Tiny rescue pup killed after UPS driver throws 55lb package over yard fence

A 72-year-old missing hiker was miraculously found alive after her husband tragically died, and it could all be thanks to a dog keeping her warm.

John Helmstadter, 82, and his wife, Pamela Helmstadter, set out for a hike last Sunday with their two dogs along the trails behind their property, per NBC News.

What began as a routine stroll took a tragic turn when the couple wandered off the trail, and John fell, unable to get up. Without cell phones, they were unable to call for help.

Pamela attempted to go for assistance but soon became lost in the dense woods.

John Helmstadter sadly lost his life during the ordeal. Credit: Maine Warden Service

“She got disoriented in the woods and could not get home,” the Maine Game Wardens said in a statement.

For four days and nights, Pamela endured cold, harsh conditions. Temperatures dropped as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

The search for the couple was launched after a concerned neighbor noticed a package left on their front porch hadn’t been taken in.

When one of the couple’s two dogs returned home alone, the neighbor contacted the police, sparking a widespread search effort.

Pamela was found alive with her dog. Credit: Maine Warden Service

Pamela later told authorities that in the final hours before her rescue, she had begun to lose hope. She recalled hearing search helicopters circling overhead and thinking she might not make it out alive.

She was finally found on Thursday, alive but suffering from hypothermia, over a mile from her home. Her husband’s body was discovered just 200 yards away.

“Pamela was found severely hypothermic but alert with her dog by her side,” the Maine Game Wardens said.

“Her body temperature was 90.7 when she was found, but she was able to discuss what had occurred.”

She was taken to a hospital for treatment and observation.

Pamela Helmstadter miraculously survived after her dog lay on top of her chest to keep her warm as the temperatures plummeted. Credit: Maine Warden Service

“When the K-9 team located her, her dog was being very protective of her and even laid down on top of her on her chest,” Maine Warden Service Sgt. Josh Beal said, per the New York Post.

“It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night, as well, to help keep her warm.”

Beal added that the dog’s actions likely helped save Pamela’s life during the cold and rainy nights.

Pamela is continuing her recovery from the traumatic ordeal.

Featured image credit: Maine Warden Service

An American Airlines passenger had his lifetime first-class ticket canceled after he cost the airline millions.

American Airlines regretted giving a lifetime pass to one particular man. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

Imagine you were given the privilege of having a lifetime pass to travel anywhere in the world – I’m sure you’d be pretty stoked.

However, one man discovered that those same privileges could be easily taken away if you abuse them.

In 1981, American Airlines was looking for ways to increase business, and one way to do this was to offer anyone who was willing to pay them around $250,000 on the spot a free lifetime first-class ticket with the airline.

(The cost of the ticket would often vary depending on the age of the passenger, and by 1993, an AAirPass would set you back around $1.1 million)

And it was exactly as it sounded – the airline would provide the passenger with unlimited first class flights for life.

Initially, their plan was a success, and the airline managed to sign up a total of 66 people to what they referred to as the AAirpass.

However, what seemed to initially be a good plan turned out to be one of the worst financial mistakes they ever could have made, and it’s all because of one man called Steven Rothstein.

Rothstein purchased the AAirpass six years after it was introduced, at the age of 37, and spent the next two decades traveling first class to a number of destinations and of course, using all the other perks that came with the upgraded seat.

(Rothstein also purchased a $150,000 ‘companion pass’ with his lifetime first-class ticket, allowing him to take one more person with him on any flight.)

By 2008, Rothstein had traveled 30 million miles across 10,000 flights with American Airlines – for free of course – which started to add up.

And if you’re in any doubt as to how much of an impact it had on the airline, let’s just say the entire AAirpass program became virtually profitless thanks to this one man’s travels.

The airline originally introduced the ‘AAirpass’ due to financial struggles. Credit: Robert Alexander/Getty

It clearly took the airline a little while to figure out the numbers but when their so-called ‘revenue integrity team’ eventually did in 2008, they decided to cut Rothstein off immediately.

According to History of Yesterday, all of Rothstein’s flights totalled estimated price of $21,000,000 – around eighty-four times what he had initially paid for the AAirpass.

The avid traveler even became stranded in Bosnia as a result – yikes!

Not only that, but they also decided to take legal action against the broker for fraud, accusing him of lending out his tickets to others and booking flights with no intention of turning up.

The airline managed to settle the dispute with Rothstein outside of court as he admitted to some of his crimes, including giving his ticket to others to use.

“I gave a man in Seattle a ticket to go to his father’s funeral. I gave many people tickets to visit ill family members,” he told Forbes in 2019. “I don’t view that as philanthropy, I view that as good deeds.”

Writing for The Guardian, Rothstein’s daughter – Caroline – said: “Dad does admit he booked seats he wasn’t sure that he, or his companions, would ultimately use. But that’s not an uncommon practice, and he never understood it to be against the rules. His understanding was that fraudulent behavior was limited to giving the AAirpass to someone else – which he never did.”

Rothstein told his daughter: “I never booked my own reservation on a computer. I never knew how to do this. So every single one of the reservations they didn’t like was booked and/or changed by an American employee.”

Featured Image Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty

Tampa’s so-called ‘Lieutenant Dan’ has been arrested by the authorities following his brush with viral fame amid Hurricane Milton.

“Lieutenant Dan” has been arrested again. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty

Joseph John Malinowski – aka Lieutenant Dan from Florida – garnered attention on social media for refusing to leave his boat in the midst of the destructive Hurricane Milton descending on the state last week.

Social media users gave Malinowski the nickname because he’s got one leg, in homage to the popular Forrest Gump movie character. And ever since the social media star was featured on an episode of Terrence Concannon’s Livestream, his popularity online has skyrocketed.

He has even been getting donations from fans via a GoFundMe account that was set up on his behalf.

Credit: GoFundMe

While this might seem like it’s had a positive impact on Malinowski, his daughter recently took to TikTok to slam those who have been giving a platform to her father as the access to funds has seemingly made his current situation worse.

Ashley Ann Malinowski called for the stoppage of all funds going to her father emphasizing that the sailor is still battling a drug addiction.

“Lieutenant Dan was doing just fine without all that money,” Ashley said in an intense message on the video-sharing platform earlier this month.

“Y’all TikTok f****** famous people, y’all blowing him up and he’s gonna be dead before he can f****** enjoy that boat,” she continued in the clip. “Look at him, after y’all got a hold of him and now he’s high as f*** on all these videos.”

The concerned daughter claimed she has struggled with her father’s substance abuse issues for the past decade.

“Is it just weed? Is it just weed? Yes, I’m his f****** daughter and I had to keep tabs on that man for 10 years trying to make sure that he is alive, and now he’s gonna get all of this and probably end up dead because of it.”

Ashley added that the after-effects of all of this will “put him in the grave early.”

“Y’all are gonna f****** put him in the grave early, for making him famous and giving him this money,” she said, clearly becoming emotional over the thought.

“Nobody actually f****** cares about him either. Y’all are just using him to make him famous, make yourselves more famous, make yourselves look good, but nobody f****** cares,” she added.

“Lieutenant Dan” initially made headlines for refusing to leave his boat during Hurricane Milton. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty

Just a week later, and reports state that Malinowski has been arrested by local cops.

According to documents reviewed by PEOPLE, the 54-year-old was arrested by the Tampa Police Department on Friday and charged with two outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court, and one misdemeanor charge of trespassing in a city park after warning.

It has been reported that the social media personality will remain in jail without the possibility of posting a bond.

The documents also stated that he listed himself as a “TikTok star”.

A spokesperson for the Tampa Police Department told the outlet that officers “met with Malinowski at Bayshore Linear Park and Dock” on Thursday over concerns he was trespassing in the park.

“Malinowski informed officers that he did not have an accessible marine sanitation device aboard his unregistered vessel and did not have a record of proper disposal of waste, creating a public health hazard,” Verliz Williams, a public information officer with the Tampa Police Department, said. “He was instructed to leave the park; however, he was found to be still there this morning, even after numerous warnings.”

Williams added that officers impounded Malinowski’s boat and he was taken to Orient Road Jail in Tampa.

Featured Image Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty

A woman was tragically decapitated in front of a wedding party after plunging to her death in Manhattan.

The 80-year-old woman reportedly jumped to her death from an Upper East Side apartment building last Saturday.

The tragedy unfolded in Manhattan. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty

The woman, who has not yet been identified, leaped from the 20th floor of the upscale Park Regis Apartments around 3:30PM, according to the NYPD, cited by the New York Post.

Witnesses at the scene reported that her body struck part of the building, which is lined with balconies, causing her to become entangled before being decapitated.

“I pulled up just as she was laying there, she had no head,” a resident of the building told the New York Post. “The head and the arm were clean cut off on the other side, they ended up on the terrace.”

Authorities have yet to release the victim’s identity or provide details about a possible motive for her death.

Witnesses noted that her clothes were found stuck on a fence near the base of the building, which had been bent from the force of her fall.

“Everyone started rushing towards the body but she was gone,” said a 23-year-old bystander who witnessed the aftermath. “Her body landed there but her head and leg hit the fence there, you can see it’s bent, there were clothes and blood stuck there.”

This was the second time someone died by suicide in New York City that day. Earlier on Saturday, a 52-year-old man jumped from the 17th floor of his 22-story building in Chelsea at around 5:00AM, according to police.

The name of the deceased has not been revealed. Credit: Barbara Alper/Getty

The man, whose identity has also not been disclosed, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses described a grief-stricken woman, believed to be his wife, seen sobbing outside the building at 315 West 25th Street following the incident.

This tragedy comes just months after another high-profile fatal fall in Manhattan, as reported by the Daily Mail.

In July, J. Michael Cline, a 64-year-old co-founder of movie-ticketing company Fandango, jumped to his death from the 20th floor of The Kimberly Hotel in Midtown.

Cline, a prominent figure in the tech and film industry, had been struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on his business, which saw movie theaters forced to close or operate under severe restrictions.

He reportedly left a note before taking his own life.

Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragic incident.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

Featured image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty

A man’s scathing obituary for his father has recently gone viral – and let me tell you, it’s pretty savage.

Days after the death of Robert Adolph Boehm, Charles Boehm decided to pen a hilariously untamed tribute to honor his late father.

The 585-word remembrance paints a heartwarming, yet direct picture of what the 74-year-old was like just before his death at his apartment in Texas on October 6.

“Robert Adolph Boehm, in accordance with his lifelong dedication to his own personal brand of decorum, muttered his last unintelligible and likely unnecessary curse on October 6, 2024, shortly before tripping backward over ‘some stupid bleeping thing’ and hitting his head on the floor,” the obituary began.

It continued, giving some insight into his father’s upbringing: “Robert was born in Winters, TX, to the late Walter Boehm and Betty Smith on May 6, 1950, after which God immediately and thankfully broke the mold and attempted to cover up the evidence.

“Raised Catholic, Robert managed to get his wife Dianne pregnant (three times) fast enough to just barely miss getting drafted into the Vietnam War by fathering Michelle, John, and Charlotte between 1967 and 1972.

“Much later, with Robert possibly concerned about the brewing conflict in Grenada, Charles was born in 1983,” the tribute added.

He went on to note that his father’s lack of military service was probably “for the best” because his shooting hobby didn’t go down too well.

“…He managed to blow not one, but two holes in the dash of his own car on two separate occasions, which unfortunately did not even startle, let alone surprise, his dear wife Dianne, who was much accustomed to such happenings in his presence and may have actually been safer in the jungles of Vietnam the entire time,” Charles joked before going on to name some jobs that his father held throughout his lifetime including learning to roof, maintain traffic signs with the City of Amarillo, and eventually becoming a semi-professional truck driver, “not to be confused with a professional semi-truck driver,” he clarified.

And just when you’d think it couldn’t get any more savage, he took a dig at his father’s unique fashion choices.

“A man of many interests, Robert was not to be entranced by historical weapons alone, but also had a penchant for fashion, frequently seen about town wearing the latest trend in homemade leather moccasins, a wide collection of unconventional hats, and boldly mismatched shirts and pants,” he wrote in the piece.

“Robert also kept a wide selection of harmonicas on hand—not to play personally, but to prompt his beloved dogs to howl continuously at odd hours of the night to entertain his many neighbors, and occasionally to give to his many, many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to play loudly during long road trips with their parents,” he added.

“We have all done our best to enjoy/weather Robert’s antics up to this point, but he is God’s problem now,” the son joked before concluding with details surrounding his father’s funeral service.

Charles’ mother and Robert’s wife, Dianne, had passed away in February.

The loss was jokingly framed as “God finally showed mercy upon” her so that she could get “the heck out of there for some well-earned peace and quiet,” their son wrote.

Speaking to the Washington Post after the obituary went viral, Charles decided to use his newfound platform to advocate for people with mental health issues, noting that his own father isolated himself in the months before his death.

“When I tried to get him some mental health help, he admitted to me he was scared and wanted me there with him,” Charles told the outlet. “We all visited him when we could, and the good people of Clarendon looked in on him and helped him out a lot. But it was hard for him looking at my mom’s empty chair, and I’m 600 miles away.”

He also wanted to take the opportunity to raise awareness about the loneliness seniors face in their final years.

“I’d have to say if I want anything to come from all of this, it’s for people everywhere to support the mental health of people in little rural towns,” he said. “They go there to retire, then when they’re old, their kids scatter and they end up alone. A lot of people slip through the cracks.”

Featured Image Credit: RubberBall Productions/Getty

A man in Kentucky who was declared brain dead allegedly woke up on the operating table, just moments before his organs were due to be harvested.

Thomas T.J. Hoover, 36, was brought to the hospital in October 2021 after overdosing on drugs.

Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II. Credit: TikTok/@ladonnarhorer

The alleged incident unfolded at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital and has sparked investigations and raised serious ethical concerns about organ donation procedures.

Doctors had declared him brain-dead and began preparations to harvest his organs, NPR reported.

However, as surgeons began the process to remove his organs, Hoover began to show signs of life.

Nyckoletta Martin, a former KODA employee, recalled that during the initial procedure to test Hoover’s heart, he became responsive.

“He was thrashing around on the table,” Martin told NPR, claiming that doctors allegedly sedated him and continued the process.

Later, as surgeons prepared to remove Hoover’s organs, the situation reportedly escalated.

Natasha Miller, another former KODA employee present in the operating room, described the alarming scene: “He was moving around and was crying visibly.”

Hoover’s sister, Donna Rhorer, said she grew concerned when her brother appeared to open his eyes while being wheeled from the Intensive Care Unit to the operating room.

“It was like it was his way of letting us know, you know, ‘Hey, I’m still here,’” she told NPR.

Medical staff, however, assured the family it was just a reflex and did not indicate consciousness.

Only after Hoover began moving and crying on the operating table did surgeons decide to halt the transplant.

But Miller alleged that a supervisor at KODA initially pushed for the procedure to continue, telling staff to “find another doctor.”

“It was very chaotic,” Miller said. “Everyone was just very upset.”

The procedure was ultimately canceled, and several KODA employees resigned in the aftermath.

“That’s everybody’s worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to cut you open and take your body parts out?”, Martin said. “That’s horrifying.”

“I’ve dedicated my entire life to organ donation and transplant,” Martin said. “It’s very scary to me now that these things are allowed to happen and there’s not more in place to protect donors.”

Martin has since become a whistleblower, submitting a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of an investigation into organ procurement practices.

She expressed concern about the lack of protections for donors, saying: “It’s very scary to me now that these things are allowed to happen, and there’s not more in place to protect donors.”

KODA officials have denied any wrongdoing, stating that no member of their organization instructed doctors to proceed with an organ-harvesting procedure on a living patient.

Kentucky’s Attorney General is currently investigating the incident, and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration has launched its own review.

Hoover survived the ordeal and has since made a remarkable recovery, though he continues to experience some difficulties with memory, walking, and speaking, per the New York Post.

He is currently living with his sister.