Authorities say human remains found in Columbia’s Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in late March have been verified to be those of a missing woman. Reporter David Gaines from our Columbia affiliate KFRU has the update. Columbia Police held a press conference Tuesday verifying the remains belong to Mengqi Ji, who was last […]
Tag: November
Audio: Columbia police expect an ID this week on remains found in a central Missouri state park
Columbia police expect human remains found at Rock Bridge State Park to be identified this week. Investigators in central Missouri think those remains belong to missing Columbia woman Mengqi Ji, but the Boone-Callaway County Medical Examiner’s Office will have to confirm the ID. A forensic odontologist is working with a local forensic anthropologist […]
Missouri Department of Conservation to offer free webcast on mushroom hunting
Warming spring weather brings nature to life with trees, shrubs, and bulbs sending out their spring flowers. It also prompts the popping up of another spring favorite for many Missourians – MORELS! The elusive and edible morel mushroom shows itself during April and into May and is a flavorful favorite for many mushroom lovers. Morels […]
Audio: Missouri House Committee hears testimony on checkpoint and roadblock legislation
A veteran Missouri lawmaker who served as an O’Fallon police officer for 13 years is proposing a constitutional amendment that involves checkpoints and roadblocks. Lake St. Louis GOP State Representative Justin Hill’s proposal would prohibit a roadside checkpoint or roadblock set up by law enforcement, except in emergency situations to prevent the escape of a […]
Man pleads guilty to $244 million ghost-cattle scam
A Washington man pleaded guilty to defrauding Tyson Foods Inc. (Tyson) and another company (Company 1) out of more than $244 million by charging them under various agreements for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not actually exist. According to court documents, Cody Allen Easterday, 49, of […]
Audio: Lawmaker proposes amendment prohibiting roadside checkpoints and roadblocks by law enforcement
You’ll be voting next November on a proposed constitutional amendment involving checkpoints and roadblocks if a veteran Missouri lawmaker has his way. State Rep. Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) will present his proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday at noon, before the Missouri House Downsizing State Government Committee in Jefferson City. The committee is chaired by […]
Bethany man charged in Grundy County with auto theft
A Bethany man has been charged in Grundy County with felony stealing—motor vehicle/watercraft/aircraft. The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports 51-year-old Keith Larson was picked up at the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail on March 30 and is to be held without bond. He is scheduled for the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court on April 13th. Court […]
Audio: Southern Missouri Congressman Jason Smith considering Senate run; criticizes Biden on border wall suspension
A southern Missouri congressman who serves as the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee says he’s considering a run for the U-S Senate in 2022. Salem Congressman Jason Smith spoke to Missourinet Monday (last) evening in Jefferson City, outside the Statehouse: Former Governor Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt, both Republicans, […]
More charges announced against Missouri lawmaker after indictment for $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme
Additional charges have been returned by a federal grand jury against an elected Missouri state representative for a nearly $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme, following her indictment last month for a separate fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally […]
Audio: Human remains believed to be Mengqi Ji discovered in Missouri’s Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Human remains believed to be those of a missing Columbia woman have been found in a mid-Missouri state park. Columbia resident Mengqi Ji has been missing since October 2019, and authorities have searched a river near Boonville for her remains several times. During a Thursday evening press conference, Columbia Police announced that a […]
Audio: Lawmakers to question Missouri DSS chief about boarding school abuse investigations
The head of the Missouri Department of Social Services is scheduled to appear before a panel of lawmakers Wednesday about the agency’s handling of abuse investigations within boarding schools. The Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight has called a Wednesday afternoon hearing to question the department’s acting director, Jennifer Tidball. The Kansas City Star has […]
Polo woman charged with manslaughter after mother’s death bound to Division One of Caldwell County Circuit Court
A Polo woman charged with felony involuntary manslaughter—second degree after her mother’s death had her case bound over to Division One of Caldwell County Circuit Court March 18th. Forty-two-year-old Rachel Nichols is scheduled for arraignment on April 13th. A probable cause affidavit from Sergeant Tony Kirkendoll of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office says an autopsy […]
Lawmakers say President Biden is escalating border crisis by unlawfully freezing border wall funding
Amid the rapidly escalating crisis along the southern border, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) and dozens of his colleagues joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, in sending a letter to Government Accountability Office Comptroller Gene L. Dodaro highlighting President Joe Biden’s suspension of border wall […]
A breakdown of eligible voters and polling locations in Grundy County for the April 6 election
More than 5,800 people from Grundy County will be eligible to vote in the April 6th election, with a total of 5,859 certified by the county clerk’s office. That’s the same number as those eligible for last November’s general election. There will be eight polling locations in Grundy county for April 6th in-person voting, with […]
Missouri man sentenced to 8-years in prison for $6 million Ponzi scheme
A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for engaging in a $6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded dozens of victim investors. Matthew R. Peterson, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Peterson to pay […]
Owners of Christian reform school in Missouri charged with more than 100 counts of abusing girls
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced in a press conference that his office has filed a total of 102 criminal charges against Boyd and Stephanie Householder, who were the owners and operators of the now-defunct Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Boyd and Stephanie Householder have been arrested and are in custody. […]
Missouri unemployment rate drops to 4.3% in January, 2021, down from 4.4% in December, 2020
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased in January 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 5,900 jobs over the month, but over-the-year job losses were back above 100,000 following benchmark adjustments to 2020 estimates. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent […]
Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court news for Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Among cases Tuesday in Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Preliminary hearings were waived by Floyd Wayne Jarrett of Galt, Marquise Terrell Jones of Trenton, Vance Allen Gannon of rural Trenton, and James LeRoy Houk of Princeton. Each had their cases bound over to the docket for tomorrow’s session of Division One of Grundy […]
City of Forsyth receives “Poor” audit rating; audit highlights city’s poor oversight and accounting procedures
An audit of the City of Forsyth released today by State Auditor Nicole Galloway gives a rating of “poor” after finding numerous concerns, including more than $1,400 missing from the city’s vault and another $2,000 in utility deposits that were received but never deposited. In addition to the missing money, the audit also found that […]
Trenton city sales tax receipts up more than 6% in first eleven months of fiscal year
Trenton city sales tax receipts are up more than six percent for general purposes, capital projects, and parks in the first eleven months of Trenton’s current fiscal year, compared to the same months a year ago, May through March. Income from the city sales tax for fire department needs is up nearly eight percent, and […]