Ozark County

OZARK COUNTY -- A woman Ozark County is behind bars after being charged in the murder of Charles Wiggins.      The Ozark County Sheriff's Office said Angela Plemmons, 41,  was charged late Friday night with first degree murder and armed criminal action. Authorities said Wiggins. 74, was stabbed multiple times Friday afternoon on his property in Dugginsville, Missouri.      Wiggins was rushed to a Springfield hospital where he was pronounced dead. So far, no motive has been established.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Shane Ledbetter of Gainesville to be the Ozark County coroner.   The position was vacant because Ronald Mahan resigned. Ledbetter, a Republican, was deputy county coroner for the past four years.  He is an embalmer and funeral director for the Clinkingbeard Funeral Home in Gainesville, and previously served as an embalmer for funeral homes in Springfield.

DUGGINSVILLE, Mo. --At least three homes were destroyed after wildfires swept through rural Ozark County on Wednesday afternoon and evening.   Dozens of volunteer firefighters from around the county battled at least seven or eight separate fires.  Authorities said at one point, close to 1,000 acres were burning at once.  The effort to control the fires was expected to last into Thursday.   On Wednesday night, the sky north of Theodosia was lit-up with an orange glow.  The blaze was actually several miles away from the community, and residents there were not in danger.

OZARK COUNTY, Mo., -- A young man has died this holiday weekend after his vehicle ran off the road in Ozark County Saturday night around 6:30. Highway patrol troopers say 22-year old David Nelson was driving down highway 95, near Theodosia, when his car went off the left side of the road and overturned in a ditch. Nelson was pronounced dead at the scene.

New developments in a hit-and-run death from Ozark County.  The suspect in that deadly accident has turned himself in to authorities. Jeff Lundry turned himself in Friday afternoon.  Officers say Lundry was pulling a home-made trailer that came unhitched from his pickup truck on last Saturday at the bridge over the North Fork White River. The trailer hit a Jeep driven by David and Nancy Littrell.  David was pronounced dead at the scene. No word on when Lundry will appear in court on charges of leaving the scene of an accident.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Phyllis Gaulding Turner of Gainesville to be Ozark County treasurer.  The position was vacant because of the death of James Ford. Turner, a Republican, has more than 25 years experience in fiscal management, including working for Bryant Freight in Gainesville, and Hallmark Cards Inc. and Image Technologies Corp. in Kansas City.  She and her husband own and operate the Antler Motel in Gainesville. “Phyllis Gaulding Turner has extensive experience in financial and accounting matters, and that experience will help her in providing good financial leadership to serve the people of Ozark County,” Nixon said.  “I also appreciate the public service provided to the citizens of Ozark County by Mr. Ford before his passing.”   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Lisa Hawkins of Noble to be county clerk in Ozark County for the rest of the year.  Hawkins replaces Kelly Maddox, who resigned.  Voters last week elected Hawkins to a full term as county clerk, starting in January. Hawkins, a Republican, has served as chief deputy clerk since 1999, and concurrently served as the deputy clerk to the county treasurer.  She's a native of Ozark County.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Ozark County prosecuting attorney will seek the death penalty against a man and woman from Mountain Grove.  Investigators think Marty Overby and Candace Richardson stole money and drugs from Charles Peterson and then killed him near Spring Creek.  They're also accused of setting Peterson's trailer on fire last September. Overby's trial date is pending.  Richardson is scheduled to go on trial in October.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- A man from Shawnee, Kan., was arrested and charged for a fire that destroyed a fire station in rural Ozark County last month.   Jonathan Cain, 28, faces an array of charges, including theft, burglary, arson and armed criminal action.  He was in the Ozark County jail on Tuesday in lieu of a $200,000 bond. The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department says, on April 23, Cain broke into the Timber Knob Fire Department south of Pontiac and set the building on fire, doing more than $200,000 in damage to fire trucks and equipment.  He’s also accused of breaking into the home of Fire Chief Ruby Winslow to try to steal guns from her. Investigators say Cain worked for Winslow at her ranch and helped her at the fire department.  According to a probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges, Cain and an accomplice, who hadn't been charged as of Tuesday, broke into the fire station and set the fire to lure Winslow away from her home, so they could burglarize her home while she was away.  After nearly getting caught when Winslow returned to her house, investigators say the two fled to Shawnee, Kan., and faked a report of a vehicle break-in with local police to create an alibi.  Witnesses in Missouri near the fire department gave a vehicle description that matched the pickup used by the arsonist.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Ozark County Sheriff's Department says a teenager was shot in the arm while he and three other people were trying to rob a marina on Norfork Lake on Sunday afternoon.  Investigators believe the three males and one female stole a synthetic marijuana product (often called K2 or Spice) from Udall Marina, and the teenager was shot while they were fleeing. A news release on Sunday says the shooting victim is 17 years old.  He is being treated at the hospital in West Plains.  The other three suspects were arrested and could face charges.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- A father and his son were shot dead at a rural home near Noble on Tuesday night.  A 52-year-old man is charged with shooting them with a semi-automatic rifle while they had their hands in the air and begged not to be shot. Leland Maupin is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action for the deaths of Mike Hadley, 56, and David Hadley, 22.   Maupin was arrested at the scene and is held without bond in the Ozark County jail.

TANEY COUNTY, Mo. - A man who led officers from several law enforcement agencies on a chase south of Springfield Tuesday night has not been captured. The chase began at roughly 9 p.m. in Ozark County. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the chase headed west into Taney County, then south on U.S. Highway 65 toward the Arkansas state line. Missouri officers called for help, but no authorities were available to continue the chase in Arkansas. Once the driver entered Arkansas, Missouri agencies stopped the chase.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Storm Prediction Center has issued a tornado watch for the eastern Missouri Ozarks, as well as several counties in the southeast and eastern portions of the state. Missouri counties under the watch in our viewing area include Dent, Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Phelps, Shannon, Texas and Wright counties. The watch includes the cities of Rolla, Salem, and West Plains, among others. In Arkansas, the watch includes the following counties: Searcy, Stone, Marion, Baxter, Fulton, Izard and Sharp.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- In Ozark County, if somebody mentions a good Samaritan, it's probably Audean or Darrell Watson.  They are two ordinary folks doing extraordinary things for others.  Answering the call to duty earned them the honor as two of this year's American Red Cross Everyday Heroes. Just like the guy in the insurance company commercial says, “You never know when mayhem is going to strike. It could be a bad car wreck.” “In a lot of car accidents, we can be first on the scene,” said Darrell.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- A man from Mountain Grove is accused of being a serial rapist.  The Ozark County Sheriff's Department believes Daniel Kent Sanders, 56, raped at least 12 women, and possibly more victims whom it hasn't found. Sanders was charged on Tuesday afternoon with forcible rape and forcible sodomy.  Investigators say he assaulted a woman from Nixa last March 30. Detectives say that woman is the reason they were able to make their case against Sanders.  In an interview on Tuesday, she said she met the man on a dating website called plentyoffish.com.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Farmers buying hay from southern states to help feed their livestock need to be on the lookout for an unwanted guest.  The University of Missouri extension says red imported fire ants are hitching a ride on hay.  Recently, hay imported from Florida to a farm in Ozark County was infested with the ants.  The farmer was stung several times.  Hay sold where red imported fire ant populations are present must be USDA-inspected and...

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- A West Plains man will spend five years on probation after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a deadly crash in Ozark County.  Jeff Lundry admitted to driving off last year after his home-made trailer came unhitched and hit a jeep that was driven by David Littrell of Norwood.  Littrell died in the crash, his wife was seriously injured.  The accident happened on Highway PP on the James Bridge.

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Ozark County Sheriff's Department says a teenager was shot in the arm while he and three other people were trying to rob a marina on Norfork Lake on Sunday afternoon.  Investigators believe the three males and one female stole a synthetic marijuana product (often called K2 or Spice) from Udall Marina, and the teenager was shot while they were fleeing. A news release on Sunday says the shooting victim is 17 years old.  He is being treated at the hospital in West Plains.  The other three suspects were arrested and could face charges.

Firefighters say it could be later this week before they fully contain a wildfire in the Mark Twain National Forest in south-central Missouri. While officials say no homes or buildings are in immediate danger, residents are nervous. "I've never seen it come this close, it's scary," said Ozark County resident Amanda McKee. The fire is so close to McKee's house that she has already started to pack in case she is evacuated.   The U.S. Forest Service says about 400 acres were burning Monday afternoon about nine miles southeast of the Ozark County town of Dora.

GAINESVILLE, Mo  -  Quilting is a popular hobby in the Ozarks, and one woman is putting her talents on display at the Ozark County Historium in Gainesville. Nancy Mitchell has about 40 quilts hanging in the historium right now in an exhibit that has actually been extended through Wednesday because it was so popular, and from her patterns to her piecing, Nancy Mitchell's quilts will take your breath away. Nancy Mitchell loves to quilt,"I actually started quilting in '88," says Mitchell, "about 24 years.