live and in hd, this is "abc 7 news at noon," on your side. >> a night out turned deadly. police investigating the crash that killed two young women and left another hospitalized. and suv's worked out of control and early this morning at university boulevard near langley drive. we have been on the scene all morning. here's the latest. >> we have started to see a few

friends and loved ones of these two young victims come here to the accident scene in langley park. one of those friends, walker said she could of been in the car when it crashed last night saying her girlfriends and invited her for night on the town, but she decided to stay home instead. too to know tragedy, 18-year-old walker said she lost her best friend thursday morning. >> it hurts because i did not get to say goodbye. >> she says she and tamara johnson had dinner tuesday and spoke about fashions and boys. >> so much i want to say to her. >> johnson died along with the driver of the suv 22-year-old jenice richards. the only survivor, desaleen james, was hospitalized in this tragedy. >> it is very sad because we are celebrating with family at this

time right. now it is a sad moment for the families. >> richards was driving east on university amount 3:00 a.m. when she drove across three lanes hit an embankment, and landed in this yards on a retaining wall. >> investigators have marked what they think is the path of travel. >> as the document the path of the suv download, it goes to winding turn. >> the car was coming down. >> a neighbor says a similar accident six months ago wiped out the trees in her front yard. she blames the road and the drivers. >> i think that we should pay more attention to how we drive, that would be better. >> walker tells us that her friends were headed to a new lounge in d.c. last night. police at not determined whether alcohol, drugs, or speed were factors in this early morning crash. the survivor is in fair

condition this afternoon at washington hospital center. purported from langley park, abc 7 news. new details in the metrobus crest that turned into a long nightmare for thousands of local drivers. several local people are still hospitalized after a truck slammed into metrobus on rockville pike in a bethesda. it triggered shutdowns of one of the busiest roads in the county just in time for rush-hour last night. ben eisler has been following this story and he has the latest. >> it seems hard to believe this bus' driver survived. but the driver of the pickup truck did not. >> i wonder why happened. >> the accident left 11 in years -- injured and one man dead. the pickup truck headed southbound on rockville pike crossed the median and collided with the bus near al.

this man tried to rescue the truck driver because he lives a few blocks away. somehow the bus driver is alert, talking, and undergoing tests at a local hospital. she was trapped inside by the accident. she's been with metro 18 years. she will have surgery today. >> there's a lot of traffic on the road at rush hour and people are not being careful enough >> . the injured were taken to four different hospitals throughout maryland. >> it is the worst i've seen. >> the worst of the victims was brought by helicopter to the hospital. ben eisler reporting from bethesda. following breaking news from rosslyn. workers on the scene of a water main break. a pipe snapped and caused part of 19th street to buckle. it is closed between north 10th street and arlington road. a bitter cold start is how

this day started. steve rudin is in the weather center with a preview. >> it was a cold start today. temperatures are warming. don't expect a tremendous warmup as we move throughout the afternoon. look at temperatures. 39 at reagan national, 34 at winchester. 37 in fredericksburg. satellite and radar from the weather center show mostly cloudy skies across the mid- atlantic. the doppler radar shows light snow but not reaching the ground across western maryland and the panhandle of west virginia. what can we expect as we move closer to the holiday weekend and beyond? major changes on the way. my full forecast is coming up. the serial slasher suspect who targeted women shoppers in northern virginia has led the country. johnny pimentel is believed to be living in peru.

he is accused of attacking young women at fairfax county shopping malls by stabbing them in the behind. six victims have come forward and none were seriously injured. a major day in the battle over the virginia primary. lawyers with rick perry's campaign are in federal court in richmond. they are trying to challenge the constitutionality of virginia's ballot requirement. he did not qualify to get his name on the state's ballot because he did not have 10,000 signatures and addresses as required. newt gingrich also failed to qualify. we are five days and counting until the first republicans go to vote in iowa. one candidate has seen a surge in the polls. why mitt romney is moving to the front. >> it is a reception and he has never seen before in iowa. mitt romney is seeing the largest and most enthusiastic crowds. >> i am running for president. if you get a chance to caucus,

remember the name. >> he once considered skipping iowa. i feel pretty good about the support i am receiving in iowa and new hampshire and looks like we are going to be off to a good start. >> a new paul krause -- a new poll puts romney on top, rick santorum, ron paul, and in fourth place is newt gingrich. romney is way out in front in new hampshire. he is benefiting from the collapse of new gingrich, who less than a month ago was talking like he had already won. >> i will be the nominee. >> gingrich has been hammered by more negative ads in iowa than anyone. romney compared him to lucille ball in the chocolate factory. gingrich in response visited a real chocolate factory in iowa. >> i hope governor romney will have the courage to debate

me one-on-one. >> i could give up and say that i decry all the negative ads but i don't. but this is part of the process. >> the harshest new ad comes from ron paul against gingrich and romney. >> serial hypocrites and flipped loppers. -- flip-floppers. >> rick santorum is also gaining momentum and is a real contender for third place. protesters living id freedom plaza will be staying a little longer. the national parks service says the group now called occupy washington d.c. received permission to extend their permit from january 1 to the board 28. they are protesting corporate greed and politics and the u.s. military presence in afghanistan. what do you think of the park service decision? should the protesters be allowed to stay? we want you to give your opinion

on our facebook page and we will have the results tonight on abc 7 news at 5. bp could soon be hit with criminal charges. the wall street journal reports prosecutors are considering charging several complete employees for allegedly providing false information to regulators about drilling risks. felony charges could be announced next year. 11 workers died in the oil rig explosion. new fears of surging prices of the gas pump. that is thanks to new press from iran. iran is responding to economic sanctions with a director shutdown the strait of hormuz, where a third of the world's oil is shipped through. >> it is a strike back at the u.s. and europe for pursuing new sanctions that could further cripple iran's economy. closing the strait would send oil prices to record highs. gasoline could shoot up from today's $3.26 to $5.

it could cost americans $218 billion in consumer spending over a year and further slow america's weak economic recovery. iran says it has total control of the state and that closing bid would be "to easier than drinking a glass of water." in response, the u.s. navy says that any shutdown would not be tolerated. >> if they actually decided to go through with this, the world would come down on them like a ton of bricks. >> iran is likely bluffing, because closing the state would mean shooting itself in th foot e piggy bank. it cuts off its own cash flow. >> it would only do it if we first got off their oil supplies. if we impose an oil embargo. >> western leaders are

considering an embargo possibly as soon as next month. that could trigger an unpredictable response from iran. in the worst case that could lead to a military conflict with the u.s. for now it is just a war of words. but in the persian gulf that is enough to make everyone nervous. jitters alone could spook oil market spiking prices at the gas pump. coming up remember the snowfall last year? something is definitely missing for many of us this winter. then a family is desperate to wait. police call off the search for missing baby. from the football field to the house next door, which celebrities would you like to live next to? first, a first look at the new year's eve winter weekend weather o

police will not be actively searching for missing toddler from maine for the first time in two weeks. they have called off the search for 20-month-old ayla reynolds. she went missing from her father's house december 16. they believe she has been kidnapped. >> we strongly feel that someone took her from the house. >> her father has refused all interviews with the news media but to issue a statement last night. he says "is important that the public here for me personally that i have no idea what happened and i am not hiding." the girl's mother said that he would never harm his own child- care. honda has already recalled

more than 600,000 cars this year because of a faulty air bag. it's adding another 272,000 vehicles to a list, including older models. the air bags have caused a dozen injuries and at least one death. 16 weeks after it opened a new ground zero memorial is already marking a milestone. more than 1 million people visited the site. it features two large fountains of that mark the footprint of the world trade towers. the plaza is open seven days a week but visitors have to get a free pass through the mortal website. a museum is being built and should open next year on september 11. it is the winter question many people are asking, especially people in the midwest and on the east coast. where is the snow? this time last year the country was getting hammered. chicago was digging out from major storms. more than half the country have snow on the ground.

only 25% this year. some people miss its and others don't. >> first time in 27 years we have not had snow for christmas. gretzky amazing to be working in baseball caps at the end of the year. ---- it is amazing. >> do you miss the snow? >> i like a little but i like it to melt away quickly. >> i like it to be somewhere else. >> it is somewhere else but now. wintergreen ski resort to the west, they're not making much snow today, but the slopes will be very white moving into next week as cold air will move across the mid-atlantic finally in another few days. 39 degrees right now at reagan national, cloudy skies, wind chill factor of 36 degrees off

with a wind out of the south southwest at 5. 40 -- 34 degrees in frostburg wind gusts of town 20 miles an hour. next and look was d.c., 36 degrees. 39 in silver spring. temperatures will slowly rebound as we move through the afternoon. there could be sunshine at this hour. 37 at dulles, 34 at winchester. at the freezing mark in martinsburg. not a tremendous amount of cold air, but there is some well to the north of us. that will arrive next week. the temperature change compared with yesterday we are eight degrees colder at reagan national. off to the west, 16 degrees warmer in chicago. if a trend of what is on the way for the next couple days. a big warmup across our area with temperatures tomorrow? well into the fifties. the mild air will stick around

for the upcoming holiday weekend. a few snow showers out there across western maryland and west virginia, really not going to amount to much. a few snow flurries reported in hagerstown but no accumulation expected. not expecting to see anything across the immediate metro. if anything, skies will begin to clear a little during the late evening into the overnight. then the clouds will arrive for tomorrow again. here's the futurecast. some filtered sunshine on the way. temperatures will stay mild for the weekend. behind the mild air is a strong cold front arriving late sunday night into monday. we will feel the difference. gusty winds and temperatures in the 30's. 42-47 today for the high temperature. 28-35 tonight. the 50-55 tomorrow, partly cloudy. the extended outlook shows

temperatures swarming into the mid '50s as we start 2012. enjoy the next few days. >> at least two years will be nice. do you wish tim tebow was the guy next door? many people do. a new poll finds most people say that the quarterback would be the ideal celebrity neighbor. he beats out angelina jolie and brad pitt. most people think the cast of the jersey shore would fly up -- would make the worst neighbors followed by charlie sheen and lindsay lohan. on our website you can see the full list, wjla.com. coming up, monks fighting in bethlehem. and a 17-year-old left for dead by a gang member. how he survived. and mark wahlberg

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- and unexpected sight at one of the world's most sacred sites. dozens of monks got into a brawl inside the church of the nativity in bethlehem.

it started when they were cleaning the church with brooms and some accused others of encroaching on their parts of the church. security forces had to be brought in to break up the fight. no one was seriously hurt. the church is in the town of jesus' birth and shared by roman catholics, armenians, and greek orthodox members. they got swept up in a moment. maybe you want to skip ahead to the weekend. one part of the country is doing that. a tiny island nation of samoa and a neighboring nation will jump four in time and will skip friday altogether. they're moving across the international dateline top-of- the-line with western trading partners. for 190,000 people, friday, december 30, 2011 simply never happened. anyone scheduled to work on friday will get full pay for the day they missed. the still ahead, a final look at the weather with steve.

a bad way to start a marriage. a vermont man popped the question to his girlfriend with a stolen engagement ring. the 25-year-old stole it from a sales store. his girlfriend announced the engagement and posted a picture of her and the $3,000 ring on facebook. that's when the police came. the bride-to-be was wearing a stolen ring when police arrived. investigators don't think she knew the ring was stolen, so she will not face charges. i don't know how to stop the story. mid 40's today. low 50's tomorrow. the same on saturday. bring in the new year on a milder note following a strong cold front late sunday interview monday, much cooler on tuesday wednesday. on abc 7 news at 5 for the

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