Ongoing violence has displaced more than 100,000 people in two regions of Somalia in the past two months, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday.
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — The female pilot who died in a plane crash in Greenwood was the founder of an Asian female pilots association, a Purdue grad, and the 10th woman to fly solo around the world.
Anh-Thu Nguyen, 44, from Miami, died Wednesday morning after her plane suddenly crashed behind a Circle K gas station at 1183 E. Main Street in Greenwood.
Nguyen, the plane’s sole occupant, died at the scene. The cause of her crash has not been determined.
This flight, according to Nguyen’s social media, was en route to Pennsylvania as part of her mission to fly solo around the world – again.
Nguyen is the founder of the Asian Women in Aerospace & Aviation, an organization launched in 2018 dedicated to “encouraging, empowering, and engaging the next generation of Asian female pilots, Aerospace Engineers, and STEM professionals.”
According to the AWAA website, Nguyen’s path to becoming a pilot started as a simple dream she held close while growing up in Tuy-Hoa, Vietnam, a village with no electricity or running water.
She and her family immigrated to America at age 12, living in poverty with no support system. The AWAA says many flight instructors discouraged her and “readily disqualified her” – but she kept going.
“Earning $6/hr as a Math tutor & taking out student loans, she lived in my car and perhaps unlawfully crashed in airports during flight training in order to become a pilot & later AOPA Distinguished Flight Instructor, and a B767 pilot for a major carrier.”
Nguyen eventually graduated valedictorian from her high school and was in the top 10 of her class when she graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in math and her eventual Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics. She also earned her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech.
After founding AWAA in 2018, Nguyen opened the Dragon Flight Training Academy at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Here, she served as a flight instructor to many future pilots and helped students develop “skills in risk assessment and safety-oriented decision-making.”
She became the 10th female pilot and first Vietnamese pilot to fly solo around the world in 2024. She told Purdue in an interview following the flight that she “longed to have that experience of flying and controlling a plane, of feeling small and vulnerable yet at the same time so powerful.”
Nguyen’s 2025 flight, a journey six years in the making, started in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on Sunday. The second leg of the trip began in Indiana Wednesday morning.
Her most recent social media post was published before Wednesday’s flight. Nguyen was seen in a video seated in the cockpit preparing to take off.
“This is more than just a flight, okay?” she said. “This is a mission to inspire the next generation of Asian female pilots and aerospace engineering professionals.”
Her 2024 trip consisted of 25 stops, according to Purdue, but it was unclear how many places Nguyen’s 2025 journey would take her.
The AWAA released a statement after Nguyen’s death, recognizing its founder as an “inspiring pilot” who lived with “boldness” and “curiosity.”
We are heartbroken by the loss of our dear friend, founder, mentor, and leader, Anh-Thu Nguyen, who passed away in a tragic accident during her solo journey around the world.
Anh-Thu was an inspiring pilot, instructor, and advocate for girls and women in aerospace and aviation. She lived with boldness, curiosity, and drive. She came from humble beginnings to becoming a beacon of hope to many.
Those wishing to honor her legacy may make a donation to the 501c3 nonprofit in her name; we will use the funds to continue her dream of helping young girls pursue their dreams and a scholarship in her name.
Well wishes and thoughts can be left on her main social pages:
Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pilot_anh_thu
Her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anu.nguyenWe hold her family, friends, and community dearly in our hearts at this time. May she fly high in the blue skies.
Asian Women in Aerospace & Aviation
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Marion County jury on Tuesday convicted a 29-year-old Indianapolis man for the 2023 murder of a 29-year-old man outside a liquor store on the city’s northwest side.
Ja’Que Mason will be sentenced Sept. 5 in Marion Superior Court 28 for the shooting death of Abel Ramos-Utuy just after 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21, 2023, outside the store near the intersection of West 56th Street and Georgetown Road. Ramos-Utuy died a short time later at a hospital.
A news release issued Wednesday from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said that, after the shooting, detectives received a tip from a woman who called 911 with information about the shooting. Upon contacting her, a man indicated that his son might have been involved. This led investigators to Mason, who arrived at the IMPD homicide office with his mother and other witnesses.
Mason told investigators that Ramos-Utuy approached him outside the store, asking if Mason had said something to him. Mason’s friend attempted to deescalate the situation. Mason said that Ramos-Utuy appeared intoxicated and reached behind his back, prompting Mason to fire his weapon. However, no weapon was found on Ramos-Utuy or in his vehicle.
Video footage from the liquor store showed Ramos-Utuy parking next to Mason’s vehicle, entering and exiting the store, and then having a brief conversation with Mason. The footage captured Mason pulling out his handgun and firing at Ramos-Utuy as he turned around and backed toward his vehicle.
Investigators recovered Mason’s Glock and five spent shell casings after receiving consent to search. The magazine for the Glock was found at Mason’s home.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, a Democrat, said in a statement in the release, “Tensions are elevated when people fear or believe that everyone is armed. It can turn a simple exchange between strangers into murder in a matter of seconds. Nothing leading up to this tragedy warranted any kind of violence, yet a man is dead and the other will spend the rest of his life in prison as consequence.”
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Fishers police on Wednesday told News 8 no criminal charges were filed after a woman accused an Indianapolis City-County councilor of groping her during a date.
The 18-year-old woman told News 8’s newsgathering partner, Mirror Indy, she met Nick Roberts, 24, through the dating app Hinge and went on two dates with him. During the second date, on the evening of July 12, the woman said she and Roberts went for a walk along the Nickel Plate Trail in Fishers when he led her onto a side trail, kissed her and groped her. She said she tried to push him away but he did not let go until someone walked by on the main trail. The woman told Mirror Indy she ended the date afterward.
Her stepmother said she then posted a warning about Roberts in a private Facebook group.
Roberts said he and the woman kissed during that second date but he did not grope her.
The Democrat councilor turned down News 8’s request for an interview but posted lengthy video and written statements on his Facebook page. He denied having any unwanted physical contact with the woman.
“During the kiss, she did not push me away or ask me to stop. If she had done either, I would have stopped immediately,” he said in the video.
News 8 obtained the incident report from Fishers police on Wednesday afternoon. According to detectives, the woman said she asked Roberts multiple times to stop, to which she claimed he replied she was shy and just needed to open up. Detectives wrote that there was some surveillance footage of Roberts and the woman on the trail for much of the period during which both Roberts and the woman said they were on the trail. They said the footage never showed any visible signs of distress, such as disheveled clothing. There also was no reference to any unwanted touching in any text messages between the two.
“Although it is difficult to ascertain what may have happened off camera view, what is captured on camera view shows two individuals walking together in normal walking behavior,” detectives wrote. “There was no video of them kissing and there is no video or witnesses to the alleged incident.”
Detectives said the woman later told them exactly where the alleged incident happened. They wrote it was in an area with no surveillance footage. Detectives said they reviewed the case with prosecutors and concluded there was not enough evidence for probable cause that a crime happened.
WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. is in an open competition with Daniel Jones for the starting quarterback job.
Richardson was selected No. 4 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Colts, but has played just 15 games in his two seasons in the NFL.
He was asked about pressure, and how he views that as he competes to be a starter in his third year in the NFL. It was a reflective response from Richardson.
“A lot of things in life – we always want certain things,” Richardson said. “But you know, God always has something different in us. He has a different vision for us. So, I don’t feel like there’s any more added pressure. I’ve been dealing with adversity my whole life. Growing up, things weren’t the best and my mom, she did her best to make it great for us. So, I just think back to that, and I remember what it was like back in those times, and my life is way better than what it was before and I’m grateful for that. Not many people get an opportunity to be in the NFL. God blessed me enough to have the chance to do that. This organization believed in me enough to draft me first round, top-five pick. So I don’t think there’s any more pressure. It’s just me working hard and proving them right, and letting them know that they chose the right guy and just proving myself right and just letting me know that my hard work will eventually pay off. At the end of the day, God has it all written for me, and I’m just trying to do my part. So, God willing if I do get this job, I can have my best foot forward and lead the team and just be the leader that they need me to be.”
He played 11 games in 2024, throwing for 1,814 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 499 yards and six touchdowns.
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LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WISH) — A 63-year-old man was in critical condition on Wednesday morning in a Fort Wayne hospital after he was stabbed in downtown Logansport, the city police chief and assistant chief said in a news release.
The Logansport Police Department release issued Wednesday morning did not publicly name the man stabbed.
The man was near a park bench along a sidewalk when he was stabbed with a knife just before 8:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of Broadway. The police department is in that block.
A 39-year-old man, who was not named in the release, was arrested on preliminary criminal charges. The release did not say if formal criminal charges are being considered. The release did not say whether the 39-year-old was jailed.
Logansport, a Cass County city of 18,100 residents, is a 1-hour, 40-minute drive north of downtown Indianapolis.
COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WISH) — According to state police, an “unknown reason” caused six people to crash into truck in Whitley County, causing the deaths of two people.
Indiana State Police reported that the crash happened Tuesday at 2:40 p.m. at the intersection of State Road 9 and County Road 500 North near St. Matthews Community Church at Tri-Lakes.
ISP’s investigation says that six people were inside a 2012 Dodge Avenger when, “for an unknown reason,” the car went from the southbound into the northbound lanes. When it did, the car crashed into a 2019 Ford F-350 pickup truck and trailer.
Two people inside of the Dodge car were killed in the crash: 17-year-old Helmin Ruiz, who was driving, and 40-year-old Trinidad Vasquez. Four other passengers in the Dodge had injuries “that range from minor to severe,” ISP reports.
Everyone in the Dodge was from Huntington, Indiana, except for Vasquez who was from Fort Wayne.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Early warning systems kicked in overnight across Pacific coastal communities after a massive earthquake in eastern Russia triggered a sea surge that reached the Japanese coastline around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away within about an hour, disaster relief experts said on Wednesday.
Despite daily “tactical pauses” declared by Israeli forces, humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain catastrophic, with children starving, aid workers overwhelmed, and fuel and water supplies critically low, UN humanitarians reported on Wednesday.
People in Haiti have expressed “despair” following the “abrupt suspension” of a wide range of humanitarian services, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, in the Caribbean country.
