Police are searching for a man after a bank robbery Tuesday morning at the Nodaway Valley Bank at 402 Belt Highway.

According to Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department, shortly before 10 a.m. a white man entered the bank and passed a note to a teller saying he had a gun but did not display one.

The man left the bank on foot and headed west on Faraon with an undisclosed amount of money. Police searched the Mark Youngdahl Conservation area and the woods near the Western Reception Diagnostic Correctional Center.  Shortly before 1 p.m. police still did not have anyone in custody.

The suspect is described as a white man in his late 40s or early 50s, between 5′ to 5’4”, approximately 160 to 165 pounds, with a mustache and goatee. He was wearing a black hoodie, light blue jeans and tan fishing hat.

Sebastian Dowell appeared before a judge Tuesday to face one count of second degree murder, in connection with the fatal stabbing of Kaytlin Root at Krug Park.

In a packed courtroom, Associate Judge Keith Marquart scheduled a preliminary hearing November 21.  Judge Marquart agreed with Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins that Dowell should continue to be held without bail.  Dowell said he would file the paperwork for a Public Defender.

As previously reported, Dowell was charged almost a week after authorities started investigating Root’s death as a homicide. Root’s body was found by a runner off of a bike trail at Krug Park Sunday, Oct. 16, around 9:20 a.m.

A 17-year-old has also been charged with a class A felony of murder in the second degree.  Due to the girl’s age at the time of the offense the charge was filed in juvenile court.  A hearing has been set for Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Div. 3.

Active weather is expected to return to the area beginning this evening into Wednesday morning. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Patchy drizzle between 9 a.m and 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Southeast wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 72. Southwest wind around 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. North northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 67.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75.

The Buchanan County Jail is overflowing and the high number of inmates is creating shortages of supplies and could cause some employees to have to put in longer hours.

Last week, the sheriff’s office issued a press release stating that the jail population was at 248 inmates.  The average population is between 170 and 200.  Col. Bill Puett with the sheriff’s office said they are keeping some inmates two or three to a cell in order to deal with the overcrowding.  He said the max capacity is 224.

“Unfortunately if people commit crimes then they’re going to be committed to jail,” Puett said. “The courts are going to deal with them as they need to deal with them in an appropriate manner and sometimes that means that they are housed and we have to deal with the numbers that we have.”

He said the sheriff’s office wants to try to keep inmates in the Buchanan County Jail rather than moving them to another jail that may or may not have space.

“If we move prisoners out we have to pay for that.  Also, we have issues where we move inmates further away from the courts, we move inmates further away from their families, their attorneys, all of those things make it a lot more difficult.  If we house people an hour away we have time and cost and moving the inmate whenever there’s a court hearing, attorneys would have to travel an hour to see their client, families would have to travel,” Puett said. “If we can, we try to keep them here and look for solutions and sometimes that’s providing them space with pallets on the floor. Doing that type of stuff to keep them here and keep them more accessible for their families, the courts and their attorneys’.”

He said the jail started seeing a spike in it’s population about a month ago.

“It’s been gradually going up but it’s been more noticeable in the last month or so,” Puett said. “We have a lot of violent criminals in jail right now, we’ve seen a lot of drug arrests.  We’ve had everything from property crimes all the way up to murder and sexual assault, those types of things. We have it all.”

The high number of inmates can cause issues with the additional cost for food, bedding and clothing.

“We have to provide basic supplies for inmates whether they have the funds to buy them or not,” Puett said. “It’s always a drain on resources.  Right now we’re managing.  We have had to order in some more supplies.”

The sheriff’s office is currently extending visiting hours.

“The jail staff is going to start earlier and go later on visitation days to assist families to make sure they are able to get in and visit,” Puett said. “Currently they have been able to get everybody in up to this point but obviously with an increase population we want to make sure we have enough spots for that.  With attorney visitation we are going to extend the hours that they can get in to see their clients.”

Puett said the extended hours will start immediately. He said general visitation hours will be extended starting Saturday and attorney visitation will be extended at the beginning of this week.  However, that also means staff members will be working longer hours.

“We’re looking at probably some overtime hours to accommodate some of these issues,” Puett said. “That’s just what we have to do to make sure stuff is accomplished.”

 

A 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the stabbing death of 17-year-old Kaytlin Root.

The Buchanan County Juvenile Court said the girl remains detained after being charged with a class A felony of murder in the second degree.  Due to the girl’s age at the time of the offense the charge was filed in juvenile court.  A hearing has been set for Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Div. 3.

“Because this is a juvenile case, I am unable to release any identifying information including the name or picture of the person who has been charged,” said Linda Meyer, Chief Juvenile Officer with the 5th Judicial Circuit.

As we previously reported, Sebastian Dowell, 18 was also charged in connection with Root’s death.  Dowell is charged with second-degree murder in Buchanan County.  Court documents said he and a second person lured Root to meet them at a location in St. Joseph and urged Root not to tell anyone who she was meeting.

“The defendant, second party, and the victim rode around for awhile and eventually went to Krug Park,” Det. Greg Ogdahl said. “Once there, the three people walked to a secluded area where the victim was rendered unconscious.”

Ogdahl said Root was stabbed or cut more then twice and died from the injuries. Authorities started investigating Root’s death after her body was found by a runner off of a bike trail at Krug Park Sunday, Oct. 16 around 9:20 a.m.

Dowell is being held without Bond.  He’s scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday at 9 a.m.

A St. Joseph man is accused of stabbing and killing 17-year-old Kaytlin Root whose body was found last week in Krug Park.

Sebastian Dowell, 18 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for second-degree murder.  The charge carries a penalty of 10-30 years or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole until after 85% of any sentence ordered has been served.

According to court documents, on Sunday, Oct. 16, Dowell and a second person lured Root to meet them at a location in St. Joseph and urged Root not to tell anyone who she was meeting.

“The defendant, second party, and the victim rode around for awhile and eventually went to Krug Park,” Det. Greg Ogdahl said. “Once there, the three people walked to a secluded area where the victim was rendered unconscious.”

Ogdahl said Root was stabbed or cut more then twice and died from the injuries.

Authorities started investigating Root’s death as a homicide after her body was found by a runner off of a bike trail at Krug Park Sunday, Oct. 16 around 9:20 a.m.

Bond for Dowell has been denied.  He’s scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday at 9 a.m. in front of Judge Keith Marquart.

A 17-year-old girl has also been charged in connection with Root’s death in Juvenile Court with a class A felony of murder in the second degree.  She is scheduled to appear in juvenile court Tuesday at 1 p.m. for a hearing.

Police are investigating the cause of a crash that sent four people to the hospital with serious injuries Sunday night.

According to the St. Joseph Police Department, a two vehicle crash occurred around 11:30 p.m. in the 600 block of the North Belt. Four people were seriously injured and transported to the hospital.

The Belt Highway from approximately Faraon Street to Frederick Avenue was closed until 5:30 a.m. Monday.

Mostly sunny skies and slightly cooler temperatures are expected today, but with highs at or slightly above normal in the 60s. The next chance for rain and thunderstorms comes Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Temperatures will remain above normal through the remainder of the work week. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 65. East wind 6 to 9 mph.

Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 51. East wind around 7 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Tuesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 61. South southeast wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 71. Southwest wind around 9 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 69.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 64.

An 18-year-old man is being held in the Buchanan County jail on murder charges

St. Joseph Police arrested Sebastian Dowell for second degree murder.  Officials would not say if the charges are in connection with the death of Kaytlin Root a week ago as other news agencies are reporting.

Root’s body was found on the running trail at Krug Park October 16.

Officials say a juvenile female was also arrested. No charges have been filed against her as of yet.

Dowell was booked into the county jail on Sunday.

An annual fundraiser will also highlight the Hillcrest Transitional Housing’s work in the community over the years. 

The theme of this year’s third annual Fall Ball is ‘Fire and Ice.’ The event is Hillcrest’s largest fundraiser of the year and features dinner, a silent and live auction and more. 

Hillcrest Executive Director Shannen White said also at the event, one of the graduates of the program will speak about his experience with Hillcrest. 

“He has just done a phenomenal job throughout the program and he is now two years removed from the program, so this is an opportunity for him to give his testimony of how Hillcrest has influenced his life and ultimately changed it for the better,” White said. “His story is just absolutely amazing. He was living on the streets before coming to Hillcrest and now he’s proud to say he’s a college graduate all because of the things we have taught him through the Hillcrest program.” 

Hillcrest’s 90 day program works to help individuals and families suffering from severe poverty and homelessness. 

“We help them transition into a place of self-sufficiency, meaning completely off of government assistance, working full time in the community and ultimately giving back to the community,” White said. “We offer budgeting and finance courses that are mandatory. All of our residents have to work full time while they’re in the program and remain working full time, so they can remain being self-sufficient.” 

White said while individuals are in the program, they have no expenses. 

“We provide their apartment free of charge, we provide a pantry with hygiene and food,” White said. “All of our church sponsors throughout the community that support the program, that’s how they’re able to be there and not spend any money while they’re there. We set them up on a financial plan when they come in where we pull a credit report and we know exactly where they’re at in their finances and set them up on a plan so they can be self-sufficient and ultimately debt free when they leave our program.” 

White says they have a 95% success rate with 80% of graduates remaining self-sufficient after being out of the program for five years. 

Hillcrest Transitional Housing’s Third Annual Fall Ball takes place Thursday, October 27th, at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. Doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner begins at 6. 

To make a reservation or find out more, click here.