LACLEDE COUNTY, MO-The five month search for missing 6-year-old has ended.

Just before 5p.m. Tuesday, detectives acting on information received by the United States Marshals Service Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force, were able to obtain a search warrant for a residence on Highway N in Laclede County, Missouri, according to media release from the Camden County Sheriff.

The task force has been working with the Camden County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies for several months in hopes of getting a lead that would assist them in finding missing Braedence Jones.

After the search warrant was executed, deputies arrested the boy’s mother Aubrey Ferguson of Camdenton, and her boyfriend 41-year-old Woodrow Ziegler.

They were hiding the child in an attic crawl space that had been nailed shut and concealed.  Deputies found him in the crawl space.

The boy was returned to his father, who had court-ordered custody of the boy.

Ferguson was charged in August with child abduction. She is being held on a warrant for child abduction  as well as a Capias Warrant out of Crawford County, according to the sheriff’s department.  Additional charges are being sought in Laclede and possibly Camden Counties.

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Police say eight months after a woman died of a head injury, investigators have not determined whether she was the victim of crime.

Sabrina Frock died in May at the home of a Lawrence man she met online.

The man identified as 33-year-old Shane Allen currently is in prison after violating probation for abusing another woman he met online two years ago. He is being held in the El Dorado Correctional Facility, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Frock’s mother, Denise Slaughter, of Brookfield, Missouri, says she suspects foul play and is frustrated with the police investigation.

Police are investigating Frock’s death as suspicious but say they have no new leads.

Frock’s autopsy report has not been released.

Slaughter said police told her Frock died from a brain injury but the coroner’s ruling on whether the death was a homicide or an accident was undetermined.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Star Kansas running back Pooka Williams has been granted diversion in a domestic battery case, meaning he has a chance to keep the allegation off his record.

Williams, who appeared in court Wednesday, is accused of punching an 18-year-old woman in the stomach and grabbing her by the throat last month. An affidavit says the woman had text messages from Williams admitting to punching her and a police officer found bruises on her.

Williams reportedly told police he pushed the woman when he saw her in a room with other men. Both have said they were in an intimate relationship.

Diversion allows someone to avoid the usual legal procedures and complete specific requirements, which can include rehabilitation programs or fines. Williams’ attorney, Hatem Chahine, said if Williams successfully completes terms of diversion, the domestic battery charge would be dropped and not appear on his legal record.

Williams was the Big 12 offensive freshman of the year and a first-team all-Big 12 selection as running back and kick returner last season. He was suspended by the football program Dec. 7.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The attorney for Kansas running back Pooka Williams says the star athlete from New Orleans has applied for diversion in a domestic battery case.

Hatem Chahine disclosed the effort Wednesday. Chahine has entered a not guilty plea on Williams’ behalf.

An affidavit alleges that Williams punched an 18-year-old woman in the stomach and grabbed her by the throat last month. The woman showed the officer text messages from Williams admitting to punching her in the arms. The document says the officer also found the victim had bruises.

Williams reportedly told police that he pushed the woman when he saw her in a room with other men at an apartment building. Both have said they were in an intimate relationship.

Pooka has been suspended pending investigation.

FULTON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have identified the victim of a central Missouri killing as a 34-year-old man.

The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office says Lauro Garza-Perez of Columbia was found over the weekend in a business parking lot near the Boone County line after a report that shots were fired in the area.

The  the death has been ruled a homicide.

Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism says people fled the area before deputies arrived.

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old woman has been sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for swerving into two men as they walked across a southeast Kansas street.

Shelby Colon received the sentence after pleading guilty previously to two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the July 2017 crash that killed 66-year-old Charles Burkybile Jr. and 86-year-old Glen Roosa. Police say Colon stopped at the scene in Galena, Kansas, and showed no signs of impairment.

The sentence also includes time for a separate drug-dealing case.

District Attorney Jake Conard says the families can “finally receive some closure can move on with their lives.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri General Assembly was to begin its historic 100th edition on Wednesday with new faces in many places after scandals, resignations and term limits that forced out many of the officials who were guiding the state just one year ago.

Republicans will continue to run the show, albeit with new leaders.

Rep. Elijah Haahr and Sen. Dave Schatz were expected to be elected by colleagues to take over the top positions in the House and Senate after their predecessors were prohibited by term limits from seeking re-election.

They will be working with Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who last year at this time was lieutenant governor. Parson took over as chief executive June 1 when Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned while facing potential impeachment over allegations of sexual and political misconduct.

Since then, Parson has appointed former state Sen. Mike Kehoe as lieutenant governor, former state Treasurer Eric Schmitt to take over as attorney general following Josh Hawley’s election to the U.S. Senate, and state Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick to take over as treasurer.

More than one-third of the House and Senate members also will be new, replacing incumbents who either could not or chose not to run again.

Parson has said he wants to focus on workforce development and infrastructure. But that latter goal will be complicated by the fact that voters in November rejected a proposed gas tax hike that would have raised hundreds of millions of dollars for roads and bridges.

The governor and incoming legislative leaders also have said they would like to revise a voter-approved constitutional amendment that changes Missouri’s criteria and procedures for redrawing state legislative districts after the 2020 census. The new formula is expected to boost Democrats’ chances of winning seats. Any changes would have to be referred back to voters in the form of another constitutional amendment.

Missouri lawmakers will be crafting a budget amid more uncertainty than usual, as the state simultaneously deals with the effects of federal and state income tax changes while also considering changes to state sales tax collections. Parson and legislative budget leaders are forecasting modest 1.7 percent growth for the current budget that ends June 30, although revenues through the first half of the fiscal year were down 2.9 percent. They are projecting an additional 2 percent growth for the 2020 budget that they will prepare this session.

Lawmakers are expected to consider changing state sales tax laws to require out-of-state vendors to collect taxes on items sold to Missouri residents — something made easier to accomplish by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Other issues likely to draw debate include the adoption of a statewide prescription drug database intended to cut down on opioid abuse and the legalization of sports betting.

Lawmakers plan to participate in a rare joint session of the House and Senate on their first day of work in order to take a group photo commemorating the start of the 100th General Assembly. The Legislature’s terms are numbered in two-year increments, and Missouri is approaching the 200th anniversary of gaining statehood in 1821.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly has picked a federal prosecutor to serve as her office’s top attorney and filled other key staff positions.

The incoming Democratic governor announced Tuesday that Clay Britton will be her chief counsel. He has worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Kansas since October 2016 and previously was an assistant Kansas attorney general and attorney in private practice.

Haley Pollock will serve as Kelly’s policy director. She worked for Kansas Action for Children and managed Democrat Paul Davis’ unsuccessful campaign last year in the 2nd Congressional District of eastern Kansas.

Cory Sheedy will serve be Kelly’s legislative director after working as the Kansas House minority leader’s chief of staff.

Communications consultant and longtime environmental activist Scott Allegrucci will be Kelly’s appointments director.

Kelly takes office Monday.