Shannon Rippy Van Newkirk and Elisha Tucker died at the hands of a serial killer. Their lives were cut short by James Bradley, who in 2013 was released from prison in Wilmington after serving time for the murder of his own 8-year-old step daughter.
Keeping our water clean is an ongoing process, but Cape Fear Public Utility Authority customers now have to wait a bit longer to see PFAS removed from their drinking water.
When the civil case was filed by victims of Mike Kelly, attorneys say Liberty Mutual took “a very hard position that there would be only $4 million of insurance coverage made available.” School Board attorney believes school system purchased significantly more coverage than that.
All too often, the person on the other end of that text is not who they are pretending to be. Instead of the trusted source you thought you were communicating with, the person who sent the text may be a fraudster. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says complaints about text scams doubled in 2020 to more than 334,000. Americans who fell for these text schemes lost a whopping $86 million last year.
The lawsuit states Sidbury “repeatedly raised the belt above her head before bringing it down on the girls” and the Minor Child “sustained blows to her midsection, arm, shoulder and legs” before being told to dry their eyes and go out to play with the other children.
“The McLambs paid personal bills with church funds (home schooling, traveling, insurance and credit cards)... without the church members knowledge,” the application continues. It also notes that Ransom McLamb was believed to have had a procedure completed in 2018 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC) using church funds.
Over the years hundreds of residents have been tested in New Hanover and Brunswick County--specifically those who use Cape Fear Public Utility Authority water.
After failing to get a response to an email again asking questions about man impersonating an officer on Wednesday, a WECT news crew went to Navassa Town Hall in person. The building was locked, but a staff member came to the front door, explaining the building was closed “due to COVID-19.”
67-year-old Gail Tice was shot three times by her estranged husband, Robert Hewson. He had scaled the fence of her gated community, and was lying in wait when she came downstairs that morning. Just days earlier, Tice had informed Hewson she wanted to end their marriage, and had a restraining order in place against him.
It was the first time a Pender County jury gave a defendant the death penalty in 75 years. It was also the first time now-veteran prosecutor Ben David ever saw a dead body.
"Mr. Taylor agreed to allow detectives to look at the camera footage on his cell phone, but a short time later, revoked consent to do so," paperwork connected to the search warrant reads."Taylor was the only person found inside the residence... that was not harmed. [He] barricaded himself in a bathroom with a shotgun and a handgun, and admitted to detectives that he.... did not call 911."
The North Carolina State Bar (NCSB), the state agency tasked with regulating lawyers is continuing its investigation into New Hanover County Commission Chairwoman Julia Olson-Boseman, and a new letter shows that it could be December before the review of her case is complete.
One year after a prominent Wilmington doctor died during a dental procedure in the care of Dr. Mark Austin, Austin has permanently surrendered his dental license. An investigative panel for the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners found Austin’s actions resulted in his patient’s death.
An ACLU attorney says the removal of existing comments, as the WPD did in July, does raise constitutional concerns. Removing the comments also appears to conflict with the City of Wilmington’s social media policy on comments.
Hamilton said she had insurance, but it was not enough to cover the estimated $85,000 in damage to her home. That’s when she learned about Rebuild NC, a state agency that administers federal disaster recovery money to help people impacted by natural disasters.
The amended complaint details two disturbing events where a former teacher of the year is accused of raping a student after drugging him so he could not defend himself.
In 2004, young women living in Downtown Wilmington were on edge. One woman told police she’d been raped by a stranger who broke into her house and appeared to be homeless. More than half a dozen other women living nearby reported a man fitting the same description had attempted to sexually assault them too.
Dobson said regulating private elevators is not something he or the governor could do unilaterally. They would need legislation to pass to enact that requirement. Several lawmakers WECT contacted on both sides of the aisle seemed receptive to the idea.
Two Wilmington daycare workers arrested on child abuse charges are off the job, but the state has yet to announce any action against the daycare where they worked. Carr’s Academy on Peachtree Avenue remains open, and continues to be listed as a four star, superior daycare on the state’s website.
New Hanover County had seven oral surgeons in 2000, but just six in 2019, despite a huge population surge during that time frame. There were nine oral surgeons working here in 2016, but some left, and some had their licenses suspended.
The insurance company for the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office just agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by residents accusing deputies there of using excessive force. $6 million is the maximum payout allowed under the insurance policy carried by the sheriff’s office.
WECT is attempting to verify information presented in a series of anonymous letters, alleging that a now-high-ranking official at the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO) helped cover up a teacher sex scandal in the school system, and that another deputy engaged in improper activity with minors himself.
A series of anonymous letters questioning the behavior of two high ranking members of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office have gotten the attention of the Sheriff, school administrators, and the attorneys involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the New Hanover County School Board. The letters allege suspicious behavior by the law enforcement officers at critical times in the teacher sex abuse scandal, and imply they helped make sure allegations of improper teacher behavior did not result in criminal charges.
A civil lawsuit against Kelly and the New Hanover County School Schools System, filed by some of the victims from the criminal case, is now proceeding through the court system. Other former students who did not participate in the criminal proceedings against Kelly have since come forward to allege he also abused them, and joined the list of plaintiffs in the civil suit.
More people, especially in homes along our coast, are choosing to install residential elevators. The trend has elevator inspectors and mechanics raising concerns about what they consider to be a growing public safety hazard: residential elevators in North Carolina are effectively unregulated.
Nearly 20 years after her disappearance, Kynande Bennett has yet to be found. The four-year-old South Carolina girl was reported missing by her parents Sept. 29, 2002. They said she’d been kidnapped from the Whiteville K-Mart.
More issues for a local oral surgeon, who was already under investigation after a prominent doctor died following a dental procedure in his care. Dr. Mark Austin had his Leland dental practice shut down earlier this month, and the SBI is investigating allegations of Austin's prescription drug abuse.
The victim in the case, 26-year-old Greyson Leyrer, is sharing her story now the plea deal is over. She said she couldn’t believe it when Appler approached her in 2019 with a lewd offer for a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Within the last year, there have been two separate elevator crashes in Holden Beach. The same type of Waupaca residential elevator, which is subject to a recall, was involved in both cases. Attorneys estimate there are well over 100 of these elevators installed in homes along the local coast.
“She was part of the FBI family, and the FBI family wasn’t going to quit on this case until they figured out who did it and why they did it,” retired Agent Larry Bonney said.
“He had all my belongings, and my money, and he disappeared, and no one cared and nobody seemed like there was anything that could be done. I was lucky if any agency even return my calls," homeowner Larry Ward said.
The New Hanover County Board of Education voted to begin the process of renaming the football stadium at Laney High School during its meeting Tuesday evening
The actions of New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Chair Julia Olson-Boseman are being questioned by the Town of Carolina Beach after she allegedly directed the County Manager to instruct county staff to conduct an investigation into the recent fire in Carolina Beach – despite having no jurisd
Three senate lawmakers are seeking to rewrite the 2015 law regarding law enforcement dashcam or bodycam video being released to the public or media organizations.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has fined the Chemours Company nearly $200,000 for previous violations related to failures with two treatment systems at its Fayetteville Works site that filter GenX and other PFAS from water before it enters the Cape Fear River.
Warrants help explain how Landreth's body was found. Anonymous tips helped them find her vehicle, and witnesses who say suspect tried to sell them the guns an pickup truck stolen from her.
It’s a story that made headlines in other parts of the state. But it wasn’t until two years after Nicholas Kehagias was hired as a Pender County Sheriff’s Deputy that many in Southeastern North Carolina learned of his infamous track record in Harnett County.
Six years after the National Weather Service determined there were problems with the KTLX Doppler radar in Shallotte, residents are still waiting for a solution. Meteorologists say they can't see the full picture to warn residents about severe weather because of the Doppler's shortcomings.
Chadbourn Police Chief Anthony Spivey is off the job on paid administrative leave, town officials confirmed to WECT Wednesday. Town Manager Jerome Chestnut would not elaborate on the nature of the investigation, but said he made the decision to place Spivey on leave last Friday.
The Bladen County Tax Administrator discovered that they had been taxing Whitted on all 40 acres of her property, rather than just the 29 acres she owns in Bladen County, for the last 18 years.
It was an undercover FBI operation that went on for well over a year in the early 1980s. Dubbed “Colcor” by federal officials, the far reaching organized crime scandal shocked the community with the eventual arrest of over 50 people, including about a dozen public officials.
In a letter to state regulators, CFPUA expressed its concerns about the “ineffectiveness of measures Chemours has taken so far to reduce the mass loading of its PFAS into the Cape Fear River.”
WECT has confirmed that New Hanover Regional Medical Center will no longer be offering patients the popular “prompt pay discount” now that it has officially merged with Novant Health. WECT was made aware the 25% discount was discontinued by a disappointed patient.
Of the $70 million in overpayments across the state, officials estimate only $7-8 million was due to fraud. The rest seems to involve honest mistakes by applicants for unemployment, many of whom had never been out of work before or needed to file for assistance.
Early this week, simmering frustrations boiled over with a multi-million-dollar system the state of North Carolina bought to track vaccine administration.
