toddler abandoned. >> it's a mother's and a grandmother's worse nightmare

to have a missing child. police scour the area. hello everyone i'm vic carter. here is what people are talking about. a boy from maryland abandoned at new york st. patrick cathedral. his mother was part of a crime spree across the world. mike hellgren has reaction. >> reporter: julie singleton tells wjz she was a wreck when she got the call her daughter aaron como had been arrested in florida. >> as a grandmother, that was a nightmare i hoped and pray i never want to go through and i never wish that on anyone. >> reporter: the drama started when como and her boyfriend took a stolen suv to florida. when they tried to pass a counter fit $100 bill, the clerk called police.

they took off with the boy, sparking a nationwide search. >> i got on face book, please helenor, return him safely. >> reporter: she got her wish when little nate turned up alone, dumped off at st. patrick's cathedral. >> i thanked the angels above or whoever was in charge of that one. >> troubled minds that would have led to some kind of abandonment. at least there's hope that he's going to be safe in the church. we know this is god's house. >> reporter: the mother has a lengthy arrest record, including for forgery and theft. her exboyfriend says she vanished from his home. >> she had a daughter who i was raising. she left in the middle of the night with some people and never came back, she left her daughter right here in the crib. >> i love her, i know she's made some mistakes but i love

her. this is one case that had a good ending. not all of them end up like that. i wish people would realize children are precious. >> reporter: the two who dumped the boy in the cathedral are still on the lose. they face child endangerment charges. two teenagers are behind bars tonight accused of gunning down theft. >> reporter: the community was so upset because two men were killed in separate shootings within 72 hours of each other. one of the victims who was killed here at this carry out was 72 years old on his way to work. >> 19 years old, also from the area. >> reporter: investigators have

locked up who they say killed charles boman during the robbery of a carry out two weeks ago. 18-year-old troy taylor and 19- year-old michael hunter. community anger fueled the investigation. >> there's a lot of very upset people that this 72-year-old man, whom everyone liked on his way to work was senselessly murdered. i think in this case the victim's reputation helped. >> i think that's great. i hope we can clear up a few more murders within two weeks. >> reporter: the waiverly neighborhood is shaken. the 72-year-old vet is killed, then a 22-year-old is killed at a gas station. >> reporter: do you think this is a safe neighborhood? >> to me, i don't think so. >> reporter: ever since the two murders, the police presence has increased with a conspicuous amount of officers in both vehicles and plain

clothes. >> we have officers passing through all day long, it's way better now. >> reporter: does that make you feel better, seeing all the cops around? >> it makes us feel much better. >> now that they've caught the guys, it's great, people can kind of be at ease. >> we have hard working middle class, blue and white color families that live and frequent this area, and i think it's a phenomenal area, so it was an anomaly. >> reporter: the other shooting that happened just down the street is still unsolved. police say they have several strong leads but could use more help from the community. reporting live from waiverly. new information tonight about a beating of a university student. the fbi may not actively be investigating the case as initially believed. federal agents do have a copy

of the video but have not conducted a single interview. this despite reports that the fbi is supposed to be delivering its findings. breaking news tonight in that horrible oil rig accident in the gulf of mexico. today we are learning an explosion was reported three hours before the rig went up in flames. terrell johnson reports. >> reporter: after burning for 36 hours, it sunk. rescue teams in the gulf of mexico are still focused on locating the 11 missing workers. even though hope for their survival is fading. >> based on support from crew members, as they came in last night, at the time of the incident. they believe that they may have been on board the rig and not able to evacuate. >> reporter: crews 50 miles off the coast of louisiana are also dealing with a growing

environmental concern. the rig was carrying 700,000- gallons of diesel fuel and could spill more than 8,000- barrels of crude a day. >> i think it certainly has the potential to be a major spill were the coast guard and bp oil have dispatched containment vessels. family members of survivors have gathered at this hotel to reunite with his loved one. joe keary's son told his father what the explosion had been like. >> he told me he was the most scared he has been in his life. >> reporter: this father told us what he was going to do when he sees his son, jonathan. >> i'm going the hug him. i'm going to tell him i love him, he knows i love him but i'm going to tell him any way. >> reporter: president obama

sent all help needed for the rescue and clean up. >> it was another hours before the emergency signal was activated. the coast guard is investigating what happened during those three hours. a telephone survey shows, o' malley is up by 58%. wjz is live downtown, new at 11:00 alex demetrius explains how it's not clear how cars will be lost. >> reporter: the huge floating parking lots called roll ons, roll offs bring cars in and

takes cars off. the ones that roll hyundais and kias will be bypassing baltimore ports heading instead for philadelphia. >> any time we lose any type of business we're very disappointed about that. it's certainly not a good thing to lose hyundais. >> reporter: philadelphia explains, 350,000. >> 100 ship visits, taking this car into the marine terminal. >> reporter: but philly's game will be baltimore's loss. how big, it's unknown. >> it will ultimately have an impact on the employment opportunities for quite a few of my members. >> reporter: whether it's heavy equipment or cars, vehicle transport is considered one of the most volatile cargo as visitors look for the best

deals amongst competing ports. so the port and labor aren't about to write hyundai off if forever. >> as of right now, we are actively talking to hyundai and kia to continue to keep an open door. >> i'm willing to look at anything that they may want to present to us in terms of keeping operations here. >> reporter: and there is constant dealing to bring new manufacturers into port. >> hyundai begins delivering to philadelphia in june. but that still leaves baltimore with at least seven car makers who you support to ship in and out of the u.s. vic. >> alex, thank you. newarkk, new jersey is also being bypassed. and there's a controversial about charges more for soda and

water bottles. bottle companies packed a committee hearing. council committee is set to vote on the bill in the coming weeks. there is some good economic news. you should be getting a break this summer. bge says electricity rates should drop 6% to 9% in the coming year. the lower rates should start in june and could continue until 2012. speaking of saving money, a new program allows you to swap your appliance out for a new one at a big discount. maryland is giving stimulus money to people who buy energy efficient appliances. you can save hundreds of dollars off refrigerators, washers or dryers. the program kicked off today in honor of earth day. go to wjz.com and click on the story link. still to come, is the president going to court? why president barack obama may will called to testify in the

corruption scandal surrounding former governor rod blagojevich. after two horrible years, real estate agents in maryland finally have something good to talk about. their story when eyewitness news continues. a beautiful friday, but what about the weekend? i'm bob turk. i'll have the complete first warning forecast, next. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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it is 56 degrees and clear in central maryland this evening. the complete first warning forecast is coming up. we have a quick correction on that oil rig explosion. the coast guard is now retracting a statement made earlier. that two explosions happened on the rig. they say a computer problem dave the impression there were two -- gave the impression there were two explosions. but we are now just learning there was actually one explosion. bryan betts was found shot to death in his silver springs home last thursday. police are looking more information about a vehicle being seen leaving the alley. betts suv was stolen that night and later recovered in southeast washington. a mother in charles county is outraged after her autistic son was left on a school bus

for two hours. delonte likely fell asleep and ended up in a parking lot 18 miles away. the driver and attendant violated policy but not sweeping the bus. former illinois governor rod blagojevich wants president obama as a witness in his corruption trial. he has asked the court to issue a subpoena. the judge did not indicate how he might respond to the request. good news in maryland's real estate market. sales are roaring back to life. but as mike shu report. some agents fear the expiration of a tax credit will make for a lean summer. >> reporter: the sky has been falling. some real estate agents not making a single sale in 2009. but in maryland, the worse

appears to be over. >> the entire first quarter of this year has been very good. >> reporter: in anne arundel and carol county sales are up 10%. in the city it's over 14. in baltimore county up 23.6% increase but in howard it's nearly 30%. over all for the state, a 29.3% jump from last year. >> well things are going well. >> reporter: the president of the maryland association of realtors says, prices and interest rates are both low. plus-- >> i think the tax credit has been a big help. it's an $8,000 price credit to new home buyers. >> what is it? >> this is a planned community. >> reporter: just a short while ago, things weren't looking that rosy here. but now they are selling them as fast as they can build them. >> it's buyers coming out of the wood work. >> reporter: prices have dropped and buyers are taking advantage of what's being called a short sale.

one of the things driving this market are things called short sales. a home is no longer valued at what it was purchased for. a bank agrees to accept the new evaluation. >> and how much of your business is short sales? >> probably 50%. >> reporter: she's done more business in four months than she did the past two years. they hoped the sunny days right now mean the economy truly is on its way back. >> everybody that was looking in from the sidelines is now going, it's probably my chance to take advantage of the low prices and the low intersection rates. and the home buyer tax credit and make a move. >> in howard county, mike schu, now back to you on tv hill. other parts of the country are reporting an increase in real estate sales. super model naomi campbell is angered when asked if she

received a diamond. >> that's something i'm not going to answer. >> reporter: charles taylor is facing trial for war crimes. classics of a different kind will be echoing through the meyer symphony hall over the week end. the four man group called spectrum will be spreading that motown town. their intricate harmonies will be on display for three shows with the bso. for more information log on to wjz.com. >> great music. you just cannot sit still. >> even you, okay. >> let's go into the weather right now. with 56 degrees now, there's no

wind. humidity is 64%. the barometer rising 29.78- inches. we've had a few showers this afternoon. a beautiful day really. 67.44 the averages. this was in downtown baltimore along before we had the airport. it was down to 32 degrees. i'm sure some of the suburbs that might probably in the 20s, awfully cold days. right now we're at 56. there have been a couple of sprinkles. but they are dissipating, in ocean city a dewpoint at 44. temps tonight, we're getting winds. pleasantly cool nights. winds right now have gone off to the northwest. and very shortly we'll go back to the north inform -- north-

northwest. the problem is, it's been spinning to the west. there's going to be a big outbreak here of severe weather in texas and oklahoma. for us this front is going to extend out to the east as a warm gulf moisture rising over top of that front into cooler and drier air creates clouds. we'll start seeing precipitation into saturday afternoon. maybe shower and thunder shower activity possibly saturday and sunday night. maybe even into monday, with more rain activity. northwest wind five to 10 knots. tonight clear to partly cloudy. hots of -- lots fun, a beautiful day. showers likely late in the day

continuing into sunday. maybe monday. 61 partly cloudy skies here by tuesday. >> thank you, bob. coming up some surprises in the nfl draft including a move by the ravens. mark has more coming up next in sports. ,,

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people had their score cards out. keeping track. >> i told you watch out for that trade. ravens were ready for it. first ever prime time nfl draft plays out like a suspense thrilling for the ravens. they are all set to trade 25th over all. they traded the pick to denver. baltimore gets no first round pick tonight. but they do get an additional second and third round choice tomorrow. plus an additional fourth rounder. that will give the ravens a total of seven picks. now the broncos used that 25th selection they got from the ravens to take florida quarterback tim tebow. probably the surprise of the

draft so far because of the uncertainty surrounding tebow's nfl responsible. a stand out in college, he lacks traditional quarterback skills. but the broncos give it a shot. sam bradford taking number one over all. a heisman trophy winner a year ago, bradford had shoulder surgery. and hayden is a native of fort washington. and the steelers grab a center, he's maureen taunty. and the raiders take oklahoma tight end germane griffin. round two of the draft tomorrow evening at 6:00. baseball orioles in boston, day off today. they'll start a three game series tomorrow night. we'll bring you the bird saturday night and sunday afternoon right here on wjz.

i'll be at fenway park for those broadcasts. masn on wjz tv. afternoon baseball, oakland's suski steps on the bag for second. the yankees first triple play in 42 years. three outs with one pitch. it is efficient but it wasn't enough to beat the a's. oakland wins despite it 4-2 the final. basketball news, the ncaa tournament will expand by three teams beginning next year. the field of 68 will play under a new 14 year tv agreement with cbs sports and turner sports. a broadcast agreement worth nearly $11 billion. yes, it's college sports, but it's big business. >> we're going to throw the >> we're going to throw the lights off real soon toto,,,,,,,

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breaking news right now, a police involved shooting this evening. this happened in glen burney at elevation road. the officer shot a man but we don't know why just yet. the man was taken to shock trauma. the officer was not hurt. we'll have much more on the morning edition. and we'll be right back. - at subway... - there's something for... - everyone.

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letterman is next with david spade. that is it for us tonight. thank you for joining us, i'm vic carter. good night, see you tomorrow. it'll be friday.