tonight a plea to come home - it's been three days since anyone has heard from missing blacksburg teenager, nicole lovell. she was last seen early wednesday morning. today, her father and step-mother are concerned more than ever for her safety. wdbj7's justin ward has the interview with them you'll see only on wdbj7. david lovell/father: "right now i'm scared to death." david lovell is watching the clock - precious seconds passing by without his daughter nicole. the longer she's away, the longer she's without medication she takes after a liver transplant. david lovell: "at this point, i know she is sick. she's hurting. she's probably already into convulsions. her liver is shutting down as we speak. wherever she is." he last heard from her about two weeks ago - a short text message just saying hi, i love you, things are good. wednesday morning he got a call from nicole's mother in blacksburg saying she was missing. david lovell: "the only thing she said was the detectives are coming in now."

accounts are silent. nothing has been posted by her since she left. david says he's passing along information her friends have found online to investigators. david lovell: "there are things coming through. me and my wife are digging. my daughter, nicole's half sister in ohio is trying harder than anybody." justin ward/wdbj7 reporter: "and so are hundreds of police and search teams here in blacksburg. today they continued walking streets near her home, searched social media, and have used drones looking for any clues." this afternoon david and terri came to blacksburg too from their home in wytheville to find out more and help search. he wants nicole to hear this message. david lovell: "you can come to me. i'm not mad at you. i'm worried about you. your family is worried about you." police aren't saying if she left on her own or with someone, and neither is her dad. he just wants her safe return. terri lovell/step- mother: "we're running out of time." david lovell: "we're out of time basically." terri lovell: "we have to find her. we

her." in wytheville, justin ward, wdbj7 over fifty wanted people in montgomery county are in jail tonight after a task force executed outstanding warrants across the county. the montgomery county sheriff says each person was wanted in relation to heroin, methamphetamine, and firearms violations. the operation also lead to 40 additional charges on top of the 70 charges these people faced. the sheriff says operations like this are all about making montgomery county safer. (charles partin, montgomery county sheriff) we want the individuals who are participating in this type of behavior to seek assistance, relocate, or face being incarcerated. we're not going to deal with methamphetamine and all the other drug related crime in our communities without putting up a major fight around 50 officers took part in this while others were in blacksburg assisting with the search of missing 13-year old nicole lovell. new at five: one of the three inmates who

jail last week has been captured. authorities say bac duong was arrested today by police in santa ana, the same city where the trio made their elaborate escpate from the county jail. police say the fugitive reportedly flagged down someone on the street and said he wanted to turn himself in. the men escaped last week after cutting a hole in a metal grate then crawling through plumbing tunnels and onto the roof of the jail. police are still looking for the other two men. averagebut is been a blustery and chilly day even have some snow showers in some areas and back parts a greenbrier county west virginia picked up about two inches of snow the ski country west virginia absolutely will links this weather although it is blowing snow for sure those wins a be gusting twenty to thirty miles per hour we are expecting those to lighten up a little bit tonight and now allow the temperatures cool off considerably back down into the twenties very quiet weather map once we get rid of those lighter snow showers and then it's all about the

the builds in from the west and you can see how warm it seventy six and 76 and dallas 71 in new orleans and warmer weather will begin to rking here is earliest tomorrow but especially by sunday and monday were we could climb into the sixties in fact is the temperature trend of the next five days sunday rent 59 eighty two on monday we stay warm next week is a couple things were watching one the warmer temperatures and also a storm system the could bring some showers by the middle part of next week groundhog day will talk about that in the seven-day was back in a beford this afternoon for a motions hearing. jail, accussed of the murder and kidnapping of lyon from a dc-area 75. today, his lawyers asked for several motions, all were granted by the judge. welch's trial was continued and will now start october 18-th; it was originally set for march. mitigation, mental health and criminal specialists will assist and, the defense's billing records will be sealed until after the trial to protect

the case. we tried to get reaction but the judge put a gag order in place for this hearing. the commonwealth is seeking the death penalty. more than 30 schools in the commonwealth are close to becoming fully accredited. these schools have been granted "partially accredited:reconsit uted school" status. wdbj7's amanda kenney went to one of those schools today. amanda, what does this school rating mean? jean, these schools have been working to improve student test scoress and the way they teach. the rating can be granted for up to three years if the school continues to make progress toward full accreditation. staunton river middle school in bedford county says several changes have helped not only test scores, but morale. as students at staunton river middle school make their way through the halls, and settle into their classrooms. there's a noticable sense of pride, that

years ago. what we recognized is that our kids needed to want to be here and they needed to be proud of their school and then the academics would come. principal dr. karen woodford says a number of changes in the school have helped improved test scores. we started a pbis reward system which is postive behavior intervention strategies. it's a system that rewards students with good grades and attendance. they are given cards that can be redeemed for special privelages and every nine weeks students with good behavior are celebrated. the school also moved from a seven period day to a block schedule. which allows students to have 90 minutes every day of reading and math instruction because those are the two areas we were most concerned about these are just a couple of many ideas that have helped the board of education give them a partially accredited: reconstituted school rating. it feels like we're being recognized for our hard work, that somebody sees that we're not just not doing what we're suppose to,

improving, we're doing what we're suppose to seventh grade math teacher sarah yost says the community of teachers has also changed. they're working together, and doing more than teaching. it's not just us grading papers and getting after kids, it's trying to get to know them. a lot of these kids are not going to work for you if they don't think you care. staunton river middle school was accredited in all subjects last year, except reading, where they were just three points away. woodford wants to go beyong those three points. our goal is to get to a place where our scores are so good every year we're not worried about whether we're gonna make it or not make it a reconstituted school will be reverted to their accreditation denied status if it fails to earn full accreditation within three years, or if its annual application for partial accreditation is not renewed. jean, three schools in buena vista, one in campbell, and another in buchanan have been granted

tuted school status. iowa is the center of the political universe right now ahead of the first caucuses on monday. presidential candidates from both parties are competing to remain the center of attention. senator ted cruz took the spotlight at last night's g-o-p debate after frontrunner donald trump was a no show. senator marco rubio is also putting in an extra effort to get noticed, taking a 3 day trip across the state. on the democratic side hillary clinton and bernie sanders are aggresively campaigning with new ads. polls put those two candidates neck- and-neck. president obama is pushing for equal pay for women. today he proposed a new rule that will require companies to report pay data by gender, race and ethnicity. the rule would apply to companies that have 100 or more employees. it would require employers to include salary information on a form already submitted to the equal employment opportunity commission that currently includes sex and age of workers. the president says the rule would help aid investigations on

"unlawfully shortchanging workers". new at five health experts say there's a nationwide shortage for nurses and that's putting them in high demand. right here in our region, nursing schools are making programs attractive to recruit more quality people for the area's growing health care needs. wdbj7 anchor nadia singh reports. lisa allison- jones/jefferson college dean of academic affairs "as patients go to the hospital and have more acute conditions then the number of nurses that are required to take care of those patients increase." benedict nnodi hopes to take care of those patients one day. benedict nnodi/student "i had an attraction to working beside a patient and helping them so after i looked at all the other options i had, i chose nursing." i asked him why nursing? why not medicine? his answer is simple. " my spouse is a physician herself so having seen the

long process..." "i wanted something that could be done within 3 years time without having to involve residency." and he's not alone. the job stability and freedom of a nursing career also make it attractive especially because as the need for healthcare rises so does the need for nurses. lisa allison- jones/jefferson college dean of academic affairs "30 years ago you would have a much greater patient load than you have now. today, our nurses are able to work with fewer patients that can meet their needs better." in order to recruit more students jefferson college offers options. " we offer a traditional nursing program." " we have an accelerated bachelor of nursing program." " we have an rn to bsn program for those who have an associates degree in nursing." but i'm told the important thing about a nurse is the willingness to be a life line to those who need it the most. benedict nnodi/student "when you do help a patient and the smile, the joy across their face

to me." in roanoke, nadia singh, wdbj7. your watching your hometown news leader, wdbj7. a group of doctors in roanoke are looking to teach a lesson to med students, on the basketball court! and it's all for a good cause. and she's lovin it! a mcdonald's

recieves a big honor. it was six years ago this week that morgan harrington's remains were found- the ronaoke county native and virginia tech student was murdered. her name lives on in a way her parents wanted. .. in a positive way that's now helping other students. in tonight's hometown health, tonight we take you to the gym to explain. nat sound something they're setting aside the hospital- for the hardwood. coach: up jack, up up. good

ball-- carilion clinic doctors are preparing to take on medical school students- on the court. dr. jack perkins: we know the students very very well. we teach them. we mentor them all the way thorugh medical school both teams are practicing to go head to head on the court in a sprited competition. dr. jack perkins: we all want to win so yea it is competitive russell trigonis: and yea it becomes a competiive game because that's how we all enjoy playing it this is the fourth year for the "docs" for morgan game to raise money for the morgan harrington scholarship fund to help medical school students. russell trigonis/4th year med student: the scholarship is something meaningful thing that the harringtons and the rest of the organization have put together to kind of help our students morgan harringon was murdered in 2007. she was the daughter of dr. dan harrington a carilion clnic psychiatrist. morgan itnerned at the hospital over the summer when she was a student at virgiinia tech. dr. perkins: it's tragic what happened to morgan and i work at the medical school too and there are memories of her all over the medical school some of her beautiful artwork that she left there dr. jack perkins: the harrington's have such a beautiful memory of

sense that she's not gone because she lives through this the "docs for morgan" event began four years ago. it's become popular among doctors and med students. trigonis: it's to immediately to get a 07 the players are good- many have played in high school thirty seconds, thirty seconds. each team has it's own strategy- the doctors. dr. perikins: they have good shooters on the medical school and we're a little bit older so we'll have to keep that in mind and maybe sub a little bit more often 23 the students have won the first three years- their teams strategy this year? russell trigonis/4th year medical student: four in a row. that's the strategy this year jchs students are also taking part. the game is next thursday at patrick henry high school at 7pm. admission is free. there will be a silent auction and raffle. wdbj7's travis wells and karen loftus will be playing.

manager in roanoke receive a global award for all of her hard work. geanina poff is the manager of the route 460- orange avenue mcdonald's. and today she received the ray kroc award. it's a prize that recognizes the top performing mcdonald's managers globally. poff was one of 340 mcdonald's managers around the world to receive the honor, which includes a 25- hundred dollar cash prize and a trophy. she has been working for the company for 18 years. geanina poff mcdonald's restaurant manager "i've worked really hard to get this award. with the help of my team, managers and supervisors i was able to accomplish it. i'm really overwhelmed and excited in april, poff will go to an awards gala in orlando, florida. this might be a great weekend to get

hear that too much

thatalways love see those snow we sunrise photos from a coating sin in this in nuts been a beautiful day across parts of the mountainous areas is wintergreen maybe doing some ski there today sun setting got sons know falling in some the ski resorts west virginia tonight fly through the new river valley with that that weak little disturbance cold and blustery everywhere though twenty seven and hot springs right now in the 30s from blacksburg although it roanoke all the way to lynchburg and danville made it up in the low 40s today but it will be cooling off considerably overnight so start about with going on around the region we do have quite a bit of disturbances that were watching out to our west and a lindsay did you see if my computer can advance in my i think it's i we got temperatures that are in the forties right now and out we are looking at the overall is can a be acquired night ahead clear skies expected through the night and we are looking at overall a cold night with

twenties so what's can happen tomorrow's again a high-pressure system that will develop over the area she's working on informing folks let's a gets amounts in your thing the computers locked up but anyways tomorrow were looking at high-pressure that's building in from the west that will bring the winds down a bit so will turn calm in start to finish on saturday and also into sunday so the warm-up begins tomorrow highs in the mid- fifties we are expecting overall a quiet day think winds fifty two on saturday were looking at sunday right around fifty nine degrees and then here's a look at though pretty much what's happening out west got that low the move through today a few lighter snow showers and it we are looking at a quiet weekend the high will build in as we go through the weekend now will happen over the next few days is a be a storm it's out west that will bring us a chance of some lighter rain showers to me up on monday but were thinking by tuesday and into wednesday with actually some heavier showers that move into the area so overnight

and then by tomorrow morning those wins will be light it's can be really chilly and of by the afternoon will look annette temperatures running into the fifties on that you get the seven-day form and poor that up and usher you what's going on over the next several days will to step that through the warm weather will stick around so by tuesday of next week and then it begins to get a little bit colder as we had through the week we are looking at overall nighttime temperatures in the twenties and thirties so bring it up we see can see there's that chance of showers on monday some stray showers it sixty two 20s and 30s so bring it up we see can see there's a chance of showers on monday some stray showers it 62 groundhog day around 56 and the notice the colder air begins to move in back behind that cold front into the 40s on thursday and friday thank you so much for your patience lindsay think you forget a graphics we got the seven-day of the most important parts enjoy your weekend it will be wrestling tournament at william byrd high school is a much- anticipated event. and after the weather pushed it back a full week, the tournament finally

afternoon. good evening, i'm zac glover in for travis wells with your look at sports. the 40th annual big orange wrestling tournament got underway this afternoon at william byrd high school after being rescheduled from last week because of the snow. the 2-day event got going with matches on two mats in the main gym at byrd in the premier wrestling event in the area. this is the second- straight year the classic has been affected by winter weather, but with a much bigger impact this time around. thomas kessler, william byrd head wrestling coach, "you know last year, i think we only had 2 teams that couldn't come. this year, we went from 33 to 17 this week because we had to reschedule the whole week so that was tough on the tournament. we'll still have a pretty good tournament and hopefully next year those teams are going to be coming back. when we made the call last week, we had reached-out to a few schools and they had already had previous commitments so they couldn't come. we're happy that the schools that did come so we'll keep the tournament rolling and next year

33 or 32 teams in." we are continuing to countdown to superbowl 50, which you can see right here next sunday on wdbj7, and while there are plenty of storylines to grab ahold of, there are many out there that will be rooting for denver's peyton manning to win the superbowl, potentially ending his career on the highest of notes. and though manning doesn't quite seem to be the manning of old, the carolina panthers know what they're up against. ron rivera: "you know, he's the consiment pro. he's going to know you, he's going to understand you, he's going to attack you the best way he knows. he's a very smart, bright football player. he's going to anticipate and do things based off of what he sees. you got to be good at what you do. you got to make sure, if you're disguising, you're holding your disguise. he wants to undress the defense as quick as possible and get a feel for where they're going, and then he'll know where to attack. it is really a great chess match. so to me, it's about him playing the game, and then you have to be able to react to how he's playing." wall street ends the week with triple digit gains!

points. nasdaq rose 107. and the s and p

has announced a multi-million dollar expansion that will bring more jobs to botetourt county. wdbj7's joe dashiell is working on that story for wdbj7 at 6. jean, the company is investing 11 million dollars, and creating 50 new jobs. governor terry mcauliffe visited the plant, which makes high-quality packaging for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries arkay will move its warehouse operation to another building, and bring in new production equipment at the facility on eastpark drive. we'll have more on those new jobs and what this announcement means for botetourt county coming up at six on wdbj7. for the latest weather anytime, turn to our webpage at wdbj7.com and be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter for weather headlines and more

thank you for choosing your hometown news leader, wdbj7. we'll see you at six.