Missing teen groomed, now murder suspect? | Forever chemicals in the water | Train fatalities | Dem legislator caught distracted driving
No. 139 — Aug. 24-Aug. 30, 2025
This week's stories:
Durham County
Missing teen reemerges as suspect in ambush murder
Duke bus driver to be returned home after termination of long-abused Temporary Protected Status
Harnett County
ICYMI: Middle Eastern-owned smoke shops targeted by Harnett Sheriff raids after complaints of selling THC to children
Johnston County
Fourth JoCo train fatality in two months
Orange County
UNC unveils memorial for professor murdered by insane grad student
Wake County
Wake Democrat caught "engrossed" in phone on Cary highway
Juveniles arrested for breaking into, stealing vehicles
Durham, Orange, Wake
Durham, Apex/Cary, Orange County working to remove PFAS from drinking water
Fourth JoCo train fatality in three months
Although trains are an order of magnitude safer than automobiles, per passenger mile, they can be incredibly lethal to anyone in their path. Three out of the four train fatalities in the Triangle this year appearing to have occurred on a single stretch of track running through downtown Clayton, according to media reporting and federal accident data.
This Monday, 62-year-old Clayton resident was killed on the railroad running through town after driving around the crossing arms on Central St and being hit by an oncoming freight train, according to Clayton Police, who report that the man's vehicle ended up approximately 300 ft from the site of the collision.
On August 5, less than a mile away, a 21-year-old UNC Wilmington student from Wendell working at an internship in Clayton was fatally struck by an Amtrak train while crossing the tracks on foot to return to her vehicle.
According to the Johnston County Report, another pedestrian was fatally struck by an Amtrak train in downtown Clayton on June 20, while another pedestrian was killed crossing a track in Smithfield in the early morning hours of June 14. (The federal data lists a fatal train accident on June 20 as occurring in Wake County, I believe the local reporting is more likely to be accurate.)
Coincidence, or trend?
According to Fatality, Injury, and Illness Detail Listing published by the Federal Rail Administration, there have been twelve fatalities in Johnston County in the prior ten years (2015-2024) "arising from the operation of a railroad." Eleven of the twelve are listed as "trespassers," and eleven of the twelve fatalities are recorded as "struck by on-track equipment" or "highway-rail collision impact."
In the same period of time, the FRA recorded fourteen railroad fatalities in nearby Wake County, despite the fact that Wake has more railroads and approximately five times the populations.
Wake Democrat caught "engrossed" in phone on Cary highway
Rep. Guangya "Ya" Liu (D-Wake) has been accused of distracted driving on NC-55 near Cary, with video appearing to show her holding her phone horizontally on her steering wheel.
According to the citizen who shared the video, Liu was driving 10 mph under the speed limit in her officially-tagged vehicle, and was not using a self-driving mode.
Liu, who represents NC House District 21 in the southwestern corner of Wake County, did not respond to a request for comment.
Traveling home on Saturday from a soccer tournament. Heading south on Highway 55 in Cary. And we pull up on a Tesla going at least 10 mph below the posted speed limit.
Then I noticed the State House license plate #70.
As I passed the vehicle, what I saw shocked me ... from a state legislator!
So I slowed down and got the family to shoot a quick video.
Turns out it was Representative Liu from Morrisville. She was TOTALLY engrossed in whatever she was watching. Both hands holding the phone and attempting to hold the wheel at the same time. That car was clearly NOT in any self-drive mode!
She was completely unaware of her surroundings.
She was completely engrossed in that video.
She was COMPLETELY not a safe driver.Thankfully, there were no cyclists on the road.
But I sure expect a higher standard out of state representatives.#ncpol
@YaLiu4NC
pic.twitter.com/JHYCZdTAiR— Theodore Hicks II, CFP, CKA, CMT (@t2hicks) August 25, 2025
*Previous Coverage:*
ICYMI: Middle Eastern-owned smoke shops targeted by Harnett Sheriff raids after complaints of selling THC to children
Nine apparently Middle Eastern-owned smoke shops have been raided by the Harnett County Sheriff's Office after reports of THC sales to children; search warrants say controlled buys of vapes etc. found illegal THC levels, leading to the seizure of 64 pounds of THC and $49,033 in cash
According to the statement released by Sheriff Wayne Coats, the department had received complaints regarding the sale of THC products to minors, which has been linked to overdoses and/or medical emergencies for minors including incidents at Harnett County schools requiring EMS response.
The HCSO lists the following individuals as the owners:
Omer Faisal Alfaqih
Ammar Qaid Al Mathil
Imad Aied Shibli
Hythem Ahmed-Ali Essa
Maged Ahmed Almansoob
Hasan Issa
Mohamed Saleh
Hani Saleh
Rouf Saleh
Full article:
Missing teen reemerges as suspect in ambush murder
A young man was shot dead in northern Durham. Did a former missing teen kill him? - N&O
2nd person charged in Durham ambush shooting. How police think he’s connected - N&O
Durham Police have arrested two out of three shooters who allegedly ambushed a group of their opps who showed up for a fight they had arranged just past midnight on May 30, killing one man and injuring two women.
According to a search warrant, Durham Police were able to locate video of the shooting at Whipoorwill Park, which showed the three shooters, one of whom had a "fully automatic rifle," emerging from the woods to fire on the two vehicles which arrived for the fight; at least one of the passengers fired back with a rifle they had brought.
Edy Steven Flores Reyes, 24, and Gracie Elizabeth Faye Landa, 18, have been charged with first degree murder after one of the targets of the ambush told police that Landa had reached out via Instagram to challenge her to come to the park that night to fight her; she also told police that she had never met Landa, but was familiar Reyes was and believed that Landa was Reyes' "baby mama."
Police were able to track the Instagram account back through the email address used to create it to a phone number and residence in Burlington address where Landa and Reyes appeared to reside, and also discovered that Reyes claimed affiliation with "TCS (Tarascos gang)."
As if that level of drama wasn't enough, the story takes an even darker turn: Landa was reported missing from her Tampa home in June 2023, when she was sixteen, and was still missing over a year later when authorities had received information that she was in the Durham area. If we add the timeline up based on the information the police received, it suggests that Reyes, who is four years older than Landa, engaged in a sexual relationship with and impregnated her when she was still a missing minor prior to her eighteenth birthday in February.
Durham, Apex/Cary, Orange County working to remove PFAS from drinking water
‘Forever chemicals’ detected in more NC drinking water, EPA data shows - WRAL
The City of Durham Water Management, the Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority have been flagged by the EPA for PFAS "forever chemicals" in their respective drinking water supplies, which each are working to mitigate.
Durham has detected levels of some levels of PFOA or PFOS exceeding the EPA's standard of 4 parts per trillion in water coming into and out of the city's two treatment plants, from Lake Mitchie and the Little River Reservoir, and will be implementing additional treatment measures to reduce the levels.
The Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility had already been testing and treating for PFAS prior to the EPA's current regulations, which they report is successfully bringing the PFAS levels in raw water from Jordan Lake under the EPA standards.
OWASA, which provides water for Carrboro and Chapel Hill, has been monitoring and treating water from the Cane Creek Reservoir for PFAS, and is constructing a PFAS treatment facility. OWASA also recommends against eating fish caught at the reservoir, due to the PFAS detected in fish breeds such as largemouth bass, sunfish, bluegill, catfish, and crappie.
Juveniles arrested for breaking into, stealing vehicles
Juveniles in custody after car break-ins, crashes in Apex and Cary - WRAL
Raleigh teens behind 100-plus car break-ins, thefts linked to July crime spree - WRAL
On Tuesday, Cary Police were responding to five cars which had been broken into at an apartment complex in northwest Cary when they encountered two stolen Kias matching the description of the robbers. Both vehicles ended up being crashed by their respective drivers after fleeing from the attempted stop by the police, with police arresting three juveniles under the age of 17 at the scene of the two wrecks.
Raleigh Police have also arrested a 17-year-old they have linked to at least dozens and possibly over a hundred; despite the serious allegations and pattern of criminal behavior, the teenager was released from the Wake Juvenile Detention Center after several days.
According to a report by the NC Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, 62% of juvenile criminals committed to confinement experienced a "recidivism event" within two years of release, which could include arrest or conviction as an adult:
Follow-up
UNC unveils memorial for professor murdered by insane grad student
Two years since shooting, UNC honors Professor Zijie Yan with memorial site - WRAL
UNC unveils memorial honoring professor killed on campus 2 years ago - ABC11
UNC Marks 2 Years Since Zijie Yan’s Fatal Shooting With Memorial Bench Dedication and Lecture - Chapelboro.com
Two years after the on-campus murder of Professor Zijie Yan by graduate student Tailei Qi, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has dedicated a memorial bench and plaque in his honor.
Qi was charged with his murder, but was ruled unfit for trial due to untreated schizophrenia and is indefinitely confined at a mental hospital.
Previous Coverage:
UNC PhD student kills advisor on campus (No. 35 — Sep. 2, 2023)
$750,000 settlement over UNC professor's 2023 on-campus murder (No. 134 — Jul. 26, 2025)
Protest Watch
Duke bus driver to be returned home after termination of long-abused Temporary Protected Status
Beloved Duke bus driver among thousands of Hondurans losing temporary protected status - ABC11
Duke University bus driver fights for his future as Temporary Protected Status ends for Hondurans - NC Newsline
On Tuesday, a handful of students and anti-immigration enforcement protesters with Siembra NC gathered in Durham to support a Honduran bus driver at Duke who has remained in the US for over twenty-five years on "Temporary Protected Status" which was set in place for the Honduras due to the impact of Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Although the statue authorizing the designation of Temporary Protected Status repeatedly reinforces that it was intended to be temporary, the TPS for Honduras on the basis of the 1998 hurricane was allowed to remain until this July, when Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced a finding that "the Government of Honduras has taken all of the necessary steps to overcome the impacts of Hurricane Mitch," and that "Honduran citizens can safely return home, and DHS is here to help facilitate their voluntary return."
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