authorities have spiked dramatically over the past two years, but the death in July of Awdah Hathaleen has drawn particular attention due to his involvement in the 2025 Oscar-winning film "No Other Land," which chronicled Palestinian villagers' fight to stay on their land. The case also stands out because the confrontation between Palestinians and Yinon Levi, an internationally sanctioned settler, was captured on video from multiple vantage points.

In a video that family members say wastaken by Hathaleen himself, Levi could be seen firing toward the person holding the camera. Anothershowed Levi firing two shotswithout showing where the bullets struck.

An Israeli judge released Levi from custody six months ago,citing a lack of evidencethat he fired the shots that killed Hathaleen.

Israel's State Attorney General's office confirmed in a statement Monday that it had initiated proceedings to indict Levi. It did not specify the charges.

Eitan Peleg, an attorney for Hathaleen's family, said the office had informed them it planned to indict Levi for reckless homicide, triggering a process that allows Levi to contest charges before they're formally filed.

"Enforcement of the law in cases like this involving Palestinians in the West Bank is very rare, so this is unique," Peleg told The Associated Press on Monday.

Israel's military referred questions on the indictment to police, who have not yet responded. Both bodies enforce laws in the area.

More than 3.4 million Palestinians and 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Palestinians and rights groups say authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers or hold them accountable for violence. Under National Security MinisterItamar Ben-Gvir,investigations into settler attacks have plummeted, according to the Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

Khalil Hathaleen, Awdah's brother, said the family was glad some measure of justice was being pursued but felt the charge of "reckless homicide" was insufficient.

"It was an intentional killing in broad daylight, with prior intent and premeditation," he said.

Levi's attorney, Avichai Hajbi, declined Monday to comment on the coming indictment, which he said he hadn't received. After the shooting, he told The Associated Press that Levi acted in self-defense, without elaborating. Levi did not answer phone calls Monday.

Parts of the confrontation were filmed

Video released last year by B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group showed Levi firing a gun toward the person filming. At the moment that B'Tselem says Hathaleen collapsed, the visuals are jostled but moans of pain can be heard. The group said it obtained the video from the family of Hathaleen, who said he filmed it.

Additional footage obtained by the AP last year showed Levi waving a pistol during the standoff in Umm al-Khair that was with a group of Palestinians over an excavator that had rolled down from a nearby settlement and damaged Palestinian property earlier in the day.

Alaa Hathaleen, a cousin who filmed the encounter, told AP at the time that he had approached Levi to tell him the group was unarmed and to stop the bulldozing.

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In the video, one Palestinian insults Levi and another challenges him to shoot. Levi shoves someone just out of the frame, demands to know who threw stones, and later fires a shot, seemingly away from the crowd. He then fires again and yells toward the crowd to get away from the excavator.

The footage did not show where bullets struck, though other relatives said they saw Awdah Hathaleen fall immediately after shots were fired.

Levi was detained before being released to house arrest. That condition was eventually lifted, too.

Levi was among the Israeli settlerssanctioned by the United States and other Western countriesover allegations of violence toward Palestinians in 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump lifted the U.S. sanctions after taking office the following year.

Attacks spike as spotlight grows

Activists and crew members on the film "No Other Land" have said settler attacks have intensified on the village portrayed since the movie won the Oscar.

Hamdan Ballal, one of the film's directors, said his family home in Umm al-Khair was subject to another attack on Sunday. Four relatives were arrested during the confrontation, he said.

Ballal said a soldier, who came to their home accompanied by another soldier and a settler-herder, grabbed his brother by the neck and tried to choke him. Neither the army nor the police responded to requests for comment on the incident.

"The year after I won the Oscar, the assaults increased significantly. On a daily basis, settlers come and destroy the fields, destroy the trees, destroy the crops around the house," he said.

Israeli proof-of-ownership rules spark anger

As prosecutors move to indict Levi and violence persists across the West Bank, Israel is moving ahead with measures to deepen its control over land in the occupied territory.

On Sunday, it announcedit would resume a land registration processacross the West Bank to require anyone with a claim to land to submit documents proving ownership. Rights groups say the process could strip Palestinians of land they've lived on and farmed for generations and transfer vast swaths of land to Israeli state control.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said the steps countered Palestinian Authority land registration efforts in areas where Israel maintains civil and military control.

The measures follow years of accusations by Palestinians that actions by settlers and the military — campaigns of violence, harassment and demolitions — have pushed them from their land.

The decisions have drawn widespread condemnation as violations of international law, including from countries involved in the ceasefire process in the Gaza Strip and Trump's Board of Peace.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday said the measures were part of Israel's effort to impose a "new legal and administrative reality" that undermines prospects for peace and stability. Egypt's Foreign Ministry called the move a "flagrant violation" of international law, warning it would escalate tensions in the Palestinian territories and across the region.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel's decision, calling it not only destabilizing but unlawful according to the International Court of Justice, the U.N.'s highest tribunal, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

___ Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed reporting from Tel Aviv.

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Prosecutors plan to charge an Israeli settler with killing a Palestinian activist in the West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli prosecutors said Monday that they plan to charge a settler in the killing of a Palesti...

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Black activists fought for slavery exhibits 24 years ago. The fight returned under Trump.

A federal judge Monday ruled that the Trump administration wrongly removed slavery memorial panels that were placed at a historical Philadelphia site in 2002. The decision came after the Black activists who pushed the city to place the panels again organized in support of their presence last month.

The National Park Service removed several panels from the President's House in Philadelphia, citinga March 2025 executive orderby President Donald Trump to prohibit exhibitions or programs at federal sites based on race. President's House features exhibits about George Washington and among the 34 historical panels, 13 were created after a group of activists lobbied the city and the park service to include information about the nine men, women and children who were enslaved by Washington there.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe granted a preliminary injunction on Monday requiring the return of the panels, pending further litigation.

"We battled for eight solid years the grand opening of the first slavery memorial of its kind on federal property in the history of the United States of America," attorney and activist Michael Coard told NBC News before the judge's ruling. "What started me to do this was anger and rage and outrage."

The movement began in 2002 when the park service and the city of Philadelphia announced the Liberty Bell would move from a pavilionfacing Independence Hallto 6th Street and Market Street, the same location of George Washington's executive residence where he enslaved at leastnine people, including children.

Coard hosted a radio show on WHAT, during which he told listeners that the site was planned without a clear acknowledgment about the enslavement that took place there. It spurred the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition, which protested and raised funds — along with the city government — to pay for panels at the site.

The memorial opened Dec. 15, 2010.

Coard said his organization anticipated what was in store after the executive orders Trump signed upon returning to office last year. The panels were unceremoniously taken down a few weeks ago on Jan. 22.

"The common denominator of the 13 was that they highlighted the horror of slavery," Coard said of the panels. "Not just what we all know — a loss of freedom — but the beatings, the whippings, the rapes, the sodomy."

A spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversees the park service, said "all federal agencies are to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values." White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump "is ensuring that we are honoring the fullness of the American story instead of distorting it in the name of left-wing ideology."

Last week, more than 200 activists, residents and supporters protested the panels' recent removal.

The rally attracted people across political ideologies and ethnicities, said Gerry James, 36, who traveled to the event from Frankfort, Kentucky. James is the deputy director of the Sierra Club's Outdoors for All campaign, which is working with Avenging The Ancestors Coalition.

He said his parents often took him and his siblings to libraries and cultural tours to learn more about Black history, aside from the limited information that was present in his textbooks.

"It's just a lot of support for this issue of preserving Black history and preserving Black history as American history," James said.

Supporters pushed back against the administration's moves toward downplaying "our complex national history," specifically when it comes to Black American history.

Mijuel Johnson, a steering committee member of the coalition who also spoke at the rally, said the panels "are not just panels" but serve as a national memorial: "The very fact that this is a memorial to the enslaved people of the United States," and one of the first of its kind on federal property in the United States, he said, "is significant."

Coard's group — headed by University of Pennsylvania law professor Cara McClellan and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund — joined the city'slawsuitagainst the park service's acting director and the Interior Department.

"One, we're demanding restoration — put the 34 interpretive panels back where they were," Coard said before the ruling. "Two, we're demanding enhancement, which means to expand this President's House slave memorial site. And number three, we're seeking replication. We know that Black people have contributed mightily in every state in the country and maybe even every city in the country, so we want something like this on any federal property throughout the United States where Black folks were enslaved."

He and other activists are optimistic about the future of the site.

"We are passionate about this," Coard said, "and we're going to win this fight."

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Black activists fought for slavery exhibits 24 years ago. The fight returned under Trump.

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Jamaica seeks sliding success to replace ‘Cool Runnings’ past

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy -- Chris Stokes, a founding member of Jamaica's original "Cool Runnings" bobsleigh crew, recalls being mobbed by fans at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics the moment he put on the team jacket and left the athletes' village to go into town.

"That's a rookie mistake which I made," he recalls 38 years later, the buzz still echoing as the current quartet compete at the Milan Cortina Games.

"Even now, yesterday, when I came back from the track with the team in the van and they just opened the door to let me out, people saw Jamaica bobsleigh and we were absolutely mobbed," Stokes told Reuters.

"I myself go down the street in a plain black jacket. You want to be respectful of your fans and people who support the program, but you wouldn't get anywhere. You wouldn't get to the corner store to buy a coffee."

MAKING A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE

The 2026 team was soon surrounded when it ventured recently into the chic Dolomites resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Stokes, now 62 and president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation, saw in it a motivational message.

"My 1994 team finished 14th at the Olympic Games. And until a team finishes higher than that at the Olympic Games, that team is the best Jamaican bobsled team ever. I've said this to the guys," he continued.

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"I've also said to them, 'Don't confuse yourselves. When you step out of the car and somebody's asking you for an autograph, it's because of something I and my teammates did. That's nothing that you have done.'

"My challenge to them is, by the end of these games, by the time you step on the track in 2030 in La Plagne (France) and in Salt Lake City in 2034, let people, fans, be crowding you because of something you did. That's my challenge to them."

IMMORTALIZED BY 'COOL RUNNINGS'

The 1988 Jamaican bob, with Stokes joining his brother Dudley along with Devon Harris and Michael White, was immortalized in the 1993 movie "Cool Runnings," also the name of the sled.

Jamaica was classified last in 1988. By 1994 they had moved up to top half of the 30 entrants, beating the United States and Italy among others.

"Led by my brother, it took Jamaica Bobsleigh a long time to learn. Six, seven, eight years to learn that ... it's not just athleticism, it's discipline and focus, being present, playing your role. These guys (the current team) understand this from Day 1," said Stokes.

"We also have the benefit now of (coach) Todd Hays, who is himself a silver medalist and who has coached multiple medal winners for both the U.S. and Canada, who at one time coached Russia and who brings to the table a crystal-clear understanding of what it takes to win.

"Todd says to me all the time, 'We know what we need to do to win. We know that already, so it's just a matter of putting the pieces in place.'"

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media

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Jamaica seeks sliding success to replace ‘Cool Runnings’ past

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy -- Chris Stokes, a founding member of Jamaica's original "Cool Runnings" bobsl...

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