i'd rather hang out and talk or do something fun. >> all right. john? admitting that she's not a cheap date, my question to you is can you accept leah's baggage? >> leah, i can accept your baggage. >> whoa. congratulations! john and leah will enjoy a horse back ride through the park and a mexican dinner. good luck with that. we'll see you next time. >> can't wait to go on progressive claims. this is flo. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone.

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>> it is we deep regret we announce we have recovered the body of alyssa byrne. he is deceased. >> investigators in the south lake tahoe area announce a tragic ending to the search for missing 19-year-old alyssa byrne of petaluma coming in the last 30 minutes at a news conference in nevada. >> her body was discovered this morning not far from the music festival she attended at lake tahoe community college. she told friends she was headed back to the horizon casino in nevada. we have coverage on the sad story. we begin with katie marzullo in the newsroom. katie? >> the undersheriff walked to the podium and quickly and calmly revealed the heartbreaking news at 8:30 a utility worker found the body about 10 feet from the road over a snowbank. >> we just if the last few moments confirmed identity of alyssa byrne.

i have notified her father. the investigation continues at this time. we still do not suspect any foul play. any inquiries as to causef o death will be at a later time by the county sheriff. >> you heard him say they do not suspect foul play and he says her body has no outward sign of trauma, that she was wearing the clothes she was last seen in and her body was not covered and found on a walking route from the concert where she was with her friends back to her hotel a few miles away but the investigators say many people made the walk because there were long lines for the shultz -- shuttle buses. the body was seen because the utility worker was in an elevated truck. they do not know why they slimed over the snowbank. investigators are looking for the last people to see alyssa byrne alive. they no longer believe anyone talkd to her at the hotel after

the concert. witnesses who originally said that, must have been mistaken. >> katie, thank you. the terrible news came as family, friends and businesses here at home, gear up to support the efforts to find alyssa byrne. we are like in her hometown in petaluma with the heartbreak. >> this is where alyssa byrne lived with her mother who is need and her brother who is inside right now. you can see in front of the house the yellow ribbon put up yesterday. we have the little shrine, the two angels inside the mailbox, a sign of hope she could make it home. now we find out that is not going to be the case. if we could pull back and show the house, if you saw this house yesterday on any of our stories on abc7, it was blue. now it is brown. the father who was at south shore lake tahoe want add sense of normalcy in the family.

so he, this was planned months ago to have the house painted and he said go ahead and paint it brown, we are going to continue as normal and she will be coming home. now, we know, that is not the case. if we could look at her right now, talking to some people down here in the neighborhood, the family coming out here to the house and friends coming into the house. we talked to a neighbor whose daughter is severely handicapped and she said she always made sure that there was eye contact between the two when she left the house, and always make sure she said hello to the girl and it meant a hot to her, to her next door neighbor, a look at alyssa byrne, pronounced dead this morning. her body was found, this morning, at south lake tahoe. live in petaluma for abc7 news. >> very difficult time for the family. thank you very much. we have an abc7 news crew in

south lake tahoe gathering the latest information from the investigators and we will bring you the most up-to-date information throughout the date and posting the entire news conference that the sheriff held this morning. we are constantly updating twitter at abc7 news.com. in san francisco, police are looking for a driver who slammed into a power pole while trying to escape leaving 2,500 pg&e customers in the dark at 2:00 this morning. the pole ws shattered. the driver took off. all customers now have their power on, repairs to the pole should be done by 8:00 tonight. >> arson investigators are trying to find what led to a fire at a medical marijuana dispensary north of highway 101. it was reported there was smoke at 4:30 a.m. amy, why do investigators say it looks suspicious? >> you can smell gasoline.

the oh car is strong it is hard imagine anyone messing with this place. it is covered with surveillance video but this is not the first time they have had trouble here. >> they are cleaning up the mess left behind from the fire this morning and getting rid of the negative feeling it created, but that is not easy. the fire at the medical marijuana facility was intentionally set. >> it is upsetting. we try to do anything to the letter of the law and be upstanding for the city of san jose and be established. >> 9 broken window at the health center is one of several clues that indicate arson. >> what makes it suspicious is the building was unoccupied at the time of fire. there was an odor of gasoline. >> officials say they have no idea why someone would want to burn the place down. >> it is unfortunate bump that we should not have to expect to

deal with but we are prepared to deal with. that is why we have such a security system. >> the security company monitors all the cameras around the building 24/7 and called 9-1-1 the minute the motion detector picked up activity at 4:20 this morning. >> there is a break in by a couple of teens. >> some are concerns about having a marijuana clinic as a neighbor. there has been a burglary and loitering issues in the neighborhood before. >> there are a lot of clubs wherever you go, like liquor stores. >> our security system is top notch. beside maybe adding more cameras for further distance, if that helps, that could be something we should look at. >> police confirm they have been here four times in six months for the burglary and for the alarm being set off. firefighters and managers here will not tell us what the surveillance cameras captured if

anything, saying it is under investigation and no arrests have been made. >> thank you, amy. >> chevron's own firefighters may have contributed to the massive refinery fire in richmond according to the newspaper because they may have pingtured a pipeline which appears to have been penetrated from the outside. that puncture could have sparked the fire that could be seen for miles across the bay area. >> california train is closing part of a park-'n-ride lot because of driver's complaints about frequent flooding. signs were up that highway 101 and the lot was a trouble spot last month during storms and several cars suffered damage. and high tide over 7' is forecast, so the lower part of the lot is closed until january 14 taking away 75 parking

spaces. >> coming up, a major auto recall underway. officials say some cars could start rolling without anyone behind a wheel. >> also, a major while stone today for a teenage activist shot in the head for defying the taliban. >> get ready for an unwelcome visitor. the flu bug is coming to california with a vengeance. [ female announcer ] this is a spspecial message from at&. [ male announcer ] it's no secret that the price of things just keeps going up. [ female announcer ] but we have some good news. it's our bundle price promise. [ male announcer ] a price you can definitely count on, for two whole years. from at&t. [ female announcer ] a great price for a great triple-play bundle. [ male announcer ] call now. bundles with u-verse tv, internet and home phone start at $89 a month. now get the same great price for two years. [ female announcer ] switch today and get a total home dvr included, free for life. [ male announcer ] you get reliable, high speed internet on our advanced digital network. choose from speeds up to 24 megs. [ female announcer ] and with u-verse tv

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>> there is solid economic news coming to employment. the labor department says the economy added 155,000 jobs in december, about what economists expected. the unemployment rate remains steady at 7.8 percent. many of the jobs were in jobs added in health care, construction and manufacturing and show that hiring held up despite the tense fiscal cliff negotiations in washington, dc. >> the house of representatives pass add disaster relief bill for victims of super storm sandy. the vote a few days after northeast officials blasted congress for not including the relief in the fiscal cliff bill. the money is just under $0 -- $10 billion. a vote on another $51 billion is expected later this month. >> a major milestone for the 15-year-old pakistani girl who took on the taliban and survived being shot in the head by them. she now is out of the hospital. she was released from the hospital in england this morning

and still needs more cranial reconstruction but doctors felt it would be beneficial if she spent time with her family and air lited to britain in october after being attacked. she blogged about girls, education, and accused the taliban of promoting ignorance and they forbid girls to be in the classroom. >> our meteorologist, mike nicco, ahead with the forecast. >> computers models are less bullish on the rain. so we could have more time outside this weekend where it will be dry. hard to believe we have rain when we see the beautiful sky from emeryville but i will tell you what to expect. >> the daring deer rescue and what crews had to do to reach that poor scared animal stuck on the ice. he was terrified. why this is a huge significance

>> oakland, sunty veil -- sunnyvale and all the bay area this is abc7 news. >> step on it for your flu shot, california will see a surge in flu cases in january. the result of holiday travelers coming back to california with a virus that heard is spreading fast elsewhere. also, kids going back did school, and abc medical medical doctor says california cannot escape the earliest flu outbreak if a decade. >> it could be a newer strain that people in the community have not sign, it could be that

not enough people are vaccinated but the most interesting theory is humidity. some scientists are finding that the lower the humidity, the earlier flu season starts. >> the doctor suggests getting vaccine now, it takes two weeks for the immunity to build up. usually, february is the height of the flu in california. >> general motors is recalling some of their 2013 models because they can roll away unexpectedly. the models affects are on the screen. about 55,000 vehicles are recalled. g.m. says the cars could be shifted out of park even if the key is not in the ignition. most of the vehicles have not been sold yet, and the dealers will replace the steering column free of cheer. >> actually's copy has a famous new owner, patrick dempsey won the bidding war beating out starbucks. the announcement came before midnight paying more than $9

million for actually's and he says he decided to make a bid because he plans on spending more time in seattle. >> a bankruptcy judge will make the purchase official next week. >> work crews in san francisco pulled an overnight shift on the bay bridge in creating the biggest light sculpture. the project is so-called the bay lights. workers star the stringing the first of 25,000 white l.e.d. lights overnight on the western span of the bridge. the artist behind the project told us that when complete, it will stretch 2.5 miles wide and 500' high. >> we are 40 percent of the way there in terms of the installation. soon i will be able to turn on lights and seeing what they can do. it is something that i cannot just create in my studio in new york and send the file down. i have to sit here and be here and tune it almost like a musical instrument. >> sounds commodity when it is

finished in march the lights will twinkle for two years in different patterns. >> all right. what can we see there? plenty. that is because it has been so clear but that will change. >> clouds are on the way. they will bring rain. but it will not be as wet as it looked this morning. a little more emphasis on the morning runs because they have more data than overnight so i will jump on the bandwagon that the models are making it not as wet this week end. keep your fingers crossed this pans out because a lot of us like to get out on the weekend. the haze is hanging around the bay area but not a spare the air day with extra humidity hanging around and south beach and the haze you can see it is out there. now, the live doppler radar, we do not have radar returns on the radar right now but, tomorrow, yes, we will have some on there. the entire state is quiet this

friday. maybe you had to work and you are headed out of town, there are no weather worries across the entire state. temperatures running mainly in the upper 40's to low 50's. we have 53 in los gatos and 47 in santa rosa and san rafael and fairfield is cooler spot. monterey bay is from the upper 40's to the mid-50's. now, with the forecast cycle, mostly sunny and dry today. there is rain tomorrow and the possibility again of sunday looking more dry. area low pressure deflecting the bulk of the storm to the north and we are getting blow off the form of high clouds from time to time overrunning this high. this storm will come through tomorrow and it will bring extra clouds so it is not as cold tonight and not expecting any frost but for isolated areas in the east bay valley. by 1:00 o'clock, you will see light rain developing across the

entire area and it will be light-to-moderate in the afternoon and early evening hours. as we head toward the later part of the evening it will taper off and overnight it could go away. look how dry it is making sunday. that secondary system has been weakening and scattered shower is possible for sunday and not as wet as the model runs from this morning. through monday it is quiet with the storm to the north. rainfall amounts are pulled back and .2" to .5" in the higher elevations. sierras will not have great snow maker with no watches or warnings, just light snow falling tomorrow in the afternoon and through sunday. temperatures will be cooler, at 33 by sunday. if you are head down sought -- south there is the possibility of a little rain sunday with middle 60's and lots of

sunshine. rain for tomorrow, that is the best chance of wide-spread accumulating rain. sunday, it will be less so. monday and tuesday, looking dry. a small chance on wednesday. dry, again, on thursday and temperatures stuck in the 50's all seven days of the forecast. >> thank you. these are amazing pictures, a dozen firefighters teamed up to rescue a deer stuck on frozen lake near boston. the deer struggled so hard that he is just laying out there in a massachusetts town. two rescuers used a special sled and restrained the deer and put him on a stretcher for a ride back to shore. they pulled the ropes until the sled reached the land and put the deer in a crate so it could be checked out by a veterinarian. >> tens of thousands of couples in china lined up today to get married hoping marrying on this date will bring them lasting romance. when you say 2013, january 4, in

mandarin it sounds like "forever" and in many cities extra government staff was deployed to cope with the wedding rush and 10,000 couples were due to tie the knot. what do you think? >> i think i will go with what you say, however you try to pronounce it. >> i thank my dad for helping me with the pronunciation of that. >> still ahead, mike nicco will introduce us to

>> a texas father spent 25 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. he talks to katie about trying to clear his name and reunite his family. on abc7 at 4:00, a picture of a young diana before she became a princess and it was never published until now. on abc7 at 5:00, facebook has a new feature to make your phone a thing of the past. we have those stories and more at 4:00 and 5:00. >> a lot of people could use a smile on their face and a perfect pet will do just that. >> mike nicco has a new friend from the east bay spca. >> they do make people and families happy. we will try to make another family happy. hello, krista. >> nicholas is a four-year-old miniature poodle mix. >> never would have guessed. >> he was found as a stray. never cleaned, unfortunately, but fortunately for him he will

find a new home soon. >> so, he is four years old, so pretty well necessities the routine. how about other dogs and cats? >> he has done well with other dogs at the shelter so far. we suggest that people bring their dog down to meet, as well, but he is pretty calm, and, also, a goofball. >> he would not be too much for little kids? he does not seem overpowering? >> not overpowering at all. >> if you have anything special coming up? >> we do. we have a valentine's day special and bay area classrooms can buy valentine's for shelter pets and we will do a classroom visit. >> more on their website and on ours, as well, if you are interested call 569-0702. >> mike, thank you very much. >> from all of always at abc7 news thanks for [ male announcer ] if you're ready to get more from your tv service,

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