The family of missing Brown University student Sunil Tripathi has been asked to provide dental records to the medical examiner in Providence, R.I.

The ME is trying to identify the body of a man that was pulled from the Providence River late Tuesday afternoon. According to the lead investigator on the case, the ME expects to release the identity of the victim either Thursday or Friday.

Tripathi, 22, who is from Bryn Mawr, Pa., has been missing since March 16. He was last seen on surveillance video early that morning, not far from his apartment on Brook Street, near campus.

The body was found by members of the school's crew team in the water near India Point Park, which is a few blocks away from Tripathi's apartment. Police on the scene said the body appeared to be that of a man in his 20s.

When reached by phone, Tripathi's brother Ravi told NBC10's Monique Braxton that the family is in Providence and aware of the report. They don't plan on commenting until the ME has determined the identity.

Tripathi, a graduate of Radnor High School, moved to Providence to attend Brown. He was studying philosophy but took a leave this semester. Sunil battles depression and was working through a "tough time," his sister Sangeeta said last month. The family felt that in the weeks before he disappeared, however, Sunil was doing well. 

On the day his brother went missing, Ravi Tripathi made the trip from Philadelphia to Providence as fast as he could.

“We dropped everything. We didn’t even pack. And then a couple of days turned into over a month.”

Since then -- 38 days now -- Providence has been ground zero in the search for Sunil Tripathi. His immediate family, extended family and close friends are all there together. Every day they meet and collaborate on what they can do next.

Last week Sunil's case was thrust back into the spotlight following a viral onslaught of erroneous speculation that Tripathi was connected to the Boston Marathon bombings.

"It's a very scary thing to be on the other side of it and see how quickly our voices got drowned out and hysteria took over," Ravi Tripathi said in an interview on Monday.

The Tripathi family has been posting the latest information and messages of hope on their “Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi” Facebook page.

"It's been a roller coaster for all of us," Ravi said earlier this week, reflecting back on the five weeks they've spent searching for Sunil.  Ravi said he would always be grateful for the time everyone has spent together, saying the support of family and friends has been "beautiful. A gift."

Related:

• Missing Brown University student's family dragged into virally fueled false accusation in Boston
• Reddit publicly apologizes 'for the pain' caused to family of falsely accused student

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:10 PM EDT

Yong Kim / Philadelphia Daily News via AP file

Dr. Kermit Gosnell is interviewed by the Philadelphia Daily News at his attorney's office in Philadelphia In in 2010.

It took the prosecution five weeks to present their case against West Philly abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and it took defense attorney Jack McMahon a couple of hours to knock a big hole through a critical part of their argument.

Three first-degree murder charges were dropped against Gosnell after McMahon argued that "there is not one piece...of objective, scientific evidence that anyone was born alive" at Gosnell's clinic.

Prosecutors have argued that the babies were viable and that Gosnell and his staff cut them in the back of the neck to kill them.

Gosnell was originally charged with eight counts of murder. Seven first-degree murder charges are for accusations that he killed seven newborns. The third-degree murder charge is for the 2009 death of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old Bhutanese refugee prosecutors say received lethal doses of sedatives and painkillers at the clinic while awaiting an abortion.

Read more at NBCPhiladelphia.com

He also is charged with violating Pennsylvania abortion law by performing abortions after 24 weeks, operating a corrupt organization and other crimes. Gosnell was originally charged with seven counts of first degree murder.

Gosnell, 72, still faces five remaining murder charges and the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of any of the first-degree cases.

Judge Jeffery Minehart has not explained the reasoning behind today's rulling.

Former staffer Eileen O'Neill is also on trial. The 56-year-old Phoenixville woman is charged with practicing medicine without a license, and taking part in a corrupt organization. Six of the nine theft by deception charges she faced were dropped today as well because the prosecution didn't present any witnesses to support those charges.

The investigation into Gosnell's clinic began in February 2010 with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI who were conducting two raids on Gosnell's clinic in search of drug violations. Instead, they stumbled upon "deplorable and unsanitary" conditions, including blood on the floor and parts of aborted fetuses in jars. State regulators followed up with their own investigation, shutting down the Women's Medical Society clinic at 3801 Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia and suspended Gosnell'slicense.

The case then went to a grand jury. Their nearly 300-page grand jury report released in January 2011 described Gosnell's clinic as a filthy, foul-smelling "house of horrors" that was overlooked by regulators.

Prosecutors said Gosnell made millions of dollars over three decades performing thousands of dangerous abortions, many of them illegal late-term procedures. The clinic had no trained nurses or medical staff other than Gosnell, a family physician not certified in obstetrics or gynecology, yet authorities say many administered anesthesia, painkillers and labor-inducing drugs.

The grand jury report stated furniture and blankets in Gosnell's clinic were stained with blood, instruments were not properly sterilized and disposable medical supplies were used repeatedly.

Bags, jars and bottles holding aborted fetuses were scattered throughout the building, which reeked of cat urine because of the animals allowed to roam freely.

State regulators ignored complaints about Gosnell and the 46 lawsuits filed against him and made just five annual inspections since the clinic opened in 1979, investigators said. Several state employees were fired and two agencies overhauled their regulations after the allegations.

Gosnell has always maintained his innocence. He pleaded not guilty and has remained held without bail since his arrest. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the infant deaths.

Prosecutors estimated Gosnell ended hundreds of pregnancies by inducing labor and cutting the babies' spinal cords and caused scores of women to suffer infections and permanent internal injuries, but they said they couldn't prosecute more cases because he destroyed files.

Eight clinic workers including Gosnell's wife, a beautician accused of helping him perform illegal third-term abortions, have pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes. Three of Gosnell's staffers, including an unlicensed medical school graduate and a woman with a sixth-grade education, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for their roles in the woman's overdose death or for cutting babies in the back of the neck to ensure their demise.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News after the clinic was raided, Gosnell described himself as someone who wanted to serve the poor and minorities in the neighborhood where he grew up and raised his six children, who include a doctor and a college professor.

McMahon, disputes that any babies were born alive. He has suggested that the woman who died, Karnamaya Mongar, had undisclosed respiratory problems that could have caused fatal complications.

McMahon has accused officials of "a targeted, elitist and racist prosecution" and "a prosecutorial lynching" of his client, who is black, and of applying "Mayo Clinic" standards to Gosnell's inner-city, cash-only clinic. He said Gosnell performed as many as 1,000 abortions per year, and at least 16,000 over his long career, with a lower-than-average complication rate.

After about a week of jury selection, seven woman and five men were chosen along with six alternate jurors. The trial began March 18 and is expected to last about two months.

Gosnell's former employees have testified that they were just doing what their boss trained them to do and described long, chaotic days performing gruesome work for little more than minimum wage paid under the table. An assistant testified she snipped the spines of at least 10 babies at Gosnell's direction, sobbing as she recalled taking a cellphone photograph of one baby she thought could have survived, given his size and pinkish color.

Mongar's 24-year-old daughter testified about the labor-inducing drugs and painkillers her mother was given as she waited hours for Gosnell to arrive for the procedure. She said her mother was later taken to a hospital, only after firefighters struggled to cut bolts off a side door of the clinic, but she died the next day.

Prosecutors wrapped up their five-week case with a former worker at Gosnell's clinic who testified that she saw more than 10 babies breathing before they were killed. The defense was slated to begin presenting its case Monday but Gosnell's attorney told the judge he was sick and went to a hospital for tests.

A faith-healing couple serving probation for the death of their 2-year-old son is in trouble once again after a second child died.

The 8-month-old son of Herbert and Catherine Schaible, fundamentalist Christians who believe in the power of prayer ahead of modern medicine, died last week, according to Philadelphia Police spokeswoman Jillian Russell.

The couple have been serving a 10-year probation sentence in the 2009 death of 2-year-old Kent Schaible.

At a hearing Monday, Philadelphia Judge Benjamin Lerner said the Schaibles violated the most important condition of their probation: to seek medical care for their remaining children.

Read more at NBCPhiladelphia.com

Authorities have yet to file criminal charges in the death of the child last week, after he suffered with diarrhea and breathing problems for days. But charges could be filed once authorities pinpoint how the boy died. An official cause of death is pending an autopsy, according to police.

The child was taken to a funeral home by an as yet unknown individual and the undertaker alerted police, Russell said.

In 2010, a jury convicted the Schaibles, who have seven other children, of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in Kent's death from pneumonia. The Schaibles were sentenced to probation over prison time. 

As part of their sentence, the Schaibles were required to arrange medical examinations for each of their children, to immediately consult with a doctor when a child became sick and to follow the doctor’s treatment recommendations.

During their trial, the Schaibles' lawyers said the parents were targeted because their fundamentalist Christian beliefs espouse faith healing.

Pennsylvania law says parents have a legal duty to protect their children's health and safety, although the law does not specify if or when medical care must be sought.

Prosecutors said Kent could have been saved with basic medical care -- probably even over-the-counter medication -- but the couple relied on prayer instead. Defense attorneys argued that their clients did not know how sick the child was, and their beliefs played no role in their decision.

When asked for comment outside his Rhawnhurst home Friday, Herbert Schaible, 44, told NBC10’s Chris Cato, “We don’t want to talk.”

PHILADELPHIA -- A quick-thinking bank teller is being credited with helping to save the lives of seven people who were being held hostage. 

Police say three gunmen broke into the Levittown Trace Apartments on Ford Road in Pennsylvania's Bristol Township early Monday morning. The men, identified as 38-year-old Orlando McNeil, 21-year-old Daesean Smith and 18-year-old Dennis Redding, allegedly held four adults and three children hostage at gunpoint inside the complex. Police say the group, which included two toddlers, was held captive for over nine hours.

According to the Philly Burbs, one of the victims had recently received an $80,000 payout on his late mother’s life insurance policy. Police say the men demanded that he withdraw the entire amount or they would harm his family.

Police say the victim went to a nearby PNC Bank around 10 a.m. on Monday and asked the teller for $80,000 in cash, claiming his family and friends had been kidnapped. That’s when, police say, the bank teller sprang into action.

“The alert teller contacted the police,” said Lieutenant Terry Hughes of the Bristol Township Police Department. “At that point we happened to be in the area and at the right place at the right time.”

More news from NBC10.com

Officers responded to the apartment where they found the three suspects. Police say Smith and Redding tried to flee but were quickly captured while McNeil managed to escape. He was later found and arrested Monday night. Investigators say McNeil was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and ransom scheme. Police also say they recovered two guns near the complex.

The three men are charged with kidnapping, robbery, burglary and other related offenses

A shotgun-wielding man killed his ex-wife in a parking lot in Feasterville, Pa., on Thursday night.

The woman had just left a dress shop on Bustleton Pike with her 16-year-old daughter and they were sitting in the car when Kenneth Philipp pulled up behind them, jumped out of his car, grabbed his shotgun and opened fire, according to Lower Southampton Township Police.

"We know that there were three shots fire at the scene ...  but we do not know how many were fired into the car," said Lower Southampton Township Police Chief William Wiegman.

The teenager was injured by broken glass and her mother died, police said.

Officers quickly tracked down Philipp to the intersection of Buck and Holland Road in Northampton, Pa.

More news from NBC10.com

Investigators say he got out of the car and started firing at the officers. One of the officers fired back, killing Philipp.

The 50-year-old man was just released from jail back in February for assaulting his ex-wife with a knife, police say.

The Bucks County District's Attorney's office is helping with the investigation. 

A Philadelphia father has been accused of beating his 3-month-old son to death.

Samuel Cabrera, 27, was arrested and charged with murder.

Cabrera’s neighbor, Rashawn Reddick, didn’t hold back her disgust when she learned of the accusations.

 “It makes me sick to my stomach,” she said. “A 3-month-old innocent baby. It makes me want to cry.”

Last Tuesday, 3-month-old Samuel Cabrera Jr., of the 600 block of North 63rd Street, was rushed to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in critical condition.

Doctors say the baby had suffered two broken bones, a ruptured spleen and liver and that all of his abdominal organs had been crushed. The child later died from his injuries.

When Cabrera and the child’s mother were questioned, sources close to the investigation say the couple gave conflicting stories.

The mother allegedly told detectives they found the baby pale and unconscious. She claimed that the baby became bruised after she and Cabrera pounded on his chest while performing CPR.

More news from NBC10.com

Cabrera allegedly told police however that he was trying to knock the family dog off the bed and accidentally hit the baby.

Sources told NBC10's Nefertiti Jaquez that Cabrera eventually confessed to killing his own child. He was arrested and charged with murder.

Cabrera's 15-month-old daughter as well as three other children his partner had from a previous relationship also lived with the couple, according to sources close to the investigation. All of the children are currently living with relatives.

Officials also say they spotted bruises on the 15-month-old girl and are trying to determine whether Cabrera also abused her.

The mother has not been charged. Cabrera is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 1.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says one of the departments most powerful weapons has gone missing.

In a press conference Monday morning, Ramsey said an M16 fully-automatic assault rifle is unaccounted for following an audit. He believes it couldn't have been taken by anyone but a police officer.

"It could be an inventory issue although we are going through everything we can and we still haven't located it," Ramsey told reporters Monday. "The biggest fear, obviously, is that it was stolen by one of my own members."

The Vietnam-era M16 rifle was stored in a deadbolted and alarmed storeroom at the Philadelphia Police Training Academy in Northeast Philadelphia.

For more, visit NBC10.com

The department received the gun and 1,355 other M16s from the federal government in 2009. The guns were being converted into semi-automatic AR-15 rifles. A regularly-scheduled audit, the first since December 2012, showed that one weapon was missing.

Ramsey found out about the missing rifle this weekend. He says he has never heard of this type of incident in the department before and that police know the rifle's serial number.

Only a few officers have access to the secured room and know the keypad combination to the room where the guns are stored, according to Ramsey. He says they're locked inside large crates on top of pallets. There is no surveillance video inside the room.

Ramsey doubts anyone besides his own officers had access to the weapon.

"This was not someone who came in from the outside to take this... there is no indication of that at all."

The commissioner talked tough about what he would do if he found out one of Philly's finest took the gun.

"I guarantee you that if it's somebody that I find out took that gun that I will do everything in my power to see to it that they get time in a federal penitentiary," Ramsey said.

Ramsey said that his department alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) about the missing weapon.

In the meantime, the department is counting their M16 inventory and comparing the weapons to recorded serial numbers.

"As far as I'm concerned it's a missing weapon," Ramsey said.

As to why the department specifically have this type of rifle: "We're cross-training some of our officers for active shooter training," Ramsey said. "That's why we have these types of weapons to supplement what our SWAT Team can do."

He says that assault rifles account for only about two percent of the shootings in the city.

Ramsey says it's the responsibility of his department to maintain and care for the weapons.

In the wake of this incident, Ramsey said he has instructed the department's audit department to take a tally of "every single firearm that we have in our department."

"We do audits but I want a special audit done in this circumstance."

He also said that moving forward there will be video cameras trained on the storeroom.

A University of Pittsburgh grad student who was nervous about her ability to teach a class instead made two bomb threats so it would be canceled, campus police said.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Nancy Bruni, 34, of New Kensington, Pa., who didn't immediately return a call seeking comment on charges of terroristic threats, and threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Pitt police charged the School of Arts & Science grad student earlier this week with phoning in a threat, and then leaving a note about a bomb in a campus restroom on March 20, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday.

Police eventually traced the call to her phone and confronted Bruni last week, when she allegedly confessed to making both threats.
 
Bruni told police she suffers from anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder and had stopped taking her medications because her health insurance had recently ended.

That anxiety led her to search for a way to cancel the class scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., police said in a criminal complaint.

Bruni was angry when campus police didn't alert students after the phone threat, so she left the note saying: "Two bombs will be detonated in Posvar hall on March 20th 6:30 p.m. 730,'' the complaint said. The note corresponded to the 5 p.m. call that referenced bombs going off at 6:30 and 7:30 that evening, police said.

More news from NBC10.com
 
When students found the note, two notified Bruni while one called campus police. When the school again didn't alert students to evacuate, Bruni's students became upset and she used that as an excuse to cancel the "Health and Illness'' class herself, police said.
 
Pitt spokesman John Fedele said police searched the building with a bomb-sniffing dog and explosive detectors, but didn't alert students because the threats were deemed "lower level.''
 
Bruni wasn't arrested, but is being mailed a court summons to appear for a June 12 preliminary hearing.

NBC10.com

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia firefighters mourned the loss of one of their own in the line of duty for the third time in less than a year, saluting the body of a veteran captain as it was carried from the ruins of a three-story building that collapsed underneath him during a blaze.

At an emotional news conference late Saturday after the fire in the city's Fabric Row section was extinguished, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers told reporters that the victim, 53-year-old Capt. Michael Goodwin, was his friend and "a ladder man. A firefighter's firefighter."

"He's the kind of guy who looked out for his folks — a big guy," Ayers said. Goodwin had been with the department for 29 years.

A colleague of the fallen firefighter, 28-year-old Andrew Godlinski, was burned on his hands while trying to rescue his comrade and is recovering, officials said.

The loss came as the Fire Department prepared to mark a year since an April 9 blaze at a warehouse that killed Capt. Robert Neary, 59, and Daniel Sweeney, 25. They also died in a collapse, which came as they inspected an adjacent building.

"We have a department that is wounded," Ayers said. "We have scars that are fresh, and indeed they have now been reopened."

Saturday's fire appeared to have started in a fabric store downstairs before spreading to upstairs apartments and a neighboring boutique, the store's owner said. The proprietors of both stores told The Philadelphia Inquirer that everyone in both buildings at the time of the fire managed to escape.

The fire's cause wasn't immediately known, but Bruce Blumenthal, the owner of Jack B. Fabrics, said he believes it started in a wall and may have been electrical in nature.

Blumenthal said he smelled smoke coming from the basement around 5 p.m. and found a box of collars and cuffs on fire. He tried to put the flames out with an extinguisher, to no avail.

Goodwin was on the roof of the building when it collapsed, trapping him inside. Godlinski tried to rescue him before a second-floor roof and two walls also collapsed, officials said.

Goodwin is survived by a wife and two grown children, Ayers said.

The fire cut power to more than 300 customers. The Red Cross is assisting at least 17 people.

The Associated Press

Philadelphia's La Salle University has offered counseling services to a student who reported being abducted and raped on Easter Sunday.

The school is also defending its decision not to notify students of the off-campus assault when it happened, saying administrators did not view it as an ongoing threat to their campus community.

"This case is still very active," said Captain John Darby, who heads up the Special Victims Unit (SVU) of the Philadelphia police department.

The attack happened about a mile away from the school. The 20-year-old woman told police she was walking on the 4800 block of 10th Street around 10 p.m.

She said a black van pulled up beside her and four men jumped out, grabbed her and forced her inside. Police are not revealing where the men took her, but the woman told detectives she was sexually assaulted several times before the attackers dropped her off in an unknown location and fled.

Police say the men are between the ages of 20 and 25. One had "MM" tattooed on his face.

"We here at SVU take these reports very seriously. We have a very good working relationship with the University and we're in constant communication with them," Darby said.

As news of the incident spread around campus, students like sophomore Karla Fernandez were concerned. "It couldv'e been anyone," she said.

Read more from NBC10.com

Some students complained that the school didn't notify them about the attack. Federal law requires universities to issue safety alerts and advisories when there are serious or ongoing threats to the student or staff. This specific case, did not fit those guidelines, according to the school.

"Based on what we know, (which we cannot detail) it was decided a safety alert/advisory was not required, as we believed there was no serious or ongoing threat to our students or employees as a result of the reported incident," said Jon Caroulis, La Salle's Director of Media Relations.

Four days later, the school sent out a Safety Reminder to students, notifying them of the attack and offering the following tips:

Refrain from walking alone, particularly at night, in off-campus areas.

Travel in well-lit areas. Avoid shortcuts through driveways.

Report suspicious persons to Security and Safety or Philadelphia Police.

Be constantly aware of your surroundings at all times.

Use university shuttle and escort services.

"This is a very pro-active approach," said Capt. Darby. "They took this opportunity to remind folks of the steps that could be taken to minimize risk."

The latest crime statistics from La Salle are complete through the year 2011.

They show that on the main campus, a total of 4 sex assaults were reported in 2011, none in 2010 and two in 2009.

The bulk of student offenses are drinking and drug-related and most of that behavior goes on in the school's residence halls, according to the statistics.

The 10-year trend is down for drinking, and up for drug-related cases where students were disciplined.

La Salle University is located in the northwestern section of Philadelphia, on the edge of Germantown. According to the school website, the total student body is made up of over 7,300 students.

An undated photo provided by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office shows a procedure room at the Women's Medical Society in Philadelphia.

An unlicensed medical school graduate delivered graphic testimony Thursday about the chaos at a Philadelphia clinic where he helped perform late-term abortions.

Stephen Massof described how he snipped the spinal cords of babies, calling it, "literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body." He testified that at times, when women were given medicine to speed up their deliveries, "it would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place."

Massof, of Pittsburgh, is in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder in the deaths of two newborns.

He is now testifying against his former boss, abortion provider Kermit Gosnell.

The 72-year-old Gosnell is charged with killing a woman patient and seven babies.

For more, visit NBCPhiladelphia.com

Massof testified that his medical degree came from Granada in the West Indies and that he never  completed a medical residency before he began working for Gosnell in the summer of 2003. He initially shadowed Gosnell and within two months, Massof said he was performing gynecological exams on his own.

By law in Pennsylvania, after a woman's initial visit with an abortion provider, she must wait at least 24 hours and receive counseling before having the procedure. It is also illegal for doctors to perform abortions after a pregnancy has reached 24 weeks, unless the mother's life is at risk.

Massof testified that he was involved in late-term abortion procedures at the clinic. He said the most extreme case that he witnessed was an abortion at 26 weeks.

Massof performed ultrasounds and admitted that the clinic's ultrasound machine was manipulated to make fetuses appear smaller and therefore younger.

Massof says Gosnell was often at his Delaware clinic while he oversaw women going through labor and even delivery. He says some patients were highly sedated or even unconscious, but were not monitored by any medical equipment.

Police in Philadelphia are on the hunt for four men who allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly raped a La Salle University student on Easter Sunday.

The 20-year-old woman told police she was walking off-campus on the 4800 block of 10th Street around 10 p.m. Suddenly, she says, a black van pulled up beside her and four men jumped out. They allegedly grabbed her and forced her inside the vehicle before driving off.

Police have not yet revealed where the men took the woman. Once they arrived, however, the woman says they repeatedly raped her before dropping her off at an unknown location and fleeing the scene.

More from NBC 10.com

Despite the police investigation, the university did not notify students at the school since the alleged kidnapping happened a mile away from campus. University spokesman Jon Caroulis says, however, that officials met with the student and her family and "offered support."

"This isn't something that anyone wants to hear about," said Karla Fernandez, a sophomore at the school. "It could've been anyone."

Police say the suspects are four men between the ages of 20 and 25. The woman also told investigators one of the men had the tattoo "MM" on his face.

Those with information on the case are asked to contact Philadelphia Police.