11:20 a.m.  SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Police say the body of a missing 10-year-old girl has been found in southwest Missouri.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams says search crews found a body they believe is Hailey Owens inside a suspect’s Springfield home on Wednesday.

Witnesses told police that Hailey was taken by a man in a pickup truck Tuesday evening.

Forty-five-year-old grade school coach Craig Michael Wood is jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder in Hailey’s disappearance. Wood was arrested late Tuesday inside a vehicle parked outside his house. Formal charges have not been filed.

The Springfield School District says Wood is a coach and teacher’s aide at a school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Hailey did not attend that school, and Williams says the two apparently didn’t know each other.

 

 

10:40 a.m.  UPDATE  SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 45-year-old school employee has been jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder in the abduction of a 10-year-old girl in southwest Missouri.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams says investigators found “evidence of foul play” in their search for Hailey Owens. Witnesses told police that Hailey was taken by a man in a pickup truck in Springfield Tuesday evening.

Police spokeswoman Lisa Cox declined to address media reports Wednesday that Hailey’s body has been found.

A suspect was arrested late Tuesday inside a vehicle parked at his Springfield home. Police identified him Wednesday as Craig Michael Wood. Formal charges have not been filed.

The Springfield School District says Wood is a coach and paraprofessional at a school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Hailey did not attend that school.

 

7:10 a.m.  During an early morning press briefing, Springfield police said they have a crime scene they are working in connection with the disappearance of Hailey Owens.

Media outlets across the region have been reporting the girl’s family told them that a body has been found. Police have not confirmed this.

Authorities did arrest a 45-year-old man overnight. The county jail website shows Craig Michael Woods is booked on one complaint of first-degree murder. Woods was found with the vehicle reported in the Amber Alert.

Witnesses told investigators a man in a gold-colored 2008 Ford Ranger drove down the street several times before approaching Hailey and pulling her into his truck around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

 

(AP) – The head of the Missouri Corrections Department is remaining silent on whether the state has enough of its execution drug to carry out next week’s scheduled lethal injection.

Director George Lombardi told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that he couldn’t comment on the state’s drug supply. But he did say the state cannot stockpile pentobarbital produced by a compounding pharmacy because of its shelf life.

The Oklahoma-based Apothecary Shoppe agreed this week to stop selling the drug to Missouri for executions.

Michael Taylor is scheduled to die Feb. 26 for the abduction, rape and murder of a 15-year-old Kansas City girl. Gov. Jay Nixon has said the department is prepared to carry out the execution.

Republicans on the Senate committee said it’s important to impose the death penalty.

by Mike Lear-Missourinet

The first GOP candidate in the 2016 race for Governor says she wants Missouri to become a right-to-work state.

“Right to Work” is what supporters call the policy that would bar the practice of making the payment of union dues a requisite of employment.

Catherine Hanaway says enacting such a policy would make Missouri more competitive.

“I absolutely want Missouri to be on a level playing field with all the states that are attracting major auto plants, major manufacturing plants and they’re just flying over Missouri,” claims Hanaway.

She says she would also back what supporters call “paycheck protection.”

“I think protecting the paychecks of people who do work in union environments so that their dues aren’t spent on political campaigns that they don’t support … it would be a step forward.”

Hanaway also says she would support a tax cut proposal such as what Republican lawmakers are trying to send to Governor Nixon this year, but doesn’t say she would have signed the bill that Nixon vetoed last year.

“I think there were improvements that needed to be made to that bill,” says Hanaway, “but that’s where you need leadership from the Governor. The legislative session’s five months long. The legislature didn’t keep it a secret that they were gonna pass a tax cut. If there were improvements to be made the Governor should have been walking the halls … and have discussion with the legislative leaders and try and shape the bill into something that he can sign.”

Hanaway says she will spend this year traveling to Republican events throughout the state trying to raise money and support to take on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Koster.

Some Republicans have expressed disapproval of Hanaway announcing as a candidate so early, and say it is disrespectful to others who might choose to run.

(AP)  Nestle is voluntarily recalling two of its Hot Pockets products as part of a larger meat recall.

The food maker said Tuesday that it is recalling an unspecified number of “Philly Steak” and its “Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese” Hot Pockets in certain sizes.

Nestle says the products may have been affected by a meat recall by Rancho Feeding Corp. that was announced last week.

Rancho is recalling more than 8.7 million pounds of beef products after regulators said that it processed diseased and unhealthy animals without a full inspection. The USDA says the products were unfit for human consumption.

No illnesses have been reported.

Nestle says a small quantity of meat from Rancho was used at a California production facility that makes Hot Pockets.

(AP) – A Missouri Senate panel is considering legislation that would make legislators wait two years after leaving office to become lobbyists.

The measure heard by the Senate ethics committee on Tuesday would also ban lawmakers from serving as paid consultants while in office.

Sponsoring Sen. Brad Lager, a Savannah Republican, says the measure would help strengthen Missouri’s loose ethics laws. Missouri is the only state with no limits on campaign contributions or gifts from lobbyists and no waiting period before an elected official can lobby.

Democrats on the committee say any ethics legislation should also reinstate caps on campaign contributions.

The panel took no action on the legislation.

 (AP) – The Missouri Senate has given first-round approval to legislation that could lower treatment costs for some cancer patients.

The measure endorsed Tuesday would let insurance companies charge patients only $75 more per month for chemotherapy pills than traditional intravenous chemotherapy treatments.

Patients are often charged much more for oral chemotherapy because it is handled as a pharmacy benefit. Intravenous treatments often only cost the standard co-payment for an office visit.

Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia already have laws requiring equal coverage for oral and intravenous chemotherapy treatments.

Missouri’s legislation needs one more Senate vote before heading to the House. It is sponsored by Republican Sen. Ryan Silvey, of Kansas City.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The chairman of the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee says the panel won’t consider a House-passed bill to protect people who refuse for religious reasons to provide goods and services to gay couples.

Sen. Jeff King said Tuesday the legislation is dead.

The bill bars government sanctions or anti-discrimination lawsuits against individuals, groups and businesses that cite religious beliefs in refusing to provide goods, services, accommodations or employment benefits to gay couples.

Supporters said the bill would protect Kansans from being forced to participate in gay weddings if the federal courts struck down the state’s ban on same-sex unions. The House passed it last week.

Senate leaders said the bill couldn’t pass their chamber amid criticism that it was discriminatory.

King said his panel still will have hearings on religious liberty issues.