Steve Neavling

Investigators in helicopters and on ATVs and horseback scoured the desert near the U.S.-Mexico line Tuesday to piece together what happened when a Border Patrol agent was fatally shot and his partner wounded in Arizona, the Associated Press reports.

Authorities identified the slain agent as Nicholas Ivie, 30, who lived in Sierra Vista with his wife and two young daughters.

The shooting happened shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday in the rugged area of Naco, about 100 miles from Tucson.

It’s still unclear what happened, but authority the FBI and local police believe more than one gunman was involved, the AP reported.

The last time an agent was fatally shot was in 2010, when a shooting broke out with Mexican bandits.

Steve Neavling

The Justice Department plans to use a never-opened state prison in Illinois and turn it into a federal facility, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Under President Obama’s direction and over the objections of an influential Republican congressman, the Justice Department purchased the prison for $165 million.

The sale is a relief to the cash-strapped sate of Illinois, which never opened the Thomson Correctional Center, the Tribune reported.

Virginia Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf had tried to block the purchase, saying he fears the Obama administration will break its pledge to not transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the new facility.

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Steve Neavling

 Surprise, surprise.

The latest search for Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has turned up no evidence that he’s buried underneath a driveway in suburban Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Acting on a tip, Roseville Police tested soil samples taken from the Roseville property and found no evidence of human remains, the Free Press reported.

“Our department just received the soil sample report from Michigan State University, after a battery of tests, the samples submitted for examination showed no signs of human decomposition,” police said in a statement.

The search for Hoffa has taken investigators on wild trips nationwide, but no evidence has ever surfaced.

Steve Neavling

The FBI and DEA have joined an investigation into a shooting outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Florida after a third victim has died, the Associated Press reports.

The shooting Sunday morning in Winter Springs broke out as members of the Warlocks motorcycle club gathered for a meeting at the VFW for a charity drive.

The AP said three members of the club died.

Police have four men in custody on two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide.