Transcripts For WUSA Wusa 9 News At 5pm 20150129

Reporter d. O. T. Crews in maryland and virginia have been pretreating roads all day. Between the two they have 1,000 pieces of equipment out and about on the road. Im told theyll keep a few hundred out well after the storm has past to monitor typical trouble spots. Still d. O. T. Officials stress they cannot be everywhere. They do expect patches of black ice here and there. If you have to be out on the roadways, you still want to be careful. Live in Frederick County im mola lenghi for wusa9. Moving on now weve got reaction tonight to some explosive and disturbing fight videos and apparently some related racist social media posts that have shaken up a Big High School on marylands eastern shore. Scott broom has joined with a team of colleagues [ technical difficulties ] i think as weve isolated these incidents around the fighting that there werent racial overtones at least that initiated it. Reporter meanwhile the media received blistering criticism. You are doing nothing but making this worse wrote one reader. Another parent took a different view. I think for the parents to see it, its good because they know whats going on, but i think it can be bad because it makes it look more racially charged than it probably is. Reporter the boy you saw in the video received a concussion. He is recovering at home according to his mother. Ive also contacted wooster county sheriffs officials who say there have been no further incidents here at Stephen Decatur high school. Scott broom, wusa9. One day after investigators ruled the annapolis mansion fire was caused by an electrical problem they released some 911 calls. The first was from the alarm company. The second one came from this neighbor. Their house is on fire. I happened to look outside and the flames, i dont know if anybodys called, but i mean the whole house is on fire. Is anybody inside . I have no idea. It is on fire . Oh, my god, its like im getting ready to call my neighbor nextdoor. The flames are coming out of the house. Keep everybody away and if you can find out if anybody is in the house, let us know, okay . Okay. Were people in that house, four Young Children and their grandparents died in the fire. A 6yearold boy has life threatening injuries after he went sledding into a passing car. The driver stopped to help. It happened last night on matthew mills road in mclean. Thats where we find wusa9 reporter surae chinn. Reporter jan, this appears to be an awful accident on the circular driveway behind me. Kids just wanting to play in the snow, what is left of the snow, and this moment of fun turned tragic on the slippery driveway. Thats terrible. Theres a lot of kids around here. They all come from the school and they all walk to school and everything and theyre all a bunch of great kids. Reporter around 5 30 last night a group of children including the 6yearold boy were sledding down this driveway in the 7100 block of matthew mills road in mclean just off old dominion drive. The little boy slid down the driveway into the street head first just as a 2015 lexus was passing through. Oh, my goodness, the fragility of life, you never know when its going to be your turn or your familys turn. Reporter the 65yearold driver heard a loud noise and immediately got out to help the boy. They had hitch on a stretch are and had him on a stretcher and had a bunch of paramedics around him. Reporter he was flown to Inova Fairfax hospital in life threatening condition. Neighbor nick everheart used to babysit the little boy. Nice, likes to play sports, really good kid, always happy. My heart is broken and for the driver, too because you just dont want that. You dont want to live with that memory. Thats got to be terrible. Reporter and no charges have been filed. This all happened in a split second. Speed and alcohol were not a factor but police want to remind folks this season to be extra careful in the snow, just a really awful tragic accident. Back to you, jan, lesli. The Republican Controlled Senate passed a bill approving construction of the controversial keystone xl pipeline. Even with bipartisan support the bill does not have enough votes to override a veto from president obama. The senates bill still needs to be reconciled with the house version. Good samaritans are credited with saving the lives of an elderly man and his daughter in berwyn heights, maryland. Fire and smoke engulfed their house this morning in the 5200 block of seminole place. Neighbors tell wusa9 he saw a man in his 80s trapped on the first floor and he pulled him to safety. He ran inside the burning home and found a woman. He and a volunteer firefighter helped her crawl out. Not only the fact that it feels good i can actually save a life, but its nice to know theyre both alive with the extent of damage to the house. The two people are hospitalized in fair condition and the home did not have working smoke detectors. Fire investigators are working to figure out the cause. Nearly 200 passengers on ahmen headed to dulles are safe tonight after an on a plane headed to dulles are safe tonight after an emergency landing. Minutes after a flight departed to dulles at 9 a. M. There were reports of a burning smell in a cabin. The crew made the decision to land in Ontario National airport not too far from los angeles. A passenger tweeted airplane caught on fire midflight, emergency landed from cruising altitude to ground in five minutes. Not comfortable. He also noted that the pilots did a great job with the situation. The airline is working to get all the passengers here to the d. C. Area. Another emergency landing, this time on a new jersey street and it is not clear why the pilot chose to land his cessna on west milford road. No one else was on board. Washington nationals outfielder jayson werth agreed to driving recklessly on the beltway. He may serve his time on weekends and continue to rehab from shoulder surgery. A state trooper caught werth going 105 in a 55mile an hour zone last july in fairfax county. Were just Getting Started on wusa9 at 5 00. A 69yearold woman from Montgomery County vanished nearly a month ago and tonight Debra Alfarone talks to her family, that story at 5 30. Two threatened hostages remain in the hands of isis tonight. What will the terror group do now that the survivors of the alexandria woman who died in a smoke filled metro train earlier this month plan to sue metro in federal court tomorrow. More than 80 other passengers have already sued or plan to sue soon. Bruce leshan talked to one of them today and joins us live from the Lenfant Plaza metro station. Reporter the lawyer representing 68 of these victims says she is not after punitive damages. She says that she is really just trying to force metro to reimburse these people for their lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering. I still have questions of why. Why were we down there so long . Reporter 2 1 2 weeks later. The train is not on fire. There is no fire in the tunnel. Theres just heavy smoke. Reporter denine baker says she is still having nightmares, still cannot sleep, still has a pounding pain in her head. [ coughing ] down here over 40 minutes with smoke choking, coughing, people unconscious, dying. Why . Reporter the 47yearold housekeeper was on her way to her job at an alexandria day spa. She has been too frightened to get back on the train and she has no other way to get to work. Why nothing was sucked out of the tunnel, why it took that long to come down there to get us. Reporter bakers lawyer sued metro after the deadly 2009 crash. She is representing nearly 70 people in the latest crisis. Its not all about money. Its about making the metrorail system safe. Reporter but kim brooks rodney says metros Emergency Preparedness clearly needs work and wonders about 12 pages of redaction in an oversight report. The very first 911 call that metro made was for smoke. Thats it, didnt say anything about people trapped on the subway car. Reporter baker is convinced she was just minute away from dying down there. What goes through your head at a point in time like that . My kids, grand kids. That i love them. Reporter metro declined to address most of these issues citing the ongoing ntsb investigation. Some frightening moments this evening at the Dutch National radio station. An armed man got into the building and demanded air time. That gunman has been detained. No one was hurt. A dutch reporter said the gunman claimed to be part of what they call a hackers collective. This is a yellow alert day. Now heres wusa9 first alert weather. Were gearing up for a messy commute tonight. We are. The good news is if youre in loudoun county, its over drying out. Its going to move through in the next hour, hour and a half, but yes, some sleet, snow and plain oldfashioned rain. Then were tracking winds tomorrow and snow for super bowl sunday. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam. Downtown 36 degrees and we had such a dry air mass this morning thats actually what kind of led to the sleet today. The air temperature cooled and precipitation fell. In fact, the dew point is still only 20 works relative humidity 57 . Kind of unusual, not crazy unusual, but hr used to be about 60 for precipitation to fall, winds south, southeast at 6. The doppler over the past couple hours you can see between 3 15 and now how fast things are moving, a little snow pushing into Anne Arundel County north of route 50 into northern Prince Georges County, but now its about over in frederick, leesburg and fairfax. Looking at the eastern 1 2 of Montgomery County some leftover snow and sleet in olney. Rockville is almost done. Going up 270 the roads are wet but nothing is still falling. Different story on this side of the beltway. Heading down from 50 down into Southern Maryland through 301 and 5, Upper Marlboro it will be a little slick and wet. College park around route 1 a little snow and sleet mixed in, up toward laurel, up 32 and up between d. C. And baltimore, but again its going to be out of here by 7 00. Bus stop temperatures 30s, windy, so dress the kids for the teens because temps will fall all day friday into the 20s and when they come home, the wind chills will be in the teens. Cold saturday, snow possible sunday looking more and more likely, quite frankly, favoring primarily snow. It could affect where you pick the party on super bowl sunday and if you go out. It will be slick by the time the game is over. 7 00 tonight thankfully everybody is pretty much above freezing, maybe 32 in gaithersburg, 34 in leesburg, 37 downtown, 34 in manassas. By 10 00 you can walk the dog, its dry. Temps hold in the 30s tonight. By 6 00 in the morning were essentially the same air mass low 30s in the burbs, upper 30s downtown. By 9 00 start to fall a little, 36 downtown. By noon were falling north and west, 28 in hagerstown and by 6 p. M. Tomorrow night these arent wind chills. Temperatures will be in the low to mid20s in places like rockville, gaithersburg, leesburg, right around freezing downtown. Were in the teens tomorrow night across most of the metro area by 11 00 with low 20s downtown. Were also tracking pretty strong winds. 7 00 tomorrow morning winds could gust to 27 Miles Per Hour. This is a snapshot in time. Each number represents a wind gust in Miles Per Hour. By 1 00 gusts over 30 Miles Per Hour and by 6 p. M. We have winds almost 40 Miles Per Hour in terms of gusts. That will drive wind chills below 0 tomorrow night if you have plans. Day planner, 30s across the board, not much temperature movement. By 1 00 it starts to fall a little bit, 34. Next three days still cold saturday, 33, heavier and steadier snow sunday night, mid 20s for lows, dont go above freezing monday. Morning snow ending and cold tuesday, a brief respite wednesday in the 40s. Rain or snow showers wednesday night, more serious arctic air by next thursday. Right now the world is a waiting word on the faith of a japanese journalist and Jordanian Air force pilot held captive by isis. The terrorist groupish pewed a sundown dea lnweorgoer group issued a sundown deadline for jordan to release an iraqi woman it has in prison in exchange for the life of a jordanian pilot. The jordanian pilot will be killed immediately. Reporter the ultimatum was delivered in an audio message read by another hostage, japanese journalist kenji goto. Isis demanded jordan release the would be suicide bomber. Jordans government is ready to bargain if its pilot is still alive. Jordan requested proof of life for the life of the jordanian pilot and we have not received that yet. We want to see proof of life the jordanian pilot and then we can talk about the exchange. Reporter isis captured the pilot last month when his plane crashed during a bombing raid over syria. In his hometown residents rallied in the streets demanding their government do what it can. The mother of the japanese journalist is making measure own public pleas for the life of her her own public pleas for the life of her son. Kenji gotos wife spoke out today saying her husband is a good and honest man who is in syria to show how people there are suffering. The Senate Judiciary committeed had day two of its confirmation hearings for loretta lynch, president obamas nominee for attorney general. Lynch did not appear before the committee today. Instead senators questioned outside experts on the merits of her nomination. If confirmed, she would become the first black female attorney general. New information about the missing malaysian jetliner and the doomed asia plane, well tell you about both in a little bit. And whether it really is a good time to buy if you have high Blood Pressure like i do, many Cold Medicines may raise your Blood Pressure. Thats why theres Coricidin Hbp it relieves cold symptoms without raising Blood Pressure. So look for powerful Cold Medicine with a heart. Coricidin hbp. Amazon is upping the ante to corporate with microsoft for part of the corporate email market starting work mail. Amazon says this program is more secure and si dont feel bad if you are the only one arriving late at the job. You really arent the only one. A new Career Builder survey finds one in five people are late to work at least once a month. At least one in 10 workers are late once a week and traffic is the no. 1 reason followed by lack of sleep, getting the children off to school and deciding what to wear for the day. Thats my personal favorite excuse there. Career builder is jointly owned by wusa9s Parent Company gannett and two other companies. Its the leadup to the super bowl. Analysts say it is the best time to buy that big screen hd tv. Last year the average price for a 60inch set was 129 cheaper than the rest of the year. The Consumer Electronics Association Says in recent years more than one in four owners purchased a tv just to watch the championship game. For the first Time Facebook will sell ads during the super bowl in realtime. The commercials will target you based on what you post and those ads will be triggered by key word says mentioned by you key words mentioned by you on the social network as you watch the game and will include auto play videos on facebooks news feed. World renown photographer and painter williaming with man is in the district William Wegman is in the district. He read from his new book at the childrens hospital. Wegman is best known for creating art involving dogs. Topper is tracking tonights wintery weather back with an update after the break. Reporter a gaithersburg woman has been missing about a month. Her sister wants you to see how can i avoid maintenance fees . Why would you want to avoid them . Because i dont want to. You know what . Im gonna bring my maintenance guy in here to tell you all about it. Roddy so, uh, without your fee your checking chamber cant run smoothly. Every time you put money in it causes, uh. Deposit friction. Gotta get some fiscal lube on there. [ male announcer ] its time to bank human again. [ defeated] okay. [ male announcer ] avoid monthly maintenance fees at td bank with a minimum checking balance of just 100. Td bank. Americas most convenient bank. This is a yellow alert day. Now heres wusa9 first alert weather. We mentioned this earlier. The Winter Weather advisories have been extended further south to include the district and the beltway till 7 p. M. For sleet, snow and freezing rain. Out toward leesburg and manassas its over for you. The radar will show this is moving really fast. We talked about this yesterday. The best chance will be between about 3 p. M. And 6 p. M. That will pretty much hold. Maybe 7 p. M. In the western part of the bay. We see snow and sleet in baltimore back down i95 toward d. C. , but back to the west were in pretty good shape. Driving up 270 all the precipitation pretty much gone. In town northwest still sleet rolling eastward, too shortly work its way right out route 50. Olney a couple leftover flurries and looking at temperatures mainly above freezing and holding above freezing tonight. 32 in frederick, leesburg, 34 in manassas, 36 downtown. I think go up before midnight a bit. We will come back, talk about tracking strong winds and snow just in time for super bowl sunday. Montgomery county police need your help to find a woman who has been missing for about a month. Debra alfarone is live in gaithersburg with a plea from this womans sister. Reporter i can tell you Betty Jean Queen used to come to this church behind me quite a lot, but now no one has seen her about a month. Her sister wants you to watch this next story even as talking about this breaks her heart. Id rather not say. Reporter mary ellen monk has been praying and fasting ever since her sister 69year old Betty Jean Queen went missing last seen december 29th in her gaithersburg neighborhood. I often wondered it she go somewhere wondered did she go somewhere where something happened to her. Queen lives on orchard drive, doesnt drive, is hard of hearing and suffers from a mental disorder. She has been diagnosed as schizophrenic and i saw her as being very paranoid. The detective has exhausted all her leads. Shes been to the womens shelters. Shes been to the churches. Shes been everywhere. Reporter this is a picture of the two when they were kids. Monk says queen has a son and two grandchildren she cherishes. She says queen disappeared a year ago. Someone saw her picture on tv then and she was back home quickly. Shes hoping that happens again. Betty jean, if you see this program, we are praying for you. Ive been fasting for you. Ive had masses said for you and we want you back home. Reporter even if they havent seen her in a couple weeks, if they saw her two weeks ago, its worth our time to have these people call in so we can go where she has been. Reporter and we have some breaking news. This is Pretty Amazing stuff, but while that story was playing we did find out, we got a call into our newsroom and found out that queen has been found, yeah. Its amazing stuff to be able to share with you. We did that interview just a little while ago with mary ellen monk and police. Since that time, we found out that now Betty Jean Queen has been found. Well update you later, but now live in gaithersburg, Debra Alfarone, wusa9. That is the power of sharing these stories in whatever way you can. Boy, do we need you this time, too because were trying to help bring home another missing person. This missing person is a virginia teenager. The Stafford County Sheriffs Office says 17yearold James Daniel Marston left his home yesterday evening considered missing and in danger. He was last seen in the white oak area of Stafford County. He is about 6 1, 155 pounds with brown layer and blue eyes. If you have seen him, James Daniel Marston, call the Stafford County Sheriffs Office at 5406584400. There are 84 reported cases of measles in the u. S. , most of them linked to disneyland in california. The spread of the contagious disease has some parents calling for schools to keep unvaccinated children out of the classroom. Reporter as the measles spreads, some parents want schools to ban unvaccinated children except those with medical exemptions. We rely on the people that can be immunized to be immunized to protect the rest of the population. Reporter the crowitz worry about their son rex who cant get the vaccine. The 6yearold is in remission after fighting leukemia and his immune system is too weak to handle the vaccine. The cdc says 84 people in 14 states are reported to have measles. 67 cases are linked to disneyland in california. In Arizona State Health Officials are keeping an eye on as many as 1,000 people including nearly 200 children who may have been exposed after a woman with measles visited an urgent care center. Dr. Tim jaxs daughter maggie is among those monitored. She is battling leukemia and also cant be vaccinated. Theres the father side of me that is just angry and wanting to protect my family. Reporter experts say the outbreak is cause for concern considering measles is so highly contagious. Outbreaks like this really remind us of the importance of these diseases and really the benefit of vaccine. Reporter most of those infected had not been vaccinated. Marley hall, cbs news, new york. The u. S. Experienced 644 measles infections last year in 27 states. New information on two airplanes that crashed last year killing hundreds, first the air asia flight that crashed into the java sea, investigators say the copilot was struggling with the controls. When the plane began to wobble, the more experienced pilot took over and suddenly climbed to 37,000 feet. The change in elevation caused the plane to stall and crash killing all 152 people on board. There is still no trace of that missing Malaysia Airline are that vanished about 10 months ago, but government officials declared the crash an accident with all 239 people on board presumed dead. The move clears the way for victims families to receive compensation. The murder trial of former new england patriot player Aaron Hernandez is underway and prosecutors told the jury there is security footage that show hernandez and two friends making preparations just hours before the execution style killing of oden lloyd in 2013. This is the first of two murder trials hernandez will face this year. He is charged with the shooting death of two men outside a boston nightclub in 2012. One woman and a child are dead after a until gas explosion at a Maternity Hospital this morning in mexico city. More than 20 children and dozens of others are recovering from injuries. The citys mayor says the explosion was apparently caused by a hose carrying gas from the truck new campaign is underway to help the homeless in Montgomery County. Advocates were on the streets of bethesda this morning in whats called the point in time count, the first step in a National Campaign to end hopelessness by 2016. An accurate count of the homeless in Montgomery County will help determine how much federal money it will get. We talked to one of the volunteers this morning. I met a gentleman who lives in the bethesda metro. He is a veteran. He served in the National Guard six years. He experienced homelessness nine years. Hes cycling in and out of staying on peoples couches. Studies show it costs nearly 50,000 a year to keep someone alive on the streets while it only takes 25,000 annually if you find shelter for them. Relief from the flu may be on the way in northern virginia. One expert with the Reston Hospital Center tells the fairfax times theyre seeing a slight decline in the number of cases theyre treating. This flu season has been more active than in years past, in part due to the severity of this years strain. A local Business Owner who thought he settled 47,000 in tolls and fees on the express lane now faces garnishment. His bank account. Peggy fox has another h. O. T. Lane toll nightmare from virginia coming up at 6 00. Trending now what happens when comcast changes a customers name to something far more profane. And a local mans attempt to win the narrator gas prices are down helping middle class families. To impose title ii regulations on your internet meaning new government taxes and fees. Every month youd pay more. 11 billion dollars a year in new taxes and fees. Internet freedoms can be protected with the white house and Congress Working together, but imposing new tax increases through public utility style regulations will hurt middle class families lets protect the internet we love without regressive taxes and fees. No to title ii. Taking a look at stories trending you on your thursday comcast is apologizing after changing a customers name to a swear word on a bill. Regard owe brown was changed to Ricardo Brown was changed to expletive brown after the spokane man and his wife argued with the company over a bill. Get this. When his wife lisa tried to get a rep to change the name, she was actually met with some resistance. Last august one customer was put on hold three hours trying to cancel service. At some point i hang up after about five minutes. Somebody had to put that in the system. Two new jersey teens are getting a lot of support from the community after Police Stopped them from their shoveling work following this weeks blizzard. The teens were handing flyers promoting their service when they were pulled over. Police were concerned about the boys being outside during dangerous conditions and i love those guys. I try to find them every time it snows, see if theyll come to my house. We tell them to do something productive and when they do, we tell them theyre in trouble. Voting is closed for the doritos Super Bowl Ad contest. 39yearold Jason Johnson of mclean hopes his ad is the one the world sees on sunday. Here it is. Hey, dad, can we have some doritos . Sorry, guys. I dont think i can reach that far. Please. I think ill have to reach them all myself. Oh, man, im getting pulled over. Thats cute. She was conspiring, too. In is one of 10 finalists whose ads may air this sunday. Were pulling for you. When will tonights wintery mix end . The forecast and the possibility of snow on sunday. Whether youre looking for a new house or trying to sell your old one, well tell you some things you can do now to get ready. Others. Now, americans everywhere are discovering that. Spoon after spoon. Dish after dish. Time, after time, after time again. Deliciously creamy galbani ricotta inspires meals, and moments, that are simply better. Mmm, galbani sfx kiss . Italys favorite cheese brand. Now, americas number one ricotta. Always watching always tracking wusa9 first alert weather. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam and you can see how clear it is. Precipitation has ended downtown and ended also i270 west. Its still 36, dew points come up a bit, relative humidity 65 . Heres the radar. You can see everything pushing eastward very quickly. Its like a cold front. The center of the storm is way north up into new york state but it is whipping a cold front through here and thats whats generated the snow showers and sleet showers now about over in the immediate metro area. Still some left over activity around buoy and route 50 toward annapolis, snow and sleet north of laurel toward 195 into baltimore and maybe a little leftover sprinkles inside the beltway in Prince Georges County just around the college park area. Everything else is pretty much gone. Dry in olney, silver spring. Theres the activity in laurel, go up route 1 and also 32 over toward odenton but not a huge deal. Lets talk about the satellite and radar picture combined. Well zoom into the southwest. Youre like what do i care its raining in phoenix . A couple reasons. The super bowl is there and the Waste Management open. That rain in phoenix looks like our snow monday night sunday night into monday morning. The cold front extends into north georgia. That rolls through tonight. The good news is the cold air is lagging behind it. I dont see a huge problem with refreezing. Rain and snow ends by 7 00, bus stop temperatures in the 30s but remember, the winds and falling temperatures tomorrow, dress the kids for the teens. Well see winds over 30 miles an hour by afternoon. Cold saturday and snow possible. Its not likely on super bowl sunday. 8 00 tonight everything is done. Notice the temperatures arent falling. 34 in frederick, leesburg, 32 in gaithersburg, 37 downtown. The good news is the arctic air will lag behind a while. By morning just say partly cloudy skies, temperatures generally in the 30s, hovering around 32. There could be a few slick spots tomorrow morning. By 9 00 were back in the low 30s north and west Holding Steady downtown. By 1 00 temperatures fall north and west in the 20s in hagerstown and by 6 00 most of us will be back in the 20s. With these strong winds its going to feel like its in the Single Digits when you come home tomorrow. If youre out tomorrow night, its going to feel like its below 0. Lets talk about the wind gust tracker. 7 00 tomorrow morning each number represents a wind gust, 30 mileperhour wind gust by tomorrow morning, 31 mileper hour wind gust by afternoon and by 6 p. M. Tomorrow winds almost gusting to 40 Miles Per Hour. Well probably see wind advisories posted in the potomac highlands and the mountains. Day planner, 30s to start. Temperature goes down a bit at 1 00. Next three days dry and cold saturday, 33, snow or mix sunday, 35, already a yellow alert and were favoring an all snow event. Snow ends monday, 30, very cold tuesday. Look at what happens. If it does snow, we wont get above freezing until wednesday if it does snow and thats short lived, only in the 20s next thursday. Springtime, that marks the start of the home selling season. Whether you are in the market to buy or accept, some helpful tips could help sell, some helpful tips could help you save thousands on the deal. Bigad shaban has a new Consumer Report survey detailing the dos and donts for buyers and sellers. Reporter realtor tammy tarner says this three bedroom home in los angeles could sell about 3 more if her clients upgrade their master bath with a new countertop and tile. That will be between 30 to 32,000. Reporter after only paying 10 or 15,000 for the renovation. In a new Consumer Report survey more than 300 experts revealed even the tiniest improvements like adding new bathroom grout or adding kitchen curtains can raise a homes value. Very soft simple touches that can in the mind of the buyer transform that kitchen and by extension make the entire home feel much more livable. Reporter clearing corrupt, touching up paint in clearing clutter, touching up paint in high traffic areas and increasing curb appeal are things to do. Blunders for buyers are not shopping around mortgages and skipping Home Inspections and sellers should avoid overpricing homes and negotiating commission. 4 worked out to be the average that negotiated their commission. Reporter experts say april is the best month to put a home up for sale. More than 5 million homes in the u. S. Are expected to be sold by the end of the year. The parents of a missing southern virginia teenager are pleading for her safe return. 16yearold aysia Monique Lewis has not been seen since she left Christiansburg High School monday. Investigators believe lewis left with a 33yearold man from illinois who drove to virginia to meet her. Electronic cigarettes are a Public Health threat according to california Health Officials. The board claims vapor smoking should be regulated as tobacco is. One Health Official believes while e cigarettes are not as dangerous as tomorrow tobacco, they are not safe. Today was the final day for media availability for the teams playing in the super bowl and once again seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was present in order to avoid the hefty fine from the nfl, but instead of providing the same answer over and over he actually opened up to reporters sort of. Sports anchor Kristen Berset is here to explain. I hope he said more than before. He had a lot to say, but it was directed at the media. We all know how much he despises talking to the media. Unfortunately for him its mandated by the nfl. His defiance went global on media day after he repeated the same phrase over and over, im only here so i dont get fined. Today he set a five minute timer on his phone which hes done the last couple days and spent the first two minutes basically lecturing the media. Heres a little bit. All week i done told you i was set and for stop reason you all continue to come back and do the same thing that you all did. I dont know what story you all trying to get out of me. I dont know what image youre all trying to portray of me, but it dont matter what you all think, what you all say about me because when i go home at night, the same people that i look in the face, my family that i love, thats all i really to me. Can you blame him really . Thats how a lot of people feel about the media. Now to someone who doesnt shy away from the media, seahawks quarterback richard sherman. Theres a chance he could miss the super bowl because his girl friend is pregnant with their first child. Shes due in early february, but a chance he could be born sunday, he, she, i dont know. Sherman says he hopes his son, oh, will do him a little favor and say in there a little bit longer. Before. Robert griffin, iii is the latest Football Player to speak out on deflategate. In an interview with espn 980 griffin admitted that he had no idea the footballs had to be a certain weight. Coming up at coming all is the 6 00 the terps are in columbus to take on ohio state, much more on the super bowl and terps in sports. Coming up at 6 00 how in the world can someone rack up nearly 50,000 in fines using those h. O. T. Lanes in virginia . A professional treasure hunter accused of ripping off investors out of millions is behind bars tonight, next wher fugitive treasure Hunter Tommy Thompson is behind bars tonight after a two year manhunt. Hes embroiled in a legal fight over whats considered to be the recovery of the largest collection of lost gold in american history. Heres why thompson was on the run for years. Reporter u. S. Marshals found Tommy Thompson and his reported girl friend hiding out at their suite in this hilton hotel in west boca raton. They did not resist arrest. A senior investigator for the u. S. Marshals. Id heard theyd been staying at the hotel for two years and paying cash for their stay and everything basically. Reporter thompson is wanted in ohio for skipping out on a hearing in a lawsuit brought by his investors. Thompson had raised nearly 13 million from 161 people, defined the wreckage of the ss Central America also knowns the ship of gold. It sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857 during a hurricane. Its believed the ship was carrying as much as 21 tons of gold at the time. Thompson, a pioneer of deep sea exploration techniques, discovered the wreck in 1988 about a mile and a half below the surface. Attorney rick roble once represented thompsons company. Those of us who knew tommy personally knew that the man lived like a pauper, that he sacrificed himself and was the first explorer to achieve a working presence in the deep ocean. Reporter thompson recovered about 3 tons of gold from the bottom of the atlantic. He sold it in 2000 for 50 million thompsons investors which included the publishers of the Columbus Dispatch got nothing. Roble says the proceeds were used to pay the bills for the expense of expeditions and various lawsuits. The only charges facing thompson and his girl friend are for failing to show up in court. They do not face any criminal charges stemming from the companys finances. Investors may still get a return. There may still be as much as 18 tons of gold in that wreckage. Thompsons company is in receivership. There are plans to go for the gold. Thanks for watching wusa9 news at 5 00. Wusa9 news at 6 00 starts right now. Right now were tracking snow, sleet and rain showers that will roll through the metro area by 7 00. Then well focus on strong winds tomorrow, low wind chills and get ready for some snow on super bowl sunday. Reporter metro now facing nearly 100 lofts over that smoke lawsuits over that smoke filled train, the biggest likely coming tomorrow. We talk to a victim coming up. Reporter a simple mistake in setting up an ezpass account has a small Business Owner facing 47,000 in fines and the threat to garnish his bank account. All that and more. But first rain and snow showers are pushing through parts of the metro d. C. Area. Thanks for joining us tonight. Im lesli foster. Im derek mcginty. Lets get right to meteorologist topper shutt. Folks having a wet ride home . Especially east of town. Thankfully the showers to the west are gone and moving through very quickly. We do have Winter Weather advisories in effect for the immediate metro area until 7 p. M. If youre in montgomery or fairfax or loudoun county, your rain, snow and sleet showers are over. In fact, here is the radar the past couple hours. You can see between 4 00 it was back toward leesburg and by