sunday, march 18th, gilroy police continue searching for the mother of an arack war veteran who killed himself and his 11-year-old sister on wednesday. and morgan police are trying to locate a missing girl who has not been seen since leaving for school friday morning. >> good morning, everyone, thanks nor joining us. i'm carolyn tyler. we are going to begin in hour with a quick first look at the weather. here's our meteorologist, lisa argen. >> hi there, carolyn. good morning. good more than, everyone. we are looking at a shower activity off short. in the north bay most of the activity is running parallel to the coast, but a little bit further south we have more activity from the peninsula, over into the east bay and the south bay. right now we are looking at sierra road where we have the shower activity continuing to press south and east. as we put it in motion for you,

you will notice that more is on the way on the peninsula, the south bay, and not only that, we've got snow levels that will continue to lower in the bay area. here's lake tahoe where a winter weather advisory is in effect for the next several hours. but local snow levels dropping so we could see a sprinkling around here. i will detail that coming up. carolyn. >> thank you, lisa. we are getting a break from the rain this morning. you might be tempted to drive to the top of mount shasta hamilton to check out bay area snow or maybe head to the coast to watch the pounding surf. but lisa shows us the danger involved for both locations. >> atop mount hamilton, several inches of snow blanketed the roadside but there's real concern from operations managers that people looking for fresh powder might find trouble instead. >> we had a number of folks come up to look at the snow or to play in it. some of them got stuck. we had a couple cars go off the road.

>> a warning to swimmers, as well. this weather is creating dangerous conditions in the ocean. a high surf advisory went into effect at 9:00 p.m. waves are expected to reach 17 feet with strong rip tides and snicker currents. >> once you get in there, very rare you can come out. and i've seen a surfer take it to granted everything is okay and before you know it, you don't see the surfer anymore. >> the wintry mix caused problems. chp officers ran traffic breaks in the santa cruz mountain. their focus was on high bay 17, especially after this mini van flipped on its side. that was near laurel road. >> people need to slow down. roads are really wet. ice deceiving. the drizzle cusses the roads to become very slippery. people need to take the curbs really, really slow. >> and the wind only made matters worse.

a large fir tree crashed at the base and crashed on the highway. >> 6:00 in the morning i heard the tree up here about 150 yards from here snap and kind of got up kind of quick. >> it took down power and utility lines, leaving about 50 customers in the -- >> all of those customers have had their power restored. in the south by, abc7 news. >> chains are still required on the roads to tahoe this morning. just look at the conditions from this caltrans camera on i80 at king available. skiers and snowboarders in the sierra will wake up to fresh snow. conditions are pretty slushy along highway 89 in squaw valley. winter is not going out without a fight in the mountains near los angeles county. ski resorts are getting a few inches to help keep the slopes smooth but officials are warned to be careful.

and they are cleaning up from a huge mudslide yesterday. it happened in the morning yesterday in the town of newcastle. a big part of a hillside gave way. the mud flowed down on to a road and actually moved trees around. in other news this morning, the search will continue today for the mother of an iraq war veteran suspected of killing his little sister and then himself. martha gutierrez has not been seen since the bodies of her 11-year-old daughter and 27-year-old son were found. family and friends will say they will not stop look for the missing mom until they found her. search crews found no signs of her yesterday. relatives say the specialist gutierrez had suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder. >> why did they permit him to go since he came out of a psychiatric ward? and the army should be out here having a search party, helping him because he's the only

relative he's got. >> based on evidence found in his car, police believe gutierrez may have shot his mother and left her for dead somewhere. san jose place tracked down two carjacking suspects considered armed and dangerous. the 39-year-old and 28-year-old men were captured yesterday after leading police on a short pursuit. the two were wanted after another police chase and carjacking thursday night. s.w.a.t. officers spent hours outside a vacant home on friday believing the two were inside. but when they moved in, the house was empty. they were essentially found in san jose. it was in an area near the guadalupe freeway. in morgan hill police are actively searching for a missing teenager. 15-year-old siera lamar was last seen leaving for school friday morning at 6:00 but she never arrived. she hasn't been seen since.

she is 5'2" and has a thin build. last night santa clara county sheriff's deputies used a search dog to check the area near her home, but so far they haven't found any trace of sierra. anyone with information is asked to call the santa clara county sheriff's office. rescue crews have found the body of a missing pilot in the san benito mountains. crews were looking for the guilty and his plane since late thursday. he was flying visually from arizona to san jose and told friends during the flight he was going to divert to hollister bus -- because bad weather. coming up next, gop prises dennings candidates focus on tuesday's primary in in know, even though there are delegates up for grabs today. and local afghans come together

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concentrating on illinois, where tuesday they have their primary. yesterday romney told a crowd president obama should be fired because gas is so high. romney has a slim lead over santorum. santorum he's really running against one man. he said romney has the same policies as president obama. the man accused of killing 16 afghan villagers is back on american soil. staff sgt. robert bales is now in a private cell in kansas. records and interviews paint a contrasting picture of the man accused of going on a deadly rampage. between his four deployments in iraq and afghanistan, he lived in washington state with his wife and two children. one neighbor said bales was the salt of the earth. >> one of the guys, i got to go over and spend some time with him a little bit and we did a couple barbeques. we went to a pizza place down the road here once or twice with

his family, and just a regular guy. >> records show bales had minor scuffles with the law, financial troubles, and that he was passed over for a promotion. here in the bay area after afghan americans and their supporters are condemning the attack, calling for justice for the victims' families. yesterday they held a human rights vigil. abc7 reports from fremont. stop killing innocent civilians! stop killing innocent civilians! >> the call for an end to the death of civilians in afghanistan is echoed by people in fremont. more than 150 afghans and supporters and people came here. they came here to pay their respects for the 16 men and children and women that he is

accused of killing. >> he needs to be brought to justice that any human being would be brought to justice if they carried out those killings. >> what we want now is the end of civilian deaths. there's been too many incidents. it's enough. we are done. >> they are hearing claims from man could not have committed this atrocity. >> we are sure there was a group of troopers, it was not one person. >> 38-year-old army staff sergeant robert bales is now being held at fort leavenworth prison for the killings. friends and neighbors find it hard to connect the man they know with what happened. >> i'm shocked. i can't believe it was him. there were no signs. i just -- it's really sad. >> other friends say bales, on his fourth middle east deployment, was suffering from ptsd. they say after three tours in iraq, two battle wounds and a recent loss of a comrade, he just snapped. >> i think everyone would agree nobody would do anything like that if they were thinking clearly. >> we around here to promote a war or to denounce a war.

>> people want answers for the victims. they want to be heard and they don't want an apology. >> we've heard a lot of apologize, and it's not enough. >> the afghans are sending a formal letter to the president. they are asking for a change in strategy in afghanistan, a formal apology, and most of all justice for the victims. in fremont, abc7 news. >> tomorrow the federal aviation administration will announce plans to streamline bay area air traffic, which includes modernizing the control tower. the faa is working with airlines flying into the area to develop new plans for air-traffic controllers using the new metroplex control tower when it opens. officials say the changes will help improve the on-time performance of airlines and also helping them save money on fuel costs and reducing air pollution over the bay area.

we will get the details at a news briefing tomorrow. the new metroplex control tower will be a key component of the faa's so-called next generation modernization plan. >> when i stepped out the door early, early this morning, i could not believe how cold it is. >> i didn't have my heat on warm enough. i could feel it in the house. if you are flying today, the winds could be a problem. delays around sfo and oakland, perhaps other places. the winds gusting to 40 miles an hour. light showers and a cool and blustery afternoon. here's the roof camera. looks pretty quiet. we have spring on the horizon. we will talk about that coming up. >> thank you, lisa. also coming up, the 49ers add another wide receiver while they wait on payton manning's decision. mike shumann has the details coming up in

>> the oldest footrace over the golden gate bridge begins this morning at 8:30. the emerald across the bay race is in it's ninth year. it benefits san francisco's

oldest charity, the edgewood center for families. this is the edge wood race for the pacific region drawing top athletes from all over the country. the runners climb 250 feet in elevation to cross the bridge between the starting line at fort baker and the finish line near fort mason in san francisco. this is probably the not the best running weather, lisa. >> no, very blustery out there. not only this morning but throughout the afternoon. heavenly right now, you see doesn't look like no is falling but we have a winter weather advisory in effect for the sierra nevada until 11:00 this morning with an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow at lake levels. we have the showers to talk about once again today and the flags blowing there. can you see them in the distance? very gusty northwest winds and the flow is out of the northwest. the trajectory of the rain to the southeast.

the areas from san francisco on south, the peninsula, san mateo coast, monterey bay, and san benito county will see the shower activity throughout the afternoon, while in the north bay most of the activity is running parallel to the coast. here we have marin county and sonoma and not much in the which of rain except by fort ross there, highway 1. as we take you further south, we have the rain from san mateo and milpitas and kifer road around agnew, we are also looking at shower activity here and another cell pushing a little bit further south out of allen rock. you will notice the showers through ben loman this morning. we will look at the raw morning and afternoon continue until we see a wind shift in this air mass kind of migrate out of here." looking at tahoe with a little bit of snow around the lake.

we still have some advisories through yosemite as well. 45 mountain view with low 40s in napa. that certainly doesn't tell the story. we have the winds, which not only at the airport gusting to 37 miles an hour, hayward not too far behind at 32 miles an hour, same with oakland. look at no just toe, and even our valleys at 14 miles an hour in livermore. so colder this morning with the wind. a chance of showers throughout the day. windy, spring arriving late tomorrow night. kind of feeling like it because we will get out of this cold air mass. high surf advisory until 3:00. look at the swells already, 16, 17 feet. they have been that way for the pastdy, up to 20 feet. the rotation from the low that continues to sink south is allowing for more showers to press on through the area. we are only talking about a couple hundred deaths but it will be with us through the afternoon today. the next couple hours you notice that we have the showers paralleling the coast and right

through sunday night, into monday things really begin to quiet down. and that's why we will be looking at slightly warmer day with a little bit more in the which of sun for that first full day of spring. temperatures today, boy, just in the 50s, all the way down to los angeles. san diego, 56. they have the snow in the mountains. and back home we have a little bit more snow with the snow levels in the foothills. and back home mt. diablo saw it yesterday, and perhaps again today. mountmount hamilton. we will do it again. most of the by area will enjoy some sunshine except the north day. tuesday, wednesday, more clouds there. everyone sees it thursday and friday. maybe more rain next weekend. >> well we were spoiled, don't you think? >> yeah. we didn't have a winner. this is it. >> thank you, lisa. coming up right after our show is good morning america.

we are joined live from new york to tell us what is on tap. good morning. >> good morning to you, carolyn. we will continue on that weather beat coming up on the show. a severe weather warning for millions of americans in the middle of the country. they have been enjoying record high temperatures but are now preparing for a series of violent storms set to begin today and lasting for days. our meteorologist ginger will have the latest details. also new clues this morning on the seemingly happily married and decorated soldier accused of kill 16 afghan civilians. he's in military prison and set to face charges in the upcoming days. what happened? we are live this morning near his home business. plus a scary series of shark attacks in florida and one mother who thought off a shark to save her daughter. is the unseasonably warm winter creating the perfect storm for shark attacks this year? and we are hours away from indicate middleton's biggest day as a royal yet. we've seen a lot of her lately, but we haven't heard much from

her at all. that changes tomorrow as she's set to give her first solo speech. how is she handling the pressure? we will have the details coming up. i would imagine she's a tad bit nerve, wouldn't you say? >> probably. it's a big deal. but brits would say her biggest job is yet to come, you know, which is having that heir. >> i know. all the pressure on that, i can imagine. so we would love that, though, right? >> yeah, definitely. >> a little royal baby. >> yeah. speaking of babies, is yours coming along fine? >> coming along fine. any day now. it could happen on air, you never know. but, yeah, we are counting down. >> all right. we will watch out for that. it will be great for the ratings. >> exactly, exactly. >> have a good day. >> bye. you too. >> let's check out sports now. march madness continues today with more teams battling to advance to the sweet 16, as the ncaa tournaments opening weekend comes to a close. meanwhile the 49ers have added another wide receiver through

free agency. here's shue with the details in this morning's sports. good morning. well, free agent quarterback payton manning should choose between the 49ers, broncos and titans early this week. that's probably when alex smith will make his decision to stay or to go. in the meantime the 49ers have added manning's wide receiver to their roster. march row manningham. that's according to the nfl network. he caught this pass to set up the game winning play in the super bowl to beat the patriots. he also burned the 49ers in the nfc title game with 8 minutes left in regulation. the fourth year play are will add much needed depth to the wide receiver core and maybe entice payton to come with. stay tuned. >> the pac-12 men were complaining they got no respect from the ncaa tournament committee. now colorado is gone, facing the bears of baylor. brown flies out of nowhere for the put-back. up two, by heslip could not miss

the three to tie with 11 minutes left. he never cooled off 9 threes for all 27 of his points. baylor is sweet 16 bound after the win. the pac-12 is no more. top-seeded kentucky against iowa state. terrence jones can't hit from three, but anthony davis with a loud follow and flush. he had 15. teague led all scorers with 24. kentucky moving on to the sweet 16 with the victory. the warriors got tuned up by the jazz running out of gas in overtime. new warrior richard jefferson had 9 points in his first game. klay thompson, 11. the increased playing time. great taking, 17 points. warriors up 2 in the fourth. make it three with 30 seconds

left. favors dunks on biedrins, and the foul. just what they didn't need, going to overtime. all jazz in their favor. 23 points, 17 boards. utah wins in o.t., 99-92. the sharks are ninth in the western conference standings but could gain some ground hosting fourth place detroit at the tank. time to get busy with only 11 games left. sharks up 1-0. havlat finds the back of the net in the first. sharks looking good, up 2-0 in the first period. but detroit ties it up in the second. and havlat again takes the initial shot. gets the rebound and goes top shelf. sharks win their second straight 3-2 the final. giants hosting the a's in scottsdale for a little preview. lincecum wearing green hats for st. patty's day. giants down 1. they answer with four in the fourth. timmy was cooking, four strikeouts, 1 earned run in six innings of work. bottom of the sixth. the panda, see ya.

the second jack. three home runs on the day. we go to the seventh. brian wilson on the hill. got two outs. striking out both. giants go on to beat the a's, 7-2. that's the way the ball bounces. i'm mike shumann. see you again at five. have a great day. up next at 6:30, lyanne melendez talks to a man hit by a car while dozens of witnesses and police looked on. so why no charges? >> i'm nannette miranda in sacramento. fewer classes are offered. california's public universities are actually on a construction spending spree. some critics say that's not fair.

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[ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? >> welcome back. four months after a man was hit by a car during a occupy protest in oakland, the driver has not been charged. now the person's lawyer is pushing police to act. we have the latest. >> reporter: on november 2nd the cell phone video caught lance labador trying to cross the street during a peaceful demonstration. the man behind him inched forward. he banged on the hood, and that's when the driver slammed on the gas. he was injured, so was this woman, margaret. >> it's inexplicable to me why there hasn't been a charge or arrest four months later.

that's his attorney. she filed a suit against the registered owner of the car, presumably the man's girlfriend, who was in the car at the time of the incident. they have also filed claims against the city of oakland, oakland pd, and bart police because the driver was allowed to leave after being questioned by bart police. this angered the crowd. this was bart's response the day after. >> we got all the pertinent information that we needed. we released everybody based on the right thing to do. >> this was an attempted murder. this was assault with great bodily injury. this was assault with a deadly weapon. this was mayhem. >> i want justice for myself, margaret, and the community because none of us deserve this. >> here is what police told us over the phone. the entire department, including the investigators in this case, have been busy with other mass demonstrations and a number of homicides. while they take this

investigation very seriously, they want to make sure they conduct a complete and thorough investigation. with that said, the department knows who the man is. they have interviewed him. investigators are confident they will be able to present the case to the district attorney's office very soon, as early as next week. in the meantime labador's attorney is also asking the state attorney to investigate the case on human rights -- civil rights violations. on university of california campuses, something surprising it happening. despite cuts, layoffs and fee increases, they are building like crazy. capital correspondent nannette miranda has the story. >> reporter: despite multiple tuition hikes over the years and fewer slots for students, a california watch investigation found the university of california system has $9 billion worth of construction projects

underway at its ten campuses and five medical centers. u. c. san francisco alone is spending $2 billion. and the mercet campus is going gang-busters with a new science and engineering building, athletics center and housing. >> it makes me wonder if they can figure out how to do that, why can't they reduce tuition and give more funding to expanding enrollment. >> example state has $161 million in new projects. but the funding is complicated. the development phase takes as long as seven years, so the projects were in the pipeline before the recession. then the university gets loans selling bonds, but the money can only be used for construction, not for ongoing expenses like lowering tuition or paying salaries. >> one cannot be used for the other. they are there for very restricted purposes. >> patrick also points out construction costs and interest rates are very low right now and it's the perfect time to

undertake multiple projects that provide badly-needed jobs. >> we have over 60% of our buildings that are 30 years or older so we have renovation issues, we have seismic issues. >> california watch found, though, once some buildings are done, there's no taxpayer money to run them. the most glaring example is the sparkly new $36 million medical school at u. c. riverside. officials are seeking private donations so they can open it. he says they are just waiting for accreditation. >> on top of that, u. c. and csu campuses has $1.2 billion worth of deferred maintenance. again, construction money cannot help pay for that. >> critics are calling for more flexibility on how bond money is spent so that when times are tough, projects can be delayed. in sacramento, nannette miranda, abc7 news. there's a new gray whale siting in san francisco bay. these are pictures from sky 7hd last week of maybe his cousin. this is a different whale that

has since left the bay. thereof already been several whale sightings this month, which is not unusual for gray whales to venture into the bail as they know great between their mexican breeding waters and their alaskan feeding waters. the exact location is not being made public to protect it from people in boats who tend to get too close. federal regulations require boaters to stay at least 300 feet from migrating whales. lisa is here now to talk about -- it's not even chilly. it's just down right cold. >> absolutely. we will struggle to make highs in the low 50s, with the gusty winds and showers. you can see the camera shaking here. we are talking winds over 40 miles an hour at the airplane. partly cloudy skies, but that doesn't tell the whole story. live doppler 7 hd, yes, that will clear things up. come back and we will show it to you next. >> thank you, lisa. also ahead the bay area

researchers who have made a historic breakthrough in finding a mysterious fungus found in frogs. at progressive, you can bundle your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com.

>> welcome back. it's 6:38. this is a live look from our

roof cam. this time pointing toward the transamerica pyramid. a lovely day on at that point, if you like it bone-chilling cold. if you like a lot of windy weather knocking you around. it's that kind of day. well, you know, we already had our lovely weather, so now, as we start to enter spring, i guess we are getting slammed with winter-like weather. >> that's right. all week long when we had our rain it was in the 70s in the midwest and northeast. it's all mixed up. but we will straighten it out for you. we are looking at wintry weather today not only in the mountains, where we still have a winter weather advisory through 11:00 for a couple more inches of snow in the sierra nevada, but also back home. the only local peaks will see some snow again. we saw it yesterday. the sutra camera looking at the golden gate bridge. the sun up after 7:00.

partly cloudy conditions. live doppler hd shows the green along the ocean here is continuing to slide from the northwest to the southeast. so most of the activity on the peninsula and the south bay, so off of marin county, just a few light showers. not a lot going on there. but as we head further south from 280 and 101, san mateo down through boulder creek and the south bay, we are looking at a few cells here just east of south king road. and further on the peninsula we are looking at taranova boulevard, looking at shower activity. the trajectory, you can see northwest to southeast. the showers, they continue to slide into the santa cruz mountains. and in the sierra nevada, yeah, in and around the lakes. so we've had that snow since yesterday and then we had the big storm. a couple of big storms. decent snow accumulation not only above 6,000 feet, but at

the lake as well. 45 in mountain view, as well as san francisco with 41 in nap but right now. but take a look at the wind. you factor in a wind gust of 37 miles an hour at the airport, and it feels a lot chillier than that 40-degree reading. 42 miles an hour gust at hayward, and oakland the same. san jose kind of quiet. west wind at 9. colder this morning with a chance of showers. a chance of showers through the afternoon. mainly peninsula, south bay. with the winds backing off just slightly. spring arrives after 10:00 tomorrow night. we have the high surf advisory until 3:00. that's generating some monster swells here. a lot of snow and wind throughout the day today. a little bit of improvement tomorrow. as high pressure begins to build in. we have a lot of activity still in the eastern pacific. that will allow for more cloud cover not only today but into

the middle of the week for the north bay and still next weekend we can see more shower activity. here we are 8:00 today. this morning, through the afternoon hours, can you see not a whole lot going on. but mainly from our east bay, mt. diablo, mount hamilton we see the rain-snow mix with maybe one to two inches. in the sierra nevada just about 30 degrees. we don't really have to talk about higher elevation snow. it's the lowell vision stuff we will be concerned with, not only if you are head there had or back in the foothills, it will be kind after blustery, winery day around here. about time. lift day of winter. 52 palo alto, 52 morgan hill. it's coal. it's 15, 20 degrees below average. spring begins tomorrow. chance of showers. look at the numbers. mid-and upper 60s. it will be warming up a bit, but i have a feeling we will hold on through the strange weather through much of the month. >> and blustery was the word i was looking for.

>> you got it. >> thank i, lisa. >> this morning there is a global health alert. warning minor infections could become deadly if people continue to overuse antibiotics. the world is entering an antibiotic crisis that could make routine operations impossible and a scratched knee potentially fatal. antibiotics now prescribed they are afraid won't be able to block or kill much of the area that has miewtated beyond what the current antibiotics can fight. for more than 15 years biologists have been baffled by a mysterious fungus that's killed entire species of frogs and amphibians all over the planet. they have identified the fungus but only now have they been figure out how it spreads. wayne freedman reports from loring point in pacifica. >> it's an environmental preserve.

lori point, a perfect getaway between the shark park golf course and the pacifica suburbs. if you look closely per gallon bonds you can see frog eggs or at night people can hear them. >> it's a big echo of ribets, basically. >> natalie just earned her masters from san francisco state. she came here looking for one type of frog in particularly. >> you can usually just grab them. >> based on the noise they make, the name is fitting, chorus frog. >> this is an adult. >> a little frog like that makes all that noise? >> i know. they are one of the smallest frogs in california and one of the loudest. >> thanks to research she just published, it's the most interesting frog to anyone familiar with implications of the kitred fungus. that includes her professor, dr. lance freedenburg. >> we are studying a disease unheard of in recorded history. it's had a bigger impact than any other disease ever recorded. >> they only discovered it about 15 years ago. it is killing amphibians worldwide.

the question is how does the fungus spread? >> on most amphibians in covers the skin and suffocates them to death. but chorus frogs allow them to grow it in patches, allowing them to breathe around it. a mixed blessing. get sick and die quickly and they don't have the opportunity to carry the disease to new areas where the frogs aren't sick. but since chorus frogs don't get circumthey can move from one population to another and spread the fungus to new areas. >> you might wonder why this research has relevance beyond amphibians. well, biology is biology, no matter what the host. >> what happens if the next epidemic is in mammals? factors taking place. you have the same factors taking place. a pathogen that's being spread

from host to host to host. we are looking at the transition dynamics. those types of things are the same across all diseases. >> in short, we may need to apply this research to humans one day, and natalie, a with masters three sis, has given her colleagues a new set of clues. it's no small accomplishment. kind of like an a-plus, plus, plus. >> is this the type of thing that getsa ph.d. somewhere. >> well, i would have to spend a few more years on it. >> it shows them you are smart, right? [laughter] >> big-time smart. wayne freedman, ab c. 7 news. >> don't go away. 7 on your side is next. >> a work at home offer takes thousands of dollars from an elderly woman. i'm michael finney. coming up, 7 on your side gets

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extra cash you may need. some work at home offers can end up costing you money. 7 on your side's michael finney tells us the elderly are especially vulnerable. >> you can make ten times your money. >> this 85-year-old woman barely gets by on a fixed income, so she couldn't resist the offer in the mail. a chance to make good money working at home. >> they said that in two to three weeks i would have well over $1,500.00 to $1,800. >> it sounded great. lila wouldn't have to do much.

just send in money, the company would sell coupon booklets and lila would get a share of the profits. >> it seemed at the time it made sense. >> so she sent $149 to the company called profit printing and sent another $190 and then three more checks. $1,700 in all. she was told the more she sent, the more she could earn. >> it was just as if i was almost hooked on it. they can convince you you are going to be a millionaire by next year this time. >> the only problem was lila never did receive any money. no coupons, no paperwork. so she called to ask about her earnings. >> they said we are so excited and you are going to be excited, too, because we are moving to beverly hills. >> a representative said the company was now called donation bids. and it was moving to beverly hills. she could invest and earn ten times her money. now lila was fed up.

>> what about the money that's paid in already, which is over $1,000? no, you can't get that money back. i said i can't get it back? >> there's a number of indicators here that don't look that good. >> jeff is a u.s. postal inspector. when we brought the case to his attention, he said his agency would investigate donation bids. >> to say you don't have to do anything, send us money and we will make you boatloads of money, there's something that's not quite right. >> lila had all but given up hope of getting her money back. >> and that's when i called 7 on your side. >> we did some digging. turns out the company's address on santa monica boulevard is just this mailbox rental store. the better business bureau gives donation bids an "f" rating with three complaints similar to lila's. however, when we called donation bids, demanding a full refund, the company did give lila $2,500

back. >> 7 on your side got my money back. >> no one at donation bids would discuss the business, but an attorney for the company, clair, contacted 7 on your side saying as soon as we got the request we got her money back. he would not comment further. lila says cases like this make the elderly feel targeted. >> not that you are stupid, you are trying, and you want to believe that people are honest. thank god for michael and 7 on your side. >> now if you have to pay money up front to get a job, that should raise a big red flag. and another sign of trouble, any job offering big money without doing much work. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. >> coming up next, will ferrell does something he's never done. our don sanchez talks to the big name funny man about his low budget, all-spanish movie.

>> comedian will ferrell has a new movie in theaters this weekend. like all of his movies it's funny, but unlike his other films, it's low budget and it's all in spanish. ferrell explained this concept to arts and entertainment reporter don sanchez. [foreign language] >> he thinks he's a romantic hero, but he's the family outcast.

his family includes his brother, who is dealing drugs, and brother's girlfriend, who will finds fascinating. >> that would be really insane to put me right in the center of something like that. [speaking spanish] >> it is silly, and it's funny, and it's hilarious. >> yeah. >> looks like you didn't have money to put it together, but you took advantage of it. >> it was very much a shoestring budget, which becomes part of the joke of the film, that it's a poorly-made film, as well as being our spoof on telanovellas and mexican spaghetti westerns and that kind of thing. >> it's like an extended "saturday night live" skit. it is a project quite different from big studio films. >> it won't play in a lot of theaters initially. >> right. >> so how does it work? >> i think it's one of the movies the studios, when it came time for distribution, no one,

you know, i think it was a little too out of the box for them in a way. >> farrell said he doesn't expect it will take an academy award. but if a silent film can take best picture, why not? it's more than a half a bucket of laughs. >> mucho gracias. [ speaking spanish ] >> there, i got it right on the third try. >> abc7 news, and we will see you on the isle. >>, let me try something. [speaking spanish] >> excuse me? >> i'm asking you about the weather, that's when i've been told. hopefully they didn't give me something off-color to say. >> no. all right. we are looking at some showers that will continue to dot the landscape painly from the penins will you through the south bay. with the showers and gusty winds, and lowell vision winds, we are talking mt. diablo, and that was tahoe there, and the

wenter weather advisory through 11:00 in the sierra nevada. a teeny bit warmer for the approval of spring tomorrow. >> gracias. thank you for joining us. our next newscast starts at 9:00 this morning. i'm carolyn tyler along with lisa argen. keep track of us on twitter and talk about on facebook.com/abc7 news. good morning america is up next.