A man accused of breaking into a drive-thru window of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Hamden and stealing two cash register drawers was arrested after police found him hiding under a deck. 

Police responded to Dunkin Donuts at 938 Dixwell Ave. around 1:30 a.m. to investigate a burglary and determined that the burglar forced the drive-thru window open and took two cash register drawers, police said. 

A concerned citizen provided police with a description of a vehicle that sped away from the area and Sergeant Eric Goclowski located the vehicle, which had been stolen earlier out of Seymour, on Whitney Avenue and stopped it. 

As Goclowski approached the driver, 41-year-old Hector Otero, of New Haven, fled and hit a parked vehicle on Exchange Street in New Haven, police said. 

After a foot chase, Goclowski located Otero, who was hiding underneath a backyard deck, police said. 

When police searched the stolen vehicle, they found two stolen cash register drawers. 

Otero was charged with burglary in the third degree, larceny in the third degree, possession of burglar tools, interfering with a police officer, reckless driving, engaging an officer in a pursuit, evading responsibility and operating without a license. 

He was held on a $5,000 bond.

Besito Restaurant in West Hartford abruptly closed its doors this month as the business’s landlord has filed in court claiming the restaurant owes more than $250,000 in rent payments.

Blue Back Square Holdings, LP has filed paperwork claiming that Besito failed to pay rent. According to the paperwork, Blue Back Square Holdings provided a notice of default demanding payment on May 18, 2017, but still did not receive the rent.

According to the filing, as of June 7, 2017, Besito owed $250,646.66. The landlord filed a request for eviction in June.

Though the case is ongoing in court, Besito closed its West Hartford location Monday. A note on their website read:

"After nearly a decade and with a heavy heart, we are sad to announce that we were unable to re-negotiate our lease at Blue Back Square and are closing our doors in our beloved West Hartford location," the website read.

The Mexican restaurant has been a popular spot in Blue Back since it opened in 2009.

The restaurant filed a Motion to Stay on July 5, 2017 in response to the court filings. Blue Back Square filed an Objection to that motion Tuesday, claiming it's a stall tactic. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2017.

Anyone with a gift card can contact the marketing department at info@besitomexican.com for reimbursement.

Visit the Netflix and Amazon home pages Wednesday and you'll find more than just TV shows, movies and things to buy. They and other major websites are using space on their home page to draw attention to net neutrality, which some feel is under threat by the Trump administration.

"The internet's less fun when your favorite sites load slowly, isn't it?" reads a message on Reddit's home page that loads letter by letter.

Led by three grassroots organizations — Fight for the Future, Free Press Action Fund and Demand Progress — more than 100,000 websites, online services and internet users have signed on to Wednesday’s "Battle for the Net," according to a press release from Fight for the Future.

Net neutrality is the idea that everyone should have equal access to a free and open internet, as opposed to one in which people can pay more for faster service. The principal was affirmed by the Federal Communications Commission in 2015 when it implemented regulations barring internet service providers from giving faster access to certain websites and blocking or slowing down access for others.

But new FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed reversing those regulations, citing the unnecessary burden they place on providers, and in May, the first step in that process passed.

"We propose to put technologists and engineers, rather than lawyers and accountants, at the center of the online world," Pai said in an address before the commission at the time.

But supporters of net neutrality see it differently. 

"Pai has consistently voted against pro-internet user, pro-competition positions in favor of handing control of the network to a small number of powerful companies,” said Candace Clement, campaign director for the Free Press Action Fund, in a statement.

Sites like Netflix are displaying messages urging users to send their comments in support of net neutrality to the FCC and Congress.

“The FCC needs to listen to the public, not just lobbyists from big cable companies,” Fight for the Future’s campaign director Evan Greer said in a statement. “Today, the Internet is showing its political power.”

This is not the first time a grassroots effort has been put forth to protect online egalitarianism.

In 2014, "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver called on viewers to submit comments to the FCC in opposition to a proposal that would have allowed internet service providers to create internet "fast lanes" for higher-paying users. The FCC's website subsequently crashed.

That same year, the organizers behind "Battle for the Net" as well as advocacy group Engine put together an internet slowdown day. Participants spread awareness by displaying a symbolic loading symbol on their home pages along with a call to action for users to submit comments to the FCC, similar to Wednesday's initiative.

The deadline for open comments to the FCC is July 17.

A man was seriously hurt when he was struck by a car while riding his bike in Seymour Wednesday morning.

Police said the victim was riding on Squantuck Road (Route 1888) around 11 a.m. when he was struck from behind by a car. He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital with life-threatening injuries. At last check he was listed in critical but stable condition, police said.

The driver of the car was not injured, police said.

The crash remains under investigation by the Seymour Police Department Accident Reconstruction unit.

A fire at a former rubbery factory in Bridgeport sent heavy smoke into the air and was visible from Interstate 95 Wednesday afternoon.

Bridgeport firefighters responded to a fire at the former AGI Rubber Company at 141 Stratford Avenue around 4 p.m.

Bridgeport Fire Chief Richard Thode said there have been fires at this site before so firefighters were familiar with the building. The structure is vacant and was in such disrepair it was unsafe for firefighters to enter, so they focused on an exterior attack.

Five engines, three ladders and the fire boat all responded to the scene- around two-thirds of the department came out to fight the fire.

Firefighters rotated out to prevent overheating and there were no injuries reported.

The fire was control as of around 4:45 p.m. and crews continued to put out hot spots, Thode confirmed. There was no damage to any surrounding buildings.

Thode said there have been five or six fires at the property in his 30 years with the department.

Those who pass Spaulding Pond at Mohegan Park in Norwich will find the beach closed, the gates locked and signs that read, “Beach Opening TBA.”

“We’re trying our best. It’s frustrating. Especially on a hot day like this,” said Norwich City Manager John Salomone.

Like with most cities, budget concerns initially put money for Spaulding Pond lifeguards on the chopping block. But in an 11th hour decision, the council voted in mid-June to restore the approximately $38,000 item, according to Salomone. It’s the only public swimming area in Norwich, he added.

“But most of the lifeguards had found other employment by then. So that’s why we’re in the dilemma we’re in now,” Salomone said.

The city needs at least four lifeguards to staff the pond. They need to be at least 17-and-a-half years old and certified in CPR, First Aid and AED use.

Salomone said they only have one committed lifeguard, so far. And for the first time, the city would even be willing to pay to get qualified people certified.

Chris Robinson and Tiara Reay take a family walk though Mohegan Park every other day. They’d like to take a swim with their daughter afterwards.

“It is definitely disappointing,” Robinson said about the pond being closed.

“We’ve been waiting all year,” Reay added.

“It was close walking distance or (people) would take a bus. It would give the kids something fun to do,” said Robin Jablonski about the swimming area.

For about 35 years Jablonski has parked her ice cream truck outside Spaulding Pond.

While the city said they’ve reached out to the high school, regional YMCAs, put ads in the paper and plan to create something electronically, this closure hurts.

“It’s hurting me bad. It’s probably to the point I won’t be here next year,” Jablonski said.

The city has an application for the lifeguard position on their website.

Victoria Daniels, program administrator for the Norwich Recreation Department said with four lifeguards, the pond could be open Thursday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The city would need six or seven lifeguards to keep the pond open seven days a week.

The fact that Standard and Poor's downgraded Connecticut's state capital credit rating to "junk" status, shouldn't come as a surprise, says the city's mayor.

Other ratings agencies, Moody's and Fitch, made similar announcements in the past several months.

“Their decision is what we’ve been saying for the better part of a year," Mayor Luke Bronin, a Democrat, told reporters during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

In the short term, the impact of the downgrade is that the city would have to pay higher interests for any borrowing, and would have trouble finding lenders because credit rating agencies have basically put future investors on notice warning that Hartford is not a safe bet.

The city needs $50 million in the current fiscal year in order to have a balanced budget, and that has become even more difficult since the city, like all municipalities, is so dependent on the state for aid.

City leaders are hopeful lawmakers can reach some kind of a budget solution soon.

City Council President TJ Clarke is looking to the State Capitol for guidance, saying he wants something to pass.

“If not a budget, a mini budget that can give Hartford the money that we need to be fiscally sound,” Clark said.

The downgrade does not affect existing borrowing or debt payments, so completed projects like Dunkin Donuts' Park will not get more expensive over the life of the bonds that were financed to pay for the minor league baseball stadium.

Mayor Bronin says the budget approved by the city council does not include more borrowing, saying, "The city is tapped out," as it is.

Bronin says the city has made the necessary difficult choices to balance the budget but says he and the council may have gone as far as they can.

“There is a limit to how much you can cut before you’re not delivering on your obligations to your residents," Bronin said.

A child was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation after a bedroom fire at a home in Stamford Wednesday afternoon.

Fire officials said they were called to an apartment at 46 Seaside Avenue around 2 p.m. All of the occupants had escaped after being alerted to the fire by smoke detectors.

It took firefighters around 30 minutes to get the flames under control. The fire, which started in a second-floor bedroom, caused heavy damage to the second color, and there was water damage to the first floor.

One child was taken to Stamford Hospital for treatment of minor smoke inhalation, fire officials said. Twelve people were displaced.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

If smiles are contagious then neighbors and loved ones of the Stratton family will be grinning ear to ear for quite some time.

The Manchester family stepped into their new home for the first time Wednesday as part of the "George to the Rescue" show.

"I think it's going to take a while to process all of it," Bill Stratton said.

The family's 7-year-old son Nicholas suffers from epilepsy and cerebral palsy. His reaction to his renovated digs was enough to cause a smile chain reaction.

"At any moment he can go into an epileptic seizure so they wanted to make sure that you always have the sight lines that you could always see him," George Oliphant said.

The top-to-bottom renovation included making the living and kitchen areas more open in order for Nicholas' parents to keep a better eye on him.

But the surprise scene didn't end there - NASCAR driver Joey Logano, Nicholas' favorite star, met them inside with several more surprises in store.

"This is what it's all about, this is why we do what we do, this is why drive race cars to be able to touch people," Joey Logano said.

Logano not only invited the family to his race in New Hampshire this weekend but also gave Nicholas the thrill of a lifetime with a burnout around the block.

"A lot of fun to give him a ride on one of the race cars we had here today at least down his neighborhood I'm not sure any burnouts have ever happened in this neighborhood before we may have broke the law a little bit for that," Logano said.

A high speed cause filled with fast moving hearts for one very deserving family.

"To have somebody come in and do it we're more than thankful and it's just proof that prayers do get answered," Bill Stratton said.

It’s been nearly a year since a house in Vernon exploded with a family inside.

Eleven months later, the Connecticut State Police investigation has wrapped up and the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters took a look at the report.

But the family told NBC Connecticut through attorneys that they disagree with the findings inside the report from the State Police Fire Explosion Investigation Unit.

The Kerstetter family home on East Street in Vernon was destroyed by a liquid propane gas explosion blew up in August. Three adults and four children were inside.

Then fire chief, now Fire Marshal Bill Call remembers it vividly.

“I heard at least four-five trapped in building, some self-extricated and a child in front of the home."

Luckily everyone healed and picked up the pieces with help from the community.

State police concluded the explosion was caused by a gas leak from a quarter-inch hole in an appliance line connecting a basement dryer to the propane line.

According to the report, a neighbor told investigators he ran over and shut the valves on the tanks off when the explosion happened, and rushed to help homeowner Steven Kerstetter, who told troopers later that his bedroom wall blew out.

"As I went through the wall and into my backyard I saw that my house was in pieces. My attention immediately turned towards finding my family and making sure they were okay. I started to dig through the debris and tried to find my daughter and her kids. I could hear my families voices coming from underneath the debris,” Steve Kerstetter said in that state police report.

The report notes that it is unclear what caused the hole in the appliance line, and that it is next to impossible to determine what ignited the explosion.

NBC Connecticut asked Call, who was not involved in the state police report, to weigh in.

“It could be anything, it could be static electricity someone could have flipped on a light switch, he hot water kicked on, there's so many factors involved with combustible gases probably never ever, ever pinpoint exact cause of ignition," he said.

The Kerstetter family’s attorneys Alisha Mathers and John Laudati disagreed. They released the following statement to NBC Connecticut:

“We have reviewed the report and the conclusions set forth in the State Police investigation into the cause of the August 4, 2016 explosion at our home. We have also consulted with independent experts, with whom we shared our personal experiences and knowledge regarding the events leading up to the explosion. At this time, we respectfully disagree with the conclusion of the Connecticut State Police and have directed our attorneys to fully investigate the cause of the explosion and specifically, to explore alternative theories which we feel are more consistent with the facts and information that have been presented.

As we have not had a formal opportunity to thank all those who provided help and assistance to our family during that time, we wanted to send a very heartfelt thank you and extend our deepest gratitude to everyone for the support, love and most generous contributions and donations. Our family is eternally grateful and will remember always how the community came together to take care of us. Thank you,”

A Silver Alert has been issued for a missing Cheshire woman.

Kelly Ann Effa, 52, was reported missing on Wednesday. She is described as 5-foot-5, 150 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

She was last seen wearing white tank top with a blue design and tan pants.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact Cheshire police at 203-271-5500.

Beware of baby birds on the beach! That’s the message from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection this summer.

The busy summer beach season also happens to be nesting season for a threatened species along the Connecticut shoreline.

Several types of shorebirds and wading birds nest and feed along Connecticut beaches, and their nests are often damaged or destroyed by unaware beach-goers.

Several species, including piping plovers, least terns, American oystercatchers, herons, and egrets, are particularly vulnerable. DEEP blocked off areas the birds are known to nest and posted signage to warn visitors to be on the lookout.

Piping plovers and least terns are both threatened species that nest along the shoreline from April through September. The US Fish and Wildlife Service describes plover chicks as sand-colored cotton balls with legs. The eggs and young are camouflaged to protect from predators, which makes them hard to spot.

Last year at least one piping plover chick was killed by an unleashed dog on the beach, and a nest was trampled by people walking through a blocked off area.

Even if you disturb a nest unintentionally and put it back, adult birds may abandon the site, leaving eggs and hatchlings to die.

DEEP completely closed Charles Island in Milford and Duck Island in Westbrook to the public this summer, hoping to protect the birds and keep them off the endangered list.

The agency has also blocked off some areas and posted signs along the shore, including at Walnut Beach in Milford, to remind residents to be alert. They also stress how important it is to keep dogs leashed in areas the birds inhabit.

DEEP also asks beach-goers to pick up trash or fish scraps that could attract predators to the area.

Finally – as the chicks hatch and begin to roam, DEEP asks visitors to keep an eye out to avoid stepping on them.

More police officers will be riding on two wheels in the town of Hamden. The police chief said the department's expanded bike patrol unit is ready to roll.

Grace Harrington said the moment her son was born, protecting her family became her top priority.

"As a new mom, I think that safety is number one, just making sure that the community is safe," said Harrington, who is from Milford but often visits Hamden.

Member of the Hamden Police Department said they have that same priority of protecting citizens. In order to do that, the department is utilizing more bicycles. Officers hope to better connect with residents and visitors and believe they can often do that better while on a bicycle.

"People constantly are stopping you and saying 'It's so good to see you out here'," said Sgt. Michael Doherty, who is heading up the recently expanded 35 member bike patrol unit. There are tactical advantages, he said, but often bicycle patrols will roll onto a street recently hit by crime in hopes of building the bond between officers and the people they serve.

"We are out with the people. We work for the people. And I can interact with them on a one-on-one basis," said Sgt. Doherty.

The bicycle unit already has routes mapped out in several neighborhoods, with more being added. Police Chief Thomas Wydra said $250,000 already budgeted for overtime pay will cover the bike beats. Officers will have the choice of working the additional overtime hours," Wydra said.

Chief Wydra and Mayor Curt Balzano Leng announced that the patrols are active in the Highwood, Whitneyville, State Street, Woodin Street, Spring Glen, and Hamden Plains Neighborhoods. New patrols are being added in the Hamden Mart and Hamden Plaza area. To view Hamden's current Bicycle Patrol Routes, click here.

The town of Suffield has decided to charge out-of-town residents to use their beach after the area was trashed multiple times during the busy summer season.

Babb’s Beach opened in June after being out of service for about 20 years. A lot of work was put in to fix it up for public use, and when it first reopened it was free for all. But after significant trash issues over the Fourth of July weekend, town officials decided to put some restrictions in place.

“There was a significant amount of garbage, there were cigarette butts left in the sand that we had to meticulously maintained. So we knew we had to act definitively and to take action,” said Suffield First Selectman Melissa Mack.

Non-residents will be charged $20 to park a car of up to six people before 3 p.m. If they have more than six people, the town charges another $5 per person.

“There will be no charge for Suffield residents because they’re already paying to maintain the park through their taxes,” Mack explained.

The hope is that the cost will encourage beachgoers to respect the beach.

“I think it’s a great idea. As a mom of two kids you want to come to a clean beach and this is a place to come with little ones so I think it makes sense,” said Suffield resident Sarah Gamere.

There are also signs that ask the public to pick up their trash – and the town plans to start handing out trash bags, because a few weeks ago they had to remove trash cans after they were found dumped in the water.

Middletown Mayor Dan Drew announced his run for governor Wednesday.

Drew’s entrance into the race makes him the best-known Democrat running so far.

In his announcement, he spoke about investing in education – including wanting free public higher education - as well as the need to reform the property tax system, implementing tolls, and legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana.

“We have to recommit ourselves to finding good jobs for every person in our state who is able and ready to work. We much recruit and retain companies and help our small businesses grow,” Drew said. “One way to help workers and employers is linking workforce development to industry needs,” he added.

The mayor also said that if Washington isn’t willing to have a single-payer healthcare system, then Connecticut should do it on its own.

The election is still more than a year away. Some of the well-known candidates on the Republican side include former US Comptroller General David Walker, as well as Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.

And on the Democratic side, there are several high-profile names that have opened exploratory campaigns. That includes former Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jon Harris, State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, and Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim.

Storms rolled through Connecticut Wednesday and the threat for severe weather returns again Thursday.

The NBC Connecticut meteorologists have issued a First Alert for Thursday for the potential for strong to severe storms. The storms will be scattered and bring a change for flooding along the shoreline. There is also the possibility of some damaging winds.

Track conditions in real time using the interactive radar

The day will be muggy with temperatures in the 80s.

Low pressure from the eastern Great Lakes moves in Friday and temperatures will cool down.

Make sure to download the NBC Connecticut app for up-to-the-minute weather updates. Click here for information on downloading our app.

The survivors of a 1940 roundup of Romanian Jews called are finally being given access to pensions under an agreement negotiated with Germany, NBC News reported.

Around 15,000 people died in the Iasi Pogrom, which was planned by Romanian and German officials.

Survivor George Herscu, 90, was 13 at the time. He escaped death by hiding in a cornfield, but his father didn't survive. He told NBC News that "justice is done" for the "barbaric way" his father died on a transport train.

Germany refused to compensate the Iasi survivors for years in the same way it compensates other survivors. But now the Iasi survivors who meet the criteria will receive pensions of about $400 a month and are eligible for more home car services.

Firefighters are investigating a fire early this morning at a Bethel building that includes apartments and stores and said one firefighter was taken to the hospital.

The fire broke out at 182 Greenwood Ave. just after 1 a.m. and Bethel and Stony Hill firefighters, as well as several mutual aid companies, responded to the scene.

Greenwood Avenue is open, but the fire department urges people to use caution in the area.

Cadaver dogs helped lead investigators to a patch of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, farmland where the remains of at least one missing young man were buried deep underground, the county's district attorney announced early Thursday.

The discovery marked a grim turn in the intense search for four men who disappeared late last week.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said the remains of 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, of Middletown Township, were positively identified. 

Weintraub said there were other human remains buried in the 12-1/2 foot deep "common grave" on the vast 90-acre Solebury Township farm, but that investigators are still working to distinguish their identities.

Weintraub also revealed that Finocchiaro's death was ruled a homicide, though he did not have an exact cause.

"This is a homicide, make no mistake about it," Weintraub announced shortly after midnight during a news conference attended by a throng of media and residents, as well as friends of the missing men. "We just don't know how many homicides. We are yet to know the answer to that question."

Finocchiaro, along with 22-year-old Mark Sturgis of Pennsburg, Montgomery County; 21-year-old Tom Meo of Plumstead Township; and 19-year-old Jimi Tar Patrick of Newtown Township, vanished last week.

WATCH LIVE: Weintraub is expected to give more details on the investigation at 11 a.m.

Meo's grandfather, Chuck Meo, told an NBC News producer that crews found the remains under a blue tarp after lifting a propane tank out. Weintraub didn't reveal what else was found in the large hole.

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, was named a person of interest in the case on Tuesday. His family owns the farm, located along Lower York Road in Solebury Township about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, where the remains were found.

DiNardo was arrested Wednesday after investigators determined he tried to sell Meo's 1996 Nissan Maxima to a friend after his disappearance. He has not been charged, however, in Finocchiaro's death. DiNardo is being held in the Bucks County jail on $5 million cash bail.

DiNardo was also arrested Monday on an unrelated weapons charge but left the Bucks County jail Tuesday night after his father, Antonio DiNardo, posted 10 percent of $1 million bail.

According to an affidavit obtained by NBC10, DiNardo was accused of possessing a 20-gauge shotgun and ammunition in February despite being barred from owning a firearm due to a history of mental illness that included an involuntary commitment. A district judge dismissed the charge in May, but the district attorney authorized for it to be refiled on Monday.

A family lawyer released a statement Wednesday, before the human remains were discovered, on behalf of DiNardo's parents.

"As parents, Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement," the lawyer wrote.

High-powered attorney Fortunato Perri Jr., who has represented several local celebrities including Philadelphia hip-hop artist Beanie Sigel, was also hired to represent DiNardo in court.

DiNardo and the missing men all appeared to know one another, prosecutors said.

According to Sturgis' father, Mark Potash, Sturgis and Meo are longtime friends who work in construction for him. Finocchiaro was a mutual friend of theirs, Potash said. Investigators began looking at DiNardo after they received tips indicating he was seen with the men shortly before they went missing.

Patrick went missing on Wednesday, July 5. He has not contacted family or friends or shown up for work, police said. Finocchiaro was last seen alive Friday around 6:30 p.m. getting into a vehicle on Hampton Drive.

According to a newly obtained criminal complaint, Meo's mother reported him missing Saturday. Meo's girlfriend said she last texted him Friday at 6:53 p.m. and didn't hear from him after.

Sturgis, who was last seen leaving his home on Walt Road in Pennsburg around 6 p.m. Friday, told his father he was going to meet with Meo in Doylestown.

On Sunday at 2:10 a.m., Sturgis' vehicle was found in the area of Peddler's Village in Buckingham Township about two miles away from a DiNardo family home on Aquetong Road.

Less than two hours later, Meo's car was discovered at the DiNardo home. Detectives say they found Meo's car keys hanging up on the wall of the garage. They also found Meo's diabetic supplies inside the vehicle.

On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Bucks County detectives interviewed DiNardo's friend, whose identity police are withholding. The friend told police DiNardo had called him Saturday at 5 p.m. The two then met on Bristol and Galloway roads in Bensalem where DiNardo allegedly offered to sell Meo's Nissan Maxima to him for $500, the criminal complaint reads.

Police also interviewed DiNardo Sunday. DiNardo allegedly told detectives he was driving a silver Ford pickup truck Friday night.

A Solebury Township police mobile license plate reader data found DiNardo's Ford pickup truck was on 2541 Street Road in Solebury Township Friday at 7:49 p.m. Within a few seconds, the license plate reader also captured Meo's vehicle at the same location.

The location where both vehicles were captured is within two miles away of the DiNardo home and less than one mile away from where Sturgis' vehicle was found.

Based on the information, investigators say they had probable cause that DiNardo did "unlawfully take and retain control" of Meo's vehicle.

Law enforcement members scoured the DiNardo family's Solebury Township farm for several days.  Investigators also used heavy equipment to dig on the property and deployed canines to search for clues.

Susan Coleman, a woman who lives near the farm, told NBC10's Deanna Durante that she heard gunshots from around the property on Saturday — hours after Meo and others were last seen.

"We heard a series of blasts, they were loud," Coleman said.

Coleman said she was sitting outside with her husband when she heard the gunfire but at first didn't think much of it since people go hunting in the area. But, she decided to talk to investigators after hearing what sounded like more gunshots then yelling and commotion.

Family members kept vigil Wednesday though some relatives of one of the victims were seen fighting amongst each other in the early evening. 

Weintraub said he notified Finocchiaro's family about the discovery of their son's remains shortly before he made the public announcement.

About 50 students, faculty and staff also gathered at a chapel at Loyola University in Maryland where Patrick was a rising sophomore to pray for him and the three other men. Director of Campus Ministry Sean Bray told the Baltimore Sun the group wanted to honor the request of Patrick's grandmother to "storm heaven with our prayers for Jimi's safe return."

Officials continue to work to identify the other human remains that were found Wednesday night. The investigation is ongoing.

"We're going to remain strong," Weintraub said after announcing Finocciaro's death. "We're going to see this investigation to the end and we're going to bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another. And we will not rest until we do that."

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

A 25-year-old woman was injured during a home invasion in Wooster Square in New Haven early Thursday morning.

Police responded to an apartment building on Academy Street just before 4 a.m. after someone called 911 and reported a burglary in progress.

Officers who went to the home found a 25-year-old woman in her basement apartment and said the intruder assaulted her, causing wounds on her face and head.

The victim, who was initially in critical condition, was rushed to Yale-New Haven Hospital and is now up and speaking with investigators, police said.

Police do not have any information about the assailant.

Detectives from the department’s robbery-burglary unit as well as the Bureau of Investigation are at the scene.

Neighbors are being questioned and police are collecting evidence from the scene.