The Latest on the search for a missing 5-year-old Illinois boy (all times local):
3 p.m.
Click to Gallery
The Latest on the search for a missing 5-year-old Illinois boy (all times local):
Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said at a news conference Wednesday that police dug up what they believe is Andrew "AJ" Freund's body in a field and that it was wrapped in plastic.
Searchers have been scouring the area for the couple's missing son, Andrew "AJ" Freund. Authorities say the boys' parents reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.
Police searched for AJ in a park on Tuesday and said they planned to use sonar to search ponds in the community, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.
Officials gather near Gayle Drive near Woodstock, Ill., in their search for 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund, who has been missing for nearly a week, Wednesday April 24, 2019. (Stacey WescottChicago Tribune via AP)
Authorities say they have found what they believe is the body of a 5-year-old Illinois boy who went missing last week, and that his parents have been charged with murder in his death.
This undated photo provided by the Crystal Lake, Illinois Police Department shows Andrew "AJ" Freund. Crystal Lake police say the missing boy's Freund's parents last saw him about 9 p.m. Wednesday April 17, 2019. Police say Andrew's parents reported him missing when they woke up Thursday and couldn't find him in their home. Police in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake say an FBI team that specializes in missing children is helping them search for the 5-year-old boy. (Crystal Lake Police Department via AP)
Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said at a news conference Wednesday that police dug up what they believe is Andrew "AJ" Freund's body in a field and that it was wrapped in plastic.
He says AJ's parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, face murder and other charges in the boy's death.
Authorities say the boys' parents reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.
Law enforcement personnel remove items from the Freund home in Crystal Lake, Ill., as the investigation into the case of missing 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund continues on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (Robert McCoppinChicago Tribune via AP)
12:30 p.m.
Officers have removed several items from the home of an Illinois couple whose 5-year-old son has been missing for nearly a week.
Photos and video show the officers leaving the Crystal Lake home of Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham on Wednesday with a shovel, mattress, brown paper bags and plastic storage tub.
McHenry County Sheriff's officers and other law enforcement search the area of Route 176 and Dean Street with a drone south of Woodstock, Ill., for clues in the disappearance of 5-year-old missing boy Andrew "AJ" Freund, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (Brian HillDaily Herald via AP)
Searchers have been scouring the area for the couple's missing son, Andrew "AJ" Freund. Authorities say the boys' parents reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.
Police say Cunningham has been refusing to cooperate with detectives. They say they don't believe the boy was abducted and that he didn't leave the home on foot. State child welfare officials have taken custody of the couple's 4-year-old son, Parker.
Authorities plan to give an update on the investigation at a 1 p.m. news conference.
Law enforcement personnel remove items from the Freund home in Crystal Lake, Ill., as the investigation into the case of missing 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund continues on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (Robert McCoppinChicago Tribune via AP)
9:25 a.m.
The FBI and police in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake are planning a news conference as they search for a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly a week.
The Crystal Lake Police Department says the news conference will take place at noon on Wednesday at City Hall. The agencies have been searching for Andrew "AJ" Freund since his parents reported him missing last Thursday. The couple said they saw him at bedtime the night before and couldn't find him in the morning.
McHenry County Sheriff's officers and other law enforcement search the area of Route 176 and Dean Street south of Woodstock, Ill.,, for clues in the disappearance of 5-year-old missing boy Andrew "AJ" Freund, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (Brian HillDaily Herald via AP)
Police searched for AJ in a park on Tuesday and said they planned to use sonar to search ponds in the community, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.
Authorities say they don't believe the boy was abducted or wandered away.
McHenry County Sheriff's officer search the area of Route 176 and Dean Street south of Woodstock, Ill., for clues in the disappearance of 5-year-old missing boy Andrew "AJ" Freund, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (Brian HillDaily Herald via AP)
Officials gather near Gayle Drive near Woodstock, Ill., in their search for 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund, who has been missing for nearly a week, Wednesday April 24, 2019. (Stacey WescottChicago Tribune via AP)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, calling it “a dirty spectacle” that cherry picks weapons of mass destruction from all other weapons that should also be banned.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining.
The resolution would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the U.S. and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the resolution as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” and said it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.
Russia and China proposed an amendment to the U.S.-Japan draft that would call on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”
The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes required for adoption.
The U.S. opposed the amendment, and after the vote Nebenzia addressed the U.S. ambassador saying: “We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?”
He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”
Nebenzia accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.
Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”
She called Wednesday’s vote “a real missed opportunity to rebuild much-needed trust in existing arms control obligations.”
Thomas-Greenfield’s announcement of the resolution on March 18 followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.
Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”
It could destroy “thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend on,” she said.
The defeated draft resolution said “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.” It would have urged all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the U.N. Charter.
The draft would have affirmed that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”
The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries, including the U.S. and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
The draft resolution emphasized “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”
It reiterated that the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.
The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution would have urged the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”
At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.
United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses members of the U.N. Security Council before voting during a meeting on Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
