>> see what is happening this instant, from the raleigh eyewitness news center, abc 11 eyewitness news starts right now. joel: we start with tonight's i-team report. a frustrated wake county mom was to get it handicapped accessible vehicle she paid for in full. andrea: after waiting months, she got in touch with diane wilson.

what was supposed to take two months took six months. we are not talking about -- this handicap accessible vehicle is in need for this young man. aaron suffers from muscular dystrophy and getting around is becoming difficult. >> it is harder and harder for him to slide in and out of the car. and harder and harder for me to lift up his scooter. diane: after years of researching, his mom found a handicap accessible via call that works for him to she went to this business and inside the sales rep told her all about altering conversion. >> we have a of suv - a new line of suv we can do. they had modified it. diane: she bought a brand-new chevy traverse. in july she drove it all the way to headquarters in indiana. and put down five grand so they

she said it was supposed to take six weeks. >> we'll get the fuel tank and he will take a week to two tops after that. diane: with being told were was a must on, the state -- paid atc the remaining $15,000 owed. despite being paid in full, the suv still wasn't done. >> i want to see a picture of my vehicle. you say there is a fuel tank. you say you have done stop. i want to see what you have done. they sent me three pictures of other vehicles. those aren't mine. diane: laurie sent police over to indiana who took these pictures and discovered -- > it was sitting in the same spot where i parked it outside with nothing done to it. from july to october 12, it sat. they kept saying it was 90% done.

>> steve, the owner, e-mailed me and said, i want to give you that $2000 if you want me to and we will start it tomorrow. diane; : laurie was then told it would be done within two weeks. when it was not, she got in touch with me. >> very frustrated because you trust somebody. i totally trusted them. on my $28,000 vehicle. and we are sitting here. i have no car. diane: the owner admitted to the many delays and said parts created several opted -- several obstacles. he did offer to buy back the vehicle and refund or the $20,000. but laurie opted to stick with atc. it is not a want. we need it. diane: it still took a few more delays but finally.

laurie and aaron finely half what they had been waiting six months for. >> he really likes it because he can drive right in. diane: a relief. >> we are very happy with the vehicle. diane: the owner says he understands her frustrations and because of the long delay, he did refund her $5,000 of that 20,000. she said that did help a lot. joel: this is her son's life waiting in limbo. thank you. if you have a consumer complaint or you need the troubleshooter to get involved. send an e-mail. or reach out on twitter. or on facebook. now to stories from our news or.

health officials reporting a fight in sexually transmitted diseases and wake county. andrea: an update and how you can help the rescue mission get ready for its annual easter basket giveaway. 700 animals now ready for adoption and it will not cost you any money. but first, from our newsroom, a public health crisis in wake county. health officials are alerting parents and medical providers alike the number of syphilis cases is at a 15 year high. officials say social media dating apps played a role in many cases. dr. ledford describes the symptoms as hard to ignore. >>e staggering numbers coming into the public health department as the number of syphilis cases have climbed to a 15 year high.

them men, ranging in age from 15 to 64 were diagnosed with syphilis. like any std, it is more easily spread through risky behavior. but data show -- >> between people who meet online or through social media is driving this upward trend of an std easily treated with antibiotics but dangerous when left untreated. in wake county more than half of those with syphilis also have hiv. >> when there is disease in the community, it could impact children and it could cause permanent neurological issues and other transmission of hiv. then it becomes a problem for all of us. reporter: education and testing, she is calling a medical provides is to recognize the outbreak at an epidemic level.

syphilis is so many years that sometimes they are missing the diagnosis. reporter: for that reason, the wake county health department is offering free syphilis training to medical providers next tuesday. there is a link with more information on the home page of our website -- abc11.com. joel: forom our durham news and. -- news room. the durham rescue mission says it is now closer to reaching its goal of 1500 easter a basket. putting out an appeal to the community, durham rescue officials say they have 500 and 11 baskets. -- 511 baskets. the summit church has promised another 350 baskets. that brings the total to 911, but if you would like to donate a basket or just money contact the durham rescue mission. andrea: another together heartwarming story. it is adoption day for more than

a photojournalist capturing some of the sights and sounds there as families became proud pet owners. >> they had a ton of people here. great to see all these animals get good homes. >> we opened up at 10:00 this morning. we had people lining up as early as 6:30 this morning. just encourage people to come out this afternoon. we will be out here tomorrow morning. help them find the perfect pet for their family. been a gre of these animals are going home, which is the ultimate goal. andrea: the huge adoption event will continue through sunday at 2212 nasau street in sanford. -- at 2215 nasau street.

bring a photo i.d proof of your address and a pet carrier. ., there is no adoption fee. all this information and much more can be found on the homepage of abc11.com. joel: we remember reporting on this story from the date was breaking news. it was so tragic and it is turning around. a feel good story now. still ahead, a north carolina woman the victim of a carjacking in her own driveway. andrea: thanks to a nearby school bus she was able to quickly get help. that is one of the stories making headlines across the state. joel: americans will shell out more cash this year for candy on easter than halloween. they do on -- the new figures on record-setting spending. tisha: trying a police officer on the other side of the law. why the officer is facing charges tonight. an investigation under way in wake county. this man has been missing for a week.

them home safely. still number one. the wake county town has learnt it is north carolina's most

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joel: gas prices are going up. drivers paying 25 cents more at the pump. pushing prices closer to $2.00. the national averages $1.97. before you start feeling too bad, we were paying $2.42 a gallon a year ago. blame higher u.s. oil prices for that uptick. andrea: uber drivers need to

to pick up passengers. the san francisco-based company it would not be possible for uber to operated a ventas airport under those requirement. officials at the international airport in atlanta said earlier this month the road working towards allowing curbside pickup for uber. easter arrives a little early this year. a week from this sunday. joel: according to the national retail federation, spending is expected to reach, get this, $17.3 billion. those celebrating plan to spend on average $146 per person, the highest level in the 13 years the survey has been conducted. according to the report consumers will spend a half billion dollars on food, $3 billion on clothing and $2.7 bil lion -- on easter candy and $1.2 billion on flowers.

marshmallow ducks. andrea: quite an easter a kind. firefighters are working hard to contain a wildfire burning on the north carolina coast. joel: a mother facing charges tonight. she is accused of keeping her three children out of school for more than three years. back in two - minutes. i don't want to live with the uncertainties of hep c.

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andrea: a woman is the victim of a carjacking in her own driveway. joel: a mom accused of not sending her three children to school for three years. a wildfire on the coast giving firefighters busy. andrea: we begin in hickory with an arrest and a carjacking after a brief manhunt.

carjack a woman in her driveway around 8:30 this morning. looking for help, she jumped onto a nearby school bus. a swat team was training nearby. and police were quickly able to catch the man and arrest him. his name is not been released. joel: tonight in gaston county, a mother in jail accused of keeping her three children out of school for more than three years. police say jennifer -- kept her kids, ages 10, 13 and 15 from attending school and listen to this -- the school was within walking distance of their home. school officials are working to get those kids back into class but the transition may not be easy since they are now three years behind. andrea: neighbors living and one in hickory community are not leaving their homes without umbrellas, helmets or rakes, items they are using to protect themselves from hawks attacking

north carolina wildlife officials say the hawks have lia aid their eggs and are taking turns protecting the nest. this is the sixth year they return to northeast hickory but because hawks are federally protected, they cannot be harmed. joel: in carterette county several hundred acres of the national forest are on fire. the u.s. forest service says the fire is burning in the national forest. the fire is between highway 24, mills road and kringle road. the north carolina forest service is helping to contain hotshot crew. they estimate the wildfire will grow to 1300 acres before they

andrea: the hardest thing she has ever done. she says she is super excited about it. andrea: you can tell. joel: my co-anchor anna will bring us a look at the last minute rehearsals, the interviews and also -- what our sweepstakes winner is premiere. and twitter. you remember a couple years ago, she was a part of "dancing like the stars." andrea: i think you could give ginerger some tips. you have a resume. joel: maybe dancing in the rain this weekend. chris: if you are outside you

it will be moving in as we head to tomorrow, especially the second half of the day. by midday, could be a little bit wet. the timing of the rain keeps getting pushed up. dry this evening. nice friday, day after st. patrick's day. you may want to grab a jacket. it will follow to the 50's by 11:00. has not been that cool in a while. a little bit on the chilly side this evening. look at fayetteville. beautiful blue skies. atop husk hardware. 73 degrees. it will come back. 71 officially at the airport. thea air mass ids dry. temperatures will fall quickly once the sun goes down. oxford and henderson in the upper 60's. 70 at louisburg. fayetteville 74. 73 in clinton. everybody in the low to mid 70's across the sandhills.

hike was increasing down to the south. they will be rolling and later on this evening. the moisture is still a pretty good distance away. parts of missouri and especially over the deep south, there are showers and strong to severe storms. the severe weather threat is zero for us. but the rain threat, that is what is high as that moisture make his way to the north and now these. heading out tomorrow morning, around 7:00 a.m., in the upper 40's. the 50's at noon. dries you start. -- mid 50's at noon. rain beginning to build into the region from the southwest. into the afternoon. temperatures will level off in the mid-50's around midday. could get above 60 across the sand hills. once the rain starts it will probably start to fall temperaturewise, too. here is our predictor. 8:00 through about 9:00, do not think we will see any rain. some light rain scattered about through the midday hour.

mostly light rain, maybe one or two spots of moderate rain. maybe a break or two during the late afternoon, early evening but the rain rolls back in across the region. overall, damp injury tomorrow afternoon into sunday. sunday morning still fairly widespread rain through the morning hours. then into the afternoon, the rain begins to lift out, patches of rain midday. by afternoon very little in the way of rain, except or a patch or two here and there. the clouds do not go away. it is going to stay overcast. we are not going to see any sunshine to the weekend. temperatures on sunday even cooler. some areas will stay in the 40's for highs. rainfall amounts not going to be any issues with flooding. a half inch, maybe a bit more in some spots. 1/3 to a 1/2 inch of rain. tomorrow, mid 50's for highs around the triangle. cooler than average. get that for that. 62 perhaps in fayetteville. low 50's to the north.

and east to get a punter warmer air. here comes the colder air for sunday into monday. look at that dip in the jet stream that will lead to a light frost or freeze and to early next week. it warms right back up the middle of next week. first alert accu weather seven day forecast. spring arrives on sunday. it feels like winter. then it slowly warms up. then we are back in the 70's by the middle of the way. andrea: right where we like to be. america's funniest videos is one

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joel: a raleigh family will soon be making an appearance on their favorite tv show, america's funniest home video. andrea: after an older brothers lessons to his baby brother goes live. >> we were just hanging out in the backyard and i happen to have my phone. caitlin: that is when she captured this. [laughter] caitlin: calvin was quick to think of that. america's funniest home video is the family's favorite show. although this was their first entry.

their backyard in december and submitted at the same weight but it was not until this past week they learned they had made the show. while the video star, james doesn't seem fazed the rest of the family is excited. >> i wanted mom to put in on video. he ate it and now i've got to see on national tv. joel: look at that face. andrea: need some water to wash it down. joel: you can see the brothers on america's funniest home videos this sunday night at 7:00 p.m. here on abc 11. andrea: here is what is coming up at 6:00. tisha: turns out we were not hallucinating.

steve: new reaction to the eye-opening report about the makeup of track at stop -- traffic stops by police department. tisha: the place he calls home is vandalized. the sheriff's office investigates. steve: allergy season is revving up.

tonight, state lab is >> abc 11 eyewitness news at 6:00 starts right now. steve: a wake county family is pleading for your help. they want to see their loved one back at home. high, everyone. tisha: he was a look at the man who is missing tonight. his name is donald lyle, 49 years old. last seen eight days ago. angelica alvarez joins us live outside the riley -- the raleigh eyewitness news room with the sister. angelica: the sheriff's office continues to investigate his sister came to us with these, she was frantic. she has been handing out flyers hoping that will help her and her brother home. let's give you another look at him. this is donald lyle. he is 5'11", weighing 185 pounds with salt-and-pepper hair. thursday morning. his sister cindy says she saw