on this thursday night, the manhunt from d.c. to new york, a huge break in the shocking family murder mystery has leftover pizza inside the home puts police hot on the trail of the suspected killer. a state of emergency declared amid a frantic race to clean up all the oil in californ the officer gunned down the day before she was to bring her newborn home from the hospital. the family and the city left reeling from an awful tragedy. the world treasure in the hands of isis. amid fears these ancient ruins could be destroyed and risk factors, testing for your baby's health earlier than ever but can those prenatal genetic tests be trusted. one couple warns of a tragic decision they nearly made. one couple warns of the tragic

decision "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc world headquarters in new york, "nbc nightly news," lester holt. good evening, a big break in the family murder mystery in washington, d.c. we have been telling you about the last several nights. tonight, police from washington to new york are on the trail of a 34-year-old man suspected of holding an affluent couple, their young son and housekeeper hostage before killing them leaving their bodies in the family's burning mansion. the break right out of a csi episode. a pizza crust and a dna match, how police did it in a moment. first, the suspect. a man with an apparent previous connection knew his alleged victims. peter alexander is on the story. peter? >> reporter: lester, good evening. police say the suspect in these vicious murders is a former employee of savvas savopoulos' iron company. one of the suspect's relatives

was fired from that company. police say the suspect is armed and dangerous. his whereabouts unknown. a major break in a horrific crime. detectives matched dna from pizza crust found in the savopoulos family mansion to daron dylon wint suspected in the murders. the 34-year-old maryland man wanted for first-degree murder may be hiding in new york after taking a bus to see his girlfriend after leaving her apartment early this morning. >> it does not appear this was a random crime but there is a connection through the business of the suspect. >> reporter: savvas savopoulos was ceo of american iron works where police say wint once worked. the murder suspect has a criminal record. in 2010 wint was arrested outside american iron carrying a two-foot long machete.

weapons charges were dropped after he pleaded to containing an open container of alcohol. >> reporter: do you believe there were multiple suspects or that wint was acting alone? >> we have not ruled out there was others involved. i can't comment beyond that. >> reporter: the terrifying ordeal began last week, his wife, son and housekeeper all held captive inside. a clerk tells nbc news that they delivered pizza to the mansion that night unaware there were four hostages there bound and threatened. the next morning, his assistant delivered a package with $30,000 to the home. police believe the victims were killed and the house set on fire. sources say the fire was on the secretary floor in 10-year-old philip's bedroom. the adults found nearby beaten and stabbed. police say this surveillance video shows wint running away to where detectives found their porsche abandoned and torched

near the suspect's last known address in maryland. peter alexander, washington. >> reporter: this is tom costello. they say dna technology has come a long way since the o.j. simpson trial in 1995. today, they can get a match from a sample as smalls a fingernail or smaller. at the forensics lab in maryland, they test 2000 samples and dna has a long shelf life. >> it could last for a very long time. >> are we talking days, weeks months. >> a criminal can leave dna evidence at a crime scene without knowing it. skin cells left on a gas can, saliva sells on a wine bottle, blood, saliva and other bodily fluids. they recovered dna on a pizza crust to identify the suspect. >> when you take a sip of something or you bite something, you are leaving saliva and your dna on that sample. typically, there will be a lot

of dna in that. >> reporter: forensics experts say all they need is a sample that would fit on the end of a cotton swab. the chances that two people would share the same dna, 1 in several billion. the national dna database contains more than 11.6 million dna profiles from convicted felons and another 2 million profiles from suspects that have been arrested. when dna is identified, it is often entered into the fba's combined dna index system or codis. if the codis software finds dna match anywhere in the country, police can identify a suspect. cutting edge technology that is changing the way police identify and track down violent criminals. tom costello, nbc news. tonight, the governor of california has declared a state of emergency as crews race to clean up tens of thousands of gallons of oil that gushed into the waters off some of the most pristine shoreline in america when an underground pipe burst near santa barbara. tonight, nbc's miguel almaguer has a new view that reveals the

scope of the damage from the air. >> reporter: lester, good evening. this is one of the most spectacular, one of the most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the world. tonight, from 500 feet above the pacific ocean, you can see this area is clearly stained with oil. so far, the impact to wildlife has been mostly minimal but you have to keep in mind this oil spill is only a few days old. environmentalists say the true impact on not just the environment but animals will take several days, if not weeks, to be realized. there is hope tonight that the weather is helping the cleanup. the waves and the wind have been relatively calm, keeping this oil mostly intact. it is certainly going to take some time to clean up the mess. so this spill wasn't a massive one. the impact on the environment may take months, if not years, to be realized. i'm miguel almaguer, 500 feet above the coastline. now, to my colleague, howie jackson, who is on the ground.

>> reporter: today, a new vantage point from offshore looking toward where the oil spilled into the pacific from this culvert, a focus of the cleanup. both set booms to contain and absorb the spill as it gets bigger. >> i see a big mess. we are fortunate the spill was contained rather quickly but oil did get into the ocean. >> reporter: a sea lion swims through the slick and on land, we are there as another is brought in. this is the first sea lion we have seen that may have been affected by the oil spill. crews will be transporting it to a stabilization center so they can look at how healthy it is and how to help it recover. some animals discovered dead but rescuers are hoping to save at least five pelicans they found. >> i anticipate we will start seeing more. >> reporter: the spill raising questions about the company that owns the pipeline that burst tuesday, plains all american. federal records show 175 safety

incidents reported since 2006 causing nearly $24 million worth of property damage. >> reporter: is your company safe enough? >> again, we have a very detailed audit. we consider ourselves very prudent operators. >> reporter: the company says it is committed to doing the right thing in this cleanup. the spill is the first major problem with this pipeline since 1987. as much as 105 thousand gallons of oil leaked, a fraction of the "exxon valdez" spill 11 million gallons and the deepwater horizon, 134 million gallons. this isn't a gulf size spill by any means but it has wrecked the place. >> reporter: the cleanup has moved into a 24-7 operation with crews recovering 8,000 gallons of oily water so far. still, a ways to go to get the beach looking like it normally does. postcard perfect.

>> halle, thank you. there are reports that isis has seized syria's last border crossing with iraq. isis now controls half of syria. territory which as of tonight includes a city of ancient treasures where isis is on the brink of erasing history. we get more from nbc's chief foreign corresondent richard ingle. >> reporter: another city fallen to isis. this time, it was syrian government troops who ran away as isis stormed into palmira. it isn't just another town but has lucrative oil and grass and a cradle of western civilization, about to be robbed. palmyra had majestic ancient ruins, a preserved 2000-year-old roman city preserved. isis has promised to bulldoze it like it razed archaeological treasures in iraq, nimrod and

mosul. they believe these idols of pagan empires need to be eradicated. historians say it is a culture genocide. >> if we use palmyra, we use one of the top cultural sites in the middle east. watching isis' intentional destruction and blatant encouragement of looting at archaeological and cultural sites throughout their held regions has been devastating. >> reporter: it is not getting better. after taking the key city of ramadi in iraq last weekend, the terrorist sanctuary across syrian iraq is now larger than a small european country. the world awaits, expect horrible images to come from palmyra. more death and culture being erased. >> in an interview published today, the president says he does not think the u.s. is losing the war on isis and described the recent loss of ramadi as a tactical setback but military analysts and officials i have been speaking with say

the current u.s. strategy isn't working. >> richard, thank you very much. tonight, police in omaha, nebraska, are mourning the loss of one of their own, a police officer who recently became a mother for the first time. she was only a day away from taking a leave to be with a leave with her new baby until a confrontation put her in the line of fire. nbc kevin tibbles has the tragic story. >> reporter: it was wednesday when officer kerry irasco, a seven-year veteran of the omaha police force, was shooting a warrant when the shooting began. she was shot and rushed to the nearest trauma center. doctors were unable to save her. police were attempting to arrest 26-year-old marcus wheeler, who they say was a known gang member on assault charges. he was also killed in the shootout with his semi-automatic handgun by his side. one of her partners remembers her. >> she just saw people for who they were. the great thing was, she saw the good in all people. >> reporter: her service went

far beyond the police force. she coached baseball and volunteered her time with the girl scouts and the special olympics. celebrating the birth of her first child, a girl born prematurely, she and her husband were going to bring baby olivia ruth home. she also had two young stepchildren. outside omaha police headquarters came all day, many strangers to pay respects. >> i have four kids. for them to have to miss their mom, it is awful. >> we knew she was present when she was there. >> reporter: on a downtown street, army veteran, ron ferguson, stood alone in tribute. >> sad. she lived a life for others and we'll all be together someday. >> reporter: officer kerrie orozco name will become the 25th engraved on a monument for those

that have lost their lives in the line of duty. late word from baltimore where the state attorney says all six police officers charged in the death of freddie gray have been indicted by a grand jury. his death set off days of protest last month. prosecutors say his neck was broken during an arrest when he was handcuffed, shackled and placed head-first into a police van without a seat belt. he died a week later. still ahead, a warning about a new generation of pre-natal tests. everyone wants to know the health of their unborn baby. new tests promise results earlier than ever. what if those results are wrong. we all enter this world with a shout and we see no reason to stop. so cvs health is creating industry-leading programs and tools that help people stay on medicines as their doctors prescribed. it could help save tens of thousands of lives every year. and that would be something worth shouting about. cvs health, because health is everything.

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we are back with an eye opening report in our special series "would you want to know" about the new medical testing in dna. tonight, a closer look at the new kind of genetic test given to pregnant women to check the health of their unborn baby. a simple blood tests promises more accurate results earlier than ever. there are growing concerns these tests have been oversold and misunderstood. our national correspondent, kate snow, reports. >> reporter: when stacy and lincoln chapman were expecting their first child, her doctor's office recommended a new blood test to check her unborn baby's dna. then, stacy's doctor called for terrible news. the test was positive for something called edwards syndrome. she explained to me if the baby did survive to full term, he

wouldn't last. he would survive maybe hours, maybe days. >> reporter: you must have been devastated? >> uh-huh, totally devastated. >> reporter: they made an appointment to terminate the pregnancy the very next day. >> we didn't want the baby to suffer. >> reporter: that night the doctor called back and suggested they should wait and after eight long weeks stacy had an amniocentesis. and an even bigger shock, her unborn baby was fine. >> i still didn't believe it. i just didn't know what to believe anymore. i knew but i was afraid to believe it. >> reporter: how long did it take you to believe? >> until they put him in my arms and they lifted him and showed him up above the screen. i just couldn't believe he was ours. >> reporter: these prenatal dna tests given as early as ten weeks are marketed for their accuracy. the maker of the test stacy used said in high risk women a positive result for edwards syndrome is right 97.6% of the time.

several recent medical studies and investigation casts doubt on the reliability of prenatal dna testings when they have a positive result for a disease. a study last year found a positive result on one popular test not the one stacy used could be wrong more than half of the time. leading ob/gyn dr. michael green said tests like stacy took are looking for the risk of disease, not actually diagnosing that a child will be born with it. >> reporter: before a woman makes an irrevokable decision, she shouldn't make it based only on the screening test. it must be made on the diagnostic test result. >> reporter: the maker of the test stacy took agrees it is not a replacement for a diagnostic test. other manufacturers recommend women have genetic counseling and the results be confirmed. stacy and lincoln's boy, sam, is a happy, healthy, 18-month-old.

>> reporter: do you think about what might have happened? >> from time to time when he is playing or he does something funny. we'll say, can you believe this? >> reporter: the sweet face of a little boy showing the limits of the brave new world of genetic testing. kate snow, nbc news, providence, rhode island. we're back in a moment with the changes coming to an old family favorite, which is also the source of a lot of family arguments. lso we live in a pick and choose world. choose choose choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter sleep number...don't miss the memorial day special edition mattress with sleepiq technology. sleepiq tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store. save $500 on the memorial day special edition mattress with sleepiq, plus 36-month special financing. ends monday! know better sleep with sleep number.

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narrator: puerto rico's healthcare system is on life support, putting three and a half million puerto ricans at risk. it's an outrage. puerto ricans are us citizens and pay the same medicare taxes, but receive only half the federal healthcare funding as the other 50 states. the headlines tell the story... woman: "unfair treatment from washington." man: "thousands without medications." woman: "it's a crisis that could imperil the whole economy." narartor: washington must act now to protect care for three and a half million u.s. citizens. before it's too late. the national president of the boy scouts, former defense secretary, robert gates, says the organization's longstanding ban on openly gay scout leaders is no longer sustainable and called for a change in policy. just two years ago, the boy scouts ended the ban on openly gay youth as scouts but left the adult ban in place. domestic violence charges have been dismissed against former baltimore ravens player, ray rice, caught on tape

punching his future wife. at a new jersey casino. a judge signed after after he completed a pre-trial intervention program permitted in less than 1% of cases in new jersey. under the program, rice underwent anger management counseling and paid $125 in fines. some news that is frankly kind of ridic. you might need a teenager to fully get it. the scrabble dictionary is adding 6500 new words including vape, emoji, and hashtag and ridic, short for ridiculous and also you can continue to make words up like the rest of us. why so many are wearing red noses this year. clowning around for a good cause. hey, how you doin'? it hurts. this is what it can be like to have shingles, a painful, blistering rash.

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changes in urination and runny nose. ♪do the walk of life♪ ♪yeah, you do the walk of life♪ need to lower your blood sugar? ask your doctor about farxiga. and visit our website to learn how you may be able to get every month free. maybe you have noticed recently a lot of famous faces sporting red noses, all because of red nose day, a special event airing on nbc featuring a parade of stars having a laugh for charities, including one that helped save the life of a young man you are about to meet. joe pryor has his story. >> reporter: if this

run-of-the-mill junior football varsity practice seems unusually riveting to the family of 15-year-old efron gonzalez, stop and consider what nearly slipped through their hands. >> when you almost lose your child, it changes everything. >> reporter: here, along the desolate desert grasslands of southeast arizona, medical care for kids was once scarce until a few years ago when a big, blue stranger pulled into town. dr. darlene milk now travels in a mobile clinic run by childrens health fund. >> i love feeling like i'm in a place where not many people want to be, that there is something that i can do that makes a difference. >> reporter: no one is turned away including efron's family in 2012 when they had no health insurance and he became very ill. >> we literally were holding him up to walk to register in when

she peeked out the window and she said, what's wrong? >> reporter: did you pretty quickly know what might be the wrong problem? >> reporter: the doctor diagnosed efron with diabetes and knew he had to get to a hospital immediately. >> i was weak, scared, just like my body was shutting down on me. >> reporter: his family rushed him to an emergency room 75 miles away just in time. >> without the mobile clinic, he would have gone into a coma and i don't want to say what the outcome would have been. >> reporter: efron is grateful for that doctor's office on wheels and now hopes red nose day will raise enough money to put more mobile clinics in places that need them. >> you never know what could happen. it saved my life. >> reporter: these days, it is not just the clinic that's going places. joe pryor, nbc news, douglas, arizona. the red nose day special event with hosts, seth meyers,

david duchovny and jane krukowski airs tonight. that's going to do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for us of us at "nbc news" thank you for watching

lights camera access. >> look at that kid. i love you both. >> two big reasons r