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breaking news. >> a jumbo jet is missing with more than 200 people on board. >> malaysia airlines says it lost contact with one of its boeing 777s similar to this one about ten hours ago, and we have just learned that four americans, including an infant were on board. >> that plane left kuala lumpur, malaysia early saturday morning local time on its way to beijing. >> all communication was lost about two hours into the flight, and now a frantic search is under way. nbc's tom costello has the latest from our washington bureau. >> reporter: good evening. this was malaysia airlines flight 370, a 777 with 239 passengers and crew monies board, including we're now told four americans, one of them an infant. this plane was flying from kuala lumpur to beijing on an early saturday morning flight local time. two hours into the flight, malaysia airlines says it lost contact with the plane. the plane should have been in vietnamese airspace at that point in the flight. china says the flight never entered its space.

chinese tv says there are no reports of a crash in chinese waters. but search and rescue teams are launching at this hour. malaysia airlines tells nbc news that its thoughts and prayers are with all the affected passengers and crewmembers and their families members. all told they represent 14 different nationalities. four americans, a malaysia airlines 777 disappear thoing o this flight the red-eye flight saturday morning. rescue teams launching. this would be the second fatal crash involving a 777 in just the last year. we had the 777 crash involving an asian that flight at san francisco last july. investigators belief that was most likely the result of pilot error. we still don't know what happened to this flight, missing out of malaysia. i'm tom costello, back to you you guys. >> as tom said, the boeing 777 is the same type of plane that crashed in san francisco last july, but it's also considered one of the safest planes in the

sky. aviation experts say many of the safety features on board likely saved lives when asiana flight 214 crashed on landing. the model has fire resistant interiors and stronger seats that help during impact. the asiana crash was the first deadly accident involving a boeing 777. more breaking news now. the search for a missing maryland girl and her father is over. caitlyn and timothy virts have been found at a hotel in florence, south carolina. that's more than 400 miles from where caitlyn was taken from her home this dundalk in baltimore county. caitlyn appears to be okay. police say the expansion of the amber alert nationwide appears to have helped them locate the father and daughter. timothy virts took caitlyn from her home yesterday. he is also charged with the death of caitlyn's mother. we're also learning more tonight about the teenad driver behind the wheel of a violent and deadly crash on capitol hill. hunter hairies was from mclane,

virginia. shomari stone is live on capitol hill with the reaction to the crash and the latest on the investigation. shomari? >> reporter: good evening. tonight d.c. police are still investigating what exactly led up to this crash. barricades now sit where the teen hit the flower planter, flying into the tree. people who live nearby told me they heard the crash. >> it's heartbreaking, completely heartbreaking. >> reporter: tonight judy is saddened. 19-year-old hunter harries died in this horrific crash. judy lives across the street. >> i heard the noise, and i sort of jumped up and looked out my bedroom window, which is the second story. and i actually county make sense of what i was seeing at first. >> reporter: hunter's neighbors in mclane, virginia describe him as a nice, smart teen with a great personality. police say he was speeding in a bmw suv, hitting the flower planter made of steel and flew

in the area, coming to a stop vertically against the tree at south capitol and d street southeast. he goes to school at rawlins college in florida. the vice president for student affairs released a written statement saying dear rollins community, i am deeply saddened to share with you that we have recently learned that hunter harries, one of our students was in a car accident and passed away. our thoughts and prayers are where the harries family and friends during this difficult time. >> i said to my daughter the horrible thing about this is someone is getting a knock at the door, the thing that no mom wants to get. >> reporter: and tonight i talked to a d.c. police spokesperson. he tell that's a toxicology report will determine if hunter was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. the medical examiner will conduct an autopsy. live in southeast d.c., i'm shomari stone, news4. new video tonight at 11, d.c. police release these pictures of two men suspected of

trying to sexual assault and rob a woman on wednesday night. she was attacked on georgia avenue near geranium street, but a surveillance camera in the area recorded pictures of both men. crime solvers is offering a $1,000 reward for help that leads to a conviction. hundreds of parents packed into a volunteer firehouse in southern maryland tonight to learn about a growing statewide threat. deaths from heroin overdoses are on the rise. news4's dorothy spencer spoke to a mother who is sharing her story for the first time, hoping to save other parents from heartbreak. >> every day just get up and -- his car is out front. i look at it and horrible. >> reporter: it's been six months since terry haffar lost her son to a heroin overdose. >> you just don't pick it up and use. they know because it will kill you. >> reporter: 20-year-old steven haffar, a volunteer firefighter in st. mary's county started abusing prescription painkillers

after he lost his girlfriend. >> his girlfriend was killed in a car accident three years ago, and he was a first responder to the car accident. he went to pills for painkillers to relieve the pain. >> reporter: eventually, haffar got clean. but then in september in ocean city, he overdosed on heroin. he was in a coma for ten days before he died. >> there was just nothing that anybody could do to keep him alive. >> reporter: haffar broke down as she shared her story with hundreds of people at the first ever drug summit in st. mary's county. it was organized to educate parents about the rising threat of pills and heroin abuse. here in st. mary's county, seven people died last year after overdosing on heroin or prescription drugs. and so far this year, three people have died after ingesting heroin. >> it's about educating parents, their children understanding what the resources are, the treatments available, and educating people to make good choices. >> reporter: haffar says she

hopes other parents will learn the signs that their kids are using heroin. >> you can't blame them, because once they start doing it, it's like a demon. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news4. a d.c. firefighter is charged with prescription drug fraud in st. mary's county. his arrest comes after others has led the department to check up on all its firefighters. investigators say henry dentfield filled a fake prescription at a pharmacy in st. mary's county. police arrested dent in uniform, and then discovered dozens of pain kills and 18 fake prescriptions. investigators say they don't know if he intended to sell them. >> we do search and seizure warrants on some items we recovered from the vehicle, electronic items. i think it's going to give us a good idea. >> dent is the 13th d.c. firefighter arrested in the past six months on everything from dwi to assault. firefighters required to notify the department if they're arrested. but the chief is now running background checks to make sure nothing is going unreported.

that's not the only problem that fire chief kenneth ellerbe is facing tonight. at a d.c. council hearing today, a retiring deputy chief accused ellerbe of creating a culture of fear and intimidation in the department. kevin burn blamed that culture for contributing to firefighters' failure to help a man who had collapsed outside a fire station and who later died. burns says they are afraid of being disciplined for breaking protocol. chief ellerbe says he was taken aback by the comments, and he says he has tried to be fair with discipline in the department. tonight the fbi is helping alexandria police collect and investigate all the new tips coming in about three high profile murders that may be connected. but there are also questions about whether alexandria police did enough to protect the community. when ron kirby was killed in november, investigators said there was no larger threat. now some residents are asking if police jumped to that conclusion too quickly. general assembly is divided on

whether to expand medicaid eligibility to 400,000 low income residents in virginia. today mcauliffe told republican leaders who oppose the medicaid expansion he wants them to return home and hear what their constituents think. julie carey will be in richmond tomorrow for the last scheduled day of the session. look for her coverage tomorrow on "news4 at 6" and 11. >> we have better news ahead? >> finally i think we're going to string a couple of nice days together. it's been hard to come by. the nice days in a row, yeah, we'll get a couple this time. tomorrow looking really nice. still a little brisk for sure. we've got that wind still up there around 10, 15 miles per hour. that is ushering in some cooler air. and tonight's a cool night. at least we're seeing some clearing skies. and really, it's been a very nice night, if you have been looking outside, looking at the stars and the moon a little earlier. 37 degrees. but there is that wind, north at 12 miles per hour. that puts our windchill in the upper 20s.