A federal grand jury has returned a 147-count superseding indictment against 40 defendants across South Carolina in the largest federal racketeering conspiracy in South Carolina history. The indictment alleges a sprawling criminal enterprise whereby inmates with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, often through the use of contraband cell phones, orchestrated murder, kidnapping, firearms distribution, […]
A Missouri senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill says changes must be made at Missouri veteran’s homes, following a recent COVID outbreak. At least 138 veterans living at state veterans’ homes have died from the coronavirus since September. Senator Josh Hawley has read Armstrong Teasdale’s report, which says the Missouri […]
A Grant City woman has been charged with abandonment of a corpse related to the death of Melissa Lynn Chapman. 50-year-old Kimberly Sue Henry Tinkle also faces two felony counts of hindering the prosecution of a felony and one count of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. A probable cause statement from Highway […]
A Denver, Missouri man was sentenced December 10th to 30 years in the Department of Corrections on felony murder—second degree. Worth County Prosecuting Attorney Janet Wake Larrison reports 39-year-old Jeremiah Searles was sentenced after pleading guilty to killing Melissa Chapman. A news release says Searles admitted to striking Chapman in the head with part of […]
A fugitive investigation in Livingston County has resulted in the arrest of two Chillicothe residents. Sheriff Steve Cox reports his office and the Chillicothe Police have worked on the fugitive investigation on 39-year-old Kevin Head on an arrest warrant for alleged failure to obey a judge’s order on felony violations of possession of a controlled […]
A Humphreys man arrested by the Highway Patrol Tuesday afternoon, December 8th in Sullivan County has been charged with two felony counts of child molestation in the first degree. Forty-eight-year-old Joseph Hemenway’s bond is $50,000 cash only. A probable cause statement from Sullivan County Sheriff Roger Smiley says a 19-year-old girl reported she had been […]
A felony charge of second-degree statutory rape has been filed in Grundy County against a Trenton Police officer. Online court information shows 25-year-old Michael Wilson is to be held without bond after being arrested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. A probable cause statement from Adam McAtee of the Patrol accuses Wilson of engaging in […]
(Missouri Independent) – The head of Missouri’s medical marijuana program testified under oath that a grand jury subpoena his agency received late last year was likely connected to an FBI investigation in Independence. The revelation by Lyndall Fraker, director of medical marijuana regulation at the Missouri Department of Health and Seniors Services, is the first […]
Thirteen (13) more CODIS (DNA) “hits” have been returned as untested sexual assault kits continue to be tested and uploaded to CODIS, which stands for Combined DNA Index System. The hits, like the first round of hits, are from the Southwest Missouri extended area. Those untested sexual assault kits were inventoried and shipped to the […]
Two people accused in a Wright County child abuse investigation in southern Missouri now face criminal charges. Twenty-eight-year-old LaTisha Cantrell, and 27-year-old Joey Moore, of Mountain Grove, are accused of the malnourishment of a six-year-old girl. The girl required hospitalization in St. Louis in August 2020 due to her health condition and weighed […]
Missouri’s governor said Thursday in Jefferson City that he wants some answers, after reading a 53-page independent investigation into recent COVID deaths at Missouri veterans homes. Governor Mike Parson ordered the investigation, which was conducted by St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale. The governor emphasizes that he’s limited in what he can say because he doesn’t know […]
The U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and six other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the third annual Money Mule Initiative, a coordinated operation to disrupt the networks through which transnational fraudsters move the proceeds of their crimes. Money mules are individuals who assist fraudsters by receiving […]
An independent investigation into the COVID-19 deaths at Missouri veterans homes has found that the Missouri Veterans Commission headquarters failed to recognize the outbreak. Armstrong Teasdale’s report says MVC should have recognized the presence of an outbreak in the Cape Girardeau veteran’s home by September 2. MVC Chairman Tim Noonan says a tremendous amount of […]
Investigation continues regarding an accident in Trenton the morning of December 1st in which the police report a pickup truck left the scene. Chief Rex Ross says a car driven by 38-year-old Jeffrey Alan Brown of Blue Springs traveled south on Harris Avenue and stopped in the left turn lane at Ninth Street. The pickup […]
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on an incident involving a firearm that happened in the 4000 block of Route A on November 28th. Sheriff Steve Cox reports investigation shows an unknown individual or individuals were outside a residence, and a firearm discharged at a window of the home. A projectile or projectiles […]
An Independence, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm that was used to shoot another man in the leg, using the victim’s own illegally-possessed firearm. William D. Fullbright, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lajuana M. Counts to being a felon in possession of a firearm. By pleading guilty, […]
Early Sunday morning, at 3:57, am, Chillicothe Police Officers and the Chillicothe Fire Department responded to the 400 block of Clay Street to a report of a structure fire. Sergeant Jeremy Stephens reported it was discovered an unknown person had set ablaze, some leaves and trash on the front deck of what was called an […]
The CDC is in Missouri today to begin a first-ever COVID-19 study within some K-12 schools. Two groups of students who are considered close contacts to someone with COVID-19 will be tested over a 30-day period. The first group includes those wearing masks who are allowed to continue in-person classes. Missouri Department of Health and […]
Sullivan County Health Department has confirmed seven additional positive cases of COVID-19 in Sullivan County. Currently, Sullivan County sits at a total of six hundred and thirty-eight, with two active probable cases, eight deaths, and thirty-seven active cases. The positive cases have been determined to be community-related. To maintain confidentiality, no other information will be […]
Five members of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) international street gang are set to appear in court following charges of conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia, 24; Jimmy Villalobos-Gomez, 23; Angel […]
