It’s Friday, September 2nd - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Police have issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the father of a Miami-Dade child who's been missing for days.
Jorge Gabriel Morales, 45, is wanted for the interference of custody and concealing a minor contrary to a court order in connection with the disappearance of 6-year-old Jorge "Jo Jo" Morales, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department. On Saturday morning, the child was picked up from his mother's home by his father and paternal grandmother "in accordance with a court time sharing order," police said. The elder Jorge Morales never returned the child back home, violating court orders. The child's mother then reported his disappearance to police and told NBC 6 that she wasn't able to contact her ex-husband and that everything was gone from his apartment.
No. 2 - Federal agents were spotted searching a property on South Florida's ultra-exclusive Fisher Island Thursday as part of an investigation sources said is connected to a Russian oligarch.
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The search is connected to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents were also spotted in New York, carrying boxes during a search at an apartment at a Manhattan high-rise and at an estate in the Hamptons. Records showed those properties are linked to Vekselberg. Sources said the searches were connected to ongoing investigations but the nature of the investigations was unknown.
No. 3 - Video exclusively obtained by NBC 6 shows a wild brawl outside of a restaurant and bar in Hollywood late August.
In the video, a group of men can be seen fighting outside of the Sahara Café located on Harrison Street in Hollywood. At one point, a man in a blue shirt and his friend in black turn to see chairs flying at them. The fisticuffs continue and one of them goes down. Then, another man appears to start shooting. The camera captures him firing multiple rounds. “I can’t even explain how that moment was. It’s like seeing my life flash in front of me,” the man in the blue shirt told NBC 6. He asked us not to use his name as investigators are yet to identify the man who is seen opening fire. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
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No. 4 - In a failed attempt to bar the admission into evidence several swastikas Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz drew on assignments, his attorneys made an unusual argument Thursday at his penalty trial: he was an equal opportunity killer who shot his victims without regard to race or religion.
The attorneys told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer outside the jury's presence that the Nazi symbol creates such strong anger and revulsion that allowing the panel to see his drawings violates his right to a fair trial because there is no evidence that his 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High was driven by bigotry. Those killed and the 17 wounded included white, Black, Hispanic and Asian people, Christians and Jews. They also listed the numerous times they asked Scherer before jury selection to rule on whether the swastikas would be admitted, saying her failure affected the questions they asked prospective jurors and their trial strategy. They asked for a mistrial, which Scherer angrily rejected, calling their argument “disingenuous."
No. 5 - Help is on the way for millions of Americans with college debt, but the federal government is warning you to be on the lookout for scammers using the announcement as bait.
“It is a perfect storm for scammers,” Zulfikar Ramzan said. Ramzan is the Chief Scientist at Cyber Security Company Aura. He said customers have already reported fraud attempts related to student loan forgiveness. The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning to borrowers as well, saying, “You don’t need to do anything or pay anybody to sign up for the new program or the pause.” It went on to say there is no way to jump the line and “that anybody who says they can or tries to charge you is a 'liar and a scammer.'" Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
No. 6 - A non-profit organization in Miami-Dade County is helping women who were formerly incarcerated find life after prison.
The Dragonfly Thrift Boutique isn't your average clothing and furniture store, but it's also a place of second chances and where women can change their lives. "This is a place of love and acceptance and a great way for someone to come back into society, to feel accepted and build their self-esteem again," said store manager Nancy Denike. Denike was one of the people who got that second chance after serving five years in the Homestead Correctional Facility. Click here for her story and more in a report from NBC 6’s Xochitl Hernandez.
