Howell County

WEST PLAINS, Mo. --  Two people were taken into custody on Monday in connection with the death of a woman from Caulfield last week, according to the Howell County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Mike Shannon says a man and a woman were arrested, but he hasn't identified them or said how the suspects are involved the case. Joy Dishneau, 63, (pictured in 2010) was found dead on Jan. 2 at her home where she also operated a business called Naturally Enchanted.   Her vehicle was missing but was located a day later abandoned in nearby Ozark County.

WILLOW SPRINGS, Mo.-- A woman inspired by her own addiction and loss of a loved one is taking a stand against meth in her community.  Donna Barbrow started the Mothers Against Methamphetamines chapter in Willow Springs, and is stepping up the fight against meth that she began years ago. It's a drug that took over Donna Barbrow's life for years.  She started using meth when she was 23. "If you try it once or even twice, you're hooked," Barbrow...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. -- After a two and a half year legal battle, 15 tons of cheese made and aged near Mountain View was hauled to a dump.  To fans of natural foods, it is monumental waste and over-regulation.  To Missouri's Milk Board , it's merely protecting public health. "I see the destruction of what my wife and I and family have worked to build," said Joseph Dixon, owner of Morningland Dairy .  Dixon and his family aren't the only ones outraged by the trashing of about 30,000 pounds of cheese produced on the farm in Howell County.

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- A high school student is accused of telling other students and a teacher that he liked to pretend to be Hitler and threatening to bring guns to school and kill people.   The teacher and her students also told police that the student threatened to “come to her house and make her watch while he killed her entire family and then kill her.” A Howell County prosecutor charged Zackary Wilmoth, 18, on Thursday with two counts of...

CAULFIELD, Mo. -- The Howell County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are investigating the death of a woman at a home-based business.  Police identify the woman as Joy Dishneau. The investigation started around 10 a.m. Monday. Sheriff Mike Shannon said the circumstances of her death are still under investigation and he was not able to give further details. Crime scene tape was up around a home where Dishneau, 63, ran a business called Naturally Enchanted.  Investigators interviewed neighbors to see if they heard anything that might help the investigation.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. -- The owners of a dairy in Howell County are fighting an order that they  destroy all of their raw milk cheese because it may be contaminated.  The owners of Morningland Dairy say they aren't ready to dump their product and profit down the drain. Morningland's cheese is sent all over the country, and some tests in August by the the State of California showed its cheese tested positive for the harmful bacteria staphylococcus aureus and listeria monocytogenes.

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WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- The Howell County coroner finally received autopsy results on a 9-month-old baby who died last Oct. 16.  Investigators found Electra Elizabeth Werner had a genetic disease since birth that caused her bones to be fragile, but could find no evidence that she died from abuse or neglect. Elizabeth's family lives at Peace Valley, about 10 miles from West Plains.  The baby died at the hospital in West Plains, triggering an investigation by the sheriff's department.  The unexplained deaths of children are routinely investigated in Missouri, as mandated by state law.  Coroner Tim Cherry says the baby's disease is called “ osteogenesis imperfecta , which can cause a shortened lifespan due to various mechanisms.” The autopsy was done by medical examiners at University Hospitals in Columbia.

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- Some teachers at Fairview Elementary in rural Howell County are now packing heat.  They have the state and school board's approval for the new security measures. School security has been on many minds since December's tragedy in Connecticut.  "I have a close friend from college who actually lives seven minutes from Sandy Hook, and so she knew three of the children that did pass.  And so that brought a very personal side of it," said Joan Dietrich. Dietrich has a 7th grader, 3rd grader and preschooler all in one school building, so she wants to Fairview Elementary to be safe.  "We had talked about, my husband and I before, what if there was conceal and carry in the school?"

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- Two people who were arrested on Monday after a murder investigation in Caulfield were charged on Tuesday.  Elisabeth Gunter, 43, and Dennis Woodward, 46, both of Norwood, are charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree robbgery, and tampering with a motor vehicle.  A judge set bonds at $2.5 million. Investigators believe Gunter and Woodward robbed and killed Joy Dishneau, 63, at Dishneau's home in Caulfield on Jan. 2.  Dishneau ran a home-based business called Naturally Enchanted.  Woodward appeared in Howell County Court Tuesday afternoon.  Gunter was arrested near Taylorville, Ill., by the Christian County (Ill.)