OMAHA, Neb. — Jay Johnson loves his two dogs. He says to him, they are family.

This past weekend, he came close to losing them after they escaped from the backyard of his Omaha home. The dogs escaped while Johnson was in the shower.

"(I) get out of the shower, notice there's a message on my phone, ‘I got your dog’,” said Johnson.

That's when Johnson came out, he realized his fence was broken which was how the dogs escaped. He said someone ran into and destroyed his fence the night before.

Luckily, Johnson was able to recover his animals, but he also has an $800 expense to replace the fence, and he's not alone.

The so-called "Kool-Aid Man Challenge" on TikTok is leading to a rash of vandalism in Omaha and surrounding areas.

In the challenge, someone runs into and destroys random fences in an effort to mimic the mascot of the popular powdered drink. The damage is not an easy fix, especially these days.

Surveillance video that was recently captured shows a group of several people charging another fence at a different home in Omaha.

The footage went viral on social media which is getting the attention of law enforcement.

“They get into a group mentality where one of them thinks they have a good idea and the others ones go along with it," said Lt. James Wrigley, Sarpy County Sheriff's Office.
"Once we meet up with these kids individually they tend to say they're sorry and wouldn't do this by themselves,”

Wrigley said say his department has responded to eight calls of this happening across the county. In the case of the aforementioned video, around $3,500 worth of damage was done to the fence.

Lindsay Anderson, Operations Manager at S&W Fence said this kind of damage is normally tough to fix. Current supply shortages make the job even harder.

“Vinyl pricing more than doubled when the pandemic hit as with everything," said Anderson. "The cost to repair them for some people is more than the price they paid to get their entire fence.”

Johnson said he wants to see the people doing this face real consequences.

“They need to learn a lesson, big time," he said. "It can't just be a slap on the hand.”

The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said they're still looking for the individuals in the video.

Those responsible for the damage could face criminal mischief charges, and the severity of those charges would depend upon the damage to property.

This story was first reported by Ron Johnson at KMTV in Omaha, Neb.

It's a device designed by Apple to help keep track of missing items, it's called an AirTag, but reports nationwide show more and more people are using it for the wrong reasons.

In Omaha, Nebraska, one woman said she's been tracked for months.

Sister station KETV NewsWatch 7 is keeping her identity hidden to protect her. We're calling her 'Linda.'

The day started off like normal. Linda was out shopping with her daughter, but as she pulled into the driveway, she received an alert.

"I had a notification on my phone that said, an unknown device has been with you. And the owner can see its location," she said.

After clicking on it, a map popped up. It displayed every store she went to hours earlier.

"I kind of just brushed it off as a joke, because I didn't realize that people were actually doing this," Linda said.

Following a call to Apple, she quickly realized it wasn't a prank.

Watch the video above for the full story.

GLENWOOD, Iowa —

An Iowa teenager is turning to surgery, hoping an expensive procedure will give her a new smile.

Since she was a little girl, Liberty Williams’ mouth curved a bit different than those around her. Now after years of bullying, she said she doesn't feel free to smile wide.

"Do I have a crooked smile?"

At 4 years old, Liberty asked her mom that question.

Dusty Williams said her daughter's preschool teacher had brought it up to her.

It broke her heart, so they tried to find a fix.

"There was nothing, we had no diagnosis at all,” Dusty Williams said.

So for 15 years, Liberty lived with one side of her mouth being different. And bullies have always noticed.

"It was hard because I know I’m different from other people and people would just see me differently than I do, so I just want to be seen as normal and have a normal mouth but it’s hard when people keep saying things,” Liberty said.

This past year the bullying took a big turn.

Liberty got an anonymous text message calling her names and saying, "You have no point in life and nobody wants you here. I don’t know how you get friends with that messed up mouth."

"It didn’t have a phone number or anything, I didn’t know what to do. I went straight to my mom,” Liberty said.

"She was just sobbing in a ball on her bed, just sobbing and I was angry,” Dusty Williams said.

After calls to the police, the school, the phone provider and the county attorney with no answers, the Williams family felt at a loss.

But, that reignited their search for a doctor who could help.

A surgeon in Omaha, Nebraska, tried, but once Liberty was under anesthesia, Williams said the doctor came out with bad news.

"This surgery was unsuccessful. We went in, we cut her open we dug around and there’s actually no nerves or muscles in the entire side of her face,” Dusty Williams said.

He was able to place gold in her eye, which allowed her to finally close her eyes completely.

That doctor referred them all the way to a surgeon in Beverly Hills. They believe he can do a facial reanimation.

"They can’t fix anything internally but on the outside, they can make her smile a little more symmetrical and change some of the things about her that she's uncomfortable with,” Dusty Williams said.

A GoFundMe will pay for the expensive surgery.

A friend is offering photoshoots, with the proceeds going to the Williams family.

Money is also being raised by the sale of anti-bullying T-shirts in Liberty’s name.

“That’s what’s more important is that they stop treating her that way to me than fixing who she is, like that’s who she is,” Dusty Williams said.

In the end, it’s Liberty's choice.

"I think if I got the surgery I’d be happier with my smile but I feel like other people are winning if I do. So, I don’t know what to do,” Liberty said.

OMAHA, Neb. —

A Nebraska family is urging people to get the flu shot as their daughter continues to fight for her life after getting the virus two years ago.

The young mother has been unresponsive and is now in long-term care.

Her family said it all started with a flu diagnosis.

This family said their daughter's life may have been different if she'd have gotten her flu shot.

“She got her CT scan yesterday. So, it's not worse, but it's not better,” said Vicky Bookout, Crystal’s mom.

Hospital beds have been the reality for Crystal Velasquez after a flu diagnosis two years ago.

“Crystal is at Madonna now. And she was on a vent, but now she's on the extended care. Where she'll be, I mean, the rest of her life,” Bookout said.

Now 38, her family said she's been in a mostly unresponsive state since 2019.

“It's even hard to go up there and see her but then it's harder to leave her,” Bookout said.

She's made some small improvements, they said.

“She laughs and she smiles now. And she didn't do that on the vent unit. But she's doing it now,” Bookout said.

But her life is vastly different than it was before.

A Seahawks football fan, lover of music and giving soul, Velasquez's family says she started to feel sick in early December 2019.

After getting medication for her influenza diagnosis, they say she was sent home.

Then, they say she went back for a chest X-ray, which revealed pneumonia, but was again sent home.

“She came by the house and said she couldn't breathe. And she was coughing. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything,” Bookout said.

Her mom said she was rushed to the hospital and intubated. That shock to her body caused her to have a stroke.

Those moments would be some of the last her mom would have with her while conscious.

“She did tell me she didn't want to die because she just had a bad feeling that something was wrong,” Bookout said.

"You don’t ever think this is going to happen to your child, especially from the flu.”

Bookout said the recovery has been hard and she believes the flu shot could have helped.

They hope their daughter will continue to improve and want others to take every virus seriously and get vaccinated.

“I know people that don't believe in those shots, the flu shots, and that's up to them. And I have nothing against him for that. But I know it's not going to stop me,” Bookout said.

OMAHA, Neb. —

Doctors and nurses in the ICU are approaching two full years of pandemic pressure. But public support for frontline workers has taken a back seat.

"We're here to help, but we also need you to help. We also need the public to help," said Haleigh Seizys, an ICU nurse at Nebraska Medicine.

As the pandemic rolls into a third year, that help can be as simple as sending donuts.

"You feed my nurses and they'll be happy," said Kim Olson, an ICU charge nurse at Bergan Mercy in Omaha, Nebraska.

But ICU nurses say you can make the biggest difference by taking precautions to mitigate hospitalizations.

"For the past two years, our world has honestly been turned upside down," said Olson.

But the days of banging pots and pans to thank our health care heroes are bygone, while the virus is as vicious as ever.

"I can't speak to my patients, because they're struggling so much. I've had way more experience with death in two years, than I ever thought I would in a lifetime," said Seizys, who feels public support for doctors and nurses has plateaued. "I wish that people could understand the exhaustion of just the overworked staff."

Some people do, especially those who have witnessed the crush of COVID-19 first-hand.

"We have had phenomenal care," said Amy Crosby. Her 1-year-old has Down syndrome and is hospitalized with COVID-19 right now. "I don't think some of the health care people take credit for all that they do for the families."

As a nurse herself, Crosby appreciates how health care workers put on a brave face for patients and frightened families.

"I feel like they've just been my good friends or my girlfriends through this whole process," said Crosby.

Patients, like family members, recognize what their nurses are going through. Marvin Brinkman was in the ICU at Bergan Mercy last month.

"The ICU stay really showed me the pressure that a lot of the nurses and doctors were under," said Brinkman, who had brain surgery and said there were COVID patients in the unit.

Some fear those pressures of the pandemic could cause mistakes in high-stakes environments.

"I think that that's always a concern," said Brinkman. "I could tell that they were stretched thin."

Those on the front lines say advertising our appreciation is more important than ever, as health care workers leave the profession in droves.

"We need those very skilled nurses taking care of us, otherwise we're going to be regretting it," said Brinkman.

For nurses, the exhaustion they’re experiencing right now is unprecedented. It is spurred in part by mandatory overtime.

"Every day continues to get harder," said Olson. As cases rise, support seems to be slipping away. “From an ICU standpoint, we're drowning, emotionally and physically."

Even so, they continue to show up, shift after shift.

"You don't lose the passion for nursing," said Olson.

They say a simple 'thank you' can sustain them during their darkest days.

"We have seen the most amazing support from both patients, families and friends."

Santa Claus spread some holiday cheer at the Methodist Women’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday.Jolly Old St. Nicholas handed out ornaments, books and gifts for siblings of the babies.Each child's wish? To be home in time for the new year.

Doctors removed Greg Frost from that ventilator a year ago this week, Dec. 6, 2020.Sister station KETV followed the journey of the COVID-19 survivor, who is now back to work full time.But he admits he is far from being back to normal."My family, all my friends, coworkers they all look at me and say, 'You're a walking miracle," Greg Frost said.One year ago, Frost, 55, couldn't walk. He was learning how to breathe on his own again, after being in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator for four weeks. He contracted COVID-19 around Halloween last year. "It's been a struggle, gaining my strength and stuff like that," he said.Recovery for the MUD plant worker hasn't been easy. "He came home in a wheelchair and he needed help with basically everything, and now he's back to 99%," Greg's daughter, Haley Frost, said. Frost and his family have learned how to celebrate the small victories, like being able to tie his own shoes."I'm not gonna be a quitter, anybody can quit. It takes time to climb the mountain, to get to the top," he said.Pulmonologists say that climb can be slow and can take years; typically one day on a ventilator means one week of rehabilitation."It's a much longer time you are fighting for your life," said Dr. Daniel Hershberger with Nebraska Medicine. "With that time, that duration exhausts the body, you have no reserve left. It does make a big impact months, even years down the road."Hershberger said the chance of survival after being on life support is 50-50.Frost thought he was going to be the other statistic."Two guys asked me, 'When you were in that state of mind and put out did you see the light?' and I said, 'Oh yeah, yeah, I seen it,'" Frost said. "You can go to the light. I seen it but I just couldn't get up and go.""It was that close. It makes you wonder if something was holding him back, like all of us here, that's why he's still with us today," Haley Frost said.Now that Frost is back to work full time, he also appreciates time with his family. He also admits it's also been mentally tough, but he knows he's a survivor. "Some days can be very, very difficult, but as long as I wake up another day, it's a very good day," he said. Hershberger said they are putting much younger people than Frost on ventilators, who are unvaccinated.Frost said there was no vaccine available for him when he got COVID-19 and doesn't understand why people would take the chance of ending up on life support."It's a free country, you can do what you want, but look at the alternative and what can happen to you. It will take your life if it gets bad enough, that's for sure," Frost said.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —

A teacher at an Iowa high school is under arrest accused of leaving a series of threatening notes around school referencing gun violence.

Local police said an investigation into a series of anonymous handwritten notes led them to Abraham Lincoln High School teacher Katrina Phelan, 37. Police said all the notes referenced committing gun violence on school property and were found in Phelan's classroom or by Phelan herself.

According to police in an affidavit, all four notes in question were either found and recovered by students in Phelan's classroom or by Phelan herself.

The affidavit says Phelan admitted to writing the notes and said they were written on paper from her classroom. Police said she confirmed the handwriting on the note was hers, but couldn't recall writing them.

The affidavit also states that when asked why she was writing these notes, Phelan responded by saying "it was out of concern, worry and frustration over the lack of control of her classroom."

When asked what she hoped to accomplish by writing these notes, investigators said Phelan told them maybe to bring attention to the fact that it's "not a safe place."

Investigators said they determined Phelane had no intentions or means of carrying out the threats. They describe one note posing as an unnamed student who said they were tired of being made fun of.

Phelan faces charges of Threats of Terrorism. The three counts are Class D felonies, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

The following email was sent to ALHS parents:

The Council Bluffs Police Department has concluded its investigation into the threatening notes found at school a few weeks ago. They have determined the source of the notes to be a school employee. Investigators concluded there was no intent or means to carry out the threats. However, the employee has been charged with a crime, has voluntarily surrendered to the police, and will no longer be employed by the Council Bluffs Schools. We appreciate the detectives and their diligence in solving this crime.

During that investigation, students provided us with information that was helpful. This is what we expect from students at ALHS.

We want all students, parents and staff members to have confidence that our schools are safe and supportive environments.

Mrs. Bellows, Principal

A customer at The Omaha Bakery in Nebraska ordered two turnovers, and in return put forth a huge tip.

"Everybody was freaking out in here, they were like 'you guys won't believe what just happened!'" employee Preston Rath said.

Rath thought he was doing a typical transaction at the bakery.

"He ordered two turnovers which came to $5 and as I'm ringing them up he kind of snickers a little bit as he turns the screen back to me," Rath said.

When the customer, Nicholas, turned the screen around, Rath noticed his $2,000 tip.

"And I was like that's wrong, you put too much of a tip in there. And he goes 'if you don't hit OK, I'm going to reach around and hit OK,'" Rath said.

"You hear about these things in big cities and you see it on the internet, but you never think it's going to happen at your business," owner Michelle Kaiser said.

Kaiser said the money will be dispersed between hourly employees only, no managers.

"He knew that it had been a rough time with COVID, he knew that people were struggling in general. He noticed our staff was working really, really hard," Kaiser said.

Rath hopes the kindness that Nicholas showed doesn't stop with him.

"You don't have to give random strangers $2,000 but even just saying 'have a good day' can help somebody go from a zero to a 10," he said.

Watch the full story in the video above.

OMAHA, Neb. —

A study from the spring found three in 10 health care workers had considered leaving their jobs because of the pandemic. A doctor in Omaha, Nebraska, says there is no easy cure for burnout, but wants fellow physicians to know she hears them, and their feelings are valid.

"It's a kind of tired that you don't get better from by the time you go back to work next," said Dr. Deanna Larson.

For doctors and nurses going full speed ahead, Larson says it is time to slow down and self-reflect.

"You have to take care of your mental health. You just have to," Larson said.

Larson told sister station KETV her physician's flame started to flicker years ago. But she said the pandemic has exacerbated burnout across the medical industry.

"You see these people that are really sick and things that we can't always do to help them," said Tera Kapke, a registered nurse in Fairbury, Nebraska.

A Physicians Foundation report from June of this year found 61% of physicians feel burnt out. The International Council of Nurses reports a 70% burnout rate — up 30% from pre-pandemic numbers.

"I'd work a few shifts in a row and pick up extra shifts and I'm just exhausted," Larson said.

Larson coaches doctors battling burnout. She started a podcast to make self-help more accessible.

"We normalize our stress because that's just our job," Larson said. "We're givers, that's what we do. We're givers at the expense of ourselves."

Added to a doctor's job description these days is healing a world plagued by misinformation. Doctors and nurses have become the target of online hate and harassment.

"You really just can't have empathy for anybody anymore,” Larson said. “You are literally just trying to survive, get to the next day."

Larson offered a reminder to check up on the health care workers in your life, and encourages doctors to listen for symptoms of stress in themselves.

"We need to take care of ourselves, or there's not going to be anybody else to take care of us," said Larson, whose podcast “Beat Physician Burnout” is available to stream now.

Greg Schroeter's bout with COVID-19 was relatively mild.

But the other problems it triggered left him hospitalized for nearly three months.

The 51-year-old from rural Humphrey, Nebraska, said his recovery has been long and emotional.

"I went from basically being bedridden, and one of my physical therapists stood me up," he said. "And I looked him eye to eye and I knew I was gonna walk again."

Schroeter documented all his milestones at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals-Lincoln Campus: the first time standing, walking on a robotic treadmill called a Lokomat, and using a walker and walking on his own.

"It's three and a half hours a day of pure hell, but it's worth everything because I'm going to walk out there," Schroeter said.

In November 2020, his wife Kimberly Schroeter, a registered nurse, tested positive for COVID-19. Her symptoms were mild. They wore masks and slept in separate bedrooms.

"I guess I thought I was out of the woods. I was on day 10 of quarantine," Schroeter said.

He was working outside when suddenly he felt pain in his legs. A couple of days later, he could barely move. On Nov. 23, he was taken to Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

Doctors told him he developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that attacks the spinal cord causing paralysis. It was apparently triggered by his exposure to the coronavirus.

"I never would have gotten Guillain-Barre if it wasn't for COVID," he said.

The disease soon began affecting his breathing.

"This is the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life, and I wouldn't wish it on anybody or my worst enemy," Schroeter said. "It is absolutely awful."

Kimberly Schroeter said she was thankful Greg didn't have to go on a ventilator.

"For some reason, he escaped that twice and that was pretty amazing," she said.

Schroeter also developed a pancreatic cyst that doctors operated on. On Jan. 8, he was well enough to be taken to Madonna.

"I was basically helpless," Schroeter said. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move."

Dr. Paul Krabbenhoft, Madonna's Spinal Cord Injury Program medical director, said Schroeter's case is not unique.

Since the pandemic began, Madonna staff in Lincoln and Omaha have treated 105 patients for post-COVID-19, many with severe side effects.

Krabbenhoft said they have also treated other Guillain-Barre patients. "Something that causes the immune system to respond and then it gets out of kilter and it starts acting on and attacking the central nervous system," Krabbenhoft said.

Schroeter is grateful for all the support from family, friends and co-workers.

"I feel like the prayers that were given to me and the Methodist Hospital team and the Madonna Hospital team, I believe they saved my life," Schroeter said.

Related video: Some COVID-19 survivors experience long-term symptoms

For every milestone Schroeter recorded, his wife would send him a text.

"I would say, my heart is fluttering," she said. "Fluttering was like my word to him every time he did something so amazing."

Schroeter will soon reach another amazing milestone: going home two weeks ahead of schedule.

"He's my hero," Kimberly said. "Everything he's been through and he just never ever gave up. I guess I could say that I think I fell in love with my husband all over again."

OMAHA, Neb. —

Hearing the word "cancer" is scary for anyone, especially when you're just 9 years old. Sammy Strawn can call himself a survivor, and one heck of a baseball player too.

You don't have to be around Sammy for long to know he's anything but quiet on the field.

"My dad taught me when I was like maybe 3 or 4, so baseball's life to me," Sammy said.

But last October, he wasn't feeling like his normal self.

"We first found out after he had a prolonged headache at school and had to come home from school," his dad Joe said.

That long headache turned out to be caused by a brain tumor.

"It was a pilocytic astrocytoma," Joe said.

But baseball stayed on Sammy's mind. So when his parents told him what was going on, Joe said Sammy had just two questions: "First one: 'Am I going to live?' The second one: 'Am I going to play baseball again?'"

Joe and his wife Sarah Wemhoff-Strawn say they caught the tumor early on.

"(It was) not genetic, it was just a formulation of bad cells," Sarah said.

Between October and November, Sammy had two surgeries within weeks of each other. And just three days later, he was back to playing catch again.

"I didn't want to lie to him and say 'you will play baseball again,'" Joe said. "That was never a guarantee," Sarah chimed in.

Joe said he "was hoping by April he would be playing baseball and even that, I wasn't sure it was going to happen."

Sammy's impact inspired his parents so much that they started Sammy Strong, a foundation aiming to provide resources for families and everyone else involved in the life of a child facing what Sammy did.

Meanwhile, Sammy hasn't missed a single game or practice since his surgery.

He's grateful for his teammates.

"It's like they didn't even notice that I had cancer, and I was just a normal kid on the baseball team," Sammy said.

"I think grateful is the biggest understatement in the world," Sarah said.

Joe and Sarah say it's unlikely that the tumor will come back. But Sammy gets a check-up every three months to make sure everything is alright.

For more about the Sammy Strong foundation, go here.

PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) -- Matt Feldmann, Josh Bodine and Matt Bodine estimate it took about 25,000 LEGO bricks to make their version of the Imperial Star Destroyer.

LEGO made a set for about $130 and another for $700.

"It was just kinda disappointing, the LEGO set was, because they kinda hyped it up for a long time and then they released the pictures and it looked kinda small," said Josh Bodine.

He and his friend Matt thought they could do better. Josh's younger brother joined in the effort since they'd done builds together before.

"I was just kinda asked, 'Do you want to come with us?' I decided sure, why not," said Matthew Bodine.

They took some breaks while waiting for brick deliveries and after some collapse setbacks. They said it took a year and a half.

"Once COVID hit, we were like, 'Man, we have a ton of free time.' So then we started building a lot more than we were able to before that," said Feldmann.

They used a lot of bricks they had, but Matt Feldmann said he still put in about $1,700 to buy the best pieces.

They designed it themselves and admit their creation doesn't meet LEGO stability standards, but they prefer to follow their creativity instead of instructions.

"We can build whatever we want, have whatever details we want, make it as accurate as we want, make it as big as want, so it's way more fun to actually take those creative liberties," said Josh Bodine. Matt Feldmann added with a laugh, "yeah if we were LEGO designers, we'd definitely get fired from this."

They'll be showing off their creation at Brick Days-Omaha. They're a little worried about transporting it but think they can re-piece it together if any problems arise.

You can check it out at Brick Days on July 24 and 25 at Mid-America Center.

Watch the construction process from Bodine's Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries

This story originally reported by Jennifer Griswold on 3NewsNow.com.

OMAHA, Neb. —

Sam Boje knows a thing or two about flags.

He noticed that the flag pole in his neighbor, Barbara Miller's yard hadn't flown a flag in a few years.

"The flag pole has really, basically for the last three years or so just been a flag pole there and I didn't know how to take it down or want to take it down," Miller said. "We've always had a flag there until he passed away four years ago...and I wasn't really wanting to mess with putting the flag up and down every day."

Taking matters into his own hands, Sam started to raise a flag for Miller every morning.

Sam's interest in flags really sparked when he started learning about them towards the end of his 5th-grade year. And that's when he started sharing what he learned with Miller.

While nothing can bring Russ back, Miller knows his memory will always be honored, all thanks to Sam.

"Russ would be so tickled that the flag is flying again because he just loved it," she said.

"If you know your neighbor, then you know someone that will help you out if something happens," Sam said.

Eventually, Sam said he wants to collect a flag from every country.

OMAHA, Neb. —

You've heard of a vow renewal.

But have you ever heard of a second proposal?

And no, she didn't say no the first time.

An Omaha, Nebraska, couple is celebrating 20 years of marriage with a special surprise.

Ring in hand, in a tuxedo and this time with help, Charlie Burkett waits to propose to his wife.

"Hopefully she says yes,” Burkett said.

"I met my wife 23 years to the day ago at Family Fun Center and I asked her to marry me 21 years ago to the day here at 72nd and Dodge,” Burkett said.

Burkett sent Olly the Trolly to pick up Felicia and her family all those years ago while he waited at the place they met to propose. That time he wore a t-shirt and shorts and had a broken arm.

Not Sunday.

"My best friend picked me up this morning. We went out to breakfast and we started to get ready for a fun afternoon out,” Felicia Burkett said.

Felicia had no idea anything was up until a trolly pulled up in her driveway.

It was full of family.

Everyone except her husband and five kids.

You guessed it, they were at 72nd and Dodge and the trolly drove straight past it.

"That’s instantly when I knew. When I saw the boys and Charlie standing under the marquee,” Felicia Burkett said.

Felicia lost her ring playing football with her sons. Her second proposal comes with a brand new ring to replace it.

“I like the big dramatic, its 20 years, 20-year anniversary you’ve got to do something,” Charlie Burkett said.

“I am so blessed. God has blessed me with an amazing family and friends, and I am just one blessed girl,” Felicia Burkett said.

"Marriage is not always easy even though we see these fairy tale moments, it really is our relationship with God and each other that has kept us going."

Videos bring back happy memories of Mary Nielsen's two children.

"Teddy was just so sweet and loving. He was a mama's boy, you know," Nielsen said, "Emmy was exceptionally smart. She just had turned 5 in January, and you wouldn't have known it."

Now these memories are all Nielsen has, after her two children were found dead in their father's home last month.

"They had like a special bond, like, they were very, very close, and you could tell they were best friends," she said.

Those two little best friends, 5-year-old Emily and 3-year-old Teddy were staying with their father, Adam Price, last month.

Nielsen lives in Illinois.

"Saturday rolls around, and I was like, it was like 6:30, seven o'clock and I was like, 'the kids haven't called yet,' and I was like, 'they didn't call last night, either,'" Nielsen said.

According to Nielsen, a custody agreement required that the kids check in with her every day while visiting their dad.

"So I started calling him and blowing up his phone and texting him I'm like, 'even if you can't talk, like, I need to know the kids are safe,'" she said.

Nielsen posted on Facebook, asking if anyone had seen Price and the kids.

Meanwhile, police went to the house twice for welfare checks but say they had no cause to force their way in.

"I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach," Nielsen said.

Nielsen's friend offered to go over to the home. She said the friend found the door unlocked, and inside, the bodies of Emily and Teddy.

"I had to pull over, I was bawling," Nielsen said.

Price was gone. Authorities arrested him hours later in California.

Nielsen calls her past relationship with him abusive and said her children were the only reason she survived.

"I mean, I was very suicidal for a very long time during the relationship. Abusive relationships, like destroy you," she said.

Nielsen said she moved back in with her parents in Illinois to finish school and spend more time with her beloved kids. Now, as she mourns her beautiful, cheerful children, Nielsen wishes more would have been done to protect them.

"If someone had just listened to me when I said he was an unfit parent, they'd still be here, and it's still really hard," she said, "I just, the only thing that makes me feel like a tiny bit better is they don't ever have to see him again, but at the same time I'm missing them so so much."

Price is charged with two felony counts of child abuse resulting in death. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 15.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —

A man pulled two people from a fiery crash on Interstate 80 Tuesday morning in Iowa.

Those people are recovering in the hospital.

Runk Wood says he's not a hero, but just did what he had to do.

"You can't be scared to help people," Wood said.

He proved that, during his drive to work from Avoca, Iowa to Lincoln.

"As I got closer to it, I could tell that the car was burning. The fire got pretty big," Wood said.

He saw the horrific scene near Interstate 80 and McPherson Avenue in Council Bluffs.

Council Bluffs Police say the car was stopped in the middle of the interstate when a truck hit it. The car hit a barricade and caught fire.

"A lot of people were driving by. I didn't see a whole lot of brake lights, which kind of touches my heart, where we live in a society where you see a car burning in the median, you don't stop," Wood said.

But Wood did stop.

"I could hear the girl screaming and nobody was getting near the car and it was just a reaction of I'm not going to stand here and listen to somebody burn up in the car so I just went for it," he said.

He says he pulled the driver to safety first.

"Got her about 20 feet away from the car. Then she was talking to me, I couldn't understand what she was saying. But she kept pointing at the car," Wood said.

That's when he realized there was someone else in the car, so he rescued that person too.

"My hands are a little red. The right side of my face is a little tender from the heat, from the fire," Wood said.

Wood is happy he was there to help but he insists: "I don't want the hero title. I'm just a simple man that was headed to work and chose to stop and help somebody."