sexual assaulted before being abandoned at banning park eight miles away. if not for a person passing by, who knows what might have happened? tonight concerned citizens gathered to express just that, their concern, especially since the kidnapper is at large. it's wednesday night and the big story is an update for the community that wants to know how close are police to catching the person that committed this barbaric act. christie ileto has the full story. christie? >> jim, police couldn't go into too much detail about the case with the public but they say they are going through surveillance footage. as the police chief put it, there are things of interest on the tape but nothing concrete. >> i saw the young child before she was taken. >> the case still fresh on

neighbor's mind, michelle says neighbors are struggling to consider how a four-year-old was kidnapped and assaulted. >> we have not had anything of that in nature in our concern. >> they left with answers from authorities. >> they clarified things. i'm happy to shee they are on it. >> still no sign of the four-year-old's abductor. he allegedly allured the girl to his dark colored suv. hours later she was found as banning park. >> you have surveillance video? >> yes. >> police wouldn't say how many hours of video they are going through. >> it's time consuming. the detectives are going through it. we see things of interest to us. however, there is nothing we can say for sure. >> it's forced parents to be

more alert. >> i walk around and keep an eye as she plays during her practice. if i see someone i don't know not a parent, get away from my child. >> that's one of the things police are reminding parents to do. be aware of your surroundings, teach your child about stranger danger and if you have information that can help you are asked to contact authorities. christie ileto channel6, jim? >> philadelphia police continue to question two persons of interest in today's home invasion that targeted an 88-year-old veteran. pete l labuda was tied up in his home in the bustleton section of the city. it started when he was awoken by a knock on his door at 2:30 a.m. by a female acquaintance in his 30s. >> handcuffed me. tied me up.

pulled the wires out of the phone and tied me with them. they knocked me down, tied me up, stole my car, my safe. $30,000 cash. >> fortunately labuda was not seriously injured. a pair of men now in custody. the woman has not been captured. >> and the warriors watch raiders masers en masse for a ro labuda to show support. in this case they personally thanked labuda for his service. the warrior watch watch say the 88-year-old was overwhelmed and thankful. >> three masked men barged into a building on the 1800 block of

north bouvier street and threatened the three temple students inside. >> they had us on the ground. the one dude had a knife to my back. at one point they stood me up and said where's the stuff? >> the robbers tore the room apart, took i-phones, wallets and $900. the victims were not hurt. >> norma normally you don't heat the pennsylvania governor, so when you do, it might not be good. mike stack summoned reporters to his office to apologize. apologize for what? monica malpass has the answer. >> jim, lieutenant governor mike stack hasn't been officially charged with wrong doing but he's saying he's sorry. the state attorney general is investigating how stack and his

wife treated their bodyguards and employees at the residents. they pressured state police to use sigh republicans t sirens ts faster. >> i'm sure we have said things we shouldn't have said. both of us are deeply sorry for offenden -- anyone. we want to make it up because we feel we can do better. >> stack says he doesn't believe anything was considered abusive. the 53-year-old from philadelphia has served as a state senator before being elected lieutenant governor. >> thank you, monica. president trump seems to be abandoning an approach with russia. in a news conference he offered a far more pessimistic view.

>> right now, we are not getting along with russia at all. we may be at an all time low. this has built for a long period of time. we'll see what happens. >> this was a dramatically different tone from trump who spent the presidential campaign refusing to criticize putin saying positive or neutral things about him. the russian role in syria and perhaps the ongoing investigation into russian interference in the election has changed trump's view. meeting with the nato secretary trump said nato is no longer obsolete. trump said china is no longer a currency manipulator. the president's comments about russia after rex tillerson struck a similar note after meeting with sergei in moscow.

tillerson said they reach add low point in their relations. he saw no evidence that the rashaad regime was responsible for the attack. at the u.n. russia vetoed a resolution condemning the chemical weapons attack and demands an investigation. next we have the story of a case of identity theft unlike any you have seen before. this is about a man in lansdale who police say assumed the identity of a dead baby from texas. >> annie, it took a long time for this to be discovered. the wheels of justice are starting to turn. >> jim, they are. family members made the discovery on ancestry.com. once they figured this out they

contacted the social security office. the suspect had a birth certificate and social security card, rather under the dead child's name since the mid 90s. >> it was a casual search o that ended in an arrest after a baby was listed on the family tree as still alive. >> the relative who died in 1972, according to ancestry.com was alive and living in pennsylvania. >> the 100 block of west 6th street. they found the suspect living under the name nathan. john was charged in the '90s for intis si with a child. >> he went to a local cemetery and found the date of birth of an individual close to his so he knew the individual was dead and someone he could impersonate.

>> vincent worked in the state as a nursing aid under a stolen identity. his family had no comment. many neighbors were surprised at his arrest. >> 44-year-old vincent's public defender released this statement to "action news." he regrets the stress this must have caused the family. he has not been in trouble with the law and has lived a quiet, hard-working life. >> this case is important to the united states attorney's office because we were able to apprehend someone with a serious criminal history, escaped from a half way house and lived under the radar for more than 20 years. >> the defendant is expected to plead guilty may 2nd. he remains in federal custody here in philadelphia. eventually he will be extradited

to texas to face charges as well. annie mccormick, "action news." back to you. >> vehiclety counties perez of chester has been accused in extra purchases of guns. the mother of four faces ten years in prison if convicted. she bought nine handguns for a now deceased nephew who couldn't purchase guns biewfs criminal record. five of the guns were sold on the street and were responsible in one homicide. >> a student attacked another with a five pound weight. it happened yesterday but they won't say whra led to the altercation. authorities say the student struck is now home recovering oosm 33-year-old gillian tate has taken a plea deal that will spare her the death penalty.

she is the chester county mother charged in the torture and killing in her three year old son's death in 2014. scott was hung upside down and beaten with frying pans, rods, whips and fists before dying in his coastal home. >> coming up on "action news" tonight, wal-mart is about to offer a discount that amazon can't match plus jaywalking confrontation. police won't back their own officer and we hear from the man taken down. >> we are there as a two-year-old cancer patient in the hospital most of her life finally gets to go home to south jersey. >> no bull, hear why the wall street artist is trying to get rid of the fearless girl statue.

adam, you have weather. >> jim, it's been great but for alergy sufferers, tree pollen high the next couple of days. we talk about when the next rain comes in and easter holiday. >> jeff skversky phillies looking for a win after yesterday's pummeling by the metts. that and more when "action news" continues tonight.

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>> the passenger was dragged off the united airlines flight sunday night in chicago has taken his first step toward legal action. dr. david dow has hired a team of personal injury attorneys. the ceo apologized to dr. dow after first calling him belligerent. now he promises changes. >> it was a system failure. we have not provided our

front-line supervisors and managers and individuals with the proper tools, policies, procedures that allow them to use their common sense. >> united airlines now says they'll issue refunds to all of the passengers on the plane for the full price of their tickets. the three police officers involved have been placed on leave. >> sacramento police say their officer was in the wrong when he attacked a man for jaywalker and punched him repeatedly. he says he was walking home from work and fought for his life. >> i felt like they were going to shoot me in the back. >> cellphone video was posted to facebook monday. cane did argue with the officer and challenged him with a fight and kicked inside the patrol car but they found no grounds to charge him not even for

jaywalking. the officer is now on paid leave. there will be a investigation into his actions. >> the artist of the bull statue in lower manhattan is locking horns with fearless girl saying she has changed the meaning of his work. the statue depicting a girl staring down the bull was shown on woman's day. it was donated as a gift to new york. >> it's the rights of the woman not in front of the bull. >> he wants the statue removed but the mayor says it is staying where it is. >> wal-mart will offer discounts if they pick up online offers to

the store instead of getting it at home. this is another way to battle amazon. the move ge gets customers to te store where they might buy something else. >> atlantic city casino industry can thank online gambling for its recent fortunes. march, revenues of 40% over last year helping the casinos to boost their overall winnings 9%. a new study finds your weight might be contributing to getting migraine headaches. the increased risk goes for people yoamp weight and underweight. those considered obese had a 27% risk of getting migraines.

fat tissue releases hormones and inflammatory reasons to receive headaches. >> a little girl was welcomed home who is battling a rare form of leukemia. she arrived to see a group of costumed characters waiting for her. she has been at children's hospital since february last year receiving treatment, most of her life. today friends and family surprised arianna and her mom by decorating the house with welcome signs and banners. >> i'm sorry. we didn't know any of this was happening. you guys are amazing. >> arianna needs more medical care but tonight she's tucked into her own bed. quite an emotional night.

>> accuweather forecast adam joseph. >> our temperatures are going to slide back to normal as we get to the next couple of weeks, days, and weekend, temperatures soar for easter sunday. looking at storm tracker double scan, a lot of clouds with the cold front pushing through pulling temperatures down for the next 46 hours. chopper six was over the center city skyline. not only is it clear, it's calm, cool out there. temperatures are again backing off where sh they should be this point in april. looking at numbers, 61 pottstown, 58 longwood garden, same for kirkwood and bethlehem 56. we are picking up 40s in the poconos. media at 64. to the south we go, temperature in the 50s, hamilton, mar gate

63. mount laurel cooler than that. delaware, upper 50s to low 60s. the front is well to the east taking clouds with it. you see the temporary break in the clouds, high pressure in control. high clouds near pittsburg trying to come in. they'll fall apart and evaporate with dry air now in place as we look at the morning rush tomorrow morning, a clear start and cool. we are not going to start in the mid and upper 50s like this morning. upper 40s most locations as you step out the door. 51-degrees by 8:00. thursday and friday temperature in the mid 60s both days with a lot of sunshine and high clouds at times. a high drifts to the south on saturday allowing a warm front to start to arrive.

the beginning of the week on saturday, clouds and unlimited sunshine. precip to the west at 68. 80s are waiting in the wings and swing through for the second half of the weekend. 67, not as warm tomorrow as the last two days. good friday 65. saturday, 68 and easter sunday sunrise services 60-degree, 67 midday. 85 in the afternoon. if you are hosting easter sunday lunch or dinner, set up the outdoor furniture if you can. 85 one of the warmest in decades and cools off at night, 72 monday, tuesday, 65 and the next chance to cleanse the atmosphere of the pollen is wednesday at 60. >> the easter bonnet is going to

protect you from the sun this time around. >> three living veterans of world war ii were among 30 men and women honored tonight. the county office of veteran's affairs presented medals to the veterans and families in recognize of their service. of the 30 honored, 12 were remembered posthumously. ♪ ♪

>> phillies have had a tough time against the metts recent years. they wanted to turn it around this year. >> it's a three game series not a four game series and the metts are getting out of dodge. are the metts a pain or what? phillies trying to avoid being swept after the embarrasses loss last night. phillies are dropping the ball. fans dropping ice cream. let's try to get it together. first inning, no, not this guy.

three homers last night. rbi double, phils down 1-0. >> another homer. metts out homered the metts by 30 last few years. down 5-0 bottom six bases loaded. gone. grand slam second of his career. phils within one. bottom nine with the tieing run in scoring position, andrew knapp, ballgame. velasquez has not won a start since last july. >> terrible. the first two starts is not the way to go. i didn't give my team a chance to win. if it's horrible. >> he's not hitting location consistently. when he can do that, he will be really good. >> sad news for clay buchholz,

an mri revealed a tear in his throwing arm. two years ago with the red sox he missed nearly three months with the same injury. >> is this is end of the long drawn out process? fifth year the sixers are not playing for the playoffs. what is there to play for? ping-pong balls with the draft lottery. justin anderson slams it down in the first. career high 26 points. jackson exciting. third quarter, mcconnell to a wide open anderson. next time down the court, sixers up 11. final seconds, maurice in the nick of time. sixers lose 114-113 helping the lottery

>> well sixer's robert covington is heading for surgery, ben simmons is healthy. he's been cleared to resume for basketball activity to be on target for next season's opener. brett brown calls it excellent news. the sixers have not determined if he will play in the summer league. >> i'm looking forward to

getting back on the court and a big season. i'm appreciative of all of the support around me, family, friends, sixer staff. they did a great job. >> so does ben simmons look ready to play or what? before the game tonight in new york, taking candy from a baby. taking on a knicks fan, take that. goodnight. ben simmons looks ready to go. >> the kid will remember that for a long time. forever. "jimmy kimmel live" next followed by "nightline." music from john may i don' mayo. "action news" continues at 4:30. for adam joseph, ducis rogers, cecily tynan the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner.

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