Month: September 2023

A firefighter with the Willard Fire Protection District is recovering after he was electrocuted while battling a trailer fire.

Crews were called to the location on North Farm Road 115 at around 7:30pm Tuesday night to the structure completely in flames.

Investigators say the structure became electrically charged somehow, and shocked the man when he touched it.

Officials say he was not seriously injured. Crews were eventually able to put out the fire.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

This story courtesy of Carissa Codel of OzarksFirst.com-

The Greene County Juvenile Office saw over 1,000 kids and teens last year and is already on track to surpass that number in 2023.

The office saw 1,300 referrals in 2022 and so far has already seen 1,000 kids and teens come through their office this year.

This comes on the heels of a groundbreaking for a youth crisis center operated by Burrell Behavioral Health.

While the center will not be receiving kids who commit violent crimes, the juvenile office is looking forward to the crisis center officially opening its doors so they have another way to divert kids from a life of crime.

“Many times we see that the behavior of this youth is tied to some sort of underlying mental illness,” said Chief Juvenile Officer Bill Prince.

Over the past three years, the juvenile office has seen an increase in kids with mental health issues.

“I think a lot of times the drivers of some of the delinquent behavior that we see is mental health-related,” Prince said. “And so I’m thinking that if we can identify those issues and get them treated before they drive behavior that is illegal in nature, that’s going to keep kids out of this system in the short term and it’s going to keep kids out of the adult criminal justice system in the long term.”

Prince says the new youth crisis center will be a great addition to the juvenile office’s toolbox once it’s officially up and running.

“We would have youth that would be in our detention center, which is not a place where you really want kids with mental health issues,” Prince said. “But that was the only place that could keep them safe and the community safe.”

At the Sept. 18 groundbreaking of the crisis center, Regional President of Burrell Behavioral Health Clay Goddard said the center could help keep kids with mental health issues from getting into trouble with the law.

“It really is going to take us as a community working together and trying to keep them out of those harmful environments,” Goddard said.

The juvenile office hopes the ones who benefit the most from this center will be the kids and their families.

“Having that center available as a resource for families is going to be excellent for this community,” said Prince.

This story courtesy of Mike Landis of OzarksFirst.com-

For the first time in nearly 60 years, travelers may soon be able to ride the rails in and out of the Ozarks.  

MoDOT is looking into the possibility of starting Amtrak passenger train service between Kansas City and Springfield, and possibly Branson.  

If the service to southwest Missouri becomes a reality, the Ozarks would be tied to the rest of the national Amtrak system.  At Union Station in Kansas City, travelers could transfer to other passenger trains to Chicago, Los Angeles, and other destinations across the country. 

The service is still far from becoming a reality.  As a first step, the Missouri Department of Transportation is requesting $500,000 as part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID program. The money would study the feasibility of the proposed Springfield service, as well as a new route between Kansas City and Saint Joseph, extending a route out of Chicago to Hannibal, and adding additional trains to the current River Runner Route which runs between Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Saint Louis.   

A new rail service would provide an option for travelers not afforded since 1967 when the last Frisco passenger trains departed downtown Springfield. As seen on the carrier’s system map, the Springfield metro is currently one of the largest in the nation not on the Amtrak network. The nearest Amtrak stations are more than 100 miles away in Kansas City, Warrensburg, and Sedalia.  

According to the proposal, the service would operate on BNSF Railway freight lines between Kansas City and Springfield by way of Lamar and Ash Grove. A connection to Branson would be made over the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad- the same tracks used by Branson Scenic Railway.  The plans do not specify where, if any, intermediate stops would made between Kansas City and Springfield/Branson. 

The study would be the first step in a long process, and no timeline has been released for when the trains could start rolling.  However, if the studies show the proposed service would be feasible, some of the money to get the trains rolling would already be in place.  The state has already included $76 million in federal funding and $38 million in state funding in its 2025 fiscal year budget request. The money could pay for things like upgrades to freight tracks, improvements to road crossings and signals, construction of stations, and purchase of train locomotives and cars.

This wouldn’t be the first time Amtrak and MoDOT have studied the possibility of passenger trains returning to the Ozarks.  A 2007 project looked into the feasibility of a service linking Springfield with Saint Louis by way of Lebanon, Rolla, and Sullivan.  The final report stated several million dollars would have been needed to pay for upgrades to the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific freight lines the trains would have utilized.  It was determined, at that point, that the ridership numbers would not have justified the expenditures.  In the 1990s, the state and Amtrak conducted a similar study for a service that would have linked Saint Louis and Springfield with Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is asking for help in finding a vehicle that ran over a woman on I-44 near Lebanon around 1:15 am Saturday.

The Highway Patrol says 42-year-old Crystal Hassett of Republic was thrown from a vehicle she was a passenger in when it overturned.

Another vehicle ran over her as she was lying in the roadway and didn’t stop.

Investigators believe the vehicle was dark colored or black and had a higher ground clearance like a pickup of S-U-V.

If you have any information, you are asked to contact Troop “I” of the Highway Patrol.

A man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to his role in a kidnapping plot that led to the death of the victim.

A Department of Justice news release says 50-year-old Freddie “Ol’ Boy” Tilton of Joplin pleaded guilty to one count conspiracy to commit kidnapping and two counts of being a felon in procession of a firearm.

Tilton admitted he participated with 5 others in the kidnapping and torture of a victim in July of 2020.

Tilton shot the victim and disposed of his body at the residence of a co-defendant.

When law enforcement went to a residence to search for the body, Tilton fired shots at them.

They later searched the residence and found several guns.

Here is the news release (WARNING: GRAPHIC):

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a kidnapping conspiracy that resulted in the death of the victim.

Freddie Lewis Tilton, also known as “Ol’ Boy,” 50, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

By pleading guilty today, Tilton admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to kidnap the victim, identified as “M.H.,” in July 2020. Co-defendants Carla Jo Ward, 49, of Joplin, James B. Gibson, 41, of Neosho, Mo., Amy Kay Thomas, 40, of Webb City, Mo., Lawrence William Vaughan, also known as “Scary Larry,” 52, of Newton County, Mo., and Russell Eugene Hurtt, also known as “Uncle,” 51, of Greenwood, Mo., have previously pleaded guilty.

According to the plea agreement, Ward picked up M.H., whom she knew was being sought by Tilton, and took him to Vaughan’s residence. Tilton, Thomas, and Gibson arrived at Vaughan’s residence in the early morning hours of July 15, 2020. They bound M.H.’s hands with handcuffs, and duct tape was placed around his mouth and other parts of his body. Gibson, Thomas, and others assaulted M.H. for a period of time. M.H. was cut, beaten, shot at, and burned with a blowtorch. As M.H. became bloody, Vaughan placed a plastic tarp on the floor. Tilton fatally shot M.H. in the head. They wrapped M.H.’s body in plastic wrap and transported it to Hurtt’s property.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hurtt’s property on July 28, 2020, based on information that a deceased body was located on the acreage. When officers attempted to contact the occupants of the residence, Tilton fired multiple shots from inside the residence at the officers. Tilton was apprehended.

Officers found M.H.’s body on the property. Officers searched the residence and found a Rigarmi .25-caliber pistol, an Ithaca .22-caliber rifle, a Remington .22-caliber rifle without a serial number, a Harrington and Richardson 12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger 9mm handgun, and a Taurus 9mm handgun without a serial number.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Tilton has two prior felony convictions for burglary, two prior felony convictions for larceny of an automobile, and prior felony convictions for stealing, possession of a controlled substance, burglary of an automobile, possession of a chemical with intent to manufacture, receiving stolen property, unlawful use of a weapon, theft, and tampering.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ami Harshad Miller and James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI, the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Neosho, Mo., Police Department, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, and the Cherokee County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department.

The owner of Springfield-based Affordable Towing will spend several years in prison for violating the Clean Air Act.

Investigators say Dennis Cleveland knowingly took his company’s tow trucks to another area business, Full Flash Tuning, to have the truck’s exhaust systems tampered with to avoid routine maintenance and compliance.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tampering with a Clean Air Act monitoring device, and two counts of violating the Clean Air Act.

Cleveland was sentenced to two separate two year prison terms, but the judge ruled they be served concurrently. He was also fined over $250,000.

This story courtesy of Carissa Codel of OzarksFirst.com-

A traveling group of scam artists visited Springfield this weekend, standing on the side of the road with children and asking for money.

The Springfield Police Department posted to Facebook, reminding people to not give money without knowing the cause.

“They were just in town to take advantage of the kindness of Springfield,” said Cris Swaters with SPD.

Officers responded to six different intersections around Springfield where this group was seen.

“People who are legitimately seeking help, we don’t typically see people with kids out in the median putting those kids at risk,” Swaters said. “Those who are legitimately seeking help use the resources that are available in the community.”

“We definitely have families in the city that are unsheltered with their children,” said Connecting Grounds Pastor Christie Love. “But in all of the work that we’ve done and all the outreach work that we do on the street, I don’t see parents that fly signs with their kids who are in genuine need. That just doesn’t happen very often.”

Love says only 26 percent of the homeless population in Springfield panhandle.

“It is important to keep in mind that we have two different issues and let’s not just label everybody that’s flying a sign in our city as people that are trying to take advantage of a situation,” Love said.

No one from this group was arrested and no citations were made.

“Officers have discretion when they’re called out or when they see individuals who are out there looking for help, they have some discretion to evaluate the situation,” Swaters said. “And in the case this weekend, the individuals identified as being from out of town so officers took the opportunity to educate them on what the ordinance is.”

Some of the ways Love says you can help those in need is by donating to places that offer shelter and other resources to the homeless, like the Connecting Grounds, Rare Breed and the Youth Connect Center.

This story courtesy of Bil Tatum of OzarksFirst.com-

The eighth of nine defendants charged in connection with the death of an Aurora woman shot and killed in a well in 2020 has been sentenced.

On Sept. 18, 2023, Judge David Cole sentenced Frankie James Sheridan to 15 years in prison on a kidnapping charge, but execution of the sentence was suspended. Sheridan is to be on supervised probation for five years, according to online court records.

Sheridan was accused in court documents of being present when the victim and a second woman who was also shot but survived were put in the trunk of a car and taken to the location where they were ordered into a well and shot.

A ninth person charged in the murder of Sarah Pasco in August 2020 is to stand trial in 2024.

Steven Calverly is charged with first-degree murder and multiple counts of assault, armed criminal action, robbery and kidnapping in connection to the woman’s death.

He is to appear next in court for a pre-trial conference on Nov. 7, 2023. His jury trial is set for three weeks, beginning Oct. 21, 2024.

 This story courtesy of Ben Gilbert of OzarksFirst.com-

A 16-year-old from Clinton, Missouri was shot and killed after an incident occurred late Sunday night.

According to the Clinton Police Department, police responded to the 400 block of North Price Lane and located a 16-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest.

The juvenile was transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to police.

A 70-year-old man was taken into custody.

The investigation is currently ongoing.