Latest news with #HeatherSanders
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
KC teen getting life back on track was killed a month ago. His family wants answers
Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@ Have the latest Reality Checks delivered to your inbox with our free newsletter. A month after the death of 17-year-old Charles Sanders, who was shot in the front yard of a home in Kansas City's Northland, his family has grown frustrated with the police investigation. They say Kansas City police have told them investigators have a suspect and a warrant for that person's arrest. But still, no one has been taken into custody. Charles was shot and killed on April 23 in North Brook, a Northland neighborhood. Kansas City police responded to the 7800 block of Northeast 75th Court around 2:15 p.m., according to police spokesperson Capt. Jake Becchina. Initial information in the investigation indicated an altercation between at least two people led to the shooting, Becchina said. At the scene, officers discovered a young man, whom they believed at the time could have been a teenager, unresponsive and with gunshot wounds in the front yard of a home. The shooting victim, who police identified as Charles Sanders two days later, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. Since the shooting, his mother, Heather Sanders, said she has had minimal contact with the detectives working the case, and is fed up with what she sees as a lack of action. 'They tell me that they have a suspect and a warrant. But why hasn't an arrest been made yet?' Sanders told The Star. KCPD police spokesperson Alayna Gonzalez told The Star that detectives 'have made great headway in identifying a possible suspect and the investigation is still very much ongoing.' The day of Charles' death was a roller coaster of emotions for his family. A Liberty police officer visited the Sanders home, asking about a burgundy Dodge Ram truck that Charles drove, Heather Sanders said. The truck was found abandoned on the side of the road, according to the officer, and Sanders left work to go pick up the truck with Charles' sister. Sanders and her daughter, Alyssa, tracked Charles' last known GPS location on his phone. 'We pull up and it's a crime scene,' Sanders said. At the scene, officers only told them a person was shot and later died, although they asked her if Charles had enemies, among other questions. They wouldn't give Sanders any information about her son's status, she said, which confused her. After returning home, the family received a call from Liberty Hospital, telling them that they had 10 minutes to come to the hospital to see Charles. On the way there, Sanders received another call saying a detective wouldn't allow them to see her son after all. The family arrived at the hospital, and Sanders told the detective they would meet investigators there. After anxiously waiting for almost three hours without being able to see Charles, the family went home, feeling certain that Charles had already died, Sanders said. Authorities didn't officially identify Charles for two days. 'I knew it was him the whole time,' Sanders said. 'He didn't come home. The truck was up there. His location was there. I don't know why they waited.' Charles was not positively identified at the scene, police spokesperson Sgt. Phil DiMartino told The Star in an email. Since Charles was taken to a hospital and died there, the responsibility of identification is placed on the respective medical examiner's office, DiMartino said. This responsibility would be on the Clay County Medical Examiner's Office in this case. Detectives waited until the examiner could confirm the victim's identity, DiMartino said. 'Detectives will make every effort to identify a victim on scene,' DiMartino said. 'Investigators understand the sensitive nature and gravity of these situations so they always aim for expedience without sacrificing accuracy.' Sanders believes her son went to the neighborhood to see friends. But he never returned home. Instead, he was shot and killed in a neighborhood just 3 miles from his Liberty home. Sanders believes her son was killed for money. She said Charles told his sister, Alyssa, he was taking money out of his bank account, and he withdrew $620. Two days after his death, the family got the truck back. Charles' wallet was sitting in the front seat with $20 inside, Sanders said. 'He was killed for $600,' she said. DiMartino would not confirm this detail, saying it's part of the ongoing investigation. An arrest is what the family is hoping for, but they acknowledge it may not help them cope with losing their eccentric, sociable teen who was preparing for the next phase of his life. Charles was able to connect with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and was a natural leader, loved ones said. But now, he won't be able to achieve any of the goals he was aiming for just before his death. 'It should have never happened,' Sanders said, tears streaming down her face. At the time of his death, Charles was turning over a new leaf in life, according to his family. He had an outgoing personality that attracted many friends, family members said. But after the loss of his father three years ago to heart problems, loved ones said he couldn't control his emotions and began spending time with the wrong crowd. 'Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, sometimes, stuff like that,' Charles' oldest sister, Jada, said. His uncontrollable emotions led to misbehavior at Liberty High School, and Charles was moved to the Department of Youth Services in a residential treatment program to correct his behavior. Liberty Public School District confirmed Charles was a student until last February. Sanders said her son spent approximately nine months in the program before he came home and graduated in January through the Alternative Resource Center. The program allowed Charles to work through his emotions, Sanders said, including writing down what he was thinking and feeling. Some notes he read to his family. 'Every time we would go and see him, he would share stuff that he wrote about, like things that happened in his life and how it affected him,' Sanders said. 'A lot of it was for his dad. So it was a lot of therapy kind of stuff with his dad, trying to work through his feelings … to learn how to cope with it.' After Charles finished the program, he was more driven and focused and avoided hanging with the wrong crowd, loved ones said. He worked at a local Chipotle with his sister, Alyssa, and was pondering whether to go to college to be a child therapist to help other kids or join the military. 'He definitely set himself goals, and he was trying to reach them,' Sanders said. Family members were happy to see him working toward his goals because he had a light that brought people together, they said. Charles, affectionately known as Chucky, was described as a goofy class clown who never met a stranger. His sisters, with whom he had a strong bond, have memories of him cracking jokes with everyone. As a kid, Charles played multiple sports like soccer, baseball, and wrestling, and was a Boy Scout. His sister, Jada, recalls a childhood summer when they filled the back of their uncle's truck with water and swam. Other kids saw his fun qualities as well, and the family has received an outpouring of support since his death. 'When you looked around the funeral, it was like you could almost see the different stages of his life and all the groups of people that he touched,' Sanders' partner, Ross Gardner, said. A week after Charles' death, racist and antisemitic flyers were seen in Northland neighborhoods off Shoal Creek. The flyers were the talk of the neighborhood where Charles was shot in the days after his death, but authorities haven't said they are connected or that race played a role in the shooting. Parents in North Brook and surrounding neighborhoods responded by posting their own anti-hate flyers and drawing hearts on sidewalks. Family members didn't see the signs because they avoided the neighborhood altogether, but say they've received support from North Brook residents, who even had a cotton candy fundraiser for the family. Still, the Sanders family doesn't understand why no arrest has been made. Authorities told Sanders they have a strong case against the person believed to have killed her son, and a warrant has been issued. But even if an arrest is made soon, it won't help resolve the family's feelings of anger, resentment, and sorrow. 'You're sitting here and you're mad because you want an arrest made, but I'm also telling myself, it's not gonna make me feel any different. I'm still gonna be upset about it,' Sanders said. Charles' oldest sister fears her brother's killer could be someone she knows. 'Those kids in that neighborhood go to Liberty public schools,' Jada Sanders said. 'What if I know them? What if I went to school with them, or they knew my friends?' Sanders has been contacting detectives once a week, but said she'll increase that if time continues to pass without an arrest. Until then, the family waits and lives with their memories of Charles, or Chucky, or Darles as other loved ones knew him, knowing life will never be the same again. 'We will all carry on, be successful. Gotta live, gotta make a living,' Gardner said. 'But nothing will ever be normal here again.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo Bank refunds customer's money after FOX 26 starts asking questions
The Brief A third customer from Wells Fargo received $142,000 back after FOX 26 started asking questions. The first customer received $4,000 back after the bank told her she unknowingly participated in a fraud scheme. The second customer received $40,000 that the bank initially thought was fraud after it was stolen. HOUSTON - The latest amount refunded by Wells Fargo Bank is $142,000. The backstory When Heather Sanders contacted us back on February 1, Wells Fargo told her she unknowingly participated in a fraud scheme, and she was out more than $4,000. "At no point in this call did I feel like I was lied to," Heather told us in our first interview. A few days later, Heather got her money back. "I don't believe that if you wouldn't have ran the story they would have stuck with their decision," she said.. When Jose and Amanda Vasquez contacted FOX 26 on February 13, thieves had stolen $40,000 out of their Wells Fargo business account. "Three days later, they sent us a letter stating the case was closed. They didn't think it was fraud," Jose said. That changed soon after our report aired. The couple got their $40,000 back. "Thank you so much, really appreciate you. You're the voice for the people. I appreciate what you do," said Jose. A Houston businessman contacted us about a $142,000 insurance check Wells Fargo withdrew from his account for what the bank called "security reasons." "All of a sudden, having check in hand, because of you guys. I can't express enough the gratitude and appreciation. I was really starting to lose hope," he said. The Source FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace spoke with a Houston businessman about a check that was withdrawn from his account and previous FOX 26 reporting.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Iowans express frustration, concern about state plan for expanded Medicaid work requirements
From left: Terry Anderson, Heather Sanders and Robbin Mensching raised their hands to make comments or ask questions of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services staff about the state's proposal to add work requirements to the state's expanded Medicaid program, Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, during a public comment session hosted at the Urbandale Public Library April 23, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowans stressed the importance of health coverage and the difficulties of obtaining government recognition of medical conditions at the first public comment session on state's effort to add work requirements to its expanded Medicaid program. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is seeking a waiver from the federal government allow it to implement work requirements for the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, or IHAWP. The public hearing Wednesday at the Urbandale Public Library was the first of three meetings for public comment required by the waiver submitted to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. IHAWP is the Medicaid expansion program signed into law by former Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican. It provides public health insurance for low-income Iowans at or below 133% of the federal poverty level who do not qualify for regular Medicaid coverage — people between the ages of 19 to 64 who do not have a disability. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The waiver, announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier in April, proposes requiring IHAWP recipients to work 100 hours per month to remain eligible for coverage. There are other ways to meet this requirement — a person can continue receiving state health coverage if they are enrolled in an education or job skills program, or if they earn the equivalent in wages to working 100 hours a month at the state minimum wage, $7.25 per hour. There are some exceptions for the work requirements. People who are considered medically frail or medically exempt under Medicaid would not have to meet the work requirements, nor would individuals caring for a child under age 6, who have a high-risk pregnancy, or are in substance abuse treatment programs for up to six months. The waiver request also states that individuals who 'provide proof of good cause as defined by HHS' would be exempt, but did not include details on what standards would be used by the state department for assessing these claims. At the hearing, several speakers talked about their own experiences or time helping others applying for public assistance coverage under the current Medicaid program. Nancy Lynch of Des Moines, a former school social worker, said she worked with parents of children with disabilities who were denied services and assistance — and said she believes work requirements would add another hurdle for people in need accessing health coverage and care. 'My job was to help support parents who had children with very special needs that needed help — needed help with health care, needed help with services — and I saw how difficult it was for them to receive those services,' Lynch said. 'No one got it on the first time. Everybody had to apply three and four times. They'd say the same thing, but they had to reapply and reapply and reapply. So they had to kind of beat down the system until they were finally accepted. … And my big concern is that these work requirements will add more barriers to people who need these services, they will lose the support they need.' Robbin Mensching of West Des Moines said she was concerned about how HHS would assess mental illnesses and provide exemptions. Speaking about her own experience struggling to receive an official diagnosis of having a mental illness, she said it can be difficult for people with mental health issues to be recognized as having a medical issue. After receiving care, Mensching said she was able to more fully participate in life, but that denying that coverage could impact people's ability to join the workforce or care for their families. 'I want to know how they're going to handle covering these people, because there are a lot of people that have been like me,' Mensching said 'Anxiety, depression, panic attacks — it's disabling.' Work requirements would be enforced through reporting. HHS stated that people on IHAWP would be required to report information showing the work requirements were met every six months. The department plans to create a mobile application for IHAWP members to submit required information showing their compliance with the work requirements if HHS does not already have the information available. If the required information is not provided, the individual's coverage would be suspended. Mary Nelle Trefz, the advocacy network director of Iowa ACES 360, called for the state to share information about the cost of implementing work requirements, pointing to the need for the Iowa state government to create a new information technology system and train staff to implement and support the reporting requirements. As Reynolds and HHS pursue a waiver for implementing work requirements, the Iowa Legislature has also moved this session to pass a bill implementing expanded Medicaid work requirements. There are some differences between the HHS and legislative policies — the bill proposes an 80-hour monthly work requirement, and includes 'trigger' language that would require the state to end IHAWP coverage for all recipients if the federal government revokes work requirements in the future after they were approved. The legislation also includes an appropriation of roughly $8.2 million, according to the Legislative Services Agency, to set up the needed IT system for administering reporting requirements under the proposal. The funding to create this IT system is not a part of the HHS waiver request, Trefz said. 'That pending legislation also included support for IT, funding for that — but that legislation has not passed yet,' Trefz said. 'Those dollars have not been appropriated. So how will the state ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place?' Multiple speakers expressed frustration that the HHS staff who hosted the meeting did not answer several of the questions or direct responses from HHS or other state leadership posed about certain details of the policy or how it would be implemented, or if there would be changes made to address any of their concerns. Staff at the meeting said the comments and questions would be shared with state leaders, and would be used to answer questions about work requirements in future communications. Mensching said she felt work requirements were already a 'done deal' in Iowa, but said she believed it was important for Iowans — especially those who would be impacted by the change — to speak out. 'I would have ended up living on the street at one point in my life (without health coverage), and then you've got all these other things that go with that — somebody getting health care for me, the police would be involved — I mean, it just goes on and on,' Mensching said. 'It's so much more efficient and humane to just give people coverage so that they can live a normal life.' Trefz, alongside Stacy Frelund with the American Heart Association, said they were creating a 'protect Medicaid' coalition to coordinate organizing efforts to oppose the new work requirements. There will be another public hearing held on the waiver request, on April 29 at 2 p.m. at Marshalltown Public Library. Comments can also be submitted through email and by mail through May 15, with information available on the public notice website for the waiver. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo Bank decides to refund woman's money after being swindled out of her life savings
The Brief In a FOX 26 Follow Up, we've learned a woman, who was swindled out of her life savings, was able to get her money back from Wells Fargo. FOX 26 initially spoke with Heather, who said she received a call from an actual Wells Fargo Bank number, and that they had the information of her previous transactions. However, it wasn't really Wells Fargo Bank. Wells Fargo Bank provided additional information on ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim. HOUSTON - Before FOX 26 got involved, Wells Fargo Bank told Heather Sanders they understood she unknowingly participated in a fraud scheme, but refused to assume liability. Now the bank is returning her money. "I feel very blessed. It's a huge weight off my shoulders," said Heather. "It's money I've been saving, so I was very happy." Wells Fargo has refunded more than $4,000 to Heather. The backstory In an only on FOX report, we told you how she got a call from an actual Wells Fargo bank phone number. "They were in my account when I was speaking with them," Heather said. "They were going through transactions I had already used. They had all the information, that's another reason I believed them." She says the thief or thieves sent texts that looked real. Two couriers showed up to take her card, which she was instructed to cut in half. The faces of both were caught on camera. Sheriff's Deputies are investigating. Get news, weather and so much more on the new FOX LOCAL app What they're saying Heather believes it was our report that caused Wells Fargo to change its mind and return all her money. "After it aired Friday, they reached out by Monday, opened it, and escalated it to their highest department. I had an answer within three days, they said it could take up to 10," she said. "I don't believe if you wouldn't have run the story, they would have stuck with their decision, no matter what evidence I sent." In a statement, Wells Fargo told FOX 26, "Upon reviewing additional information, we are happy we could resolve this matter working directly with our customer. Wells Fargo will never ask you to give us your physical card and PIN number to prevent fraud or scams. If anyone asks you to do that, it's a scam." Tips for viewers from Wells Fargo Bank: Scammers will try to rush you into taking action, so you won't take time to stop, think, and verify facts. Scammers can spoof their caller ID number. Common tactics include asking you to provide sensitive personal information or to send money to help stop a phony transaction or receive a refund. Your bank won't ask you to send a payment or your physical card to prevent or stop fraud in your account. If you get a call asking for that, immediately hang up and call your bank directly. Providing personal information such as One-Time passcodes, passwords, or PIN can give scammers access to your account and your funds. If you are uncomfortable with a request received by phone call or text that you didn't initiate, don't respond and hang up immediately. Contact the company using legitimate sources. We encourage people to visit Wells Fargo's online security center to learn about common scams and how to avoid them. Additional Information from Wells Fargo Bank: Our work to prevent scams is a priority and we're increasing our education efforts through alerts in online banking sessions, mobile app, various customer communications, displaying warning notifications, through our Online Security Center, and resources like our Security Brochure. As well as through media outreach efforts with our video news releases (VNR) on scam/fraud topics – such as this recent VNR around Imposter Scams: WF24 Password: WF24 The Source FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace spoke with Heather as well as Wells Fargo Bank about the situation.
