greenbelt with the warning for us. >> reporter: she's 74 years old. she never, ever, ever thought she would fall for something like this. >> if you told me this would have happened i would have said no way. >> reporter: because you are too skeptical? >> and too good at catching things. >> reporter: all of a sudden here you are. >> stuck. >> reporter: how did it happen? >> i got took, didn't i? >> reporter: we call her mrs. b. she does want her face shown or name used. when you hear her story up understand why. we all remember the publisher clearing house ad with the balloons and big checks. hoping that some day there will be -- they will be at our doorstep and we can end up on easy street. well, yesterday mrs. b. got a call from someone pretending to be with the clears house contest. >> after taxes and things, $2.5

million. and mercedes-benz. >> reporter: wow, what a prize! but the contest man says there was just one little thing. they needed $8,000 to cover taxes and processing. they couldn't take her check. they wanted it in gift cards. so mrs. b. goes to the nasa federal credit union and withdraws $8,000 in cash. and then per instructions goes to walmart and buys 16 $500 green dot gift cards. >> kept saying don't tell anybody what you are doing. because it is a surprise. >> reporter: before she even left the walmart parking lot, that contest man was on the phone again. he wanted the validation numbers off of those gift cards. because once he had the numbers, the money was his. meanwhile, back at the nasa federal credit union, they got suspicious about that big cash withdrawal and 911. police acted quickly and managed to freeze payment on 11 of the

16 gift cards. >> i think we have a good police force. and it was pure luck. the good lord was on our side. >> reporter: they seem to pick on seniors. >> yes. >> reporter: why is that? >> i guess they are more vulnerable. a lot of the seniors have stable financial means. >> reporter: if the credit hadn't called the cops mrs. b. said she may not have reported it and says she was too embarrassed. and police are fearful that there may be other victims out here who haven't come forward. live in prince george's county, pat collins, news4. a high yatsville man is arrested in connection to an immigration scheme. police tell us he approached two women at landmark plaza last october and told them he worked for the world bank and could grant them citizenship. he also promised them a green card for relatives in africa for $10,000. the victims paid up.

but the suspect didn't do anything in return. the women reportedly confronted him and then called fairfax county police. now to a developing story in ken county, maryland. authorities say that they recovered three bodies on a dairy farm in kennedyville. they are believed to be the bodies of a pennsylvania man and his two teenage sons who worked on the farm. investigators say that they found a tractor still running near a manure pit where they believe the three had been working. police had to use a vacuum truck from a nearby farm to search the area. no word yet on a cause of death. investigation under way into the burning of police and fire fighter personnel files. chris gordon is live now at the d.c. fire training academy with a fallout. chris? >> reporter: pat the media has been banned from the grounds of the training academy tonight. we are reporting live from outside the front gate. police are treat thing like a crime scene. internal affairs is investigating. why personnel records were

apparently brought here to be burned. >> i'm just -- befuddled, amazed. i can't believe it would occur in these times and days. >> reporter: the fire was brought under control by firefighters who responded to an emergency call at the fire ems training academy last friday. the video and still pictures were taken by the firefighters. they were surprised by what they found among the burned debris in three dumpsters and unburned documents that were piled in an abandoned car here at the training academy. personnel records of firefighters and d.c. police officers. the president of the fire fighters association is upset. >> documents blowing around the parking lot. dumpsters partially burned. some of my members noticed that their own names and social security numbers and addresses were on some of the documents.

concerns about privacy issues and identity theft. just on the surface. >> reporter: the d.c. firefighters association and the fraternal order of police joined together to ask the inspector general to investigate who ordered the burning of personnel records and why. >> we just entered -- for recruiting documents because we are having significant problems recruiting police officers and down 400 police officers. we filed that lawsuit three days before the documents were burned. given the department and the district's history on destroying and altering evidence we have concerns that run along that path. >> reporter: it will be up to the inspector general to determine if the attempt to burn personnel files here was an accident, a mistake, or possibly whether it constitutes criminal conduct. we are reporting live tonight from southwest washington, chris gordon, news4. >> with the weather it is dry in most neighborhoods. isolated slow-moving storms could produce more heavy rain for us.

veronica is tracking it all. >> yeah. fortunately those storms are in some of the same areas that have gotten the heavy rain all week. certainly yesterday, too. right here, west of d.c., fauquier county, loudoun county, prince william county, with round hill and loudoun getting over three inches of rain, bull run and prince william, over five inches of rain. as we focus in on the radar, look where the rain is now and look where it is moving. back into some of those same areas so we could be looking at flash flood warnings again issued for prince william county. perhaps even fauquier county, too. the biggest cluster here with not as much lightning as what i saw an hour ago, it is north of culpeper and it is headed towards old tavern marshall area and hathaway. more rain coming in up until about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. we have dropped to the 70s. the other big story for us, folks, it is going to get very, very sticky around here come th. ready for 95 degrees? we will talk about it coming up. the latest nbc/maris polls

president obama has a slight lead over mitt romney. florida, ohio, and virginia. mr. obama leads the presumptive republican nominee by an identical four-point margin. 48-44% in both florida and virginia. and in ohio, the president is ahead by six points. 48-42%. the polls have a 3% margin of error. the deliberations in the john edwards trial continue now for a fifth day. jurors today asked to see more evidence. they requested exhibits detailing all of the money that went into aide andrew young's bank account, including receipts for private jets hotels and money used to move his pregnant mistress, rielle hunter, around the country. jurors also asked for the 2008 "nightline" interview where edwards admitted to the affair but denied paternity. another major development in

a d.c. political scandal. a second person pleaded guilty to charges to vincent gray's campaign for mayor. tom sherwood is live outside the courthouse with the latest on this. >> reporter: just moments ago, howard broke pleaded guilty to a felony at u.s. federal court. the great campaign operative gave nearly a dozen checks worth thousands of dollars to minor candidates suleman brown in the scheme to tilt the 2010 elect n election. the plea comes two days after co-conspirator thomas gore pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. he promised to cooperate with the investigation. the two cases mark a quickening pace into the investigation of political corruption of the 2010 campaign for mayor. the campaign that u.s. attorney ronald said that deceit with

wrongdoing. the scheme is op only a small part after larger investigation into possible shadow campaigns. of tens of thousands of dollars. some possibly fake contributions that helped fuel the gray campaign. mayor gray, who early on insists on his own assistance, now he is declining to talk to reporters about any aspect of the investigation that's now reaching inside of the core of his campaign. glen ivy is expected to koumt and talk to the media soon. howard brooks' lawyer. mr. ivy told me earlier today that his client wants to clean the air and start rebuilding his life by while this investigation goes on. at the federal court, downtown washington, i'm tom sherwood, news4. police are questioning a man who says he killed the 6-year-old boy whose disappearance started a national missing children's movement. etan patz vanished 33 years ago on his way to school in new york

city. he was one of the first missing children featured on a milk carton. new jersey police picked up pedro hernandez late last night in connection with his disaperfect answer. hernandez says he suffocated the broy and left the bodly good a box. investigators say they need to confirm his story. friday is the anniversary of patz's's disappearance. a new poll out shows the majority of maryland voters would say yes to same-sex marriage if it makes it on to the ballot this fall. a public policy poll of medical in voters found 57% of people would vote in favor of same-sex marriage. 37% would vote against. making gay marriage legal. the number of people expected to approve same-sex marriage surged after president obama and the naacp both voiced their support. next and new at 5:00, a warning on the potomac for memorial day. we hit the water to show you the hidden dangers. >> d.c. firefighters come down with a mystery illness. what they uncovered at the scene that may explain what is to

blame. it is creating problems at their busiest time of year. their busiest time of year. the key item in

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officials with the navy are waiting for a nuclear powered mean to cool off before they can begin cleaning things up. fire aboard the u.s.s. miami broke out at a shipyard in kitering, maine, last night. the sub's nuclear reactor was not working at the time. seven people were injured and cause of the fire is under investigation. scary moments on the job. tonight two d.c. firefighters remain on sick leave after several of their co-workers became ill. battling a blaze at a suspected drug lab in the trinidad neighborhood. tracee wilkins reports. >> reporter: this morning restoration crews wore protective clothing as they worked to clean up after yesterday's fire at the harmony

house. eight firefighters complained they were sick a few hours after putting the apartment fire out. they were transported from their firehouse and evaluated. edwards smith, president of the d.c. firefighters association, spoke with the sergeant who was among the sick fire fighters. >> he's concerned. and the members he is responsible for. >> reporter: d.c. fire spokesmen say the fire may have been caused by an exploding pcp lab. d.c. police are still working to confirm that. if that was the case, firefighters called to respond to a fire or are often the last to know about hazardous chemicals. >> looks like a normal fire. unless it is some strange color flame or some other indication of an explosion, something totally out of the ordinary. even an explosion, we might discount as a natural gas incident. something from the stove or heating system. so we might even discount that as not even being a lab.

>> reporter: the incident is under investigation by a number of agencies trying to get to the bottom of what went wrong. there were eight firefighters examined last night. here's the latest on how they are doing. two will be on sick leave as this connie valuating that your progress. one other firefighters was able to come back to work last night and five others will return to work today. northeast, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> on to our weather now. the people who had it bad earlier this week with the heavy rain, they are in the firing line again. >> again. again we are seeing these slow-moving storms and some of the same spots. fauquier county, prince william county, they are moving a little faster, though, than they were yesterday. that may cut down on some of the flash flood ring but still some of the rain rates. one to two inches per hour. you can see our sky now looks a little better. at least around the d.c. area with monument in the distance. we have a partly sunny sky and there is humidity out there. it is a little uncomfortable. are you red write for conditions to be quite uncomfortable? you know, it is the holiday

weekend coming up. memorial day. lot of folks off. it is going to be uncomfortable. 82 is the temperature. wind outf the south at 12 miles per hour. take a look at the southerly flow here on the radar. storm 4 radar all those storms coming up from the south earlier as it looks like much of the storms were having potential of producing hail. they are really starting to strength wren. the one i'm watching right now is right here in culpeper county. that headed to the north and northeast. that will clip areas of western prince william county northwest. that will head towards marshall, middleburg and howardsville in the next 64 minutes. another storm down south, making its way northward towards areas of sommerville in the next 25 minutes. hitting some of the same locations again. probably see -- flash flood warning issued for some of those areas there. storms stay with us million 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. temperatures down to the 70s and mid 60s to upper 60s by tomorrow morning. then we are going to turn up the heat. much of the mid atlantic in the 80s. but look at areas of the

nation's midsection. 92, st. louis. 94, dallas, texas, right now. the heat will be expanding eastward. we are going to be around 90 degrees starting on saturday and heat index about 95 degrees. warm and humid tomorrow morning. we will get a little bit of thin-. isolated thunder for your friday afternoon. then there is another front that will approach the area for the holiday weekend. and i think saturday, sunday, maybe an isolated shower. we will watch the system off the coast of south carolina to bring in more moisture but not move directly over us. for memorial day we could have an isolated thunderstorm. so for your evening, 72 to 77 degrees. again, isolated showers and storms. producing heavy rain, frequent lightning. ponding, too. if you live in that that area, i especially keeps getting hit, got to be anywhere, leave early. keep a watchful eye on the sky. for tomorrow morning, mainly dry. but east of i-95 there could be a few showers around the area. no storms.

62 to 67. we could get isolated storms tomorrow afternoon. and as we turn it up to 87 degrees. last couple of days, we have been in the low 80s. now upper 80s to around 90 degrees. especially on monday. monday is looking like it could be the hottest day out of the stretch now. >> looks like summer. when we come back on "news4 at 5:00," another person now infected with a rare flesh-eating bacteria. how it happened and the victim's connection to a georgia woman fighting for her life. i'm liz crenshaw. best way to keep backyard bugs from biting, my story is coming up. >> in sports, former college star takes the game beyond the line on the field.

sports time now. dan is here. talking lacrosse. >> really cool organization. a lot of people have the appeal

and ability to transcend. sports have long been used for a catalyst of social change. muhammad ali, maria shriver and cal ripken. a few of those that use the impact of the game. teaching life lessons to thousands of inner city kids through the game of lacrosse. zachary has the story. >> reporter: historically there have been very few african-americans who played lacrosse. former duke blue devil all-american in and d.c. resident is doing all he can to change the face of the game he loves. >> yes. for, you know, the -- stereotype now is that it is a -- sort of a private school. you know, upper middle class sport. and what we want to do is -- again, make it acceptable to everyone. >> reporter: as you can see here, it is a lot of african-americans getting into the sport and it is -- it is the

game that draws us in. i will say that it is -- it has change. >> winners gives credence to if you build it they will come. and come they have. from downtown to southeast, from underserved communities to just unexposed athletes. >> i am a big fan of football. but i just want to try something new. >> reporter: since the inception in 2000 winners you introduced the game of lacrosse to over 5500 inner city d.c. youth and probably the best part of it all, it is free. >> we do a six to eight week program in schools and in the inner city of d.c. where we can really work the kids and get to know them and show them the sport and how much fun it is. get them interested in it and they come out and join the team. >> reporter: win sing nice but there's something much more powerful at play here. it is about pushing social and cultural boundaries. it is about teaching life lessons to hundreds of kids that will -- less.

it gives you a really good feeling. whether you win or lose games, a feeling of being a team. >> beyond just an understanding of the game, winners lacrosse is broadening the players' horizon. >> the whole point of playing sports, teaching you life loans. being in a different environment, giving kids an avenue to explore boundaries. >> we take them to boys and girls to caring, productive, responsible young men and women. >> great program. now they are trying to help some of the kids move on to the next level. giving them the ability to play at private high school oregon moving on and playing college lacrosse. it is cool to see kids that may have never picked up a lacrosse stick and literally falling in love with the sport. >> having a lot of fun. >> absolutely. >> great piece. thanks, dan. here is what's coming up next at 5:30. coming up in the next half

hour, hidden dangers along the potomac as we gear up for the unofficial start of summer. >> marion barry out of the hospital. his message. a big surprise for harvard university alumni as the unabomer threatens to crash their class reunion. arlington officer goes beyond the badge to deliver a baby during the rush hour. we love gardening...

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it is a popular warm weather activity that carries a lot of hidden dangers. tonight we give you an up-close look at the hazards along the potomac river. and it is not only boaters in the river who face the risk. >> richard jordan shows us what the national park service is doing to keep people safe in the water this summer. >> reporter: we geared up with

health mets, life vests and trained search and rescue workers to ride on the river. the potomac is known to be a warm-weather hotspot but it is not all fun and games. a few minutes under water could be tragic. >> cover your nose and mouth for three minutes. >> reporter: last pew years have been especially dangerous. in 2008 and 2010, would people drowned. ten victims died in 2009. but last year no one was killed. >> there was a sign that said no boating. that's not good. >> reporter: betsy says last april her husband had a harrowing experience on the river. the avid canoeist fell in the water. he and his friend holding on to dear life for hours. she grew worried when her husband didn't come home. >> hit me like a bolt, call 911. that's it. so that's the other message. you know. don't hesitate to call them. that's what they are there for. >> reporter: the rescuers are ready to respond but they say they hope the public respects

the river. the water looks choppy on the surface but officials say what's really a big concern is what's happening beneath the surface. >> because have you all the jagged rocks underneath it it forms pools, currents that are going to suck down under water. >> reporter: but the water is not the only threat. park officials say cliff divers are regularly jumping in and getting hurt. >> number of broken legs, broken ankles, broken arms, serious gash necessary your body. people had their stomachs torn open. >> reporter: the bowl is to have fun but be safe. richard john, news4. closing arguments today for the woman accused of running over a college student in a deadly hit-and-run. 43-year-old christie littleford hit and killed a natasha pettigrew while she was riding her bike in largo in september of 2010. littleford said she thought she hit a deer and drove tall way home before discovering the mangled bike beneath her suv. prosecutors contend she had to

know she hit a person when she left the scene. but the defense argued littleford went back to the scene and called the police after realizing what had happened. a break for d.c. police in the case of a man beaten over a beer can dispute. police say that they identified a person of interest in the assault. security cameras caught part of the incident back on march 10 outside of a condo on w street northwest. the victim told police another man attacked him when he asked him to pick up an empty beer can outside of his building. the victim spent several days in the hospital and had to have his jaw wired shut. >> marion bare write says he's sorry and it is time to move on. the ward 8 councilman is trying to move past comments he made last month about asian businesses and filipino nurses. today's closed door session was at times contentious. and while the issues have yet to be solved, many say that it is a good start. derrick ward reports. >> reporter: the first comment came more than a month ago.

>> these asians coming in, opening up business, dirty shops. >> reporter: shortly after barry tweeted an apology but the fallout continues. another controversial comment about the prevalence of filipinos among the ranks of nurses and health care professionals. >> filipino nurse pushing out from the -- george washington university hospital. >> reporter: a meeting with representatives of asian business professionals and community groups. it was closed to the press. >> time to get out of here. >> reporter: barry reiterated his apology. even from outside it is clear this was no warm and fuzzy affair. terms like oppression olympics and accusations of un-americanism could be heard. barry called the discussion prank and calmed down somewhat. one of those leaving early was geraldine hall who agreed with barry's early characterization of the asian businesses but says she has no problem was asians. >> it should be clean. you don't sell things just given to anybody because of the color of your skin. >> reporter: after the meet

willing were more public statements including a pledge to be more careful about what barry says. >> if you are going don to do it. >> reporter: more earnest discussion. >> comes down to racism and comes down to economics and it comes down to us ex-are sizing leadership together roup also, understand prosecuting both sides of different cultures, traditions and perceptions. >> it can be avoided if we have dialogue. >> reporter: that's what the optimistic among the attend hes came away with, a start and hard work ahead. >> it does require that we actually have respect. >> reporter: derrick ward, news4. now let's fast forward lou the headlines today. prince george's county police say an elderly woman was scammed out of thousands of dollars of people claiming to be sweepstakes workers. the suspects asked her to withdraw cash ask then buy gift cards tore cover tax owes her

prize. alert bank employees noticed the withdrawal and called police. >> an investigation under way after personnel records of firefighters and police were found burning in some dumpsters last week. it happened wrought side the d.c. fire department training academy. the police and fire union leaders want the city's office of inspector general to look into the matter. a second aide pled guilty today in court to in connection with the d.c. mayor vincent gray's 2010 campaign. howard brooks admitted he lied to the fbi about payments made to minor candidate sooulman brown in exchange for attacks on then mayor fenty. gray declined to comment about the case. now let's fast forward to the weather. it has been quiet the most part today. but not for the evening hours or early part of the night. we are seeing some storms. fredericksburg, northwest to winchester. this whole line starting to fill in and moving in north-northeastward. getting ready to get hit with very heavy rain, marshall and the plains next 20 to 32

minutes. moving into prince william county, this area, sommerville, bristersburg and weaversville. very heavy rain coming that way. we will see this until 9:00 this evening. back to you. a routine traffic stop ends with a surprise delivery in arlington. police corporal steve pulled a driver over on columbia park during yesterday's evening rush. another woman pulled up and begged for help because her sister was in labor. he saw that the baby was red write to come out right then and there. so he coached the mother through the delivery. he said there were tense moments right after the baby girl came into the world. >> the cord is wrapped around her neck. unwrapped that from around her neck and -- she started to breathe and then i started to breathe. and she -- you know, she cried a little. she seemed healthy and everything right as far as i could tell.

>> baby weighed in at six points and three ounces. troyano says he was honored to learn he is the inspiration for the baby's middle name. it is stephanie, feminine version of stephen. >> good for him. next, a vial of ronald reagan's blood is no longer for sale. were the company pulled the plug on the auction. a shortage in helium. why one retailer says this could be causing business to go flat. more on this story

the unabomer shocked alumni. >> one of the stories trending today. members of the harvard university class of 1962 who looked through their new alumni directory were surprised to see a status update on a notorious classmate. ted kosinski. >> they don't have to worry about running into him at the

upcoming reunion. he is locked newspaper a practical prison for killing three people and injuring 23 others in a nationwide bombing spree. >> kosinski's listed his occupation as prisoner and said his awards are eight life sentences a vial of ronald reagan's blood will not be said at auction after all. the british auction house plans to donate the vial to the late president's foundation. >> the blood was drawn at g.w. hospital after the president was shot back in 1981. reagan's family criticized the auction. >> g.w. also launched an investigation online bids reached more than $30,000 before the auction was pulled offline. iphone uselers soon have a new tool to upload their pictures to facebook. it is an app called facebook camera. this new app works faster than the current app for iphone and allows you to upload higher resolution pictures. >> facebook camera also has filter which is allow people to crop and add effects to their

photos. the app works with the ipod touch. still ahead on "news4 at 5:00" tonight, surprising connection. why babies born by c-section are twice as likely to be obese. >> plus, battling bugs. they are out early this year. and it is only going to get worse. liz crenshaw is next to tell us how to fight back. first, here isver only cab. >> we have radar repeat and more storms out there. where are these headed? i will tell you when "news4 at 5:00" returns.

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in "news4 your health," babies born by c-section are twice as likely to be obese by the age of 3 than babies born naturally. researchers at children's hospital in boston studied more than 1,200 mother/child pairs for the study. c is babies had a higher body mass index and skinfold thickness by the time they were 3. that's as compared to kids born naturally. researchers speculate that c-section babies are born with more intestinal bacteria that may increase inflammation, insulin resistance and production of fat deposits. shortage of helium could not

only put a damper on your upcoming celebrations but could put some people's lives at risk. news4's erika gonzalez reports. >> reporter: peak season for balloons at party mania. birthdays, holidays, graduations. thousands are made on a weekly basis. a shortage in helium is causing business to deflate. >> you take it for granted helium will always there be. >> reporter: it may not. in 1996 a federal law was established to force the government to sell off its helium stockpile by 2015. ferrara says she pays almost 50% more for her helium than she did less than a decade ago. each of these tanks can fill about 300 to 400 balloons. she says she gets them from three different suppliers and one has already placed a cap on the amount of tanks that she can order. >> all kids like balloons. even the older kids. >> reporter: but that's not its only function. in fact, it is used in

flat-screen tvs, mris and even help babies breathe. so is it really possible for the world to run out of the gas? >> yes, it is. >> if helium comes from the ground, much like oil does, couldn't we just dig for more helium? >> yeah. i mean, that's a very good analogy because helium, like oil, is created by natural properties. it is very slow process. so whatever is in it now is pretty much all that's available. >> reporter: while this physicist says the world could function without the non-renewable gas, certain things like balloons and her business could go from full to flat. in beth in. >> what does that do for the macy's day parade. >> they will go flat, too. there will be no parade. to the weather and the threat of isolated showers. >> yes. those clouds are not going down. they are going up and we are seeing some thunderstorms just down to the south of us with a whole lot of lightning to

clusters and even the potential of hail. take a look at what's west of frederic fredericksburg. right now big cluster of storms and we have another one just to the north. red write to cross over 56 right now. that's headed north. northeastward towards upperville in next 36 minutes. frosttown -- frogtown in the next 49 minutes. auburn in the next 40 minutes. heavy rain and potential for hail. make sure you check right here with us and we will get you updated before you head out the door. chance of storms up until about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. isolated heavy rainers, drenchers for us. then tomorrow morning, i think that showers will be mainly east of i-95. and liz crenshaw was asking about the bay bridge. probably light showers around the bay bridge. with fog tomorrow morning. so we will be starting out between 64 and about 68 degrees from north to d.c. 62 in manassas and around

culpeper, 67 degrees in annapolis. highs tomorrow 8g 4 to 87 degrees. mercury not going down. it will be going up and it is going to feel more like 95 degrees. the heat index for the holiday weekend, saturday, sunday, monday. speaking of the beaches, lot of folks have been asking about that water temperature. it is at 66 degrees. so that's the place to go to cool off on top of that, while we are going to be feeling like we are in the mid 90s, beach locations, 77 to 80 degrees for saturday, sunday, monday. around here, it is going to get hot and it is going to get sticky. we might have a stray shower around for saturday and sunday. it is not going to be a big deal. then on monday we have 30% chance of getting some showers and isolated thunderstorm for monday, memorial day. with a high of 9 on degrees. then chance of storms again on wednesday. the holiday weekend, guys, looking good. >> all right. thanks, veronica. itching for the memorial day weekend to get here. >> maybe so.

but don't let bug bites ruin the holiday weekend. >> liz crenshaw here with the best ways to battle the bugs this summer. >> mosquitoes are multiplying quickly this year. and they are out earlier than usual. we went to the university of maryland to find out what works best when battling those backyard bugs. when you feel the bite, it is too late. blood-sucking mosquitoes strike quickly and abnormally warm winter and spring as not keys o -- mosquitoes biting earlier this year. >> more this year. >> reporter: the best bet for not get bitten, a good repellent. the most common active ingredient in bug repel apartments is deet. >> it is the gold standard in mosquito repellent. very long lasting. >> reporter: watch these mosquitoes flock to ralph's arm. >> they are biting. >> reporter: we are done with that. look what happens when ralph spray as repellent that contains

deet. >> notice how they go to the other end. >> reporter: yeah, moving way from the screen. >> really deet is one of the best mosquito repel apartments. >> reporter: some people don't want to use deet. are there alternatives? >> yes, lots of alternatives. this one will give you almost as much protection as deet. maybe as much as eight hours. >> reporter: if you want nature's way of repelling mosquitoes -- >> this one is derived from soybean oil. how much more organic can you get than soybeans? >> it works. it is not going to give you perhaps eight hours but will probably be good for three or four hours of really good protection. >> reporter: how about a repellent made out of wild tomatoes. >> pretty organic. this will be really nice for a few hours out in the garden. >> reporter: this is a lemon eucalyptus plant. oil derived from the plant acts as a repellent and smells pretty good, too. if you don't want to spray yourself, consider clothing already treated with insect repellant. >> good for 20 washings.

>> reporter: it works? >> fantastic. >> reporter: getting rid of standing water is one way to prevent mosquitoes from multiplying. that means clean out blocked gutters so they will drain. >> if you have a bird bath, this will be a mosquito breeder. you have to empty this thing twice a week. if you have standing water in your backyard like this fish pond, this is going to breed a lot of mosquitoes. >> reporter: the mosquito larvae are -- >> oh, baby. look at that. >> reporter: wow. >> there are probably 100 not keys oat -- mosquitoes in that dipper. >> reporter: raffle recommends dungs to kill larvae. >> bugs that would normally emerge about a month from now have already emerged. we are three weeks to a month ahead of schedule in terms of bugs. >> we are ahead of schedule. make sure you read the repellent label. they might fight against ticks and mosquitoes. that would be great.

ticks are supposed to be worse this year as well. remember, check out the labels before applying any of these repel apartments on children. they all have very specific rules about kids. you have one there? >> it will be an itchy summer. >> thank you. next at 5:00, a new case of rare flesh-eating bacteria in georgia. why doctors say this is not an outbreak. >> coming up tonight, pakistani doctor involved in the cia after capture bin laden is being punished by the courts in pakistan. a teammate caught breaking into five homes in ten days. how technology has police catching him. a piece of luggage causing tense a piece of luggage causing tense

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will is another case now.

a new case of a rare flesh-eating bacteria in georgia. this time the victim is 567-year-old grandfather. >> he's being treated at the same hospital in augusta where a young college student has been fighting for her life. >> reporter: amy copeland has been fighting potentially deadly flesh-eating bacteria for almost a month. being able to sit up is considered progress. >> she's had a lot of trauma to her body. asking to get is up pretty amazing. >> reporter: a big step after amy had to endure multiple amputations. losing her hands, left leg and right foot to the aggressive infection. amy says the decision to amputate was heartbreaking. >> blood vessels in her hands, foot, extremitieextremities, we destroyed. her life was saved. if i were give wren a choice between losing a limb, saving my life, i would opt to save the life. >> reporter: the 24-year-old college student became infected after falling off a zip line and cutting her leg.

amy sun able to talk so her family relies on other ways to communicate. >> she can mouth words. and we are becoming very adept at lip reading. we can almost anticipate a little what she wants before she asks. i think a lot of that goes with being a parent. >> reporter: amy one of three patients at the hospital being treated for this. 67-year-old paul bales was admitted and is scheduled to have a leg amputated. the grandfather from central florida contracted it after falling and cutting himself. bobby von is in good condition after doctors removed several pounds of infected flesh. a few hours away in south carolina, lana remains in critical condition. the flesh-eating bacteria attacked her just days after she gave birth to twins. although there are multiple cases of the infection in georgia and other states across the country, doctors say that it is not an outbreak. but rather a random occurrence. >> in a short period of time.

that's random. >> reporter: for amy copeland's family, they are turning to a higher power for help. >> people say use god as a crutch. we are not using god as a crutch. we are using god as a stretcher. because he is carrying us through this. >> amy's dads is she's still cracking jokes despite all of her struggles. he considers it a testament to her strength and sense of humor. >> at 6:00, another guilty plea in connection to a d.c. campaign scandal. a bag with smoke coming out of it cause as stir at bwi airport. >> second aide to mayor gray pleaded guilty to a crime. >> prince george's county woman who is in her 70s is scammed out of thousands of dollars. good evening, everyone. i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim vance. we go to the latest in the presidential race now. new polls in virginia and two other important states suggest that president obama is holding a slim lead against his challenger, mitt romney. while that is good news for the president, the polls may contain