By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — As the December sun set over central Utah’s sandstone peaks, a couple ventured down a nondescript dirt road to snap photos against the backdrop of a red rock vista. Instead, they stumbled across a grisly discovery among smattered shrubs and parched soil: the decomposed remains of a little girl.

When sheriff’s deputies arrived in the sparsely populated stretch of Caineville, it was clear they would be investigating a homicide. The unidentifiable girl had died from gunshot wounds to her head, authorities later said.

Unbeknownst to investigators at the time, they had before them the remains of 9-year-old California girl Melodee Buzzard, whose confounding disappearance during a road trip with her mother had mobilized a vast network of local, state and federal investigators who searched for two months across eight states. An image of her cheeky smile and cascade of ringlet curls had been projected across the nation by media, law enforcement and the concerned public.

Ultimately, it would take two more weeks before they determined all signs pointed to a suspect whom Melodee “trusted the most in this world,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said.

Melodee’s mother, Ashlee Buzzard, was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder in her daughter’s killing, which a criminal complaint said was carried out with exceptional “cruelty” and “viciousness.” She is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning.

Investigators said they were stymied by “deliberate efforts” to hide the truth – clumsy disguises, swapped license plates and suspicious driving – and an uncooperative mother who could never provide a reasonable explanation for Melodee’s whereabouts. CNN is working to determine whether Buzzard has retained an attorney.

Here’s how investigators say they finally pieced together DNA, ballistics and a multi-state web of leads to connect Melodee’s mother to her killing.

A home without Melodee

The universe where Melodee lived with her mother was small. It revolved around a single-story home that looked like any other in their Lompoc, California, neighborhood, where the streets bore whimsical names like “Stardust Road,” “Pluto Avenue” and “Solar Way.”

Many of Melodee’s extended relatives had not seen her for years. They had lost contact with the mother and child after Melodee’s father died in a motorcycle accident when she was a baby, her aunt, Lizabeth Meza, told NewsNation.

It was not her family that reported her missing in October, but a concerned school administrator.

On October 14, Melodee’s school asked the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office to do a welfare check on the child due to her “prolonged absence,” according to a timeline from investigators.

School employees had not seen Melodee since August, when Buzzard enrolled her in a study program that would allow her to attend school remotely, according to the sheriff’s office and Lompoc Unified School District. This school sighting helped detectives narrow their search early in the investiga

By Toni Odejimi, CNN

(CNN) — A lucky Powerball ticket holder in Arkansas has won an estimated $1.8 billion jackpot, the second largest in US lottery history, after matching all six numbers in Monday’s drawing.

The winning ticket, sold at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, Arkansas, matched 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, and the red Powerball 19, ending a record-breaking drawing cycle.

Most winners opt for the lump sum payment, in this case, $834.9 million before taxes, rather than receiving one payment upfront followed by 29 annual escalating payments.

The win puts the spotlight on the Little Rock suburb of about 27,000 residents, though the winner’s identity may remain a mystery for some time.

Keeping the windfall private

Arkansas is one of a growing number of states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. Since 2021, the state has permitted winners of prizes over $500,000 to shield their identities, though those names become public after three years. Winners claiming prizes over $1 million must appear in person at Arkansas’s claim center, according to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.

Other states offer similar protections. New Jersey, Georgia, and Arizona have anonymity laws, while Florida allows winners to claim prizes through a blind trust or LLC. In 2023, an entity called Saltines Earnings LLC claimed a $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot in Florida, effectively hiding the actual winner’s identity.

The ability to stay anonymous isn’t just about privacy — it can be a matter of safety and financial survival. Winners often face threats and relentless requests for money. Even without outside pressure, the sudden influx of wealth has financially destroyed some jackpot winners who weren’t prepared to manage it.

Advice for navigating sudden wealth

Financial experts recommend winners immediately assemble a team of lawyers and financial advisors experienced with high-net-worth clients. Equally important, they say, is a mental health professional to help manage the psychological upheaval that comes with sudden fortune.

Priority moves include paying off debts like student loans and car payments and making strategic charitable donations for tax deductions.

The first drawing in the new Powerball cycle is set for Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.

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By Tom Page and Gisella Deputato, CNN

(CNN) — Once upon a time, artist JR was just another teenage rebel with a spray can, tagging trains in his native Paris. Not big, not clever, but nevertheless a confluence of interests at the start of an illustrious career.

The street artist, photographer and Oscar-nominated filmmaker says he has always been a fan of trains. Commuting from the deprived outskirts of Paris into the city as a youngster, he realized he was aboard a moving canvas that could take artworks to places an artist had never been. That’s his explanation for the graffiti, anyway. It’s the same reason why he’s still putting his stamp on trains today.

In 2024, JR debuted “L’Observatoire,” a radical renovation of an early 1900s train carriage, at the Venice Art Biennale. The carriage, a private suite commissioned by travel company Belmond, is now the jewel in the crown of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which runs routes across Europe (the longest of which is between Paris and Istanbul).

Already well-established as one of the most luxurious rides in the world, the addition has pushed the train to new levels of opulence. Stays in the carriage start at $80,000 for a one-night journey, but for that, guests are booking “an apartment on wheels,” said JR in a recent interview.

Featuring a bedroom, lounge and private dining area, bathroom, library and tea room, JR was given carte blanche on the redesign of the 23-meter (75-foot) long former sleeping car. In one room, a high-sided bathtub takes pride of place; an electric fireplace is the focal point of the circular library; and in the bedroom a round skylight opens like the aperture blades of a camera lens.

“(I was) allowed to do things that you’re not allowed in other carriages,” the artist said with some understatement.

For an artist known for his ephemeral work — pasting supersized photographs on the Louvre’s glass pyramid, or Rio de Janeiro’s favelas — the carriage offered a rare chance of permanence.

“I wanted to create an artwork in itself. That’s what this carriage is,” he said.

JR explained that most of his large-scale artworks involve teams of volunteers, but for “L’Observatoire,” the novice carriage designer turned to specialists from across Europe to realize his sumptuous ideas: hand-painted stained glass by a 500-year-old German company, Carrara marble from Italy, and walls lined with wooden marquetry inlay. “Everything was done with the most attention and care, because it’s there forever,” he said.

“The whole carriage took, I would say, a hundred and something people,” JR said. “Really, at some point we stopped counting.”

“So many artists and artisans came together to build this, to create something that will still be there (for) generations,” he added. “It gives us a kind of hope into the value of beauty.”

Many touches indulge both guest and creator. JR’s initials are etched into the library floor, and a mosaic of the artist’s hand lines the floor of the shower cubicle. JR also filled the carriage with vestiges of his career, from wood panels detailing scenes from previous projects to zinc ceilings nodding to Parisian rooftops (“I spend my life on rooftops,” he explained). Photographs from JR’s travels cover the walls, while scattered among its library are books on his projects, like one on Ellis Island, New York, or a copy of a movie he made with Robert De Niro, about the actor’s artist father.

But perhaps the most intriguing elements are those not on show.

“I’ve hidden many, many things in this carriage that you won’t find on day one,” he said.

JR has laid out an Easter Egg hunt for guests, concealed within secret c

CNN

By Tom Page and Gisella Deputato, CNN

(CNN) — Once upon a time, artist JR was just another teenage rebel with a spray can, tagging trains in his native Paris. Not big, not clever, but nevertheless a confluence of interests at the start of an illustrious career.

The street artist, photographer and Oscar-nominated filmmaker says he has always been a fan of trains. Commuting from the deprived outskirts of Paris into the city as a youngster, he realized he was aboard a moving canvas that could take artworks to places an artist had never been. That’s his explanation for the graffiti, anyway. It’s the same reason why he’s still putting his stamp on trains today.

In 2024, JR debuted “L’Observatoire,” a radical renovation of an early 1900s train carriage, at the Venice Art Biennale. The carriage, a private suite commissioned by travel company Belmond, is now the jewel in the crown of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which runs routes across Europe (the longest of which is between Paris and Istanbul).

Already well-established as one of the most luxurious rides in the world, the addition has pushed the train to new levels of opulence. Stays in the carriage start at $80,000 for a one-night journey, but for that, guests are booking “an apartment on wheels,” said JR in a recent interview.

Featuring a bedroom, lounge and private dining area, bathroom, library and tea room, JR was given carte blanche on the redesign of the 23-meter (75-foot) long former sleeping car. In one room, a high-sided bathtub takes pride of place; an electric fireplace is the focal point of the circular library; and in the bedroom a round skylight opens like the aperture blades of a camera lens.

“(I was) allowed to do things that you’re not allowed in other carriages,” the artist said with some understatement.

For an artist known for his ephemeral work — pasting supersized photographs on the Louvre’s glass pyramid, or Rio de Janeiro’s favelas — the carriage offered a rare chance of permanence.

“I wanted to create an artwork in itself. That’s what this carriage is,” he said.

JR explained that most of his large-scale artworks involve teams of volunteers, but for “L’Observatoire,” the novice carriage designer turned to specialists from across Europe to realize his sumptuous ideas: hand-painted stained glass by a 500-year-old German company, Carrara marble from Italy, and walls lined with wooden marquetry inlay. “Everything was done with the most attention and care, because it’s there forever,” he said.

“The whole carriage took, I would say, a hundred and something people,” JR said. “Really, at some point we stopped counting.”

“So many artists and artisans came together to build this, to create something that will still be there (for) generations,” he added. “It gives us a kind of hope into the value of beauty.”

Many touches indulge both guest and creator. JR’s initials are etched into the library floor, and a mosaic of the artist’s hand lines the floor of the shower cubicle. JR also filled the carriage with vestiges of his career, from wood panels detailing scenes from previous projects to zinc ceilings nodding to Parisian rooftops (“I spend my life on rooftops,” he explained). Photographs from JR’s travels cover the walls, while scattered among its library are books on his projects, like one on Ellis Island, New York, or a copy of a movie he made

By Reuters

(Reuters) — Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty of abuse of power on Friday in the biggest trial yet in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a ruling that could have significant political repercussions.

The judge had yet to deliver the full verdict and sentencing.

Malaysia and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state fund Najib co-founded in 2009 while in office. More than $1 billion allegedly made its way into accounts linked to Najib, who has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Najib has been charged with four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering for receiving illegal transfers of more than 2.3 billion ringgit ($569.45 million) from 1MDB.

“The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated were debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence against him that pointed towards the accused having abused his own powerful position in 1MDB, coupled with the extensive powers conferred upon him,” Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said in an ongoing reading of the verdict.

Najib could face maximum jail terms of between 15 and 20 years on each charge, as well as a fine of up to five times the value of the alleged misappropriations.

Najib, 72, has been in prison since August 2022, when Malaysia’s top court upheld a verdict convicting him of corruption for illegally receiving funds from a 1MDB unit. His 12-year jail sentence in that case was halved last year by a pardons board.

‘Unmistakable bond’ with fugitive financier

Najib last year apologized for mishandling the scandal while in office but had consistently denied wrongdoing, saying repeatedly that he was misled by 1MDB officials and the fugitive financier, Jho Low, about the source of the funds.

Judge Sequerah in reading the verdict had earlier said evidence had revealed Najib had an “unmistakable bond and connection” with Low, who acted as the then prime minister’s “proxy and intermediary” in 1MDB affairs.

Low, who has been charged in the United States for his central role in the case, denies all wrongdoing and his whereabouts are unknown.

Najib has maintained he was misled by Low and other 1MDB officials into believing that funds deposited into his account were donations from the Saudi royal family.

But Sequerah said Najib’s argument was “implausible” and dismissed letters on the donations produced by Najib that allegedly originated from the Saudi royal family, saying they were not corroborated by evidence and were probably forgeries.

“The irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation narrative is not meritorious … the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the monies were, in fact derived from 1MDB funds,” Sequerah said.

Test of government stability

The verdict came just days after another court denied a bid by Najib to serve his jail sentence under house arrest – a decision that reignited tensions within current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation, campaigned against Anwar in a 2022 election but joined his coalition to form a government after the poll ended in a hung parliament.

Some UMNO leaders expressed disappointment with the decision to deny Najib house arrest and others were angered by social media posts by some members of Anwar’s coalition celebrating the earlier ruling.

Anwar on Tuesday called for calm, urging all parties to accept the court verdict with “full patience and wisdom.”

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