Welcome back to another week of Robertson’s Reportings! Almost 100 people have died in Petropolis, a mountain city in Brazil, after heavy rains triggered landslides that swept away cars, buildings, and people. Rainfall on Tuesday afternoon exceeded the historical average for the entire month of February. Over 1,500 families were displaced by the landslides, and the flooding that caused two dams to burst displaced approximately 62,800 people. 

A plane crashed on Interstate 85 in Davidson County, colliding with a tractor trailer on February 16. While the driver of the tractor trailer did not sustain serious injuries, the pilot of the plane was killed. The tractor trailer became completely engulfed in flames upon collision, and the southbound lanes of I-85 were closed down as cleanup crews cleared the scene.

A man was found dead in his home with a collection of 124 live snakes that had been meticulously cared for. Some of the snakes were venomous and illegal, and all of the snakes which included cobras, pythons, and rattlesnakes were in cages. Experts from North Carolina and Virginia were brought to the home in Maryland in order to remove the snakes. Neighbors described the man as a “great guy,” but they were unaware that he was caring for over 100 snakes.

According to a crime podcast, a Michigan mother revealed that SpongeBob SquarePants instructed her to kill her three-year-old daughter. The mother argued “that during heroin withdrawals she received ‘messages’ from the TV threatening to kill her if she did not kill her own child.” Consequently, she stabbed her daughter to death, puzzling authorities. The entire podcast and interview with the mother can be found here.

See you next time on Robertson’s Reportings, coverage you can count on!

Photo Credits: CTV News