authorities probing the death of 5-year-old noah thomas just wrapped up news conference on the status of their investigation. after a five-day search that covered miles, the boy's body was found in a septic tank right on his parents' property.

thank you for joining us. i'm andrea roane. mola lenghi joins us from dublin, virginia with more on the press conference that just ended. >> reporter: it's been about 24 hours since noah was found in this neighborhood where he was found obviously a much quieter scene out here today. very few details emerging about this investigation since he was found yesterday. all week long authorities reiterated over and over their frustration over a lack of leads into this investigation, in their search for noah thomas. then yesterday a major break when noah was body was found in the septic tank on his parents' property. it seems leads may be drying up once again. authorities are pleading with the public to come forward with any information, any tips that they may have to help authorities. right now we're told no arrests have been made, no suspects, no charges and perhaps most importantly at this point in the investigation, no cause of death and no ya was last seen sunday morning by his mother.

he was watching cartoons she says when she took a two-hour familiar. she woke frup that familiar. she -- up from that nap, noah was gone. five days later his body was found. >> while we're saddened with this discovery, at this time our investigation will continue into the cause of noah's untimely death. the initial phase of this investigation began with the report of a missing child and now efforts are be focused on a death investigation. >> reporter: police not releasing much information. they're not answering me questions about the investigation. i asked how someone can gain access to t if there's any possibility of an accident. we got no answers. authorities are be relying heavily on noah's exact cause of death in their investigation. that will likely be the next major development. once they find out what a cause of death is, they'll be able to

better understand what happened and go in the proper direction at that point. no ya was body has been -- no ya's body has been taken to the medical -- noah's body has been taken to the medical examiner's office. no report on when those results will be expected. >> thank you. this announcement is setting off a scramble to fill a senate seat and leadership position among democrats. minority leader harry reid says he will not seek a sixth term in congress. the 75-year-old democrat suffered a bad eye injury in a new year's workout accident. the accident game him time to reflect on his career and hes ared it would be inappropriate for him to soak up more campaign party resources if he were to run again in 2016. >> this accident has caused us for the first time to have a little down time. i have had time to ponder and to think and as a result of that, i am not going to run for reelection. >> reid was first elected in

the senate in 19867 and served eight years as its leader before the g.o.p. gained control in 2014. he told current senate majority leader mitch mcconnell not to be too elated. reid noted he will still be around for another 22 months. if you normally travel along 16th street and military road northwest and haven't plot add new route before now, you need to busy. major bridge repairs started just after midnight and won't be finished for a couple of months. in this second phase of the bridge repair, only one lane in each direction of 16th street is open but the problems don't stop there. one lane of military road is open but closed on the weekends. nikki burdine was there for the first hectic rush hour. >> reporter: 16th street bridge construction has been called one of the most disruptive traffic projects of 2015 and this morning's rush hour commute did not dispoint. before the sun came up, traffic was backed up quite a ways

before the 16th street bridge. one lane in each direction will stay open but that won't stop the bottlenecking. ddot crews are asking drivers to avoid it all together by taking a different way, such as georgia avenue. driver aretha smith says that doesn't always help. >> sometimes you have to find alternate routes and end up backed thrup because everybody is trying -- up there because everybody is traveling the same alternate route. >> reporter: the bridge needs to be replaced. it's a safety issue and a necessary everybodile. >> i don't want anybody to get hurt. would you think they could find something -- a different way to do it. >> reporter: once it's all done, not only will there be a new bridge but there will also be a new median, mao traffic signals and street lights. until then? >> you can't duck it right now. >> reporter: construction is supposed to last 110 days. >> that doesn't look fun. >> reporter: by the way this evening's rush hour is expected to be just as bad if not worse. my advice?

take a different way home. at 16th street bridge, i'm nikki burdine. back to you in the studio. >> another way around this? take public transportation. we're off to a soggy, chilly start to the weekend. howard bernstein is keeping an eye on the weather and he joins us now with the forecast. howard? >> still tracking these showers. most of them are south and east of d.c. i think we dried out north and west. a lot of rain still coming from richmond going all the way up toward atlantic city. locally, thankfully, we have gotten rid of the showers. if you're north and west of washington and even northwest d.c., a couple of sprinkles still in southeast. everything is starting to slowly pull off toward the south and east and it's been slow to clear out. i think we stay with the clouds most of the day. you notice down in alexandria, the potomac, showers steadier from upper marlboro to waldorf, la plata, calvert county as well. heavier showers from solomons, past leonardstown. look at this activity from front royal to dahlgren trying to come up 301 again. if you're south and east,

you'll hang with the showers for several more hours. maybe mid- to late afternoon before things settle down. significantly colder, too. yesterday afternoon we were in the 70s. right now temperatures anywhere from around 10 to 30 degrees colder. wear sitting at 47 at reagan national. that's as warm as we've been all day. 32 pittsburgh. 20s in cleveland. tomorrow even colder with a threat for some flurries. yeah, that's how the weekend starts. i'm give you the whole seven day in a few minutes. >> thanks, howard. investigators in germany and france are digging into the backgrounds of the copilot accused of flying a commercial jet into a mountainside. all 150 people on the flight were killed, including 58-year- old yvonne selke and her 23- year-old daughter emily from nokesville, virginia. as kris van cleave reports, police are starting to uncover evidence that andreas lubitz may have had serious psychological problems. >> reporter: german prosecutors found medical documents in andreas lubitz' dusseldorf apartment that indicate he hid

an existing illness and medical treatment doctors prescribed. they also discovered a sick notice excusing him from a day of work the day of the crash. in some german authorities are finding he was treated for severe depression years ago. the 27-year-old locked the pilot out of the cabin and steered germanwings flight 9525 into the french alps killing himself and 149 people on board. family members of the victims are at a nearby staging area to be as close to the crash site as possible. they are yet to be flown over the scene. the victims are scattered across 10 acres on a rugged mountainside. recovery teams are using red flags to mark human remains and started bagging evidence. the father of robert oliver offered his condolences to the family of the copilot. >> i don't feel anger. i'm really sad for the parents of that young pilot. i mean, i be imagine what

they're going through right now. >> reporter: a memorial service was held for 16 high school students and two teach worry died in the crash in germany. fellow students walked through a procession in the shawl town in tribute to their classmates. chriskris van cleave, cbs news, france. >> lufthansa airlines has changed its policy and now requires two authorized crew members to be present in the cockpit at all times during a flight. new stricter rules prohibiting employees from driving government cars for ten hours after consuming alcohol are now in place. this follows allegations earlier this month that two agents drove through a secure bomb threat investigation after drinking at a nearby bar. a new report suggests the men were not intoxicated at the time. however, neither agent was tested at the scene of the accident. how would you like to spend a year in space? coming up details after history- making mission aboard the international space station. >> howard is keeping an eye on

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a member of the illinois national guard and its cousin thousand face charges in an alleged terror plot. prosecutors say hasan edmonds and his cousin jonas planned to support isis overseas and attack a military plan in illinois. if convicted the cousins could get 15 years in prison. it's not gone girl and this is no hoax. that's what the attorney for a california woman says after she was accused of staging her own kidnapping. her lawyer denies police allegations that denise huskins and her boyfriend paid up the story to collect a ransom. her attorney says it's all nonsense. >> there seems to be a stream of blatant lies coming out about our client, about the victim, and about what's been going on. i don't know what more this person can do to show that he's

innocent. i mean, i guess they start pulling his teeth next. >> denise huskins was reported kids napped monday with the demand for $8500 ransom. she showed up safe and sound wednesday. a driver is in custody this afternoon after a slow speed chase that started late last night and ended in the middle of the night. it started in santa ana california when the driver took off in a stolen taxi. the chase continued on to several freeways and at one point police say the driver sped through a construction zone. the suspect was finally captured after a spike strip took out three of his tires. howard is up next with the chilly forecast. >> certainly is chilly. today we're going to struggle. we'll be lucky to get to 50 but the rain is starting to wind down northwest to southeast. we did get an allergy update. ity he not a good one. tree pollen in the high category. mold spores are low. i'll tell you why we'll see a few flakes in the the air for your saturday. the weekend forecast coming up when wusa9 news

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final preparations are under way for today's historic launch to the international space station. american scott kelly joins russian cosmonauts on the soyuz spacecraft set to launch this afternoon. it's the first time a u.s. astronaut will spend a whole year in space on a single mission. >> absolutely. i don't think i've ever done anything that will be as hard as this. >> reporter: nasa astronaut scott kelly is about to do what no american has ever done, spend a whole year on board the international space station. doubling his previous six-month stay. >> it's kind of like you're at work 24/7 for a whole year.

>> reporter: kelly and russian cosmonauts are teaming up for the marathon mission. they're taking off from kazakhstan. years of preparation and a blizzard of press attention have led up to this international launch. thisorbit launches scott well ahead of astronaut continue brother mark kelly in space miles. >> i would be lying if i didn't tell you i wish i was blasting off in a rocket in a couple of months. >> reporter: mark is married to congresswoman gabby giffords. the twins have agreed to undergo medical tests to track and compare the differences between a human living in space and a human living on earth. >> we're going to learn a lot about our physiology and how longer durations, space flight affects it and hopefully ways to mitigate those effects. >> reporter: that will help pave the way for what many scientists are most excited about, long-term space travel for future generations, even to mars. wendy gel let for cbs news, --

gillette, cbs news, new york. >> kelly can stay in touch with his two children and long-time girlfriend via teleconferencing. only four humans, all of them russians have intents a year -- spent a year or more in space on a single mission. wouldn't that abtrip. >> long-term space you can get weaker bones. >> that's what they're looking at because eventually they want to colonize something. >> got to make the trip there and who knows what the gravity is going to be like. remember 2001 the donut-shaped space station. >> what we didn't say is scott's twin brother mark is on earth to see just how the changes affect. >> that's good to examine the same d.n.a. >> you're a twin so you know that. >> fraternal twins, slightly difference. but something to play with. weather wise, not the best day to be outside for recess or plague. i know some folks have little league seasons that start tomorrow morning. the fields could be kind of soggy and eight going to be

cold and breezy. busy off to the south and southeast right now. the moisture we've been dealing with all morning and some of the rain was really coming down for the early commute. that is sliding off to our south and southeast. so not too much of a concern d.c. north and west for the afternoon, but we still for the next few hours will watch the rain as it continues to just skirt us here. now on the southeast side of town over toward bowie but more so when you get east of i-95 in toward areas in maryland. boy, the rain is trying come creep back toward capitol hill t. is in alexandria. the back edge toward 395. this will continue to move off toward the east. clinton, waldorf, la plata, you guys probably have another hour or so. now, in when you get down to st. mary's and calvert, could be 2 to 3 hours before the rain pulls out. you notice the yellow area from mechanicsville down to colonial beach across the river, still moderate rain showers that are going on. all of this is moving to the southeastern shore, cambridge, oxford, tillman, you'll continue to deal with this as it continues to move to the

northeast. fredricksburg, within an hour or so the rain will shut down by you. still quite gray in washington at this noon hur. we're looking at temperatures this afternoon upper 40s to perhaps low 50s. it will feel cooler with the clouds, the dampness and the breeze not too bad 5 to 10. the winds will pick up tonight. low 40s by midnight. on our way to the low to mid- 30s. temperatures now are anywhere from 10 to 30 degrees colder than yesterday at this time. we were still in the 50s at noon but they were in the 70s in the shenandoah valley. now front royal is 43. it's 43 in hagerstown. only 41 in fredricksburg and waldorf. reagan national easily the warm spot at 47 degrees. but those winds are north, northwest at 10. our windchills 42. we've got some windchills which have dipped into the 30s and the cold continues to come our way. this is very cold air for late march. buffalo and detroit in the 20s. pittsburgh only freezing. and that will continue to sink

toward us. so tomorrow will be the coldest day of the stretch. we're looking at snow showers up here. the rain will continue to pull away for the afternoon. stray shower toward charlottesville. some of that will be in the form of snow showers in the mountains. tomorrow there will be enough instability during the day that probably quiet in the the morning as we go with daytime heating. not a lot but 40 for 45. enough instability we'll pop the clouds and there will be some flurries, even a snow shower. i know it's green here, but the at pos fear is so cold, i -- atmosphere is so cold, i think most of what we'll see tomorrow will be all frozen precip, not liquid. but 40 degrees and the flurries doesn't stick and then this stuff pulls out of here saturday night and sunday we'll be sunnier and start a recovery process with the temps. today 52. that may be optimistic with a few showers still south and east. we drop the yellow alert. 34 tonight. closer to 30 in the cold spots. only 43 tomorrow. the 30s.

a touch milder sunday. monday an early shower possible but milder, 58. back about 60 by tuesday. stick around. we have a treat in the kitchen. easter treat that is when wusa9 news

we have a fun activity for the family. it's coming up on april 4, a saturday. it's a family brunch that's going to help out people in the community. it's taking place at wildfire, tysons galleria. erica is here with us again. good to see you. what's on the menu? >> we have an awesome french toast going o. we'll make the cinnamon crunch french toast. for the special brunch, we're

going to use this bread. >> nice and hearty. >> absolutely. we'll slice this about an inch or so thick. >> this is what makes it crunchy. >> cinnamon crunch french toast truly uses cinnamon crunch cereal. get your box of cereal, pulverize it. you can get the kids involve and mash it up with-- >> a plastic bag. >> absolutely. have fun with it. the bread is ready and we have to get the mixture ready as well. we'll use half and half instead of regular milk that way it will give it a little extra flavor. you're going to go ahead and do three egg yolks, some sugar as well and we'll do some vanilla. >> you know how to make your french toast so these are the

basic elements. the milk, half and half gives it a little more body. the main thing though this is a great breakfast and a family event you're doing, this wonderful brunch. but a good cause n. is also supporting the food for others. tell bus that organization. >> the food for others is our local food bank in fairfax. and we've done this before with them. we go ahead and we run special events especially with our children events. >> it's really helping those who need food on their tables as well. >> oh, absolutely. >> people think of fairfax county as being such a rich county, but there is a great need there. >> absolutely. we love to be involved in any little bit we can. >> this is the finished product of the french toast. we have the easter egg baskets around because there's also an easter egg roll. >> easter egg hunt. >> $25 for tickets. again, the proceeds go to food for others. makes a difference. thank you for being here. >> it's my pleasure. >> that's it. the next news is at 5:00. have a wonderful weekend.

see you monday.

>> abby: yeah, i think you've depleted the mini bar. >> stitch: i need another drink. >> abby: you know what? i'm not sure that's the best idea. fine, i will order you some fresh booze, or maybe some less potent sustenance? [ chuckles ] >> stitch: oh, abby. >> abby: oh! you remember my name. good bodyguard. okay, what's it gonna be -- coffee or tequila? >> stitch: no, no, no. you know, i-i-i should be -- i should be sober. >> abby: it's okay, stitch. >> stitch: no, no, no, no. i'm supposed to be protecting you. [ chuckles ] >> abby: i think you get a pass after what's happened. >> stitch: no, no. you know, i need, uh... i need coffee. >> abby: whoa, whoa, whoa. okay. um, okay. you sit, and i will order the coffee. >> stitch: no, forget the coffee. now... >> abby: now...? >> stitch: i need a shower.