Missing plane’s wreckage found off coast of Cape Cod

ORLEANS, Mass. — State police divers have found the wreckage of the small plane that went down in the ocean off the coast of Cape Cod last weekend, but the pilot remains missing.

The plane was found Thursday about 3.5 miles east of Orleans in 70 to 80 feet of water, Chatham Harbormaster Stuart Smith told the Cape Cod Times.

“Divers located the fuselage of the missing airplane, however, the pilot was not recovered,” state police said in a statement.

The pilot, believed to be the only person on board, was identified by authorities as Roger Mills, 67, of Woburn, Mass.

The Piper PA-28 took off from Reading Regional Airport in Pennsylvania on Sunday and was scheduled to land at Chatham Municipal Airport by about 8 p.m. A friend waiting at the airport reported that Mills had not arrived as scheduled.

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson says the agency has opened an investigation into the crash.

Man burst into flames after Taser used on him

CATSKILL, N.Y. — An upstate New York man was in grave condition at a hospital after police used a Taser to subdue him and he burst into flames, authorities said Friday.

The Times Union of Albany reported that 29-year-old man walked into the Catskill village police department last weekend and got into a confrontation with officers. Chief Dave Darling confirmed to the newspaper that officers deployed a Taser to subdue the man, who had just doused himself with hand sanitizer, and the man then burst into flames.

Darling said the officers were familiar with the man from previous encounters.

“I think they were afraid he was going to hurt himself, and that’s what started it,” Darling said. “There are still details that we’re trying to develop.”

The man was taken to the Westchester Medical Center’s Trauma and Burn Center, where he was in grave condition, the Times Union said.

The police chief described the situation as “horrible” and said it was under investigation by the Greene County district attorney’s office.

Kevin A. Luibrand, an attorney for the man’s family, declined to discuss details but said he had asked the police to preserve all recordings and written materials related to the encounter.

Darling said that his officers are not equipped with body cameras but that there are video cameras in the police station.

Denver Zoo reports coronavirus cases in spotted hyenas

DENVER — Two hyenas at the Denver Zoo have tested positive for the coronavirus, the first confirmed cases among the animals worldwide, a national veterinary lab announced Friday.

Samples from a variety of animals at the zoo, including the spotted hyenas, were tested after several lions at the facility became ill, according to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories. The hyena samples tested presumptive positive at a lab at Colorado State University, and the cases were confirmed by the national lab.

In addition to the two hyenas, 11 lions and two tigers at the zoo tested positive for the virus.

“Hyenas are famously tough, resilient animals that are known to be highly tolerant to anthrax, rabies and distemper. They are otherwise healthy and expected to make a full recovery,” the zoo said in a statement.

Zoo officials said the hyenas — 22-year-old Ngozi and 23-year-old Kibo — are experiencing mild symptoms, including slight lethargy, some nasal discharge and an occasional cough.

The other animals that tested positive in recent weeks have either fully recovered or are on the path to a full recovery.

“We now know that many other species may be susceptible to COVID-19 based on multiple reports, and we continue to use the highest level of care and precaution when working with all of our 3,000 animals and 450 different species,” the statement said.

Infections have been reported in multiple species worldwide, mostly in animals that had close contact with a person with COVID-19, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the NVSL. A news release Friday said scientists are still learning about coronavirus infections in animals, but based on the information available, the risk of animals spreading the virus to people is low.

By Associated Press