At least three people are dead after two small planes collided in midair and crashed in the Florida Everglades in Miami-Dade Tuesday.

The collision happened around 1 p.m. near 22700 Southwest 8th Street about nine miles west of Miami Executive Airport, officials with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the FAA said.

Miami-Dade Police officials said there may be a fourth victim and crews were still searching the area Tuesday evening. The names of the victims weren't released.

Footage showed the badly damaged planes, a Piper PA-34 and a Cessna 172, in a grassy area of the Everglades. Crews responded to the scene by helicopter and airboat to recover the bodies.

The wreckage of both planes had the name of local flight school Dean International on their sides. The school has been involved in a number of incidents involving planes, most recently a crash in the Everglades in May that left two hospitalized.

NBC 6 last year obtained reports by the National Transportation and Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration of downed planes at Dean International. Since 2007, a total of 29 accidents or incidents have been documented, including five fatalities.

The FAA said they are investigating the crash along with the NTSB.

Check back with NBC 6 for updates.

The legal team that sued the federal government on behalf of two Central American children brought to Connecticut held a news conference Tuesday to celebrate the judge’s ruling that led to the family reunifications on Monday.

The two families are making up for lost time together after being separated weeks ago at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the attorneys from Connecticut Legal Services and the Yale Law School Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic said.

“They had a lot to express, there was a lot of feeling in that room,” Connecticut Legal Services Deputy Director Joshua Perry said of the moments after Monday afternoon’s reunifications.

Perry described driving on the highway with the 14-year-old girl from El Salvador and her mother. They had been separated for more than two months.

"Her mother looked out at the green hills of Connecticut took a deep breath and said it is beautiful to be free,” Perry said in his opening remarks.

A 9-year-old boy from Honduras also reunited with his father Monday afternoon after Immigration and Customs Enforcement granted parole for both of the plaintiff’s parents.

“The fact that they’re all at liberty now increases the chances of their ability with assistance of counsel to obtain a kind of relief that will be lasting,” said Muneer Ahmad from the Yale Law School Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic.

Gov. Dannel Malloy took aim at the Trump administration as he joined the attorneys in support of their legal victory. He said the administration’s actions violate the 1951 treaty relating to the status of refugees.

“This is a government that has made it impossible or nearly impossible for thousands of individuals to seek that status and then blames them for not having that status,” Gov. Malloy said.

The federal lawsuit from July 2 to challenge the Trump administration’s so-called “zero-tolerance” border crossing policy was the first brought on behalf of children separated from their parents. Attorneys said the significance of U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden’s decision from last Friday that found the policy unconstitutional is that it was the first to recognize the rights of the children, not just the parents.

“Each of the nearly 3,000 children separated from their parents including our two clients have rights that can and must be defended,” Ahmad said.

The legal team applauded Bolden for recognizing each day apart harmed the children.

“And the legal remedy must be a trauma informed one that privileges children’s healing above all else,” Ahmad added.

The families are still figuring out whether they will stay in Connecticut, the attorneys said.

“Kids belong with their parents, people fleeing persecution deserve protection, children should not be held in cages, families belong together,” Ahmad said, concluding his prepared remarks.

The attorneys have a conference call Tuesday afternoon with the court and representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s office to discuss the next steps and whether a hearing scheduled before the family reunifications will happen Wednesday morning in Bridgeport.

NBC Connecticut investigates was first to report that a child separated from parents at the border was staying at the Noank Community Support Services.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he misspoke during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. Trump said he does "accept" the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. Trump also said he needed to clarify that he didn't see a reason why the meddling "wouldn't be Russia." Trump had said the opposite a day earlier, prompting bipartisan backlash.

Hamden police are trying to identify a suspect accused of stealing class rings from the Sacred Heart Academy.

Police said on July 1 shortly after midnight the suspect pictured above entered the school at 265 Benham St. and stole 27 donated class rings from the main office.

The suspect is described as male, middle-aged, approximately 250 pounds with brown neck-length hair and a tattoo on his right forearm.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Hamden police Detective Joseph Liguori at 203-407-3190.

The Hartford Yard Goats are hoping to host a future Eastern League All-Star Game, team president Tim Restall said.

"The Yard Goats would be honored to host the Eastern League All-Star Game when it becomes available. We feel like Dunkin' Donuts Park and the Greater Hartford community would be an excellent place to showcase the summer classic," Restall told NBC Connecticut in a statement.

The Eastern League has already assigned host locations for the All-Star Games to be played through the 2020 season, so the first game Hartford could potentially host would be in 2021.

Restall said he applied to host a future game last year once the team was playing at its new Hartford home, Dunkin' Donuts Park.

The Trenton Thunder hosted this summer's All-Star Game. The 2019 Game is scheduled to be played in Richmond.  Binghamton is set to play host in 2020.  No further game locations have been announced.

The game is typically played in July and features the top players of the Eastern League, part of Minor League Baseball's Double-A level.

Hamden police have made a third arrest in a fatal November 2017 shooting of a teen on Dudley Street.

Eighteen-year-old Leeandre Benton, of Hamden, was found shot multiple times on Dudley Street, near the Farmington Canal Trail, on Nov. 13, 2017. He died of his injuries two days later.

Police arrested 21-year-old Bennett Coleman at Meriden Superior Court Tuesday. Coleman is charged with felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was held on a $2.5 million bond.

Investigators previously arrested 22-year-old Robert Moye, of New Haven, and an 18-year-old from New Haven.

The second suspect, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was not publicly identified.

A mom in Branford is warning fruit-lovers to be on alert after she said she found a venomous black widow spider in grapes she purchased at the grocery store.

She said she bought the grapes from the Branford Stop & Shop Monday morning. A few hours later she made the discovery while she and her 11-year-old son were in the middle of eating the grapes.

Luckily it didn’t bite, and no one was hurt. She told NBC Connecticut Stop & Shop offered to give her double her money back for the grapes.

“It makes you nervous,” said Laurie Fitzgerald from Branford. “It makes you wonder where they’re importing the grapes from.”

We reached out to Stop & Shop in response they sent us a statement saying in part:

“Stop & Shop and our grape growers take necessary measures to keep spiders out of the grapes that are sold. Despite that effort, it is possible for a spider to get into the bunches as they are a part of the natural, organic environment.”

The grapes came from a company in California. We have reached out to them and have not heard back.

“It’s a spider,” said Jessie Palmer, a shopper from Guilford. “They’re everywhere. My opinion there are worse things you could find.”

A former Harc employee has been accused of sexually assaulting two clients with mental disabilities while he was supposed to be supervising them as their job coach.

Connecticut State Police arrested 53-year-old Ricardo Marchand on sexual assault charges on July 6.

According to State Police, Marchand was an employee of Harc, Inc., an organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities. They offer programs from birth through adulthood.

Police said Marchand was working as a job coach in charge of supervising clients with mental disabilities during their job duties at the time the abuse allegedly took place.

The arrest warrant application claims that Marchand sexually assaulted two adult clients multiple times sometime between 2014 and 2017 while they were all working at the Allstate Records Retention warehouse facility in East Windsor.

Marchand forced the victims to have oral sex with him and with each other, according to the warrant. The warrant also alleges that he had anal sex with the victims.

Police said the victims were both adults but have the cognitive abilities of children.

The investigation began on November 2017, when one of the victims told his mother that he was sexually assaulted by his job coach. The 24-year-old victim, who police described as "high-functioning" but with the comprehension of a child, also told police that Marchand made him and another client watch pornography while they were at work, the warrant states.

The victim told police Marchand gave him money in exchange for the sexual acts.

The victim identified a second victim, who police described as being mostly nonverbal, also communicated to investigators that he was abused by Marchand, according to the warrant.

After the investigation, police arrested Marchand. He is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Harc released a statement to their community stating they are “deeply troubled” by the allegations and that the company is cooperating with the investigation.

According to the arrest warrant, Marchand was terminated by Harc after reports he physically abused a client, unrelated to the sexual assault investigation. There were no criminal charges in that case.

Marchand is currently being held on a $275,000 bond and is next due in court Wednesday.

Storms that moved through Connecticut Tuesday brought whipping winds and heavy downpours, causing flooding and pockets of damage across the state.

A tornado warning and severe thunderstorm warning were issued for Windham County Tuesday afternoon as the powerful storms ripped through.

Downed trees and wires knocked out power to thousands of Eversource and United Illuminating customers at the height of the storms. As of 7:15 p.m., there were 2,260 Eversource customers still without power and 283 United Illuminating customers out.

In Simsbury Route 10 (Hopmeadow Road) had to be shut down between West Street and Powder Forest Road for trees and wires across the road. Riverside Road was also closed between Drake Hill Road and East Weatogue Street.

Police reminded residents not to go near downed wires, which might still be live.

In East Windsor, strong winds took down a large tree on Prospect Hill Road.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles closed the New Britain branch early because of a power outage.

Norwalk police issued a warning about road flooding and urged people not to drive through standing water. There was some localized street flooding in low-lying areas as the storms dumped heavy rains.

Metro-North said it has track crews with chainsaws throughout the territory to handle downed trees if needed. They said rescue locomotives and protect buses are also ready in the event of service disruptions. 

High pressure will build into the region by Wednesday morning resulting in gorgeous weather. 

Residents in one area of Middletown are tired of hearing the echo of gunshots coming from a police department's nearby gun range, and the city is searching for a solution.

“It can be just rapid-fire pop, pop, pop, pop. Really quite loud,” said Middletown resident Barbara McAuliffe.

McAuliffe said the sound of gunfire that comes from the Middletown Police Department’s Dingwall-Horan Joint Firearms Training Facility on the Middletown-Middlefield line has become a fact of life. On Tuesday, she and other residents heard from the engineer brought in by the city to figure out who is impacted by the noise and what can be done about it.

“ It’s really hard to have to listen to and we have had neighbors move away,” McAuliffe said.

Acoustics engineer Erich Thalheimer, who has a background studying the noise of firing ranges, will conduct a study and made recommendations to the Common Council committee overseeing the issue. The committee’s chair also lives near the range and said he hopes this study will lead to meaningful solutions.

“Middletown’s a great town and we want to keep it that way, we want to make our residents happy,” said Councilmember Carl Chisem. “Now is it going to totally take away the sound? No. But we’re hoping to deaden it enough so people can live comfortably.”

Potential solutions outlined at the meeting included time and seasonal restrictions on range use, erecting noise barriers, and residential soundproofing.

While nothing is expected to be foolproof, residents like Barbara said they’re leaving the meeting hopeful there could be some relief on the way.

The study should take two to three months before the engineer can come back with a recommendation for the city.

A Food Network Top Chef who's worked in some of the most acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles is printing a message on his receipts — but he says it's not political, it's just the truth.

Katsuji Tanabe, currently running six restaurants including The Nixon Chops & Whiskey in Whittier, is half-Japanese and half-Mexican.

"The whole situation now with this new xenophobia, and this dumb racism, sometimes it's good to remember that...immigrants are cooking and serving you," he said. 

The Mexico-born chef, who competed on "Top Chef" season 12 in Boston and Top Chef Mexico, says he's an immigrant himself, and he writes this on the bottom of every receipt to let his customers know:

"Immigrants prepared and served you today. #itookarisk"

He says that writing that at the bottom of every receipt at every one of his six restaurants around the country isn't political at all — it's fact — and it's something he hopes will lead to conversations.

"Sometimes people ask: 'why did you write this?' And I go up an explain — I am an immigrant, and I cooked for you," he said. "It's not a political statement. I could care less about politics. But I care about my future, and I care about my past."

In the kitchen, at the bar, on the floor, at the hostess stand — all immigrants. 

Tanabe said he sees backlash and comments on social media all the time.

But he says he takes risks, like the hashtag he puts at the bottom of the receipt.

It's a nod to his days on "Top Chef," where he won the fan favorite award — and a new model for his life.

"Every time we will do something 'risky' — like 'oh, I poached an egg, I took a risk.' But it's starting to be my life model. Every time I put something, or do something at my restaurants, it's risky. Coming to this country, it was a risky situation. Opening an upscale Mexican restaurant is risky. Everything I do, I always take a risk," he said.

After hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans were denied Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance to rebuild their homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, most of the families who have appealed the agency's decision have not received aid, NBC News reported.

The agency has either denied or not answered 79 percent of the appeals, leaving residents and officials worried about the fate of their homes as the island prepares to face another hurricane season. 

At least 335,748 applications from thousands of Puerto Ricans asking FEMA for disaster assistance to fix their hurricane-ravaged homes were denied. More than 43,000 decided to appeal the agency's decision to not grant them aid, but only 7,500 were approved and more than 34,000 were deemed ineligible, according to a spokeswoman.

The agency said applicants can be deemed ineligible if they are unable to prove sufficient damage, if they could not be contacted for an inspection or if FEMA was unable to prove the applicant's identity, occupancy or home ownership status.  

There is something about a perfectly grilled hot dog on a summer day and today just happens to be National Hot Dog Day.

Whether you like yours with ketchup, mustard, relish, Coney Island sauce or something else, there are plenty of places to celebrate today.

Head to a hot dog cart near you.

You could really go for it and take the hot dog tour. (Yes – the hot dog tour.)

A documentary of the same name features Connecticut as a hot dog hotspot.

The hot dog documentary features:

• Blackie’s Hot Dog Stand, 2200 Waterbury Road in Cheshire, home of the famous homemade secret spicy relish recipe.
• Weiners On Water in East Haddam, which happens to be a hot dog boat.
• Rawley’s Drive-In, 1886 Post Road, in Fairfield
• Super Duper Weenie, 306 Black Rock Turnpike, in Fairfield
• Glenwood Drive-In, 2538 Whitney Ave, in Hamden, where the award-winning hot dogs are just part of the menu.
• Capitol Lunch, 510 Main St. in New Britain and its famous meat sauce.
• The Dawg House, 1360 East St., New Britain
• Bobby’s Place in Niantic
• Top Dog Hot Dog in Portland
• Frankies – multiple locations: In 2011, Forbes picked Frankie’s in Waterbury as having one of the 10 best hot dogs in America.
• Frankies of Watertown Ave, 700 Watertown Ave., Waterbury
• Frankies of Reidville Drive, 464 Reidville Drive, Waterbury
• Frankies of Chase Ave., 348 Chase Ave., Waterbury
• Frankie's at Westfield, 470 Lewis Ave., Meriden (second floor) 
• Frankies of Plainville, 177 East St.
• Frankies of West Haven, 1151 Orange Ave., West Haven
• Frankies & Ole, 469 Rubber Ave., Naugatuck

Man vs. Food has made the trip here and indulged at Woody’s in Hartford for its Deputy Dog, which is covered in pulled pork and cheese, and at Doogies in Newington for the 2-foot-long Doogie dog.

Viewers also recommend Tomlinson's in Bridgeport, which is located at 140 Noble Aven., in case you want to try for yourself. 

Sonic is offering a deal for National Hot Dog Day. Text "Dog" to 876642 to get $1 hot dogs today. 

7-Eleven is also celebrating today with $1 Big Bite hot dogs in honor of National Hot Dog Day.

We can also boast that New Haven is home to Hummel Brothers and its many varieties of franks.

If you want to grill your own, try Chef Chris Prosperi's recipe for onions in tomato sauce.

Where is your favorite place to grab a hot dog in Connecticut and what do you top it with?

You can resume swimming once again at Lakewood Park in Waterbury after test levels showed bacteria levels in the water have returned to normal.

The park has been closed to swimming three times to swimming this summer and one Waterbury alderman told NBC Connecticut geese might be part of the problem. 

“You can actually smell the turds as the wind blows,” said Alderman Vernon Matthews (R - District 2).

Matthews said the park has issues with bacteria levels every single year.

The city’s public works department said the water is tested twice a week and the sand is raked several times a day to help manage goose droppings. Coyote decoys, bitter grass planted next to the beach, noise-makers, and strobe lights haven’t been a successful deterrent for the birds.

Leaders are exploring other options to control the problem.

A woman allegedly tricked a family in New Jersey into thinking she was dying of brain cancer, and in such convincing fashion that the generous family took care of her for more than a month.

Kiley White, who detectives in Egg Harbor Township allege to have pulled a similar fraud in Pittsburgh and South Jersey, was charged with theft by deception and harassment for allegedly taking advantage of Linda and Steve Evans.

"All night long, she would be moaning and groaning and I would be massaging her legs," Linda Evans said in an interview. "Every day was just like she has one more day to live."

Police believe it was all a hoax.

White, 26, met the Evans through a mutual friend in early June. The couple said they took her in because White said she had no safe place to spend her final days due to a traumatic family history. 

"It was all lies — all lies. And I just want this girl exposed," Linda Evans said.

White stayed with the Evans family for about five straight weeks.

Nearly every day White would leave the house to supposedly visit a hospital in Philadelphia. But the Evans now believe she was babysitting and working at a local restaurant instead.

White pulled off a complicated lie, police allege.

"During the investigation, Egg Harbor Township police discovered that Ms. White pretended to be other individuals as well, including her own hospice nurse," Detective Sgt. Cherie Burgan said in a statement.

The Evans showed purported text messages from White's "nurse" that provided medical instructions.

"It's just amazing that someone could come up with that elaborate of a story and have verifications along the way," Steve Evans said.

The family went to police after their relatives got suspicious and discovered a similar scheme in the Pittsburgh area.

Burgan confirmed that the alleged Egg Harbor incident isn't believed to be White's first foray into such deception.

"It has been documented that White has used similar tactics on other occasions in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but she has never been charged with a crime," Burgan said. "On each occasion, she has preyed on the sympathy and compassion of others, receiving services and goods from those victims whom she scammed."

After being charged July 12 with theft by deception and harassment, White was issued a summons for a future court date.

NBC10 tried to get comment from White at a Galloway Township home where she's now staying.

"I don't have any comments," White said through a window.

The Evans said they spent close to $1,000 on White but the alleged fraud also had an emotional cost. 

"I was shaken, totally shaken to my core," Linda Evans said, her voice breaking. "Because here I loved on a girl that never existed and gave everything."

Evans added: "She needs help — she needs serious help."

Crews have cleared a downed tree that closed part of Route 83 in Glastonbury on Wednesday morning.

Route 83, also known as Manchester Road, was closed at Shady Hill Lane.

According to police, no wires were impacted by the downed tree.

The National Weather Service will be coming to Connecticut to investigate in Windham County after a tornado warning was issued yesterday and the storm brought down trees.

Ashford is one of the towns that was hardest hit by the storms. On Wednesday morning, streets are still lined with trees and branches that snapped and came down Tuesday.

Pauline Attardo, of Ashford, said she took cover in her basement for half an hour during the tornado warning and saw all the damage when she went back outside.

"The trees were just bent right over and it was getting darker. And I said, "Uh, oh." So we ran down into the cellar. We waited 30 minutes and then we came back up and saw all the devastation," Attardo said.

The National Weather Service will be making a determination about the storm that moved through the area. 

See photos of the storm damage here:

Without a referee to turn to, a man called police to report a foul during a pickup basketball game at a Virginia gym Monday evening.

“I’ve never, never in my entire life gotten a cop called for playing basketball,” said Thomas Mulabah, who played in the game at an LA Fitness in Sterling and recorded the aftermath.

“First time in the history — anywhere, playing anywhere,” said Marcellus Bowie, another player.

“This is the hardest foul in America, bro,” the caller argued in Mulabah’s recording.

They say they get together several times a month to play.

Mulabah and Bowie said this game was tense.

“To count the fact that it was like 12-12,” Mulabah said. “So the game is on the line; everything is high emotions.”

“Man, I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter if you’re getting paid to play sports,” he said. “People play basketball in any rec center like they’re getting paid for it.”

One of the players got knocked to the ground.

“Once he got hit, he got on the ground, he’s usually a tough guy, so I expected him to get up,” Mulabah said. “He got up though, but he walked outside.”

“He said he was calling the cops, and everybody started laughing, we’re looking around, we’re like, he’s not calling the cops,” he said.

The call came in as an assault, according to the incident report.

The responding deputy from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office reported neither player wanted to pursue charges, the incident report said.

Mulabah asked the deputy if he’d ever been called for a basketball foul.

“That’s my first basketball foul,” the deputy said.

Management at LA Fitness told the players they had one more chance to keep the game civil or they would be removed from the gym, the incident report said.

“I do want to say though, the guy who called the cops is a good guy,” Mulabah said. “I know him very well. He’s a good guy. It’s not anything where it’s like tension or he doesn’t like somebody for anything, because I know how it can look — it’s basketball, everybody’s playing. Definitely a good guy. I just think he got a little emotional.”

“When we see him, I’m sure we’re going to joke about this,” Bowie said. “He might be a little mad at us.”

The players who spoke to News4 welcomed anyone to the game.

“It’s actually a really good run,” Mulabah said. “So anybody who likes to play basketball, if you think you’re pretty decent, we’re not going to call the cops on you. I’ll dunk on you but not call the cops on you. So just come out and play, man. It’s fun. We need as much people as possible to enjoy our time.”

A small DNA technology company called Parabon NanoLabs has helped solve five cold cases since early May with a new approach to genetic analysis that could spur a massive clearance of unsolved crimes, NBC News reported.

The Virginia company makes use of high-tech DNA analysis, traditional genealogy and online ancestry databases. It's found matches about 60 percent of the time, thanks to suspects or their relatives submitting genetic profiles to public databases.

"I predict we will see dozens or hundreds of cold cases resolved over the next couple of years," researcher CeCe Moore said.

One recent case Parabon NanoLabs helped to bring charges in is that of April Tinsley, an 8-year-old killed in April 1988. Her killer eluded police and the FBI even though they had his DNA — until Moore narrowed the list of potential suspects to two brothers.

Montenegro, a U.S. ally that is smaller than Connecticut and about as populous as Baltimore, found itself in President Donald Trump's cross hairs late Tuesday as he once again criticized NATO, NBC News reported.

The president suggested during an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson that he would be unhappy defending "tiny" Montenegro if it were attacked, calling into question NATO's central principle of mutual defense.

Trump also questioned whether the country's "very aggressive people" could draw NATO into a war with Russia.

Carlson had asked why his son would have to defend Montenegro should it be attacked. Trump replied that was a good question and said that Montenegro "may get aggressive, and congratulations you're in World War III."

Trump's comments come as 14 people are standing trial in Montenegro, accused of plotting to kill the prime minister and stage a coup to bring a pro-Russian party to power.