MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – CrimeStoppers is offering a $5,000 reward in the hopes of finding LaQuanta Riley, who hasn’t been seen since 2003.

The reward is being offered for the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance.

Riley was 19 years old when she vanished on December 7, 2003, from South Rick Drive. She would be 42 years old today.

Action 8 News has covered her disappearance for many years. In 2016, her mother, Pamela Riley Boldin, asked, “Who was it,” she questions, “Who was that person who picked her up that night?”

Throughout her years of searching, Boldin has gotten close with other families searching for loved ones. She even created the group Riley Relief to support other families.

LaQuanta Riley is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing approximately 200 pounds. She was born on February 26, 1984.

At the time she went missing, she had pierced ears and tongue, a scar on her nose, “Rest in Peace Mesha” tattooed on her left arm, and “LaQuanta” tattooed on her right arm.

This age-progressed photo shows what she might have looked like at age 34.

If you have any information, call CrimeStoppers at (334) 215-STOP or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Trump said U.S. forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago.

He used his platform before a national TV audience to tout the success of the U.S. operations and argue that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded, but said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump said. He also acknowledged American service members who had been killed and added: “We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”

The president didn’t mention the possibility of sending U.S. ground troops into Iran. Nor did he reference NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the U.S. secure the critical Strait of Hormuz, where a chokehold by Iran has sent energy prices soaring.

He also didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up his April 6 deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway or face severe retaliation from the U.S.

Trump noted that the ongoing conflict in Iran had lasted just 32 days, seeming to appeal to the public for more time to achieve the mission.

“World War I lasted one year, seven months and five days,” he said. “World War II lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days.” Trump added references to Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.

He also noted that in “these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.” He said U.S. military action had been “so powerful, so brilliant” that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat” — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors early today.

Trump also seemed to suggest he had ruled out going into Iran to get its enriched uranium.

“The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust,” he said. “And we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we’ll hit them with missiles very hard again.”

The president encouraged countries reliant on oil through the Strait of Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Hours before Trump’s address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted a lengthy letter in English on his X account appealing to U.S. citizens and stressing that his country had pursued negotiations before the U.S. withdrew from that path. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” he wrote.

(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons hired Jeff Scott from the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday to join the revamped front office as assistant general manager.

The Falcons reworked their leadership team in the offseason, hiring Ian Cunningham as general manager, Matt Ryan as president of football and Kevin Stefanski as coach.

Scott worked the past five seasons with the Eagles, including the past two as vice president of football operations. Cunningham worked with the Eagles from 2017-21.

“First and foremost, this is a relationship business,” Cunningham said in a statement. “I want to thank Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles for granting permission to allow Jeff the opportunity to take on this role and advance his career.”

Cunningham said in the time he and Scott worked together for the Eagles, “I quickly realized he is a man of integrity. He has a high degree of attention to detail and discipline, while always treating everyone with respect. His values align with ours, as does his mission to help build a team that consistently competes for championships.”

The Falcons on Wednesday also signed cornerback Darnay Holmes and re-signed outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone. Following four seasons with the New York Giants, Holmes played for the Las Vegas Raiders the past two years. He has 12 starts in 83 games.

Malone was a third-round pick by Atlanta in 2022. He has three sacks and one interception in 58 games over four seasons.

Astronauts, from left, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, of Canada,, Pilot Victor Glover, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch pose for a photo after leaving the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-B and a planned liftoff on NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon Wednesday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years.

Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where tens of thousands gathered to witness the dawn of this new era. Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and ’70s. It is NASA’s biggest step yet toward establishing a permanent lunar presence.

Artemis II set sail from the same Florida launch site that sent Apollo’s explorers to the moon so long ago. The handful still alive cheered this next generation’s grand adventure as the Space Launch System rocket thundered into the early evening sky, a nearly full moon beckoning some 248,000 miles away.

Artemis II blasted off from Cape Canveral, Florida, just after 5:30PM CDT, Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – Photo from WAKA Action 8 News/CBS News coverage

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman led the charge into space with “Let’s go to the moon!” accompanied by pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. It was the most diverse lunar crew ever with the first woman, person of color and non-U.S. citizen riding in NASA’s new Orion capsule.

They shaped their hands into hearts as they said goodbye to their families and boarded the astrovan for the ride to the pad and their awaiting space chariot. “Love you guys,” Glover said.

The astronauts will stick close to home for the first 25 hours of their 10-day test flight, checking out the capsule in orbit around Earth before firing the main engine that will propel them to the moon.

They won’t pause for a stopover or orbit the moon like Apollo 8’s first lunar visitors did so famously on Christmas Eve 1968, reading from Genesis. But they stand to become the most distant humans ever when their capsule zooms past the moon and continues another 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond, before making a U-turn and tearing straight home to a splashdown in the Pacific.

Once settled in a high orbit around Earth, the astronauts planned to assume manual control and practice steering their capsule around the rocket’s detached upper stage, venturing within 33 feet. NASA wants to know how Orion handles in case the self-flying feature fails and the pilots need to take control.

Four days later during the lunar flyby, the moon will appear to be the size of a basketball held at arm’s length. The astronauts will take turns peering through Orion’s windows with cameras. If the lighting is right, they should see features never before viewed through human eyes. They’ll also catch snippets of a total solar eclipse, donning eclipse glasses as the moon briefly blocks the sun from their perspective and the corona is revealed.

All of NASA’s moon plans — a surge in launches over the next several years leading to a sustainable moon base for astronauts assisted by robotic rovers and drones — hinge on Artemis II going well.

It’s been more than three years since Artemis I, the only other time NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule have soared. With no one aboard, the Artemis I capsule lacked life-support equipment and other crew essentials like a water dispenser and toilet.

These systems are now making their space debut on Artemis II, ratcheting up the risk. That’s why NASA is waiting a full day before committing Wiseman and his crew to a four-day trip to the moon and four-day journey back.

“There’s always been a lot riding on this mission,” NASA’s Lori Glaze said ahead of launch. But the teams are even more “energized” now that the space agency is finally accelerating the lunar launch pace and laser-focusing on surface operations — seismic changes announced recently by new administrator Jared Isaacman.

With half the world’s population not yet born when NASA’s 12 moonwalkers left their boot prints in the gray lunar dust, Artemis offers a fresh beginning, NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox said earlier this week.

“There are a lot of people who don’t remember Apollo. There are generations who weren’t alive when Apollo launched. This is their Apollo,” said Fox, who was 4 when Apollo 17 closed out the era.

NASA is in it for the long haul this time. Unlike Apollo, which focused on fast flags and footprints in a breakneck race against the Soviet Union, Artemis is striving for a sustainable moon base elaborate enough to satisfy even the most hard-core science fiction fans. But make no mistake: Isaacman and the Trump Administration want the next boot prints to be made by Americans, not the Chinese.

Until Isaacman’s program makeover, Artemis III was crawling toward a moon landing no sooner than 2029. The billionaire spacewalker slid in a new Artemis III for 2027 so astronauts could practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander in orbit around Earth. Astronauts’ momentous landing near the moon’s south pole shifted to Artemis IV in 2028 — two years before an anticipated Chinese crew’s arrival.

Like Apollo 13 — astronauts’ only moon landing miss — Artemis II will use a free-return, lunar flyby trajectory to get home with gravity’s tug and a minimum of gas. The gravity of both the moon and Earth will provide much if not most of the oomph to keep Orion on its out-and-back, figure-eight loop.

The danger is right up there for Artemis II. NASA has refused to release its risk assessment for the mission. Managers contend it’s better than 50-50 — the usual odds for a new rocket — but how much more is murky.

The SLS rocket leaked flammable hydrogen fuel during ground tests, a recurring problem that engineers still do not completely understand. The hydrogen leaks and unrelated helium blockages stalled the flight for two months, coming on top of years of vexing delays and cost overruns. Both problems also thwarted Artemis I, whose capsule returned with excessive heat shield damage. To NASA’s relief, Wednesday’s countdown was leak-free but a few issues cropped up in the final hours.

Beating the Soviet Union to the moon made the huge risks acceptable for Apollo, said Charlie Duke, one of only four surviving moonwalkers.

“I’m cheering you on,” Duke said in a note to Wiseman and his crew before their flight.

During a weekend news conference, Koch stressed how humanity’s path to Mars goes through the moon, the proving ground for points beyond.

“It is our strong hope that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth, can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination,” she said.

Added Glover: “It’s the story of humanity. Not Black history, not women’s history, but that it becomes human history.”

(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The SPLC and other groups hold a news conference to discuss their concerns with possible changes to the voting process, Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – Photo from WAKA Action 8 News

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center and other groups held a news conference to address their concerns about the voting process in Alabama.

The SPLC was joined by Black Voters Matter, Alabama Forward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, Alabama Values, the League of Women Voters and other groups to speak out for what they call a stronger, more accessible democracy.

They believe there is an ongoing attack on voting rights and that bills that they consider pro-democracy haven’t be heard, according to SPLC Alabama Policy Director Jerome Dees.

Nationally, the SPLC has announced its opposition to plans to restrict or ban voting by mail or to require photo ID at the polls, saying it would prevent some Americans from having their voice heard.

College students, young adult voters and others also learned about the lobbying process and the status of pending legislation currently up for debate in the Legislature.

Scene of double homicide that happened on Monday, March 30, 2026, in Alexander City – Photo from CrimeStoppers

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (WAKA) – CrimeStoppers is offering a $2,000 cash reward for information that leads to arrests in a double homicide in Alexander City.

As Action 8 News has reported, police were called to the corner of 3rd Street and 10th Avenue at around 1PM on Monday, March 30. Someone had called 911 to report that shots were fired.

On the scene, officers found a silver Hyundai Elantra with two people still inside the vehicle. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say both victims were shot from outside the car and suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

The victims have been identified as 19-year-old Fitzgerald Wilson and 20-year-old Rafiel Riggins, both from Alexander City.

If you have information to help police, call CrimeStoppers at (334) 215-STOP.