The cause of a fire that killed four children in Trenton has been ruled accidental.

“Fire Marshall’s Office investigators determined that the cause of the fire was accidental and electrical in nature,” Lt. Mike Moore with the Trenton Fire Dept. said. “Because of the damage in the fire we weren’t able to determine the exact cause but we believe it was in an electrical fixture.”

Fire crews responded to the 1300 block of Norton Street around midnight Saturday.  Four children were trapped on the second floor when the home caught fire.

Fire crews reported flames were visible from the second story when they arrived.

Moore said the fire started in the upper portion of the stairway leading up to the second floor.

He said he thinks it started in a light fixture but because of all of the damage all they can conclude was that it was electrical in nature.

Moore said autopsies have been completed but confirmation from the County Coroner has not yet been released.

Five other people inside the house, including two year old, were able to escape safely.

The children’s grandmother has started a  “Go Fund Me” campaign to assist with the tragedy.

 

Crime scene investigators are back for a second day looking into a St. Joseph house where two bodies were found.

A death investigation began after the St. Joseph Police Department responded to a house located at 1702 S. 22nd St. around 3:45 p.m. Monday two find two bodies inside.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said the bodies are presumed to be that of elderly individuals.

Police have the road blocked off on Duncan St. at 22nd to traffic and crime scene tape surrounds the area.

A neighbor who’s lived next door to the house for four years told the St. Joseph Post that he knew the older man who lived there but had never seen another individual.

Another neighbor said she thought the house was abandoned.

“It hasn’t had any upkeep or anything done to it,” neighbor Kaela Burchett said. “I’ve never seen anybody near the house, I’ve never even seen anybody mow the yard.”

Investigators can be seen for a second day wearing white suits to enter the residence.

Wilson said the suits have to be worn due to the poor conditions inside the house.

The bodies have been sent for an autopsy and results are pending.

“It also appears that a period of time has elapsed since the deaths occurred,” Wilson said.

Names and gender of the individuals are not yet being released.

Police said that all unattended deaths are treated as potential homicides until the investigation shows otherwise.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Two interstate ramps will be closed briefly tomorrow in St. Joseph, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

On Wednesday, May 6, 2015, local maintenance crews plan to close the ramp from Frederick Boulevard to southbound Interstate 29 from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Following that closure, crews will close the ramp from southbound I-29 to eastbound U.S. Hwy 36 from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Motorists will need to use alternate routes during the closures.

All work is weather permitting and schedules are subject to change.

A flood warning has been issued for Northwestern Buchanan County and Southeastern Doniphan County.

At 6:22 the St. Joseph Police Department reported that its communications center is receiving calls of flash flooding in various low lying areas throughout the city.

The Flood Warning is in effect until 10:30 p.m. Monday.

* AT 634 PM CDT…LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED SLOW
MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE
WARNED AREA. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES SUGGEST UP TO 3 INCHES HAS
FALLEN ACROSS THE WARNED AREA…AND ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS
EXPECTED THIS EVENING.

At 6:45 p.m. a report came in of a vehicle stalled in high water at the intersection of Belt Highway and Faraon St.

* RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE…
ELWOOD…ST. JOSEPH…TROY…WATHENA AND AGENCY.

ONLINE SCANNER REPORTS INDICATE SEVERAL ROADWAYS IN AND AROUND ST.
JOSEPH CLOSED DUE TO HIGH FLOWING WATER.

THIS WILL IMPACT THE FOLLOWING INTERSTATES…

I-29 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 38 AND 51.
I-229 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 0 AND 10.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS…URBAN AREAS…HIGHWAYS…STREETS AND UNDERPASSES
AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY.

Also several reports of trees down in St. Joseph and multiple power outages.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Monday May 4 until 9 p.m. for the following areas:

In Northwest Kansas: Atchison, Doniphan and Leavenworth.

In Missouri the watch includes Caldwell, Daviess, Harrison, Atchison, Mo., Buchanan, DeKalb, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway, Worth, and Platte

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…ALBANY…ATCHISON…BETHANY…
CAMERON…GALLATIN…GRANT CITY…KINGSTON…LEAVENWORTH…
MARYVILLE…MOUND CITY…OREGON…PARKVILLE…PLATTE CITY…
PLATTSBURG…ROCKPORT…SAVANNAH…ST. JOSEPH AND TROY.

 * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
     SCATTERED LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2
       INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
     SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

   SUMMARY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A
   BOUNDARY FROM CENTRAL KS INTO NORTHWEST MO THIS AFTERNOON AND
   EVENING.  CONDITIONS ARE MARGINALLY FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
   WEATHER...INCLUDING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

   THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50
   STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST
   SOUTHWEST OF RUSSELL KANSAS TO 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF LAMONI
   IOWA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED
   WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

   REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
   FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
   AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
   THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
   AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
   DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

MOUND CITY, Mo. – U.S. Hwy 59 in Holt County reopened Monday after being closed for a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The road closed at the bridge over Squaw Creek on Monday, March 9, 2015.

Contractors opened the road to all traffic at approximately 11 a.m. Monday.

New information has been released in connection with the domestic violence death of a St. Joseph woman.

The St. Joseph Police Department responded to the 3400 block of Locust around 7:15 Friday morning in reference to a domestic violence investigation.

There they found 52-year-old Sandra Davis with serious injuries.

54-year-old Martin G. Davis was later arrested in reference to the investigation and charged with 2nd degree domestic violence.

Court documents released this afternoon allege Sandra had bruises to nearly every limb of her body.

“The victim having multiple injuries and bruises, on multiple surfaces of the victim’s body (broken ribs, kidney bleed, bruises on face, arms, legs, back),” St. Joseph Police Department Detective Trenny Wilson said in the sworn probable cause statement. “Not consistent with the method of injury provided by the victim.”

The Felony Complaint states that Martin Davis, Sandra’s husband on or around Thursday, April 30, “recklessly caused serious physical injury to S.M. by hitting her.”

Police were not called out to respond to the home where the couple lived until Friday morning.

“The defendant and the victim were the only individuals in the residence and there was several locations (rooms) in the residence where blood was located, according to report and statements,” Wilson said in the probable cause. “The defendant was with the victim at their residence where the victim received multiple injuries on multiple surfaces on her body, not consistent with the victim’s method of injury described.”

The statement said the victim was receiving medical treatment at the hospital and had to be taken into emergency surgery and later died as a result of her injuries.

Martin has a prior convictions for domestic assault and burglary.

He is currently being held without bond.  An arraignment is set for Tuesday.

A closed meeting will be held this afternoon by the St. Joseph School District Board of Education to address the resignation of former Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka.

According to the St. Joseph School District Dr. Czerwonka submitted his letter of resignation to the school board Friday.

In February the board voted unanimously to initiate the process to terminate Czerwonka after he had been placed on paid administrative leave the month prior.

Czerwonka was one of three St. Joseph School District officials named in a lawsuit filed by Chief Financial Officer Beau Musser in which Musser claimed to have been placed on leave for continuing to question the practice of handing out stipends to administrators without the knowledge or approval of the school board.

Last month federal investigators served a subpoena on Czerwonka and SJSD Acting Superintendent Dr. Jake Long’s former employer, the West Plains Missouri R-7 School District for personnel records relating to an FBI investigation into the St. Joseph School District.

Long accepted a new position with a school district in Arkansas last month.

The St. Joseph School District Board of Education plans to address the acceptance of Dr. Fred Czerwonka’s resignation and the process of hiring an Interim Superintendent during an emergency closed session scheduled for 4:30 this evening.

 

Parents of two twin boys have been arrested in Chillicothe on child endangerment charges.

According to the Chillicothe Police Department officers responded April 26 to Hedrick Medical Center ER after a report of child abuse involving two twin male infants.

The infants were treated at Hedrick, one for a broken arm and the other for an abrasion to the top of the head.

As a result of the investigation the twin’s parents 34-year-old Douglas Weese and 27-year-old Cassie Adkins were arrested three days later each for a charge of 1st degree child endangerment.

Police said Weese and Adkins admitted to causing the injuries.

The infants have been taken into state protective custody.

Weese and Adkins were taken to the Daviess/DeKalb Regional Jail.  Bond is set at $10,000.

A preliminary hearing is slated for Wednesday in Livingston County.

The Chillicothe Police Department made multiple arrests Friday after a drag racing report lead to a drug bust.

According to the department, law enforcement officials received a report of two vehicles racing eastbound on US 36 Highway just west of Chillicothe around 11:28 a.m. Friday.

A Livingston County Deputy responded and located the vehicles just west of Chillicothe city limis.

The Police Department said the vehicles split, one going eastbound on US 36, the other exited on US 65 highway traveling north.

Chillicothe police were then called in to assist.

The Livingston County Deputy stopped the vehicle that continued on US 36 and Chillicothe Police Officers stopped the other vehicle on US 65 at Business 36.

The stop in town led Chillicothe Police to suspected drug activities during their contact with the individuals.

The department said a small baggy of methamphetamine was found on the driver. The driver allegedly admitted to having more quantities of narcotics in the vehicle. The two passengers allegedly admitted to further quantities of narcotics as well. Upon further investigation, Over 2 ounces of methamphetamine, paraphernalia, and equipment used for the distribution of methamphetamine were located as well as a fully loaded 380 handgun.

According to PD the driver identified as Charles Cress Kain of Milan, Missouri has been charged with a felony for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and a felony for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The two passengers were identified as Julia Ann Rinehart and Shawna Lynn Frye, both of Kirksville, Missouri. Both Rinehart and Frye are being charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.