enduring place in our hearts. >> stacy was on his fourth deployment when he was killed. back here in washington, residents paid their respects by attending a national memorial day parade downtown. derrick ward joins us live from 12th and constitution avenue where the hot weather made eight bit of a challenge for some folks today. >> reporter: indeed did it. there there were 313 people that had to have medical attention because of heat related issues. a few have been transported. we are told, though, it wasn't anything too serious. those folks should be all right. take a look behind me here. 12th street is about to reopen here as is constitution avenue at the intersection. all in all it was a somber, yet spirited commemoration of memorial day here in the nation's capital. ♪ on one of the hottest days so far, thousands mustered the will to line the parade route.

some marching band members had to forego finishing for fear of the coming to the heat. today's ball the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and served in defense of the nation. a theme and purpose worth keeping amid all the other emphasis attached to the three-day weekend. >> i came down for the patriots. you know, wanting to be a part of the team. and i'm glad i came. >> this means a lot to me because it is a day that will be honor -- we honor those that made great sacrifices for their country. >> reporter: for paul jones it 'twas first time visit to washington and on memorial day, the vietnam veteran. this national observance here offers something you didn't expect to experience. >> a peace of mind. something i hurt for for many years. but now -- it is hard to say. the reality is seeing everything that i have seen, amazing.

>> reporter: and coming up later, 6:30 on news4, more on today's observances, memorial day. and something about the strong local connection to why we have this holiday in the first place. in northwest, derrick ward, news4. the conditions today giving us our first taste of summer. doug is tracking the temperatures and has the late rest the heat advisory out there right now as our heat index upwards of 95 to 100 across the area. carrent temperature of 89 degrees. winds out of the south at about 13 miles an hour. but this is the number right there. the dew point. any time it is over 60 we talk about being rather humid. over 70 and it feels on the oppressive side. that's exactly what's happening now. current temperatures 91 in baltimore. 90 in gradaithersburg. you get the heat index and this is the way it feels outside. it feels like 96 in washington.

manassas a heat index of 96 degrees. a very hot day. that's why we have the heat advisory across the region for tip 95 corridor and the areas just off to the west, including frederick and also loudoun county and then down towards fauquier county. watch out in these areas throughout the rest of the afternoon. heat advisory goes until 9:00 tonight. could we see it again tomorrow? what about our storm chances? plus i have the latest on tropical depression beryl coming up. right now northern florida and southeastern georgia are getting soaked this memorial day. now tropical debregs beryl made landfall overnight with near hurricane strength winds of 70 miles per hour. along with damaging winds, beryl brought heavy rain and caused flooding for some areas. te ten ss of thousands of people a without power. onlying up tonight at 5:15, we are going to get the latest from the weather channel's mike seidel. he is in jacksonville beach, florida. back here in our area people are finding ways to beat the heat as they enjoy a day off from work and school. julie carey joins us live from view any.

she has details from there. >> reporter: i'm at the vienna festival. this recycling bin at the end of the street tells the tale of how people cope with the heat today. lots and lots of empty bottles of water. in another part of fairfax county a different sort of water provided relief to the scorching temperatures. it wasn't even noon yet in fairfax county's water mine was already at capacity. dozens decided it was worth the wait in a long time to be able to later take the plunge and face the sudden heat wave. >> 90 degrees and it is hot. he's going to love it. >> yeah. i love it. >> reporter: no complaints here as kids slid down water slides and got a bucket full of water dumped on their head or cruised down the lazy river. >> i think it is great. i'm from alaska. i can't handle the hot weather. >> reporter: the water mine

wasn't the only way to stay cool at the park. carousel had breeze if your horse is fast enough. at a nearby picnic area, there was no relief from the heat, though, for brian kim who was preparing korean barbecue for friends and family. are you warm? >> yes. >> free ice cold water. >> reporter: predicted 90-degree plus temperatures did not keep the crowds away from view any. although many picked up free fans as they checked out the vendors. children sailed over the hot asphalt on carnival rides. there were plenty of options for cooling off. shaved ice was a big seller. >> warm winter and now it is may and it is boiling. 93. that's exciting. >> reporter: you don't mind so much? >> no. i'm from puerto rico. the heat is my friend. >> reporter: this visitor from ohio was no counting on weather quite this steamy. she found just the thing to cool off. >> when you heard it would be

90-plus degrees -- >> we have smoothies and we came to find us a hat. >> reporter: what do you think? i think she had a pretty good idea that does the trick. this one is coming back to you. >> all right. >> reporter: julie kaewe julie reporting live. virginia state police are investigating a report of two planes colliding that resulted in one person dead. this happened in the southern section of fauquier county and we have a crew headed to the scene right now. we are going to bring you an update as soon as we get more information. a man from lorton, virginia, is facing charges for a deadly hit-and-run in ocean city. the accident happened around 1:00 this morning. police say that diego was driving his truck when he struck a pedestrian trying to cross coastal highway. he did not stop and witnesses followed him until police caught up with him. the victim died at the hospital. police say the driver was speeding and intoxicated.

opponents of maryland's same-sex marriage laws say that they are getting closer to letting voters decide the issue. a group called the maryland marriage alliance is leading the effort to petition for a referendum. according to "the baltimore sun" the group had to deliver one-third of the 55,000 required signatures by thing thursday. the alliance says it already has half the signatures needed. the gay marriage law will take effect in february if no challenge is successful. lifelong dream quickly turned into a might mayor. hear from the 80-year-old sky diver that slepted e ee eed -- out of her harn necessary mid air. police want to know if animal abuse is connected to a similar attack in fairfax county. high school credit credits his success to the boys and girls club.

we are polling a developing story out of alexandria. fairfax police are investigating a shooting that involved one of their officers. it happened in the 5700 block of

old mill court this morning. pat collins tells us what prompted police to open fire. >> fairfax police say they shot and wounded a man today when he pulled a knife as they were trying to arrest him it happened around noon in that second floor apartment. police were inside trying to arrest the man for destruction of property. they say he produced a knife and then caldwell picks up the story from there. >> the individual opened the door and then the individual at some point produced a knife. and apparently charged the officer. and -- apparently was noncompliant with the officers' orders throughout the discussion. the suspect was shot. >> reporter: in the neighborhood, we are hearing two different stories about the suspect. jaz reads talks about some unusual behavior. >> i think he thought he was a

sheriff of our community here. >> reporter: he wasn't that at all, was he n. >> no. >> reporter: sally lundy says he was a good samaritan. she didn't want her face shown. >> work at nights. he walked me to my car. three times. he was never any danger or anything. you on here doing anything out of the norm. >> this guy over here was ripping off people's antennas and breaking the windshields off. this one i know of. >> reporter: j.r. miller had this reaction. >> surprised me. i wouldn't expect something like that. he always seemed real helpful. was -- seemed like he was always there if you needed something. >> reporter: law enforcement sources say that the suspect is known to police. in fairfax county, i'm pat collins, news4. tony blair testified today at a parliamentary hearing spark bid the uk hacking scandal. blair told the panel had never

challenged the influential british press because doing so would have plunged his administration into a long ask damaging fight. and he said he does not believe his government was the first in history to want to, in his words, put the best possible gloss on everything. the protester burst into the proceedings and called blair a war criminal. security officers quickly removed that protester. later as blair left the proceedings in a convoy of range rovers, protesters threw eggs at the vehicles. once a tropical storm, now a tropical depression. beryl hit jacksonville, florida, at near hurricane strength. no reports of any major damage. tens of thousands remain in the dark. the weather channel's mike seidel has the latest from jacksonville beach, florida. >> reporter: although the worst of beryl is over with on the beaches in northeastern florida, the wind xronts the south. we have seen surfers and kite border has been out here testing his physical prowess with these

winds which are still gusting 25, 30 miles per hour. up off the ocean. and into the air. at times we have seen him go up 15 to 20 feet. that's about the only person in the batter today. ocean rescue guys and gals who have been coming up and down the beach, if they see anybody in the water, even up to their ankles or knees, they say get out of the water. a locht standing water earlier today in jacksonville. eight, nine, ten miles inland to the city, they were hit hard from before sunrise to lunch time. bands of rain rotating around. we missed out on most of the rain. certainly after mid morning on the beaches. we have flash flooding and even had a couple of tornado warnings. nothing was sighted. bottom line, the rain is very, verile with comed. this whole area from here, central and southern georgia and into parts of south carolina. and the worst drought in the nation. the rains put the damper on the drought and also helps out on short-term fire danger. we had a couple of fires here in northern florida over the past week or so. couple of days ago it was very

smokey and near -- in nearby gainesville. a depression. into southeast georgia and heading off the carolina coast wednesday. we will be done with beryl and beaches should be certainly wide open for business as rip currents go way and chances of rain back off appreciably by the middle of the week. i'm meteorologist mike seidel at jacksonville beach. now back to you. >> all right. now to our weather. >> yes. popular day to be outside. very hot. >> you know, the unoffici start of summer is memorial day. why not have the warmest temperatures of the year on the same day? just worked out that way. not only the warm temperatures out there, humidity is out there, too. we are talking about a heat index between 95100 today. that's why we have the heat advisory across much of the area. out there now, you can see was just few fair weather cumulus clouds across the region. men tv of blue sky. nice day as long as you can -- maybe get indoors every how and then and make sure you are on the cooler side of things. with these temperatures you a round that 9 on-degree mark, the

heat index well over 90, current heat index at the airport. dew point of 72. very humid atmosphere. that's the way we will stay for at least the next 24 hours. here's the current numbers. 90 degrees in frederick, leesburg, manassas, fredericksburg. 91 in laplata. 87 along the shores there, chesapeake bay. watch what happens when we add in the dew point. you get the heat index and once again, laplata 100. a very hot afternoon. once again make sure you are drinking plenty of water across the region today and for the day tomorrow because i expect similar numbers tomorrow. storm 4 radar, nothing show you around the immediate area. there are a few showers and thunderstorms back to the west. we are talking about into the mountains. mountains this time of year pretty good focal point for some of the showers and storms. that's where we are seeing those. to the south, it is berl we are watching west of jacksonville now. look at all of this rain.

some locations four to eight inches of rain. some areas pick up as much as a foot of rain out of this. much needed rain in the area. upwards of 20,000 people without power earlier. jacksonville area. that storm itself will move out to sea. it is not going to affect us. we are going to stay humid not only through the day today but through the day tomorrow, too. with a frontal boundary moving our way, i think that will set the stage for good showers and thunderstorms tomorrow. some of those could be on the strong side. maybe even a few severe storms and then we see nice weather moving in ahead of -- or behind our frontal boundary. that front will keep berl out to sea. not affecting us. this evening mostly clear and warm and humid. the heat index around 90. right on through the 7:00 hour tonight. tonight partly cloudy and warm and humid. a very warm start to your tuesday. tuesday afternoon, partly sunny and hot and humid. a few of those will have a few heavy downpours.

temperatures 87 to 92 degrees. here is the next couple of days showing very nice weather once that front moves through, wednesday and thursday, temperatures into the 80s. and then i think we drop it to the 70s. that's actually a little bit below average this time of year. pretty good chance of rain coming up late friday and the day saturday. >> 70s will feel nice. >> yes. more now on our breaking news. virginia state police investigating a report of at least one plane and possibly two could have been involved here in the southern section of fauquier county. >> catherine gellar joins us on the phone. thank you for your time. what we are hearing are two planes collided. what can you tell us? >> at this stage we are trying to determine exactly if and how the two planes collided. we have, though, two planes involved. one plane has been destroyed by pyr fire. the pilot of the second plane has been transported to mary washington hospital in fredericksburg for treatment. >> at this point do you believe it is only these two victims

involved? could there be anyone else in that wreckage? >> that's what we are trying to determine because the one plane has been completely destroyed in flames. we are trying to determine if there are -- if there was anybody else on that plane. >> what can you tell us about the landscape where these planes went down? >> from what i understand, it is pretty wooded. fairly secluded area in that difficult to access, takes us a little bit of time to locate the wreckage. and to get, obviously, crews back in there. and we will be on the scene probably through the night. >> obviously it is very early on in the investigation but any indication as to what might have happened in the air that led to this? >> several calls from people in the area that provided us some inform. we are following up that at this time. >> thank you so much for your time. updating our breaking news out of southern fauquier county. just to recap for you what they believe happened, two planes collided. one of them destroyed by pyre and that pilot determined dead and the other pilot flown to a

trauma center. i went down in a wooded area. they are trying to figure out the cause. >> we will stay on top of this. as soon as we get more information, we have a crew on the way there. >> up want to stay on top of everything by following us online as well at nbcwashington.com. that's where we will continue to update this breaking news throughout the evening. up next on the road to revery. tonight the georgia woman battling a rare flesh-eating bacteria speaks out for the first time since being hospitalized. >> feast your eyes on this. look inside the larger than life xi exhibit. >> coming up in sports, story of an unconventional local wrestling program that is cranking out champions.

welcome back, everybody. now it is time for sports. dan hellie is here to talk about a really unique wrestling

program. >> yeah. good old fashioned wrestling story. this is one of the best we have seen in a while. roman, sean twig and j.j. johnson were all state championship wrestlers in maryland this year. despite going to different high schools they got their start in the same barn. yes, i said barn. more on the wrestling program. one of the best kept secrets around. >> reporter: way from the house and bustle of the city in rural maryland, the days move slower, premium on family values. and the kids learn early in a there is no substitute for an honest day's work. motto stands one of the most successful regimen programs in the state. >> i grew up a farm. it is kind of the same thing. it is hard work. i mean, it is what you have in wrestling. you have to have character to work hard all the time. you have to know when to work

and play. the coach puts that into his wrestlers. >> basic, no frills. hard work. solves everything to a point. and live by that. >> reporter: newspaper clip show no excuses blue-collar mentality translates to sports. >> i was second state two years in a row. junior year and this year i won it. >> reporter: sean twig was part of the first group of kids that joined when it was just getting off the ground. >> pushed me pretty hard when i was here. couple of times i thought about quitting. i can't thank him enough. >> reporter: it was that intense passion and frustration trying to get gym time that pushed the former teacher into the unthinkable four years ago. >> i said i about had it. i had it with the schools and trying to find space. i'm building a room. >> reporter: the result was this

5500 square foot complex at house home. known simply as the barn. >> put a couple of mats down. it is really -- it reflects it. >> reporter: five might a week, developing some of the best wrestlers in the area here. they are also helping to shape a winning mindset. >> it is a means to an end. and there are -- taking life lessons from it and things that will help them in a variety of ways later in their life that have nothing to do with it. >> that's really the essence of our program is the psychological, mental part that we give. you can go anywhere and learn moves. there's a lot of good technicians out there. lot of good teachers. but to get the kids to believe in themselves, you get that from a kid, then it fires you up zble

. >> i hope nobody is planning on wrestling him during football practice because he is going to take them down. that's pretty cool. sue see very off anyguy say i'm really frustrated with the way things are and do something about it and bild a wrestling barn. >> there are so many great stories because the kids say i started in a barn. >> a such a young age. really cool. >> they are so cute. >> yeah. wait until they get big and can knock down. then we will see how cute they are. here's a look at what's coming up next. >> coming up in the next half hour, farm animals attacked. fairfax county police say it is not the first time the park is target. >> a high-tech tool used to keep college students safe. >> skydiving scare. an 80-year-old woman dangles from her harness. tonight she is talking about the terrifying tale in made air. why says she has no regrets.

update on breaking news. plane crash in fauquier county this afternoon. virginia state police tell us the crash involved two planes that went down around 4:00 near silver hill road. one of those planes was destroyed in the crash. the pilot of that plane is dead. >> the pilot of the second plane was taken to washington not in fred rikszbu fredricksburg. now let's fast forward to the weather with doug. i bet you are happy with all that a.c. >> i was outside earlier. it is too hot out there to be out there for any length of time. especially when you are wearing a tie and long sleeves. out there now, current temperatures -- veronica, please, on-air broadcast now. temperatures outside into the 90s. many areas 91 degrees in baltimore. 9 in washington. the heat index is between 95 and

100 across the region. that's why we had the heat advisory in effect until 9:00 tonight. once again watch out out there. make sure you are drinking (ty of wa plenty of water. >> thanks, doug. fairfax county police are trying to figure out who slashed several farm animals at a popular park over the weekend. >> they say it could be connected to a similar attack on three horses last month. darcy spencer reports. >> reporter: hundreds of people were out enjoying this memorial day holiday. riding the carousel, participating in a fun equestrian competition and visiting the farm animals. it is here inside the kidwell barn police are investigating a disturbing and bizarre incident. four animals were slashed by an unknown attacker over the weekend. >> shock for that to happen. especially -- how cute they are. makes you wonder. >> reporter: police say this calf, called henry, scavenger the goat, as well as a baby goat

and a chicken, were cut in the attack. it happened sometime after the barn closed to the public at 5:00 p.m. saturday and when farm hands came to see the animals at 7:00 a.m. on sunday. >> disturbing. it won't stop from us coming out. hopefully they catch them and won't happen again. >> reporter: police are investigating whether the cuttings could be connected to the assault on three horses on adjacent property one month ago. those therapeutic horses used by special needs children suffered deep slashes that took them out of serve. the gentle animals are still recovering from their wounds. >> certainly our detectives will be looking at could it have been the same person. >> reporter: would of the animals are p babies. authorities say they probably came to the attacker hoping to get food. authorities say that the injured animals have been traumatized and they are shying way from people. as you can see, the other animals are doing just fine and are still friendly. the attack on the horses the

authorities say a man has been stumbling around the park earlier but no arrests have been made in either case. all of the animals are expected to recover. >> it is horrible. i mean, they can't defend themselves. that's the worse thing you can possibly do. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news4. students at the university of maryland who want a police escort will no longer have to wait long for an officer to show up. "the washington post" reports the police and you don't know researchers will roll out a flu smartphone app called the escort m program. with a few key strokes students can connect to campus security. a security officer wil monitor their walk in real-time using video and audio from that student's phone. if campus security spots any trouble they can send help. the universi out the program in a pew weeks. annual memorial day tradition rolled lou the streets of rockville today. thousands came out to watch or participate in the city's memorial day parade. >> reporter: for 68 years now

the city of rockville has been paying tribute to the men and women that have given their lives for this country. >> this is our way of honoring them. celebrate family and tradition. and freedom. >> reporter: for grand marshall chris day this memorial day passed new meaning. >> toughest transition to come back and reintegrate ourselves. >> reporter: he served in afghanistan on two tours while attending the university of maryland. now this he graduated he plans to serve in the classroom. >> mentoring soldiers, i like -- in the fork in the road and make a difference in the direction they go in. i believe that middle schoolers are in about the same fork. >> reporter: after the wreeds laying ceremony and 21-gun salute the parade, which included 60 organizations and participants, was off and running. there was candy, cars honking. plenty of four-legged friends. bagpipes and even a dragon.

and what's a parade without a marching band? all different cultures and ethnicities have come out to pay tribute to those that are serving in wars including dancers. dan freeman and his wife said today was an important teaching day for their son. >> he asked us yesterday actually why -- what's memorial day mean. we tried to explain it to him. >> i think people get caught up in the fact it is a holiday and have off but forget what it is really about. >> we need the strength of our military to stand behind us and stand ahead of us. >> a gray opportunity to educate kids about what the holiday is about. it is nice see peel are reflecting. >> yeah. >> marching bands that right idea. the t-shirts and shorts today. >> yeah. definitely a hot one out there. coming up next, beyonce's

big debut. some big names turned out to see her in action. ♪ ♪ i think i want to marry you >> six months of planning. the wedding proposal that's raising the bar for men everywhere.

beyonce wow it is crowd in atlantic city. >> just one of the stories tr d trending online today. ♪ >> break it down. we start with new mom beyonce hitting the stage in atlantic city saturday night. the concert was her first since giving birth in january. beyonce told the crowd she worked really hard to get back shape. >> she said she lost 60 pounds by exercising on the treadmill and eating lettuce. there is a lot of star power off

the stage as well. first lady michelle obama and daughters sasha and malia. >> a photographer says justin bieber roughed him up outside of a los angeles movie theater yesterday. the photographer had just taken pictures of the pop star and his girlfriend. >> witnesses say they watched bieber go after the photographer who went to the hospital complaining of chest pains. the photographer filed a misdemeanor battery report against bieber. >> you filed a report against bieber. >> he wasn't very nice to me in l.a. ♪ ♪ a beautiful night ♪ hey baby ♪ i think i want to marry you >> and the groom to-be is raising the bar for wedding proposals. he got 60 of his friends and family together to dance and sing to the bruno mars song "marry you" before popping the question to his girlfriend amy.

>> he said he spent six months putting the whole thing together. >> always felt like this was men to be. it just feels like this thing was like this perfect little nugget of happiness. i'm very, very lucky. very, very lucky. >> the video caught the attention of bruno mars who congratulated the couple. >> he said he couldn't have made a better music video for the song. >> that was pretty created. >> i know. now he messed over the other guys out there. they have to step it up. >> step it up for the wedding, too. he has been named washington's youth of the year. he has met pro-athletes and even the president. how a local organization helped this teen battle through adversity and achieve his dreams there strange science. we will take you inside the new exhibit at the bo tannic garden. >> playing that for six months? >> what have you done? >> i planned something for six hours. memorable all the way around either way. current heat index 96 in washington. 99 in la plata.

we could see it again tomorrow. something else may come with the heat.

maryland, the holiday weekend is wrapping up and

that's creating headaches for people heading home. this is a live picture near the bay bridge. bumper to bumper. officials are reporting a seven-mile backup before you get to the bridge on route 50. this is going westbound. there was an accident with minor injuries on route 50 near i-97 in glen burnie. all of it has been cleaned up. still very heavy traffic to contend with. some progress to report tonight about a woman in georgia who is fighting a rare flesh-eating bacteria. amy's father wrote on his facebook page his daughter spoke for the first time since she she entered the hospital a few weeks ago. amy got the rare deadly infection after zip line accident. he's lost her left leg, her right foot and both her hands. it is rare to find something that involves death and destruction. it is family friendly. u.s. bo tannic garden in downtown washington open ad new exhibit for the summer called

savage garden. it is perfect for kids. tom sherwood takes us inside. >> the u.s. bo tanntanical gard national mall. plants and displays a world of nature under glass. and then there's this. ki >> what did you think? >> it is interesting. >> i think the key word there was kids. >> reporter: >> we have a great playground for kids. >> reporter: ray says the savage garden exhibit that opened monday will be around until october. dozens of insetting-eating plants. real ones and bigger-than-life displays. to hear what it is about when diejection occurs. digestion occurs. >> every thursday at 1:00 you

can come and watch to see us feeding the plants. >> reporter: volunteer ted really gets into it. >> insettings fall down into the liquid and drown. >> this is pretty violent. >> it is a savage garden. >> reporter: at the u.s. botanic garden, news4. >> the admission is free. >> lot of fun for kids. >> yeah. >> i want to see tom sherwood put his head in that. >> let's go to weather and more on the heat. >> doug is here to let us know how long we have to wait are for relief. >> lot of people saying it is too early to be this hot. it is memorial day weekend. on memorial day it is the unofficial start of summer. right now we are dealing with 96, heat index out there with the current temperature at the

airport of 89 degrees. winds out of the south at 13 miles an hour. any time have you a little bit of a breeze, it does help to keep things on the cool side. make sure have you plenty of water out there. look at rockville. coming in right now at 96 degrees. that's the actual temperature there. an list at 87. back to the west and loudoun county, leesburg, coming in with a temperature there of 90. very, very hot atmosphere. temperatures are one thing. then you add in the heat and -- dew point and talk about the heat index between 95 and 100. here's why we have that heat advisory in effect for most of the region today. storms nothing around i-95 corridor. back to the west towards the mountains, blue ridge and back towards west virginia. further back into ohio. moved out to the south. around portions of north carolina all of this rain as a result of tropical depression beryl. beryl making its way off the west to jacksonville and make its way back out to sea eventually and it will not have a direct impact on us. i think most of that moisture will stay to the south.

as a frontal boundary moves to the south during the day tomorrow. frontal boundary could bring us showers and storms. heads-up for those. overnight low temperatures to 74 in the district overnight. 67 in leesburg. 69 in gaithersburg. very warm and humid morning when you wake up tomorrow morning. look at these highs tomorrow afternoon. about where we were today. temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s. many of the areas heat index once again a problem. 95. good chance of showers and thunderstorms during the day tomorrow. nice on wednesday and thursday. friday high temperature of 78 degrees. and right now the weekend could be a little rainies beshly during the day saturday. sunday right now looking good with a high of 75 degrees. right now the weekend looking to be half and half. we want to come to your backyard or your front yard or we just want to come to your house. send us pictures of your yard to weather@nbcwashington.com. hope reply we can be cooking something up good for you or rather you can be cooking something good for me. we want to come to your house. >> surprise, surprise. you want free food. boys and girls clubs in the

district aim to help youth in our area, grow socially and academically. now the club is recognizing his many achievements. jim handly has more. >> reporter: spend a minute with ryan washington and you will realize he's not your average teenager. the gonzaga high school sophomore is already in the company of celebrities. and heads of state like president obama. but ryan didn't get where he is today without some adversity. the 17 year old is the oldest of five children and life was than easy. >> growing up, i came from a single-parent household. my father was not present. i would say the club filled that void not having a father at home and kind of was like that role model i could look up to. >> reporter: ryan's mother was looking for safe haven where kids could go while she was at work. she found the boys and girls club of greater washington. >> boys and girls club kind of

took a burden off my mom's shoulders. she didn't have to worry about where we were. >> reporter: this place has been a constant for ryan. because of his hard work his academic success and the club's view of his moral character, he received washington's youth of the year award. he will also represent the club on a regional level as he competes for scholarship money. >> i'm excited to, you know, be a voice and advocate for what kids like me, you know, go through on a daily basis. >> reporter: the program director in southeast says the programs help kids like ryan learn lifelong principles. >> the boys and girls club has always been a place you can come and get exposure and sclern have support. come and just develop more every day. socially, mentally, educationally. he is one of our valued members here. >> reporter: ryan wants to study

political science in college. senate majority leader harry reid offered him a page position this summer in the u.s. senate. he says he never would have had the know-how to apply for that without the boys and girls club. >> i would say just -- be comfortable with who you are and hope for the best. >> reporter: in washington, jim handly, news4. >> success story so young. >> yeah. good luck to him. still ahead, another missed opportunity years after a 6-year-old boy vanishes on his way to school. >> skydiving scare involving an 80-year-old woman. the whole thing caught on tape.

the man charged in the murder of 6-year-old etan patz reportedly confessed to his church prayer group decades ago. no one called police. the suspect was 18 years old at

the time of the crime. 33 years ago. his lawyer says he has a history of mental illness. legal experts say investigators will need more than that to investigate the case. it is latest viral video and enough to make you cringe. >> an 80-year-old's attempt to go skydiving goes terribly wrong. >> kristen dahlgren has our report. >> reporter: it started as a lifelong dream. >> something you always wanted to do? >> for years. >> reporter: laverne wanted to go skydiving. >> whose idea was this? >> what's the reason? >> i just turned 80. >> reporter: what happened next could have made that birthday her last. as she fell through the air in a tandem sky dive, everett somehow slipped from her harness. >> i think i knew something was kind of not right. but i didn't know it was as bad as it was. so to speak. >> reporter: as she dangled from

the strap the 80-year-old couldn't see a thing. >> my clothes was up over my face. >> reporter: videographer tried to get close enough to help the instructor but as the pair tumbled there was nothing anyone else could do. everett is still hanging as they finally touched down. >> hold on. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: one year after the fall, the video has gone viral. but the now 81-year-old everett says she has no hard feelings. >> i'm not sorry i did it. >> reporter: as for questions as the video appears to show her changing her mind about the judgment and pushed out of the plane, she said her knees went out right before she jump. >> he helped me and gave me a little boost with his feet. he did that. he knew how bad i wanted to do it. >> reporter: the faa is now looking into the incident. and confirms it proposed over $900,000 in unrelated fines for

the northern california parachute center in the last two years. those cases are still pending. nbc news reached out to parachute center owner bill dowd who would only say about everett's jump, no one got injured and the landing was fine. as for the daring senior, she says she has no plans to sue. >> i signed a waiver. i respect that. >> reporter: besides she is too busy planning her next adventure. >> probably going in a race car. i think maybe that's my next thing. >> reporter: hopefully buckled up a little tighter this time. >> my heart is pumping out of my chest watching that. >> reporter: a braver woman than me. she is a wild woman. she had a zebra rug in her house. breaking news on a deadly plane crash. i can tell you sending our troops into harm's way is the moss wrenching decision i have to make.