A bloodhound from Louisiana is being heralded a hero after finding a missing toddler, NBC News reported.

Three-year-old Eli Alcock reportedly wandered away from his Florien, Louisiana, home Tuesday afternoon.

Doug Downs, a local pastor, was contacted, with the hope that his bloodhound, Honey could be of some help. Downs told NBC affiliate KPLC that Honey’s only real experience at tracking has been while hunting deer. But Downs said he wanted to help.

After several hours of searching, Honey led searchers to Eli, who was found safe in the woods behind his home. 

Lindsy Alcock, Eli's mom, says her son doesn't remember much about what happened that night. 

The former Bristol Eastern High School physical education teacher arrested earlier this month allegedly texted a student and asked her to send her photos of her rear end, according to court documents.

Michael Archangelo was arrested on February 17 and charged with risk of injury to a minor involving a 14-year-old student at the school.

He appeared before a judge on Monday and pled not guilty to the charges.

In a police affidavit released on Monday, investigators said the student approached the school resource officer and the school principal on December 16 to report that she had received a number of inappropriate text messages from Archangelo a few days prior.

Archangelo allegedly sent her several iMessages and Facebook messages to tell her that he liked her backside and that he would like a photo of it, according to the affidavit. The girl eventually sent Archangelo one photo while in her underwear, police said.

Following the one picture, Archangelo allegedly asked for more, but the girl refused, according to police. Archangelo then texted the girl to tell her that he put her in a "bad situation" and that he wanted to apologize, investigators said in the affidavit.

Police investigating the incident seized Archangelo's phone using a search and seizure warrant on December 18 and began looking for digital evidence on it. After getting the phone, officers learned the phone had been activated that day and was not the phone that had allegedly been used to text the student. When asked, Archangelo told investigators his other phone had been stolen from his car while he was visiting his attorney in New Haven that day and that he bought a new phone, according to the court documents. Police said Archangelo could not recall when exactly it was stolen or where his car was parked.

Archangelo resigned from his position as a teacher in December. He had been teaching in the Bristol Public Schools district since 2004 and was the head football coach at Bristol Eastern until 2014, according to Superintendent Dr. Ellen Solek.

He is scheduled to be back in court on April 15.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has agreed to plead guilty to charges in the United States, but only if he is placed in a medium-security prison, his lawyer said.

In an interview with Mexico’s Radio Formula, Guzman’s lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, said his client is seeking a "reasonable penalty" to be served in a medium-security prison in the U.S. because of what has been described as poor treatment in the Mexican prison Guzman is currently being held.

Guzman is behind bars at the Altiplano prison — the same jail he escaped from seven months ago — while waiting for the possible extradition solicited by the U.S. government.

Rodriquez previously revealed guards at the maximum-security prison won't let Guzman sleep and wake him up every two hours at night — a practice his attorney likened to "torture."

Guzman’s third wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, also said the notorious drug lord’s health problems have become "a lot worse" because of his lack of sleep.

Speaking for the first time in an exclusive interview with Telemundo last week, the 26-year-old former beauty queen said she is "afraid for his life" and claimed guards at the prison "want to make him pay for his escape."

Mexican authorities say they've formally notified Guzman that arrest warrants from the U.S. are being processed. About a half-dozen U.S. attorneys' offices across the country — including Chicago, San Diego, New York City, New Hampshire, Miami and Texas — have secured indictments against Guzman in his absence over the years.

In Chicago, Guzman has been dubbed "Public Enemy No. 1," and prosecutors say the city is a major hub for Guzman's Sinaloa drug cartel.

David Duke reportedly balked at endorsing Donald Trump last year because the Republican candidate was too friendly with Jews, but that’s changed since Trump is now the GOP front-runner, NBC News reported.

Duke, 65, founded the White Youth Alliance at Louisiana State University in 1970, where he became infamous for wearing a Nazi uniform. He later became a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, replacing the white sheets with business suits to make the KKK more mainstream. 

Using the KKK as a springboard, Duke won a seat in the Louisiana legislature as a Republican in 1989 — the first and last time he won an election. He later abandoned the Klan and formed the National Association for the Advancement of White People to press his racist agenda.

In 2002, Duke was convicted of filing a false tax return and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.  

Court documents unsealed Monday reveal that Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev never expected to survive the manhunt that resulted in his eventual capture.

Several new documents from Tsarnaev's trial were unsealed as part of an appeal by his friend Robel Phillipos, who was convicted of lying about the case to federal prosecutors. 

Among the documents are two statements Tsarnaev allegedly made to FBI agents while being treated at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston on April 21 and 22, 2013. Parts of the interviews remain redacted, but some of the details have never previously been released.

Three people were killed and more than 260 others injured when twin bombs placed near the marathon finish line exploded on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev, 22, was convicted of 30 federal charges and sentenced to death for his role in the attack. He is being held at the federal Supermax prison in Colorado.

In the FBI hospital interview, Tsarnaev allegedly said "no one had any knowledge of their plan... because they could not trust anyone else." He allegedly said that he and his brother Tamerlan "built the two devices and planned the attack alone."

Tsarnaev allegedly said he "did not warn any of his friends to stay away from the marathon because he didn't care if they got hurt." He told FBI investigators that he contacted his friends to give away his laptop because "he did not expect to survive."

According to the FBI summary, Tsarnaev also told the agents that he and his older brother Tamerlan picked their own spots to place their bombs and each of them set off his own device.

He told the agents he and his brother walked toward the marathon finish line on the day of the bombing, April 15, each carrying a backpack containing a bomb. He said he called his brother just before the attack to synchronize the two detonations. Tamerlan set off his first, followed by Dzhokhar's 10 seconds later.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also told investgators that "there were no other attacks planned" and no unaccounted for devices.

Platt High School in Meriden was placed on lockdown Monday after fights broke out in the cafeteria during lunch.

Police were called to the scene after the school resource officer could not get the fight under control, according to Sgt. Darrin McKay.

In a message to parents, Interim Principal David Levenduski said two separate altercations occurred and the school was placed on lockdown to ensure the safety of the large number of students in the cafeteria at the time of the incidents. There were no major injuries, he said.

There were fewer than 10 students involved in the fights, according to Superintendent Mark Benigni.

"I applaud the staff, our school administrators, and our police department for their swift action to assure that we maintained safety in one of our school's most highly populated areas," Benigni said in a statement.

Five students were arrested, according to McKay.  Those arrested were believed to be the instigators of the fights, he said.

Police remained at the school for the rest of the day.

Norwalk police said goodbye to one of their retired service dogs on Monday.

Arasz served with the department from May 2008 through his retirement in December 2013, according to a post on the Norwalk Police Department's Facebook page. He served as a patrol and explosives detection K9.

Arasz was handled by Sgt. Sofia Gulino and lived with her and her family.

According to police, Arasz spent is final moments sharing a sandwich with Sgt. Gulino while sitting in the back of a Norwalk Police K9 cruiser.

Police did not release detials on why Arasz needed to be euthanized.

The man charged in the deaths of Virginia college students Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington is expected to enter a plea agreement this week.

Jesse L. Matthew Jr. will enter the pleas in Albemarle County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Commonwealth's Attorney Robert N. Tracci announced Monday afternoon.

Graham, an 18-year-old student at the University of Virginia, vanished in September 2014 after a night out with friends. 

She was seen on surveillance video on Charlottesville's downtown mall, both alone and with a man prosecutors have said is Matthew. Her remains were found five weeks earlier.

Harrington, 20, was a student at Virginia Tech when she disappeared in fall 2009 after attending a concert on the University of Virginia campus. Her remains were found in early 2010.

"...(It) is anticipated that Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr., will be entering a plea agreement to resolve both the Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington abduction and murder cases," Tracci said in a release Monday. An earlier version of the media release said Matthew would be entering guilty pleas in the cases. A second version simply called it a plea agreement.

Matthew had been charged with capital murder in Graham's death and first-degree murder in Harrington's death. His trials in those cases had been scheduled to be held in July and October, respectively.

During a pretrial hearing in January, Matthew's defense attorneys argued that crucial evidence should be thrown out, but after 10 hours of testimony, a judge sided with the prosecution.

Matthew is already serving three life sentences in another case, the attempted murder and assault of a 26-year-old woman in Fairfax in 2005. The victim had been walking home from a grocery store when she was grabbed and grabbed into the woods, where she was assaulted and choked.

Matthew took an Alford plea in that case in June 2015. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict.

Prosecutors have said all three cases were linked by DNA evidence.

Investigators had first linked the Harrington and Fairfax cases, but didn't have a suspect. After Matthew was arrested weeks after Graham's disappearance, Virginia State Police said the arrest "provided a significant break" in the Harrington case.

Temperatures will likely be well above average come the end of next week, soaring well into the 60s.

Long-range projections show highly anomalous warmth over the northeast as the second week of March transitions into the third week of the month.

Average temperatures are in the middle and upper 40s, with records being in the 70s.

Several days of 60-degree temperatures are possible, with a spike into the 70s not out of the question.

Meteorological winter concluded today. It tied the record for warmest winter both inland and at the shoreline.

Stay with the First Alert weather team for updates.

An elephant in a remote Indian village was videotaped on a rampage, tossing and damaging about 27 vehicles last Thursday.

Five elephants were tethered for a religious festival in southern India when one of the animals broke loose, according to reports.

The escapted elephant attacked small trucks and motorbikes. Footage shows it using its trunk to pick up and throw large vehicles. Two young riders were on its back at the time.

No injuries have been reported.

A pursuit of a stolen taco catering truck that struck a school bus packed with children and a propane tanker in a San Bernardino intersection ended with officers opening fire on the suspected thieves, before the suspects were taken into custody, police said.

The incident began about 8:30 a.m. with a chase of the catering truck on the 210 Freeway after officers received a report that the box truck had been stolen, according to the San Bernardino Police Department.

The chase made its way to Mill and L streets, where police say the truck drove onto the curb and sideswiped the school bus with 30 to 40 students aboard, then ran into the tanker in the intersection.

One of two men who fled from the truck allegedly made a threatening move, prompting police to open fire, but no one was struck, officials said. The men, identified by police as 20-year-old Sean Fowler and 22-year-old Daiquon Horne, were taken into custody and transported to the hospital for injuries they suffered during the crash.

No children were hurt as a result of the collision, police said. They were placed on another bus and taken one block down the street to Richardson PREP HI Middle School.

Carolina Garcia, the owner of the catering business Amapola Rico Taco, said the truck had been stolen at some point overnight, but she didn't find out until customers called in saying someone was driving the truck erratically.

"Don't steal a truck with a big logo on the side and... stay in the same city that the vehicle is from," Garcia said. "That wasn't very smart."

Laura Brogna, a witness, said she reported to police and the catering business that the truck had entered her property and hit her pickup truck in the early morning hours.

The security camera had recorded the box truck hours before Brogna saw the video later Monday morning. She thought the hit-and-run driver was long gone, but then she saw it outside down her street. She confronted the driver, but he took off, so she called the number advertised on the side.

Nyree Arabian contributed to this report.

In the nursery at Bristol Hospital, newborn Gavin Paul Haynes and his parents were getting to know each other Monday afternoon. Mom went into labor last Friday, hoping the baby would not delay his entry into the world til February 29.

"I was like please God let's not have him on Leap Year," said Maria Longo-Haynes. " I didn't want to do that to him but now I'm figuring you know what - a special day, a special birthday, a special little kid."

Parents get to pick when to celebrate babies' birthdays when it's not Leap Year. In Gavin's case, his birthday will be March 1.

"And then we figure every four years we'll do the 29th just to give that little boost," said Erik Haynes, the father.

In Hartford at Saint Francis Hospital three babies were born around 7 a.m. Monday morning all within minutes of each other. One of them came leaping along about two weeks before his due date.

Kelley Bilodeau, mother of Mason James Bilodeau, said he'll be celebrating his birthday February 28th.

"He's a February baby and we wanted to keep it in February," she said.

Matthew Bilodeau, Mason's father, said, "it's actually one-in-14,000 odds for a child to be born on a leap year. So it's an extra special birthday not only because he's here but - honest - because of the odds."

Police have released 911 tapes from a bizarre attack involving a machete that sent one man to the hospital over the weekend.

You can hear the terror in the callers' voices Saturday night. That’s when police say 30-year-old Zchacorey Pouncey, of Broad Brook, attacked another man with a machete outside the victim’s home at 339 Abbe Road. The victim’s girlfriend placed the 911 call.

“I have a head injury. We got somebody running there’s (expletive) blood all over the place. We just need somebody here right now,” the woman told the dispatcher.

The woman then handed the phone to her boyfriend.

“She went out. Came home with her cousin’s boyfriend. I’ve got the machete right now that this dude tried to chop me up with,” the victim said to the dispatcher.

“Okay, is the person with the machete still there,” asked the dispatcher.

“I took the machete from him. He (expletive) tried to kill me,” the victim replied.

Police say the man fought back against the suspect. Police say he won’t be charged because he was acting in self-defense.

“I don’t even know if he’s alright. You guys may have to look for him,” he told the dispatcher.

Neighbors found Pouncey laying on their porch bleeding heavily from a head wound. Pouncey was transported to the hospital, and later arrested and charged with assault, breach of peace, and carrying a dangerous weapon.

“The house is a mess. There’s pure blood in here. Nobody died or nothing like that, but ya he came home and tried to kill me,” the victim repeated to the dispatcher.

Police still don’t have a motive but say Pouncey was intoxicated.

Pouncey also faces charges out of East Windsor for allegedly starting a fight and breaking the window of the German Club in Broad Brook. Employees say they kicked Pouncey out after he appeared to become intoxicated and start a fight. Upon being locked out of the club, police say Pouncey used the machete to break a window. East Windsor police say they plan to charge him with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

A New Jersey pet store owner was charged with 267 counts of animal cruelty after authorities said he exposed healthy animals to ones with infections and diseases and hid three dead dogs in a freezer.

Vincent "Vinnie" LoSacco was charged with the crimes after SPCA authorities said he failed to properly care for animals at Just Pups in East Brunswick.

Authorities said most of the charges stem from improperly allowing sick animals to co-mingle with healthy ones, putting them at risk. Animals with giardia, distemper, upper respiratory infections and other diseases were kept in close quarters with other pets.

Some of animals purchased from the pet store were deemed too sick to have been sold by several veterinarians who looked at them. Others died after they were sold, the SPCA said.

Authorities searching the shop found three dead dogs in a freezer in the store.

LoSacco owns and operates four Just Pups locations in New Jersey, authorities said. The SPCA said it was continuing to investigate the store's operations and that it was "highly likely that more animal cruelty charges" would be filed.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order to shut down Just Pups until further notice.

NBC 4 New York has reached out to Just Pups for comment. A message recorded at the East Brunswick location says the store is closed for "interior improvements."

In a message posted to its Facebook page on Thursday afternoon, the store said it was "under attack by animal activist extremists who hate all Puppy Stores."

"They have been making false, and misleading statements regarding our store and the care we give our puppies," the store said in the post. 

Information on an attorney for LoSacco was not immediately available.

After Austin Haughwout posted a video online of a drone with a semiautomatic handgun attached to it firing into the distance, it sparked a nationwide conversation about drones and their possible weaponization.

Judiciary Chairman Rep. William Tong said "When I saw the video of the drone with the kid who mounted the handgun, I’m like, ‘What are you thinking about?’”

The video led lawmakers to explore the possibility of outlawing the practice. A committee heard arguments on the issue, Monday.

Haughwout, a 19 year old student at Central Connecticut State University, testified against the proposal, saying it's not the gun or the drone that people should be worried about. Instead, he said it's the person using it.

“This is a bill giving a solution to a problem that simply doesn’t exist. It’s in search of a problem" he told lawmakers. “The mere weaponization of any aircraft on its own doesn’t cause any problems. It’s the person’s use of it.”

Law enforcement say the issue only came up because of Haughwout's YouTube video that now has more than 3.5 million views.

“That created the concern that this is possible and if it’s possible, how can it be misused" said Paul Fitzgerald, the Berlin Police Chief who spoke on behalf of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association.

There is nothing illegal currently when it comes to guns on drones.

Rep. Tong says it's logical to craft a policy preventing them from getting developed.

“These kinds of things are common sense but they don’t arise until you confront them.”

The idea that appears to be gaining the most traction in the state capitol as a way to reduce wait times at troubled DMV branches across Connecticut would allow drivers to register a car even if they have an outstanding car tax bill.

Current law prohibits someone from registering a car if they owe local car taxes to their town or municipality.

Cities and towns depend on about $33 million in revenues as a result of back taxes each year.

“It seems to be rewarding those who are not paying their taxes and penalizing those that are the right citizens every single year" said First Selectman Leo Paul from Litchfield.

The money would still be owed, but it wouldn't be a barrier to registering a new car. In many cases, people are aware that they owe back taxes.

Dennis Murphy, the Interim Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles told the General Assembly's Transportation Committee that in 2015 DMV branches worked with about 50,000 customers who had delinquent tax bills.

“Look, if you want to reduce the wait times at DMV this is a step that will do that" Murphy, who's been on the job less than two weeks told lawmakers.

He says he's confident cities and towns can still get their money, but they won't have to depend on DMV to collect taxes for them.

"Towns can be creative and collect taxes in all sorts of ways for businesses there that have computers in their business. They collect property taxes on those in a number of different ways."

The other issue discussed during the hearing is the prospect of allowing the Automobile Association of America offices in Connecticut to handle more DMV functions.

“There’s a breaking point here. I think we all realize that" said, Rep. Tony Guerrera, (D - Rocky Hill), who chairs the Transportation Committee. "So if we’re going to shift some of that then let’s do it the right way. Let’s take some of that off and let’s maybe give AAA some of that responsibility.”

AAA already handles license renewals, reprinting of licenses and permits, and offers driving school.

Amy Parmenter, a spokesperson for AAA said the organization would welcome expanding its existing partnership with the DMV.

Guerrera also shot down the notion of full privatization of the DMV to a group like AAA or a different one.

“In no way are we going to privatize DMV. I’m not for that. I don’t want that.”

A federal grand jury indicted a former school aide and choir director accused of making child pornography with 13 counts of sexually exploiting children, according to court documents obtained by News4.

These counts against 22-year-old Deonte Carraway include sexual acts with children and involve 11 victims ages 9 to 12, according to court documents. The indictment replaces last week's criminal complaint on eight counts involving six victims.

Carraway made videos of children having sex with him and each other at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School, a church and other locations in Maryland, according to the indictment. He met some of the victims at the school and others through his choir group.

According to victim testimony, Carraway used his authority to threaten some of the victims.

"The defendant allegedly took a child out of a classroom to a dressing room in the building and instructed the child to take off his clothes," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said last week. "According to the allegations in the complaint, the child resisted, didn't want to do it, at which point the victim threatened him that if he didn't comply, the defendant would report him to the principal or the police."

Among the videos Carraway produced, are videos of him having sex with a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy, according to the indictment. 

Carraway was arrested Feb. 5 after the uncle of a 9-year-old boy saw a nude image on the child's phone, according to police, who said Carraway waived his rights and admitted his role in producing child pornography.

"Federal authorities will continue to work with Prince George's County police and prosecutors to identify additional victims, provide appropriate counseling and hold the perpetrator accountable," Rosenstein said.

Each count carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

Carraway is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

He also faces child sex abuse charges in state court.

Carraway was a volunteer teacher's assistant at the school this year and the director of the Glenarden Voices of Youth Choir at the municipal center, police said. He was a paid assistant at the school during the 2014-15 school year.

A lawsuit filed in connection with the case alleges the principal knew about Carraway's misconduct and failed to act. Prince George's County Public Schools CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell said Principal Michelle Williams has been placed on leave out of "an abundance of caution."

Information on an attorney for Carraway was not immediately available.

A man in Ohio who fatally shot his roommate almost 40 years ago and ate part of his brain is under review for parole.

David Allen Chapin, 60, is currently serving a life sentence at the Allen Correction Institution in Lima, Ohio, according to state records. He has been denied parole at least six times, a spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction told NBC Chicago.

Chapin shot his roommate Donald Liming in Milford, Ohio, on Oct. 3, 1978, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The pair, who had been friends since childhood, had been arguing about religion; Chapin was a Baptist and Liming said he was a Catholic, a Buddhist, as well as a pagan, according to the publication.

Chapin put Liming’s body into the trunk of his Buick Skylark and drove to a community college he was attending, the Enquirer reported, citing archives. While in biology class, Chapin asked the professor if he needed a corpse to dissect.

During the course of his murder trial in Clermont County, Chapin explained to a court-ordered psychiatrist that he devoured part of Liming’s brain as part of a "mutual agreement" between the roommates, according to the Enquirer.

The Ohio Parole Board conducted a closed release consideration hearing on Feb. 1, and the case was referred to the Central Office Board Review, according to JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. A decision is pending.

The case has now been moved to the Central Office Board Review for consideration, which will review his case history and the public’s opinion before they make a recommendation, according to Smith.

Additionally, a public hearing could be scheduled where Liming’s family and the Clermont County Prosecutor would oppose Liming’s release, according to the Enquirer.

A Winsted man is under arrest after police say he was caught masturbating in his vehicle near a group of young Girl Scouts.

According to Avon police, they were called to the Walmart at 255 West Main St. around 10:15 after witnesses saw Alexander Gailunas masturbating in his vehicle.

Gailunas' vehicle was parked near the main entrance of the store, where five 10-year-old Girl Scouts were selling cookies.

Gailunas was arrested  and charged with public indecency, five counts of risk of injury to a minor, operating a motor vehicle under suspension and possession of marijuana.

Gailunas was held on $10,000 bond and appeared in court on Feb. 29.

New Haven police have a man in custody after they say he fled the scene after hitting a woman who was crossing the street.

Police were called to the scene at the intersection of Whalley and Sherman Avenues just after 7 p.m. Monday night.

When they arrived, they found a female in her 40's, unconscious on the ground. Witnesses say that a car flew through the intersection, struck the woman, then took off.

"I was just stopped at the light and the next thing I knew I see a car hit a lady and she goes flying through midair, said Ricky Williams, who witnessed the incident. "Her body flipped up in the air and did cartwheels."

Minutes after the accident, the car and the driver involved were located just a few blocks away at a Henry St. apartment complex. The driver was taken into custody.

Officers say he will be facing a number of charges including evading responsibility. They are also looking into whether alcohol was involved.

The woman was transported to the hospital where she immediately underwent surgery. She is listed in critical condition.