Authorities

HOWELL COUNTY -- The Howell County Sheriff's Department is on the lookout for an escaped jail trustee. Lloyd Miller, 33, left the jail in West Plains on Wednesday.  He was behind bars on numerous burglary charges. Miller is likely headed toward Springfield or east to his hometown of Alton. If you see him or know of his whereabouts, call your local police station immediately.

ST. ROBERT, Mo. -- A suspect accused in a week long crime wave has been captured. Deputies Saturday morning arrested 38-year-old Chad Lange in Rolla.  Lange is wanted for numerous felony charges, including auto theft and burglary.  Law enforcement officials initially began searching for Lange after he was suspected of numerous car thefts and burglaries in the Dixon area over the past week.  The search escalated on Thursday evening when the...

KISSEE MILLS, Mo. - Authorities are looking for a man who tried to rob a Kissee Mills bank Monday. KRZK radio reports the robbery attempt took place at about 12:30 p.m. at the First Home Savings Bank. A white male described by authorities as being six feet tall and roughly 200 pounds, with short hair and a short red goatee, is being sought by police at this time. According to KRZK, the suspect was barefoot, wearing shorts and had a T-shirt tied around his head. The man told bank employees he had a weapon but did not display it. No one was hurt in the incident.

NEW MADRID, Mo. (AP) - Authorities in southeast Missouri are investigating after finding 15 marijuana plants growing on top of a Mississippi River levee. KFVS-TV reports that the plants were discovered Saturday. New Madrid County authorities described it as a marijuana plant growing operation in which plants had been transplanted from small cups onto the levee. Deputies say they have a couple of people in mind as possible suspects.

WILLARD, Mo. - A small-engine plane crash has killed multiple passengers on board near Willard, Missouri. The plane crashed north of Highway 123 after midnight Saturday.  The Missouri Highway Patrol believes the airplane was heading to the Springfield-Branson National Airport.  It was a four-seat aircraft. Four family members from Springfield are among the dead following a plane crash in Willard. Local authorities say a 2002 Cirrus SR22 went down just after midnight in a field north of farm road 123, killing all five passengers on board.

CASSVILLE, Mo. -- Barry County detectives are investigating the death of a homeless man.  A worker on the way to work found the body near a creek behind the Ramey's store on Wednesday morning. The sheriff says it appears Billy Henry, 57, suffocated after he wrapped his face and body in plastic bags while trying to stay warm on Tuesday night.  The sheriff also says it appears Henry had been drinking.  Henry was from the Washburn area.  

CHRISTIAN COUNTY --  An anonymous tipster alerted authorities that something was up inside a house in a quiet Christian County neighborhood. Chaz Setzer, who has lived in the area for seven years, had never seen any problems before Monday. "Actually, last night was the first night I saw the police around in God knows how long, unless there's an ambulance going down the street for somebody that has an accident and that's about it," explained Setzer. On Monday afternoon, though, it was not an accident that brought deputies and a drug task force to the area.

LOCKWOOD, Mo -- The Dade County Sheriff's Department and the Lockwood Police Department confirm they are investigating the death of Chad Clayton. Clayton was taken to the hospital on July 15 after sustaining severe injuries. He remained on life support throughout the weekend and passed away on July 17. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and would not release any other details. Meanwhile, those that were close to Clayton confirm he was in the National Guard. He served in the 203rd Engineering Battalion.

STOVER, Mo. - The Morgan County Sheriff's Office has released the names of an elderly couple found dead in their home Tuesday morning. Wayne L. Wells, 82, and Mable I. Wells, 71, were found in their home in the 34000 block of Oak Hill Road near Stover Tuesday morning. A neighbor found Mable Wells lying in a pool of blood and called 911. Deputies arrived and found Wayne Wells in a separate room, according to a news release from the Morgan County Sheriff's Office. Both appeared to have been shot multiple times.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Benton County Arkansas authorities say the death of a toddler who crawled inside a hot car and fell asleep was accidental.  Lincoln Andrew Brunner was three years old.  He died on August 3rd in triple digit daytime temperatures. Investigators say there's no evidence the parents were negligent.

ST. ROBERT, Mo. - Police are investigating a call made to 911 earlier this morning that someone had been shot at a motel in St. Robert, but authorities have not found anyone that had been shot. St. Robert police responded early this morning to an Econo Lodge in the 300 block of State Highway Z, where a caller had reported a shooting had taken place. Police and deputies with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department found nothing, and are trying to locate the original caller. Information at this point is preliminary, police said, and a news release is expected to be sent later this morning.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Police in North Little Rock, Ark., say a man wanted for murder there may be in Springfield and the surrounding area. According to KTHV in Little Rock , authorities have warrants for Samuel Marquis Douglas, 19, who is a suspect in a shooting death at a gas station in North Little Rock. Douglas is described as having several tattoos, including "Antion" on his left hand, as well as "Tator" and "Lil Mike" on his left forearm -- and two tear drop tattoos under his right eye. We've reached out to Springfield police, who have not yet returned our call.

KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. -- Stone County emergency responders tell ky3 news they have found a woman who disappeared Tuesday morning. Kristi Berg, 41, suffered from mental health issues.  She was taken to a local hospital.  Berg disappeared from her home in the area of February Court, near Missouri 13.  Firefighters with Southern Stone County Fire Protection District responded and searched a heavily wooded area near her house. Eric Nielsen, public information officer for the fire district, said Berg's ex-husband, with whom she lives, woke up at roughly 9 a.m. to smoke filling the home after a cake had burned in the oven.

SHERWOOD, Ore. - A truck that was lodged 10 feet up a tree has authorities scratching their heads, trying to figure out how it got up there . Firefighters with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue found the pickup just off Oregon Route 99 near Sherwood after receiving a 911 call at 7:33 Monday morning. They brought out thermal imaging equipment to check for anyone inside, but that equipment and an electric company lineman confirmed no one was there. A local hospital confirmed there were no patients there around that same time frame in relation to a crash.

ST. ROBERT, Mo. -- A suspect accused in a week long crime wave has been captured. Deputies Saturday morning arrested 38-year-old Chad Lange in Rolla.  Lange is wanted for numerous felony charges, including auto theft and burglary.  Law enforcement officials initially began searching for Lange after he was suspected of numerous car thefts and burglaries in the Dixon area over the past week.  The search escalated on Thursday evening when the...

ALTUS, Okla. - A worker killed in an industrial accident in Oklahoma has been identified as a man from Springfield. Authorities say 57-year old Mark Rooney died in the accident on Tuesday afternoon at the Planters Cooperative grain elevator in Altus. Rooney had been working inside a lift basket when a co-worker found him. Authorities say it appears Rooney was pinned by a beam. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, will investigate.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - Fire fighters in Osage Beach on Saturday have been battling a fire at a condominium complex. A witness tells Ky3 News seven Lakewood Condo units burned. According to the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection's Facebook page, it's a 2-alarm fire. No word on whether anyone was injured. Osage Beach authorities have not commented on the incident.

BOSTON (AP) - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has closed campus and ordered an evacuation after confirming that a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is registered there. The school did not say what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is studying or whether he had lived on campus. Police are still searching for him. School officials say they closed the campus "out of an abundance of caution. " Student Brie McCarron tells The Associated Press that police and SWAT teams have descended on campus.

GALENA, Mo. -- Stone County sheriff's deputies found no bomb at the county courthouse on Wednesday after someone called 911 to report one about 9 a.m.  Before the search, however, the sheriff and the County Commission decided to close the courthouse for the day, just in case. Sheriff Doug Rader contacted Springfield to put its bomb squad on standby in case something was found.  The Jasper County Sheriff's Department sent a bomb sniffing dog to help with the search. By 1:30, the Sheriff's Department sent its employees back to work at the building.  Other county offices and courts will reopen on Thursday morning.

FORSYTH, Mo. - A man charged with leading police on a high speed chase will be in court today for a disposition hearing. Johnny Bryan, Jr. was arrested near Forsyth in February after two months on the run. Bryan faces ten charges from a chase in December that led law enforcement from Branson to a rural area near Highlandville. Authorities said Bryan hit three patrol cars and tried to run a deputy over at an apartment just north of Branson as the chase ensued. Officers and deputies looked for Bryan throughout that day, but were unable to find him. Bryan was taken into custody nearly two months later.