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Recent research may have reshaped our understanding of the victims of <keyword id="21273453" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pompeii" source="keywords">Pompeii</keyword>, the ancient Roman city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. For centuries, archaeologists and historians have pieced together the tragic narratives of Pompeii's inhabitants based on their preserved remains, often assuming familial relationships based on physical proximity and shared possessions. However, a recent study published in Current Biology has challenged these long-held beliefs. By analysing ancient DNA extracted from the plaster casts of 14 victims, researchers have uncovered a more complex picture of the city's diverse population and the relationships among its inhabitants. The DNA evidence has revealed that many of the individuals assumed to be family members were, in fact, unrelated. For instance, an adult wearing a golden bracelet and holding a child — long thought to be a mother and child — was actually an unrelated male. Similarly, two individuals found in a close embrace, once believed to be sisters or mother and daughter, included at least one genetic male, dispelling traditional assumptions about familial connections. In a notable case from the “House of the Golden Bracelet,” four individuals assumed to be a nuclear family were found to be unrelated, challenging simplistic kinship narratives. The research team, led by archaeogeneticist Alissa Mittnik, also incorporated strontium isotope analysis, which aided in determining the ancestry, sex, and genetic relationships of the 14 individuals among 86 casts undergoing restoration. The findings reveal a remarkably diverse genetic background, with many individuals having ancestry traced to the eastern Mediterranean, highlighting Pompeii as a cosmopolitan city reflecting the broader diversity of the Roman Empire. This discovery highlights the limitations of relying solely on physical evidence to interpret the past. David Caramelli of the University of Florence emphasised that the study urges a shift from visual and contextual assumptions towards genetic and isotopic evidence, which provides a more nuanced view of ancient society. As technology continues to advance, archaeologists and historians are increasingly able to unlock the secrets of the past. The study of Pompeii's victims serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of interdisciplinary research and the potential for new discoveries to reshape our understanding of history. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113289932" title="DNA Wellness to invest Rs 200 crore to set up over 100 cervical cancer screening labs" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

DNA analysis of Pompeii victims rewrites the history of the 2,000-year-old tragic volcanic eruption

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Boeing earlier reached a deferred prosecution deal with the DOJ for two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.</li><li>The DOJ now plans to charge Boeing with fraud after officials found Boeing violated that deal.</li></ul>Families of the victims of the two fatal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-737-max-safety-record-crashes-issues-2024-1">Boeing 737 Max</a> crashes are denouncing a plea deal the Justice Department is preparing to offer the airplane manufacturer, an attorney representing some of those families told Business Insider.Federal prosecutors have given Boeing until the end of the week to accept the deal and plead guilty to fraud or risk going to trial in relation to the two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, sources told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-30/doj-to-charge-boeing-seek-guilty-plea-from-planemaker">Bloomberg</a>.The Justice Department notified the victims' families and their attorneys on Sunday of the end-of-week deadline, the sources said.Spokespeople for the DOJ and Boeing did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.Paul Cassell, an attorney for 15 of the victims' families, told Business Insider in an email that the DOJ's offer is "another sweetheart plea deal," to which the families vehemently object.According to Cassell, the details of the agreement, which the DOJ has not yet made public, include a "small fine," a three-year term of probation, and a corporate monitor, but "no recognition of 346 deaths.""The deal will not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing's crime killed 346 people," Cassell wrote to BI. "It also appears to rest on the idea that Boeing did not harm any victim. The families will strenuously object to this plea deal."Boeing had initially avoided a fraud charge related to the two fatal crashes — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lion-air-crash-timeline-boeing-737-max-disaster-killed-189-2019-10">one near the coast of Indonesia</a> and another in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-737-max-ethiopian-airlines-302-crash-year-2020-3">Ethiopia</a> — after agreeing to a $2.5 billion settlement in a deferred prosecution agreement.Along with the fine, the airplane manufacturer had to agree to a strict "compliance program," according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/boeing-charged-737-max-fraud-conspiracy-and-agrees-pay-over-25-billion">DOJ press release</a> from 2021. The agreement required Boeing to meet with the DOJ's Fraud Section and submit annual reports on "remediation efforts."But in May, investigators accused Boeing of violating the terms of the agreement, once again exposing the company to criminal charges.US prosecutors recommended the DOJ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutors-recommend-doj-federal-criminal-charges-against-boeing-report-2024-6">file federal criminal charges against Boeing</a>, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.With the DOJ's potential plea deal for Boeing, a judge "will have to decide whether this no-accountability-deal is in the public interest," Cassell wrote to BI."The memory of 346 innocents killed by Boeing demands more justice than this," he wrote.

Families of Boeing victims object to its proposed 'sweetheart plea deal' with the DOJ, attorney says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix's documentary "Sweet Bobby" follows a woman deceived into a fake online relationship.</li><li>Kirat Assi said she didn't find out her lover's true identity for eight years into the relationship.</li></ul>Warning: Spoilers ahead for Netflix's "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" and the earlier podcast "Sweet Bobby."Kirat Assi, the subject of "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare," is still hoping that police will pursue her <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-being-catfished-2018-9">catfisher</a> after reporting them six years ago.Officers in London told Business Insider that they were again investigating her case after initially dropping it. (Sky News was first to report the development.)The Netflix show plays on two recent hot topics in streaming: true crime and scams, where extra publicity can shed new light on the cases.Here are some of the twists not captured in the show.<h2 id="f4d9cf3f-72bc-4cd7-81cc-8432e90fe0d1">An 8-year deception</h2>In 2010, Assi, a radio presenter from London, began a friendship over Facebook with a man she believed was Bobby Jandu, a wealthy heart doctor.She later thought she met his family on Facebook after the relationship turned romantic and the pair got engaged without ever meeting.Assi was deceived. In 2018 she found that Simran Bhogal, her second cousin, created the elaborate fiction with a web of accounts in a particularly sophisticated example of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-catfished-online-fake-identities">catfishing</a>.By then, Assi had found and confronted the real Jandu, who had no idea who she was.Jandu and Assi reported Bhogal to the police in the UK. But catfishing is not a crime under UK law, and Bhogal was not charged or prosecuted.Assi sued Bhogal in English courts in a 2020 civil case. The pair settled a year later, with Assi getting financial compensation and an apology letter that could be shown to a limited set of people.Here's what the documentary missed out on Assi's journey for justice.<h2 id="318f63e5-1862-4210-9b4f-feaa4f224c39">Bhogal's attorneys made their own allegations</h2><div type="image" title="A picture of a South Asian woman wearing headphones and a pink top sitting in a radio booth." height="844" width="1125" msid="114426711" hostid="261" sizebytes="41290"></div>In episode five of the 2021 podcast series "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/sweet-bobby/">Sweet Bobby</a>," which publicized Assi's story before the Netflix release, host Alexi Mostrous said that Assi hired two lawyers.Amrit Maan and Yair Cohen helped her pursue legal action against Bhogal in the months following her first interactions with London's Metropolitan Police.While Maan tried to help Assi get the police to investigate, Cohen represented Assi in the UK's civil courts.Mostrous said Assi then sent a letter threatening legal action against Boghal, accusing her of harassment, misusing Assi's private information, and breaching data protection laws.Bhogal's attorney responded by accusing Assi of grooming Bhogal because the online relationship began when Bhogal was a child and Assi was 32, Mostrous reported. The attorneys also claimed that Assi always knew Bhogal was pretending to be Bobby and threatened to go public with the allegation if the lawsuit wasn't dropped.Assi said in the podcast: "It's outrageous. I just thought that's so low and so disgusting of you. You've already confessed."Assi did not back down.In episode six of the podcast, Mostrous said Bhogal offered a payout and a semi-private apology letter to settle the case in the spring of 2021. Mostrous said Assi wanted a public apology but accepted the settlement after speaking to her lawyers.<h2 id="005b259f-792f-4621-8298-48e134af4c39">Assi has appealed to the police to investigate the crime</h2><div type="image" title="A still from &quot;Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare&quot; featuring an image of a south Asian man in a t-shirt in a frame." height="844" width="1125" msid="114426715" hostid="261" sizebytes="19582"></div>In the Netflix documentary, Assi said the police in London did not take her claim seriously and thought that Jandu and his wife were the real victims of the catfishing case.The Metropolitan Police dropped the case in 2019, citing a lack of evidence.But on Friday, a spokesperson told Business Insider that it was again investigating, and was "actively working with" Assi.It followed Assi complaining about the handling of her case to the UK's Independent Office for Police Conduct.The IOPC told BI that it found fault with the initial response and asked the Met to review its investigation process.It wasn't clear precisely when or why the Met reopened its case.

Netflix's 'Sweet Bobby' follows an 8-year catfishing. Here's what happened after the victim learned the truth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In "<keyword id="23786495" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sweet-Bobby" source="keywords">Sweet Bobby</keyword>: My Catfish Nightmare," <keyword id="23786496" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kirat-Assi" source="keywords">Kirat Assi</keyword> describes being deceived for almost a decade.</li><li>The <keyword id="23786499" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="catfisher" source="keywords">catfisher</keyword> created multiple fake Facebook accounts to keep up the deceit.</li></ul>Warning: Spoilers ahead for <keyword id="19897536" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netflix" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Netflix" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" and Tortoise's podcast "Sweet Bobby." Kirat Assi, a woman <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-being-catfished-2018-9">catfished</a> by a relative for eight years, is telling her story again in Netflix's new documentary "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare." But the film still leaves viewers wondering why <keyword id="23786497" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Simran-Bhogal" source="keywords">Simran Bhogal</keyword>, the relative, began the deception in the first place. Fictional and non-fictional scammer stories have been booming on Netflix — examples include 2022's "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-true-inventing-anna-delvey-sorokin-differences-netflix-show-reality-2022-2">Inventing Anna</a>" series and "The Tinder Swindler" documentary. Raw, the production "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tinder-swindler-bad-vegan-stars-netflix-failed-abuse-victims-2022-8">The Tinder Swindler</a>" and 2024's "American Nightmare," condensed Assi's yearslong <keyword id="20572981" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="catfishing" source="keywords">catfishing</keyword> into one film. In "Sweet Bobby," Assi describes how Bhogal created Facebook accounts to pretend to be a real-life person, <keyword id="23786498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bobby-Jandu" source="keywords">Bobby Jandu</keyword>, and his family members to carry on an online relationship with her — the phenomenon known as catfishing. The messages started in 2010 and lasted until Assi tried to track down Jandu and found the real person. Though Bhogal claimed to be overseas, she and Assi lived relatively close to each other in London. <div type="image" title="A still from &quot;Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare&quot; of a split-screen of two people talking on the phone. One is in a normal bed and the other is on a hospital bed." height="844" width="2000" msid="114283974" hostid="261"></div>The real Jandu had no idea who Assi was when she confronted her. After this, Assi said, Bhogal admitted to the deception. Assi sued Bhogal in the English court system. In 2021, they reached a settlement consisting of a payout to Assi and an apology letter she could show to a limited number of people. Jandu, who also appears in the documentary, said Bhogal messaged him to apologize when caught. Though Assi suggested that Bhogal did it for "entertainment," Bhogal never gives her side of the story in the documentary. Text at the end of the documentary said that Bhogal declined to be interviewed and instead gave a statement. "This matter involves events that began when she was a schoolgirl. She considers it a private matter and strongly objects to what she describes as 'numerous unfounded' and damaging accusations," it said of her response. However, in the past, Assi did give some hints about Bhogal's motivations during a 2021 podcast series, <keyword id="23208163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tortoise-Media" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tortoise Media" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tortoise Media">Tortoise Media</keyword>'s "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/sweet-bobby/">Sweet Bobby</a>." <h2>Kirat Assi suggested that Simran Bhogal was in a "dark place" when she began the catfishing</h2> <div type="image" title="A still from &quot;Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare&quot; featuring an image of a south Asian man in a t-shirt in a frame." height="844" width="1125" msid="114283972" hostid="261"></div>In the podcast, Assi described a draft apology letter Bhogal gave her after Assi took legal action against her in 2020. Assi didn't read the letter on the podcast, citing the legal settlement, but she describes it as the most emotional letter she got from her cousin. "It was all like she would change everything if she could, and it was all very gushing, and I'm sorry for all the hurt, the pain I caused," Assi said. The podcast host, Alexi Mostrous, said Bhogal wrote in the letter that she was struggling with personal issues and thought she and Assi "just clicked" when they met. Assi said: "There was a phrase that she used that bothered me. She honestly believed that we were both in a dark place and living in this kind of alternative reality, or this fantasy world that she'd created was bringing us both some kind of happiness and joy. "And the fact that she's only just realized that it wasn't any kind of fantasy for me and it wasn't bringing me any kind of happiness that really sticks out for me." Assi also said that in the letter, Bhogal said she tried to end the relationship, being nasty to Assi to push her away. "But then Bobby would always have a heart attack or a stroke, and then I'd have to come back in, so I don't understand," Assi added. She said she didn't believe the apology was genuine because it was only given after the court proceedings began. "She could have sent that to me ages ago. She could have stopped it being filed to court. Why did she only recognize all of this now? Did she not recognize it when she confessed?" Assi said. Like in the documentary, Bhogal refused to be interviewed, and her lawyers gave a similar statement to the podcast, so "Sweet Bobby" fans will likely never hear Bhogal's explanation firsthand. Correction: October 21, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled Bobby Jandu’s surname.

Netflix's 'Sweet Bobby' is the story of an 8-year catfishing case. Here's what the victim thinks motivated it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims are calling for the company to be fined $25 billion.</li><li>It comes a day after Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun testified before a Senate subcommittee.</li></ul>The families of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-crashes-groundings-timeline-737-max-777-air-force-tanker-2024-1">Boeing 737 Max crash victims</a> are calling for the planemaker to face a fine of nearly $25 billion, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-19/737-max-crash-victims-families-seek-25-billion-fine-on-boeing">Bloomberg</a> reported.Three hundred and forty-six people died in two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.In 2021, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-fine-settlement-charges-defraud-faa-737-max-2021-1">Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion</a> as part of a settlement called a deferred prosecution agreement after it was charged with fraud conspiracy in the wake of the crashes.But this settlement came under scrutiny following <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-whistleblower-urged-alaska-ground-737-max-before-blowout-2024-3">January's Alaska Airlines blowout</a>.Last month, the Justice Department said Boeing had failed to fulfill the conditions of the agreement and that, as a result, "Boeing is subject to prosecution by the United States."On Wednesday, an attorney representing 15 families of the 737 Max crash victims, Paul Cassell, wrote a letter to the Justice Department saying that Boeing had committed "the deadliest corporate crime in US history."Cassell said that the nearly $25 billion sought by the families was "legally justified and clearly appropriate" but suggested that $14 billion to $22 billion of the total amount could be suspended if Boeing committed to spending those funds on safety improvements and an independent corporate monitor, per Bloomberg.The families also called on the DoJ to prosecute Boeing executives from the time of the two crashes, the report said.Cassell's letter came a day after <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-dave-calhoun-failed-to-turn-boeing-around-737-max-2024-3">Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun</a> testified before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.At the hearing, he told victims' families that Boeing was "deeply sorry" for their losses."I want to personally apologize, on behalf of everyone at Boeing," said Calhoun, who previously announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the year."We are deeply sorry for your losses. Nothing is more important than the safety of the people who step on board," he added.Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims call for planemaker to be fined $25 billion for 'deadliest corporate crime in US history'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Monsters" is a fictional show based on the trial of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who shot their parents in 1989.</li><li>The Menendezes have claimed the Netflix series is inaccurate.</li></ul>Erik Menendez and his family have criticized Netflix's new true crime series, "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monsters-where-are-lyle-and-erik-menendez-brothers-now-2024-9">Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story</a>," claiming that multiple scenes are inaccurate."Monsters," a sequel to "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dahmer-victims-family-lawyer-ryan-murphy-should-share-netflix-profits-2022-10">Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story</a>," is described by Netflix as a fictional show based on the murder trial of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed their parents in 1989.The brothers' case was one of the biggest media sensations of the '90s and is the subject of multiple movies and TV shows.Co-creator Ryan Murphy said the story was accurate during a Q&amp;A for the show in New York, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/the-wild-true-tale-behind-monsters-the-lyle-and-erik-menendez-story">Vanity Fair</a> reported last week."All the stuff in here, by the way, is true," he said. "We spent many, many, many years researching this."However, since the show was released last week, multiple viewers, including the Menendez family, have criticized its makers for including what they claimed were inaccurate scenes. It was not clear which specific scenes their comments referred to.On Friday, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monsters-lyle-and-erik-menendez-story-wife-tammi-menendez-2024-9">Tammi Menendez</a> shared a statement on X from her husband, Erik Menendez, in which he criticized how the show portrayed Lyle Menendez."I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose," Erik Menedez wrote. "It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent." Erik Menendez also criticized how the series portrayed the sexual abuse the brothers claim their father, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monsters-lyle-and-erik-menendez-story-cast-real-life-netflix-2024-9">José Menendez, </a>inflicted upon them. During the trial, it was debated whether the brothers killed their parents to inherit their money or out of self defense. The brothers, who are currently appealing their life sentences, claimed their father physically and sexually abused them, and they shot him to protect themselves."It is sad for me to know that Netflix's dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women," Erik Menendez wrote in his statement. "Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out."So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander."Tammi Menendez also shared her own criticisms of the series, before and after it premiered on Netflix."The Menendez drama on Netflix is a complete train wreck! The portrayal of the events is so exaggerated and untrue, it feels more like a dark soap opera than a drama. They really missed the mark on the facts!" she wrote before the show was released. After the show's release, she added in a separate post, "I'm sorry to know I was right. The Netflix show was a insane perversion of the truth and a complete and tragic misrepresentation of Erik and Lyle!"A Facebook page that appeared to be run by a family member of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monsters-lyle-and-erik-menendez-story-where-judalon-smyth-now-2024-9">Lyle Menendez</a>, which has been cited widely by news outlets, also slammed the series, sharing their thoughts on each episode before telling followers to stop watching the show.Business Insider contacted the account to verify if it is run by a relative of Lyle Menendez.In one post, the user <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/MenendezBrothers/posts/pfbid02imAUN9ii4RaX2eeKDzMDZqdNprvQhakMN9hos7SSHCZcLP9xbMFiPTncjxhA98r5l">wrote</a>: "They had a plethora of material to draw from, and this is what they chose to do????? It's laughable. It's pathetic. And it is re-victimizing. It is imaginary. It is fiction. And to put out into the world the absurd notion that the brothers were lovers is the height of pure evil."The last line refers to multiple scenes in the series where the brothers kiss or are implied to be secret lovers.<div type="image" title="A composite of images of Lyle and Erik Menendez in blue prison outfits taken during their trial in 1994." height="1080" width="1440" msid="113603784" hostid="261" sizebytes="110814"></div>In 1995, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-08-me-11837-story.html">Los Angeles Times</a> reported that Erik Menendez testified during a retrial that Lyle Menendez molested him when they were children. But there was no evidence or testimonies during any trial that the pair had a secret relationship.Other viewers criticized a kiss between the brothers on the show, writing on X that it was wrong to include a fake incest storyline when the brothers alleged they were victims of abuse. The first season of "Monsters" was also criticized when it was released in 2022. Multiple family members of Dahmer's victims said Murphy and Netflix were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-dahmer-netflix-monster-families-victims-emmy-nominations-2023-7">profiting from their pain</a>, and claimed neither contacted them to ask for their approval to tell their stories.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ryan-murphy-says-he-reached-out-to-20-of-the-victims-family-and-friends-for-dahmer-series-not-a-single-person-responded-to-us-1235250610/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> reported in October 2022 that Murphy told a Directors Guild of America event in Los Angeles that they contacted 20 of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rita-isbell-sister-jeffrey-dahmer-victim-talks-about-netflix-show-2022-9">victims' families</a> and friends and received no responses.A representative for Netflix did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider.

Erik Menendez and the brothers' family criticize Netflix's true crime drama 'Monsters': 'Is the truth not enough?'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Allie Rae chronicled her family's experience sheltering in place during Hurricane Milton.</li><li>The 40-year-old content creator and mother of three called it the scariest night of her life.</li></ul>Allie Rae is a mother, entrepreneur, and OnlyFans creator who said she had to endure Hurricane Milton with her family in their high-rise condominium in Clearwater Beach, Florida.She chronicled the experience on TikTok as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@allieraeofficial/video/7423883364186213675">tens of millions of viewers tuned in</a>. This essay is based on a conversation with Rae, 40, and has been edited for length and clarity.We moved to Florida about four years ago, wanting to get away from the Minnesota cold. We wanted a different life and it's beautiful down here.My husband and I were actually in London last week when Milton was developing, but we learned how serious the storm was going to be the day we flew back.We were supposed to fly straight to Vegas after touching down in Florida for a hockey game, but our tickets got canceled. So while we were in the air, I panic-bought five tickets to Houston — for my husband and our three sons — which is where my sister lives.But one hour before we landed on Monday, we got a notification that all of the airports were shutting down.It was never our intention to try to stay and ride out the storm. But when we got back, everyone was already evacuating, and there was no gas or supplies.We live in a two-story penthouse in Clearwater Beach in a mandatory evacuation zone. But ultimately, we felt like our best bet was to stock up on food and water, and stay in the high-rise as a family.<h2 id="5a46a97b-9219-4720-b3cb-eaae6d26b961">It was terrifying knowing there's a wind tunnel in your living room</h2>On Wednesday night, things started picking up quickly.Our building was constructed in the seventies, and our unit has a lot of windows — only about half of which were shuttered. We didn't have time to board them up and we were worried they would shatter.Our initial plan was to hole up in the master bedroom. Then we moved to the master closet and eventually to my office because everything was shaking, and the office didn't touch any exterior windows or walls.Two windows shattered on the main floor, which ended up getting flooded with an inch or two of rain.I can't even describe the sounds of those roars. It was terrifying knowing there was a wind tunnel in your living room.The building kept swaying, and we were getting a little dizzy — and scared it might collapse. We even packed up and went downstairs to the trash room on the ground floor of the building temporarily, but ultimately decided we'd be safer upstairs.It was the scariest night of our lives. I was in tears and just wanted it to end. It was like being on a Ferris wheel where you're sick and want to get off, but it just won't stop.<h2 id="9d4caab2-7afd-4d42-9297-77d4897bf1df">This experience hasn't shaken our love for Florida</h2>Once things finally died down in the middle of the night, we all took our air mattresses to the master bedroom and went to sleep.Waking up Thursday was daunting, but there are parts that are not as bad as we thought.The windows probably needed to be replaced anyway, and water damage is never cheap. I'm sure we have a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of damage, but we have insurance.We plan to stay here unless we're advised it's not safe. It's a large condo and there are still portions where we feel safe. We don't have power, but there's plenty of water and food.Still, this experience hasn't shaken our love for Florida. I love this state, and I know that this comes with it. And I'm not a victim-type gal. You don't live on the beach and have paradise 360 days a year and then complain when this happens.I was very well aware before moving here that these storms come with the package, and you have to be prepared for that. You become better at preparing over time.You could live out in the suburbs of Tampa, but I choose to live on the water and the beach. I've seen people who have to rebuild their houses constantly. For now, I take the emotional and financial risk and I'm comfortable with that.

My family endured a terrifying night when Hurricane Milton hit, but we won't move out of Florida

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce donated following the Kansas City victory parade shooting.</li><li>Each gave $100,000 to families of victims of the shooting which occurred on Wednesday.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-private-jet-short-trips-flights-2024-2">Taylor Swift</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jason-kelce-brother-travis-kelce-moved-house-dating-taylor-swift-2024-2">Travis Kelce</a> have made generous charitable donations to the victims of the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, which occurred on February 14.Early on Friday, the "Anti-Hero" singer donated $100,000 to a GoFundMe page set up for the family of Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan, a mother-of-two who was killed in the mass shooting. Her two separate donations of $50,000 — confirmed to <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://variety.com/2024/music/news/taylor-swift-donation-gofundme-victim-killed-chiefs-parade-1235913423/">Variety</a> by the singer's representatives to be legitimate — pushed the total past its goal of raising $75,000 for the victim's family. "Sending my deepest sympathies and condolences in the wake of your devastating loss. With love, Taylor Swift," the singer wrote on the <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/elizabeth-lopezgalvan-memorial">Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan Memorial page</a>.<div type="image" title="Taylor Swift's message to the family of Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan, a woman who was killed in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade." height="586" width="1206" msid="107781353" hostid="261" sizebytes="27746"></div>Hours later, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-2024-who-with-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-party-2024-2">Swift's boyfriend</a> then matched her donation by making two $50,000 contributions to a separate GoFundMe page, raising money for the Reyes family and their 10-year-old and eight-year-old daughters, who were shot during the tragedy. Kelce's donation, which was confirmed by his reps to <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.today.com/news/sports/travis-kelce-donates-victims-chiefs-parade-rcna139304">Today</a>, was made through his charity, Eighty-Seven &amp; Running.<div type="image" title="Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting where at least one person was killed and more than 20 others were injured after the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LVIII victory parade on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Kansas City." height="720" width="1140" msid="107781358" hostid="261" sizebytes="30688"></div>Like Swift's donation, Kelce's generous contribution helped the Reyes family achieve their goal of raising $100,000, which they wrote would help provide vital financial support for the girls' physical and mental recovery.Following the shooting, which occurred on Wednesday after thousands gathered for a rally to celebrate his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-lviii-winner-chiefs-49ers-pat-mahomes-overtime-2024-2">team's back-to-back Super Bowl win</a>, the Chiefs tight end <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://twitter.com/tkelce/status/1757944301898682680">wrote on X</a>, formerly Twitter, that he was "heartbroken."As <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kansas-city-chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-police-2024-2">Business Insider </a>previously reported, during a press conference earlier this week, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves confirmed that three people, including two minors, had been detained following the shooting. Late on Friday, the two teenage suspects were charged with resisting arrest and "gun-related" offenses in connection with a shooting, <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/us/kansas-city-super-bowl-celebration-charges.html">The New York Times</a> reports. The third individual was released without charge.A spokeswoman for the Office of the Juvenile Officer in Jackson County, Mo., told the publication that additional charges are "expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues."In total, the shooters injured 22 people; Lopez-Galvan was the sole fatality, according to <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-juveniles-charged-kansas-city-chiefs-parade-shooting-rcna139233">NBC News.</a>

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce each donate $100,000 to the families of victims of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooting

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sex-trafficking fugitive Michael Pratt vanished for 3 years — until a data leak led to his capture.</li><li>The leak involved cryptocurrency "wallets" he used to secure his bitcoin passwords.</li></ul>Four days before Christmas in 2022, Michael James Pratt — a New Zealander accused of running the most prolific sex-trafficking ring in US history, with at least 400 young victims — was thrown to the floor of his Madrid hotel room and handcuffed by Spanish police.As Pratt awaits trial in a Southern California jail, facing a possible life sentence, little has been revealed about how police located and captured him after three years on the run.But video of his arrest, tweeted afterward by Spain's Policia Nacional, shows the precise instruments of his undoing: four gunmetal-silver cryptocurrency flash drives.<div type="image" title="This image from Spanish police shows the Bitcoin hardware wallets that led to the 2022 capture of sex-trafficking fugitive Michael Pratt." height="1906" width="3360" msid="112444044" hostid="261" sizebytes="175268"></div>The four pieces of hardware held the passwords for $500,000 in bitcoin that federal prosecutors say he earned during his decade of running the notorious Girls Do Porn trafficking ring.Here is the story of Michael Pratt, the Girls Do Porn ring, and how a team of civilian supersleuths followed a twisty trail that began with these pocket-sized crypto hard drives and ended on that hotel room floor.Here, too, is a story of justice. Last month, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25022769-sdca-v-gdp-michael-pratt-bill-of-particulars">federal prosecutors said</a> that the trafficking proceeds they seek to recover include the bitcoins protected by those four hard drives. The money would be returned to the ring's victims."If there's a hero, it's certainly them; it isn't me," Charles DeBarber, a civilian cyber-intelligence analyst who spent eight years chasing Pratt, told Business Insider of the Girls Do Porn victims. <h2 id="eb5ec67d-c645-494b-8c02-b6bdf0a5d8c7">Fraud, coercion, threats</h2>The Girls Do Porn conspiracy ran from 2007 to 2019, and worked like this, according to federal prosecutors and victim testimony:Cash-strapped college students were pulled into the ring's web by answering bogus fashion modeling ads on Craigslist. "Cute Teen Girls Make $5,000 Today," one typical ad read, above photos of smiling young models in swimsuits and athletic wear. A series of friendly emails from "Jonathan@beginmodeling.com" eventually revealed that the job was for an "adult" shoot.When a prospective recruit demurred, "Jonathan," a fictitious name, would make a series of false promises. The job paid $5,000 cash up front for a 30-minute shoot with "an attractive male actor," the women would be promised. The video, they'd be assured, would be DVD-only, for the exclusive use of private collectors in Australia. It would never go online or be seen by anyone they knew.If a prospect still hesitated, she'd be offered more money, more false assurances. "Jonathan" would forward her the phone numbers of "former models" who were paid to say whatever it took to reel in a victim."No no no you're totally fine!" a fictitious former model named "Kailyn" texted one victim. "That's what I was worried about but there is absolutely no way anyone will find out."<div type="image" title="This image shows the original FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive poster for Michael Pratt, accused ringleader of the Girls Do Porn trafficking ring; the image shows three photos of Pratt and has been stamped &quot;CAPTURED.&quot;" height="2608" width="2500" msid="112444047" hostid="261" sizebytes="250368"></div><h2 id="afb077a7-7ae2-4e1f-b3ed-827e55f8c1a9">The video shoot</h2>Once a victim agreed to do a shoot, "Jonathan" — prosecutors believe several in the ring took turns using the name — would immediately send a one-way plane ticket. She would be flown alone to San Diego before she could change her mind.Victims remember being picked up at the airport and chauffeured to an upscale hotel. One thought it odd when the child safety locks were engaged during the ride.At the hotel, these young women, barely out of high school, suffered the first hours of what would be a decadelong nightmare.Of at least 400 women who recorded Girls Do Porn videos, more than 100 have told their stories in civil and criminal cases. Some describe being raped in their hotel rooms by their male actor before the shoot started — a "test drive," they were told.<div type="image" title="An excerpt from from Michael Pratt's 2019 sex-trafficking indictment describes how prospective victims would be lured by promises their videos would never go online." height="431" width="2500" msid="112444046" hostid="261" sizebytes="61726"></div>"Jonathan's" lies quickly unraveled. The promised pay would be docked by thousands of dollars for small imperfections in their appearance. And instead of 30-minute shoots, the women would be forced to film for six or more hours — however long it took to get five uninterrupted minutes of footage for each of five sexual positions.Heavy equipment blocked the hotel room door, trapping them inside with men who warned that if they didn't finish the shoot, they'd be sued for breach of contract and left to buy their own flight home.Victims describe violent ordeals that left them bleeding, vomiting, and sobbing. Their distress would be edited from the final video, though the editing was imperfect."I'm now known on the internet as the GDP girl with the tear tracks in her makeup," a victim who'd been filmed at age 18 said in March at the sentencing of Girls Do Porn webmaster and cameraman Matthew Isaac Wolfe, now serving 14 years in federal prison for sex trafficking"Stop being a whiny little bitch!" another victim recounted porn actor Ruben Andre Garcia shouting as she begged to leave. Garcia is now serving 20 years for sex trafficking.<div type="image" title="This image from the arrest of Michael James Pratt shows the accused sex-trafficking ring mastermind being handcuffed on the floor of his Madrid hotel room." height="1415" width="2500" msid="112444041" hostid="261" sizebytes="115340"></div><h2 id="51595724-4c1f-4cae-8a9c-1c93a943086f">A million views in just days</h2>Months after the filming, these graphic, hardcore productions went live. Videos went viral in as little as 48 hours, as 700,000 subscribers to Pornhub's Girls Do Porn channel clicked on 5-minute teaser clips that drove traffic to Pratt's site, where 100,000 subscribers paid $30 a month for the full videos.Federal prosecutors say Pratt increased traffic by forwarding each victim's video link to her school, work, family, and social connections. Victims attempted suicide after finding themselves fired from jobs, hounded from school, and shunned by loved ones."Before I knew it, my video had millions of views, and all my friends, family, acquaintances, and distant relatives knew," one victim said.Prosecutors say Pratt also uploaded details from victims' original "Begin Modeling" applications — names, emails, family addresses, and even their height, weight, and favorite color — to websites he controlled that catered to so-called porn trolls.The trolls churned up still more traffic and attacked "without mercy," as one victim described it."My mom would walk out of church and come back to her car to find notes in the window shield calling me a whore, slut, prostitute," another victim testified at Wolfe's sentencing.Even now, long after the 2019 demise of the Girls Do Porn website and its Pornhub channel, the videos remain. Victims say they still pop up when they Google their names."Ten years later, I am still receiving harassing text messages," one said in March at Wolfe's sentencing. "I received one yesterday evening while nursing my newborn."<h2 id="cb4cf0e5-5f06-4228-b203-e84fde0f1dfb">Unmasking the traffickers</h2>But while its victims were humiliated publicly and by name, those running Girls Do Porn remained anonymous for most of the years the ring operated.A tangle of fake phone numbers, addresses, and shell companies thwarted anyone seeking legal action. When the father of one victim emailed "Jonathan@beginmodeling.com" — the only contact his daughter had — he didn't reach Jonathan at all. Instead, he received a lawyer's cease-and-desist letter with naked photos of his daughter attached, federal prosecutors in California said in Pratt's 2019 criminal complaint.This is where a former US Army cyber-intelligence analyst named Charles DeBarber arrived.In early 2016, DeBarber was asked for help by a victim who wanted to know: Who had done this to me? Using publicly available data —including 2010 domain-name registration records and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-the-panama-papers-2016-4">the Panama Papers</a> — DeBarber unmasked Pratt, Garcia, Wolfe, and the underlying corporate entities. All were sued in state court in San Diego later that year."This is a very large, weird true crime story you kind of need a chart to explain," DeBarber said."We were able to find Garcia through his Facebook page, by reverse-imaging a tattoo that appeared on his shoulder" in the videos, he told Business Insider. Garcia was the actor who victims said told them to stop being "whiny bitches."<h2 id="ba4b8f40-8882-445c-9497-4e6e9b509bb9">A walk to Tijuana</h2>Girls Do Porn raked in some $17 million in subscriptions and content deals, federal prosecutors say."He would constantly punch holes in the walls and break computer monitors," Wolfe said of Pratt in his March sentencing statement, describing his "manic" and "terrifying" boss.Pratt "was making millions of dollars and was driving around in a Lamborghini, living in a multimillion-dollar house in Rancho, Santa Fe," Wolfe's defense lawyer, Jeremy Warren, said at the sentencing.Then, in the fall of 2019, Pratt fled his life of luxury, crossing into Tijuana on foot. Weeks later, a federal grand jury in San Diego indicted him, Wolfe, and Garcia. He was still missing months later, when a state judge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25022749-girlsdoporn-original-2016-verdict">awarded $13 million to the 22 victims</a> in the 2016 lawsuit.In pleading guilty, Wolfe, Garcia, and three other Girls Do Porn employees implicated Pratt as the ring's mastermind. He faces 19 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.<div type="image" title="This image shows the first page of the federal indictment of Michael Pratt and three employees of the Girls Do Porn sex-trafficking ring" height="988" width="1770" msid="112444038" hostid="261" sizebytes="105734"></div><h2 id="c3b67f32-4fc1-470f-864e-3c65fd461402">Finding Michael Pratt</h2>Pratt vanished for three years.Federal investigators believe he quickly boarded a flight to his native New Zealand, where he visited family members and made quick stops in Hong Kong and Cypress in unsuccessful attempts to sell the still-profitable Girls Do Porn operation.He was somewhere in Europe when the indictment dropped at the end of 2019. "He didn't have any fake papers at the time," DeBarber told BI. "He was just Michael Pratt."But Pratt began using an alias and the trail went cold — except for one key clue.In the summer of 2020, the cryptocurrency world was rocked by a major data breach. Hackers exposed the names, addresses, and phone numbers of more than 700,000 customers of a company called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ledger.com/">Ledger</a>.Ledger makes <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/best-bitcoin-wallet">cryptocurrency "wallets,"</a> small USB or Bluetooth devices that look like little metal thumb drives. They safely store and protect the lengthy digital passwords that cryptocurrency owners need to access and move their money.<div type="image" title="A Ledger cryptocurrency wallet." height="686" width="998" msid="112444042" hostid="261" sizebytes="46892"></div>Pratt, DeBarber discovered, was one of the Ledger customers whose data was hacked.He had used his real name to have a hardware wallet shipped to the W Hotel in Barcelona shortly before the indictment, the breach revealed. After the indictment, in the spring of 2020, Pratt used the alias "Mark Williams" to have another hardware wallet shipped to a Mailboxes, Etc., also in Barcelona."We decided, you know what? Let's go there and see," DeBarber said.The cyber-sleuth and the victims' lawyer flew to Barcelona in July 2022 — a trip DeBarber described earlier this year <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hunt-michael-pratt-phoenixsafe-ai-20zde/">on LinkedIn</a>.They had precious little to go on besides those long-cold locations — the W Hotel and the Mailboxes Etc. They also knew that Pratt liked American hip hop and collected pricey, vintage Air Jordans, based on what federal investigators had found searching Pratt's luxury apartment in San Diego.Once on the ground, the pair connected with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-owen-94b278156/">Ben Owen</a>, a cyber-security expert DeBarber had met when they worked together in 2017 on the CBS show "Hunted." Owen's partner, intelligence expert <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danni-brooke-a794083a/">Danni Brooke</a>, and their daughter Amelia Brooke, joined them.<div type="image" title="This image shows, from left, Charles DeBarber, Ben Owen, Brian Holm, Amelia Brooke, and Danni Brooke." height="1855" width="2500" msid="112444048" hostid="261" sizebytes="89892"></div>Owen located one of the few people in Barcelona who sold vintage Air Jordans. Her face turned pale when shown Pratt's picture. She had spoken to him recently about a $50,000 pair of size-11, 1985, 1st edition high-tops.Then a bouncer at one of only five nightclubs that played American hip hop said he'd seen Pratt there just a few weeks prior. Both the sneaker vendor and the bouncer described the fugitive the same way."They said he was portly and that he wears clean clothes but doesn't wash," DeBarber said. "And they said he carries a Versace bag full of money around his neck."He was living pretty recklessly," DeBarber added. "Who goes to a club with a Versace bag full of money, flashing it around? He's obviously not a Spaniard. That's not the kind of behavior I would expect from a talented fugitive."<div type="image" title="A photo of the Barcelona Mailboxes Etc. store where investigators found Michael Pratt's Swiss ID." height="856" width="642" msid="112444049" hostid="261" sizebytes="22712"></div><h2 id="c89f151f-ca77-45f0-b462-b2f78ba5e5bf">The best clue of all</h2>But the crucial tip DeBarber and his partners in crime-fighting uncoverd — and passed along to the local FBI consulate — came from that Mailboxes Etc.There, a very helpful clerk showed them the Swiss ID and contract Pratt had used to open his account two years prior. Pratt would use the ID — which featured his photo and the alias Mark Williams — just before Christmas when he checked into that Madrid hotel.There at the front desk, Pratt's ID triggered an Interpol alert, sending authorities directly to his door. Inside were Pratt's laptop, two cellphones, a stack of 50-Euro notes, and four of those Ledger wallets.<div type="image" title="Michael Pratt's Swiss ID and Barcelona Mailboxes Etc. contract." height="1601" width="2500" msid="112444051" hostid="261" sizebytes="79394"></div>Pratt was finally extradited from Spain in March. His next court date is September 6, when a trial date may be set. His defense lawyer did not respond to requests for comment on this story.These days, DeBarber runs the Baltimore-based <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7163927968531120128/">Phoenix AI </a>cybersecurity firm with cofounder Justine Li, a Girls Do Porn victim and plaintiff.Li's video was filmed in 2007 when she was still in high school. It was "Video Number One" when Girls Do Porn launched in 2009. Their company builds tech solutions for finding and removing non-consensual sexual abuse materials on the internet."I will be at his sentencing and I will be grinning," DeBarber said recently of Pratt. "I'm really, really excited where he is right now, and Dre, and Wolfe," he added, referring to co-defendants Matthew Wolfe and actor Reuben "Dre" Garcia."I hope they spend their time in prison wondering how did the women we thought we broke ever manage to do this to them."

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