A worldwide event taking place this weekend aims to offer hope and community to people dealing with loss.
The International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day takes place Saturday in over 350 locations and offers support, information and empowerment.
Cheri Dedman with Project Hope in St. Joseph said it’s a day for people who have lost a loved one to suicide.
“It’s a very different kind of grief and a lot of people feel that they are all alone,” Dedman said. “The reasons to attend are to share stories of their loss or find a supportive environment.”
The event will include the showing of a documentary produced by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “The Journey: A Story of Healing and Hope,” tells the stories of a diverse group of suicide loss survivors and how their healing journey evolves over time.
Dedman said this is Project Hope’s first outreach event.
“I’m excited that it’s a place where people can find hope and so I hope to see many people on Saturday that maybe are in a place where they need to find hope and that’s what we’re all about,” Dedman said.
The International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day event will be from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Meierhoffer Community Room located at 5005 Frederick Boulevard in St. Joseph.
Project Hope meetings are also held at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at the same location. For more information, click here or visit Project Hope’s website.
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man is facing charges in two states after he allegedly committed a string of vehicle thefts that ended when OnStar disabled one of the automobiles.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department says officers were called early Sunday to a vehicle theft in rural Crawford County. A truck that previously was stolen from Frontenac was found at that address but another truck was missing. The second truck was found when deputies were dispatched to another home, where a Chevy Malibu equipped with OnStar technology had missing.
The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports OnStar was contacted and located the Chevy in Ashbury, Missouri. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office found the vehicle, with the suspect inside, after OnStar disabled it.
JOPLIN, Mo. – A Joplin toddler has died, and a man suspected of abusing the boy has been arrested.
Joplin police said in a statement that 3-year-old Jonathan Munoz-Bilbrey was pronounced dead around 2:45 p.m. Sunday at a hospital in Kansas City. The Joplin Globe reports that the toddler had been transported there with life-threatening injuries on Saturday.
Police arrested Lenard Valdez, 21, over the weekend in Kansas City on suspicion of abusing the boy at a Joplin apartment. An autopsy is planned.
TUSCUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A man accused of killing two people and injuring a third at a Lake Ozark RV park has pleaded not guilty.
KRCG reports 58-year-old Gary Sweet entered the plea Monday in Miller County Court. His next court date was scheduled for Dec. 6.
Sweet is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Sheri and James Parker last week at the Riverview RV Park in Lake Ozark.
He is also charged with first-degree assault and several counts of armed criminal action.
Authorities say Sweet was recently been evicted from the park.
His next court date was scheduled for Dec. 6.
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LAKE OZARK, Mo. (AP) – Authorities have identified the two people shot to death at a central Missouri campground.
Lake Ozark Police Chief Gary Landerville said Friday the victims were Sheri Lynn Parker and James Hagerty Parker. He says they managed the Riverview RV Park in Lake Ozark.
Authorities say they went to the park early Wednesday after receiving reports of gunfire. The Parkers were found dead in the living quarters of the park’s office.
A married couple also reported shots were fired into their RV. The man was wounded but his wife wasn’t hurt.
The Miller County prosecutor charged 58-year-old Gary L. Sweet with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday.
A probable cause statement written by a Lake Ozark detective says the Parkers evicted Sweet from the park in October.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Secretary of State’s office says new Kansas driver’s licenses could not be scanned on electronic poll books across the state during last week’s local elections.
Elections Director Bryan Caskey said Monday that did not keep anyone from voting because poll workers manually type in names if scanners can’t read the bar codes. He noted other acceptable voter IDs for elections, such as passports, can’t be scanned.
Kansas began issuing new driver’s licenses that are Real ID compliant in August.
Caskey says the problem first surfaced during early advanced voting, but there wasn’t time to fix the software issue before the election. Electronic poll book vendors are now updating software.
The Transportation Security Administration says it has not had issues with Real ID licenses at Kansas airport security checkpoints.
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) – Authorities suspect foul play in the death of a man whose body was found in a lake that authorities recently drained in southeast Missouri.
The Daily American Republic reports that Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs says the remains are believed to be those of Edward Goodwin, although authorities are awaiting DNA results for final confirmation. The 32-year-old Poplar Bluff man had been working as a home remodeler when he was last seen on June 29, 2015, in an area near the lake. His mother reported him missing the next week.
Dobbs says authorities found the remains after obtaining a search warrant and breaching a levee to drain the lake, which is on private property. Officers previously searched the area, although not the lake, while looking for Goodwin.
An evening featuring music from the Big Band era will be presented at the Historic Missouri Theatre this weekend.
Beth Sharp with the Performing Arts Association said Steve Lippia will be performing his show, “Simply Sinatra.”
“He just loves the Big Band sound and he sings in the same style as Sinatra, but he does not refer to himself as an impersonator. But just because of that same style that he sings in, he often sounds just like him,” Sharp said. “He said he’d also probably be doing some songs from Tony Bennett and some of those other great crooner type singers that were famous. I think everybody is just going to know all the songs and they’re going to love singing along with it and have a good time on Saturday.”
The show takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph.
For tickets or more information, contact the Performing Arts Association at (816) 279-1225 or click here.
LINCOLN COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on child abuse charges.
On Friday, the police and emergency medical crews were dispatched to the 700 Block of West Wood Street in Troy, Missouri for an injured infant, according to a media release.
Upon arrival officers and paramedics observed an11-month old infant with substantial bruises, cuts to the head and face, human bite marks on his body, and in addition, the infant had blood both around these injuries, as well as coming from inside both ears and his nose.
The infant’s ears and lips were severely discolored due to the bruising. EMS could not determine the extent or severity of the injuries, or trauma to the infant’s brain. A medical helicopter transported the child to a pediatric hospital.
The infant’s father identified as Brandon D. Johnson was interviewed. Johnson advised he and his infant son were alone inside the apartment all night Thursday. He told police he had laid down on the living room couch with the infant around 11:00 PM, and estimates they both fell asleep around 2:30a.m. Friday.
He said the infant was lying between his left arm and his chest, along the back-support side of the couch, so the infant would not fall off.
Hutton -photo Troy Police
At that time, other than ‘maybe’ having a few ‘slight’ scratches on the backs of his hands (from the family cat), the infant had no apparent injuries.
When Johnson awoke at approximately 5:00 AM, he noticed his infant son was now seated (sitting up) in the corner of the couch, at his (Johnson) feet.
It was now that Johnson noticed both he and his son were covered in blood. Johnson advised his son had blood all over his face and hands, and appeared to have a cut along the right side of his head. Johnson used baby-wipes and cleaned the blood off his son. He advised he then also changed his son out of the blood soaked ‘onesie.’
Johnson stated he did not know what had caused the injuries to the infant.
When asked why he didn’t immediately call for medical help as soon as he saw his son was injured and bleeding Johnson replied, he ‘freaked out’ and didn’t know what to do.
At approximately 7:00 am the infant’s mother, identified as Kristen Hopper arrived home and observed the injuries. At approximately 8:30 am Johnson contacted his mother and requested she come to the residence. Upon her arrival, at approximately 9 am, she contacted an off-duty Troy Police Officer and advised him of the injuries to the infant. The officer then contacted dispatched to have police and medics respond to the residence.
At approximately 1:00 pm the infant underwent emergency surgery to repair internal injuries of the mouth due to the trauma sustained. At the hospital, it was also determined the infant’s nose was broken and both eardrums were ruptured.
Police arrested Johnson on requested charges including with three counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child – Serious Physical Injury (B Felony). Bond was set at $250,000 cash.
Police also arrested Hopper on requested charges including one count of Abuse or Neglect of a Child – Serious Physical Injury (B Felony). Her bond was set at $100,000 cash.
The infant was placed in protective custody.
A 26-year-old Utica man died in a crash Friday in Livingston County.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Samuel P. Vanhorn was driving a Chevrolet Lumina west on Route C in Dawn at 1:30 a.m. Friday. Vanhorn’s vehicle traveled off the right side of the road and began skidding in a clockwise direction. The vehicle hit a utility pole, went airborne across a creek bed and hit the opposite bank with the roof of the vehicle. The vehicle slid down the creek bank, became submerged in water and came to rest on the driver’s side in the creek bed.
Vanhorn was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:55 a.m. According to the crash report, Vanhorn was not wearing a seat belt.
