Alexandra Rockey Fleming

Nearly a Year After Mass Shooting, Uvalde Family Says 'We're Lost' Without Daughter Killed at School

A family's sorrow, one year later ~

How This Mother Went to Extremes to Help Her Mentally Ill Son: 'He Knows He's Locked up Because...

Frances Musgrove recalls the day a psychiatrist told her that her son Justin, then 22, would probably never work again.

Schizophrenia Caused Eric Smith to Threaten His Mother's Life

Twelve years ago Eric Smith believed he was a secret agent who needed to kill his mother to save the world - like half of all people with schizophrenia, Smith didn't understand he was ill.

Father of Uvalde School Shooting Victim Says Daughter Was 'Excited' About Going to Junior High

As families and loved ones grieve the heartbreaking deaths of the 19 children and two adults who were killed at Robb Elementary School earlier this week, one father is opening up about the "super special" daughter he lost in the tragedy.

21 Lives: Stories of Love & Anguish from Uvalde, Texas

Special report on the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Faces of the Fentanyl Epidemic

Stronger, fatal opioids online or on the street ended these 1010 lives. Inside the loss—and the fight to stop the surge

Counterfeit Meds Sold on Social Media Are Killing Kids: 'My Son Took One Pill and Died,' Says Mom

Amanda Eubanks says her 13-year-old boy didn't know what drug he was taking, and got a counterfeit pill containing enough fentanyl to fatally poison him.

Grieving Mom of American Idol Semi-Finalist Warns Parents About Street Drugs Secretly Mixed With...

Tiffany Robertson's life was cut short when the talented vocalist from northeastern Ohio took a pill mixed with the lethal opioid fentanyl.

Fentanyl-Related Deaths Are Surging in Black American Communities: 'The Numbers Are...

In a reversal of historical trends, Black drug users now overdose at a higher rate than whites who die from drugs in a majority of U.S. states, according to the CDC.

A Mom Remembers the Many Things to Love About Marine Son Killed in Afghanistan Evacuation

"The word 'can't' didn't exist in his vocabulary because if he wanted something bad enough - like being a Marine - he was going to get it," Shana Chappell says of her son Anything Kareem Nikoui said he was going to do, he did. At 4 years old, he set his sights on becoming a U.S.

22-Year-Old Marine Killed in Afghanistan Airport Attack Was Always Thinking of Someone Else

Hunter Lopez's family remembers his loyal, "life of the party" spirit: the dedication to serve that brought him to the Marines and the job he was doing when he died last week Hunter Lopez was just following his heart four years ago when he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Dad Whose 12-Year-Old Son Died of Suicide amid Pandemic Warns Parents: 'No One Saw This Coming'

"COVID killed my son but not how you think," says Brad Hunstable, who opens up to PEOPLE about his family's devastating loss.

Two Fla. Moms Are Helping Fight the Rise in Opioid Deaths: 'We're Facing a Disaster'

Cindy Singer and Staci Katz founded Our2Sons after seeing their sons struggle with substance abuse Helping people cope with their addictions can be difficult in the best of times, but it's a job made infinitely harder during a pandemic.

What I Saw Feet Away from Biden's Swearing In: A PEOPLE Writer's Diary of Inauguration

As incoming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took their oaths of office on Wednesday on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, veteran PEOPLE correspondent Alexandra Rockey Fleming watched from just feet away, among the gathered lawmakers and other guests.

Parents of 10 Give 'Great Life' to 6 Adopted with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

"We figured, if we're already doing this for one kid, what difference will another one make?" says parent and teacher Josh Dougherty Everyone has seen children's tantrums, but when first-time parents Alicia and Josh Dougherty welcomed 4-year-old foster child Alex into their home, they soon learned that his were titanic by any standards.

Full of Heart

In 2003, 19-year-old Private J.R. Martinez was on a routine patrol when the Humvee he was driving hit an antitank mine in Iraq.

How does this busy animal rescue get by with just 4 full-time employees? It has 300 loyal...

It's time for outdoor pup play group at Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation. As with most everything at this Falls Church, Va., pet refuge, it's a team effort. "Don't forget to bend your knees!" says Suzanne Petroni, warning her cadre of helpers that to stand rigidly in the play yard is to risk being bowled over by exuberant dogs as they gallop past.

Friends of Guest House provides a home - and more - for women returning from jail

In Saroyal Booker's life, it seemed it was one thing after the next. At age 10, it was her single mother, addicted to drugs and unable to care for her. So Booker was sent to live with a grandmother in a home already jam-packed with other family members.

After hitting 'rock bottom,' some addicts and alcoholics find a road to recovery

In addiction phraseology, it's often called "rock bottom." It's a state of mind known as the nadir of suffering, an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. Sometimes it's a jumpoff point at which misery is traded for normalcy and meaning, where one life ends and another begins.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

How is the opioid crisis changing the American family?

Woman, 21, Who Gouged Out Eyes While on Drugs Speaks Out Nearly a Year Later: 'I Can't Give Up'

"Accept it, analyze i, and let yourself feel what you feel," Kaylee Muthart tells PEOPLE almost a year after the incident that resulted in her blindness Nearly a year ago, Kaylee Muthart horrified the world when she gouged out her own eyes during a meth-induced psychotic episode. Hallucinating wildly during the Feb.

Opioid addiction and overdoses in children devastate their parents

"Brian has been dead for 136 days," says his mother, Vicki Bishop. "I watched him die over many years, and it was a long, slow, horrible death." Her son's decades-long battle with opioids blotted out the sun in her own life, says Bishop, 65, of Clarksburg, Md.

For families of addicts, Narcan has truly been a lifesaving drug

Beth Schmidt always begins her opioid-awareness sessions by introducing her boy. At one such event, she motions toward his photos - the solemn baseball-team picture, his sweet, clean-cut middle school portrait, the cheek-to-cheek selfie of mother and son - as she tells a hushed audience of about a dozen how Sean fought and lost his battle with opioid addiction.

Writing Books That Change Young Lives

As a kid, he never read books. Now he's writing the stories that he missed growing up.

This Is What Having Cancer Really Looks Like

The young mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33.

Special Report: Faces of an Epidemic

In America, someone dies of an overdose every 10 minutes. Stories of families shattered by the heroin epidemic and the heroes saving their communities.

Born Addicted

For nearly a decade, Rachael Kinder's life had been ruled by heroin. But last year, after repeated attempts, the Milton, West Virginia, native managed to break her addiction via a mix of counseling and methadone, the medication-recovery drug.

Another Type of Organ Rejection

The Inauguration & Women's March

After their children died of overdoses, these families chose to tell the truth

The Facebook post about Jordan Roche was startlingly frank: "As you may or may not know, my son Jordan passed away September 26th from a heroin overdose," his mother wrote. "Jordan was a sweet young man with a great big heart.

This mother drank while pregnant. Here's what her daughter's like at 43.

Kathy Mitchell wants to share something with you. She's not proud of it, and it's not a behavior she hopes you'll emulate. It's just the truth: As a teen, Kathy drank alcohol while pregnant with her daughter, Karli. It was a perilous if unwitting mistake that has defined both of their lives.

Who Killed Jessica?

The burning death of a 19-year-old girl has broken hearts and baffled investigators in a small Mississippi town.

Oslo's Vigeland Collection

They Found Me Running Naked Along the Highway

At 32, I had what many women strive for: great health, a loving husband, two beautiful children, and a satisfying career as a government contractor in marketing and communications. So if you'd told me then that four months after giving birth to my second child, I'd be running naked down a freeway shoulder in rush-hour traffic, I'd have said you were out of your mind.

John Legend Calls for Criminal Justice Reform at Politico Civil Rights Panel

"We're destroying way too many communities and families," says Legend of what he believes to be a flawed system "We need to really rethink our criminal justice system," the musician told PEOPLE Friday at Politico 's An Evening with John Legend panel discussion in Washington, D.C. "We've ratcheted up penalties for everything.

Virginia TV Shooting

Two young journalists are fatally shot by a disgruntled colleague -- on live television.

The Charleston Church Tragedy

After the shocking shooting deaths of nine church members, grieving loved ones express their anguish -- and forgiveness.

Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year Winner Honored by Denzel Washington

I m here to look into the eyes of America s youth and say, You matter, Stewart said at the event in D.C. As a child, Whitney Stewart didn't believe her life was worth living. In fact, she didn't think she'd make it past the age of 14.

My Life Now: Jessica Lynch

After being rescued in Iraq 12 years ago, the former POW is embracing life as a mom and educator.

Afghanistan Shipping Out

1,500 Members of 1st Battalion 6th Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., were among the first to deploy for the new surge in Afghanistan. On the eve of a seven-month tour, some of the young men and their families share their hopes and fears.

The War in Afghanistan: Coming Home

In December PEOPLE Met a Group of Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., Just Hours Before They Left for Helmand Province.

'Angel Faces' retreat helps burned teen girls reclaim self-esteem

The burned girl. Since she was a young child, that has been Zebonie Lopez's designation. It is more than a description- it's a shroud, keeping Zebonie, 16, of Lake Wales, Florida, and girls like her from believing in themselves and thinking beyond their skin.

Alzheimer's At 36

If I had known that every day I would lose a piece of Jason, a lot of our days might have been different.

This insidious illness: How Lyme disease derailed a teen

There was never a defining moment - no attached tick, no rash - at least none that any of us can recall.

An African Boy's Healing Year

When Jennifer Trubenbach met a teenager in Zimbabwe whose face had been disfigured by a land mine, her life -- and his -- would never be the same.

President Obama at 2015 Kennedy Center Honors

Barack and Michelle Obama attended the 38th annual Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday amid the prime-time Oval Office speech Obama dipped into the White House's East Room shortly after hosting a reception for five of the six honorees, Carole King, Cicely Tyson, Rita Moreno, George Lucas and conductor Seiji Ozawa - the sixth honoree, The Eagles, have postponed their participation until 2016.

The 6 things you learn from hosting a foreign exchange student

I hand-picked my newest son from a catalog. His name is Simon, and he's from a town north of Hamburg, Germany. He loves sports (especially soccer, but he's learning about American football, baseball and basketball) and plays the classical guitar. He says, "That sounds great!"

Friend of VA Beach Shooting Victim Ryan Keith Cox Says He Saved Her Life, Was 'Angel of Protection'

During the shooting, Cox waited outside the room where his coworkers huddled on the floor beneath two desks, holding hands Tara McGee and her coworkers had just settled in for their "Power Hour" - that final 60-minute push of the workday - when someone shouted the words McGee never thought she'd hear: "Live shooter!"

Their Third Goodbye

On Feb. 20, Marine Sgt. Matt Roberts, 23, deployed to Iraq for the third time in as many years. Staying behind is his wife, Patricia, 22, and their sons Isaiah, 3, and Joseph, 2. People spent four days with the family at home on Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., as they prepared to part.

How Ashley Found Her Calling

She was a typical teen who liked Facebook and country music -- and then she joined a convent.

Tragedy in West Virginia

The 13 men who worked together in the Sago Mine of West Virginia depended on family, friends -- and each other. Here is the story of how they lived -- and their final desperate hours.

A Mom's Mission for Her Fallen Son

Two months after her eldest shipped out to Iraq in 2006, Mary Conboy of Philadelphia got a call. "Mom, the bunks stink. Can you send sheets and pillows?" asked Marine Lance Cpl. Adam Conboy, 21.

A School to Feel Safe

Bullied at their old schools, junior high kids of every stripe find a welcoming haven in Milwaukee.

'Mommy Is Always There for Me'

Can an intellectually disabled mom raise a gifted daughter? It's working so far for Myra and Bonnie Brown.

On Tour With Rascal Flatts

Lynndie England: a Soldier, a Mother-and a Court-Martial

Even Lynndie England seemed to find it hard to look. In a small courtroom at Fort Hood, Texas, on May 3, Army prosecutor Capt. Chris Graveline projected 20 pictures of the abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison onto a 12-ft. screen.