COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Cooper County prosecutor filed a motion on Thursday to give consent for the case of a “cult-like” Amish leader to be moved to Montgomery County. Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, is charged with three counts of trafficking for the purpose of slavery/forced labor, a count of first-degree sodomy, first-degree sex
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A former Cooper County Jail guard received a two-year probation term for her role in an inmate’s death in 2023. Rachel Atherton pleaded guilty to second-degree involuntary manslaughter on Monday. Prosecutors reduced her chare on Friday to the lesser felony. Jazzlyn Johnson, spokesperson for special prosecutors out of Jackson County, said Atherton
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BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ) The final books were taken from Boonville’s 65-year-old library on Thursday in what was called a bookworm relay. Residents lined up along a three-block stretch between the old location on main street to the new location in a building on the former Kemper Military School CAMPUS. The group moved the libraries final
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) One of the men accused in the Isle of Capri casino robbery from late March has new options for his bond. Benjamin Charles, 21, of Columbia, is charged in Cooper County with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and tampering with evidence. He is currently in the Cooper County Jail. His original bond
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COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ) The Cooper County Fair is moving forward without carnival rides this year after its contracted ride company, Amusement Associates, shut down unexpectedly and did not return the fair’s $5,000 deposit. Cooper County Fair Board President Bryan Larm said the board hired Amusement Associates in January after meeting with the company at a
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Cooper County Fair announced on Tuesday on its social media that the carnival company it had contracted has closed. The Cooper County Fair is scheduled to be July 21-25. The fair stated on its Facebook page that it received a letter on Monday afternoon from Amusement Associates indicating the company had
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man who is accused of stealing $1.28 million from the Isle of Capri Casino earlier this year has pleaded guilty in a separate case in Illinois. Hollis Vanleer Jr., 20, of Bloomington, Illinois, pleaded guilty on Thursday in McLean County to stealing a vehicle. He was sentenced to three years in
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Kansas man was arrested and charged after a short chase on Tuesday that began in Cooper County and ended just before the Stadium Boulevard exit on Interstate 70 in Columbia. Jonathan Myles, 36, of Topeka, Kansas, was charged in Cooper County with aggravated fleeing, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child,
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A Boonville library is set to close for about a month on Monday as it relocates to a new building.
After 65 years, the Cooper County branch of Boonslick Regional Library, located at 618 Main St. in Boonville, is moving. A news release says its new home is on the Historic Kemper Campus in Boonville.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Police in Bloomington, Illinois, say a suspect in a Mid-Missouri casino robbery was arrested without incident this week. Hollis C. Vanleer Jr., 21, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by Bloomington police and U.S. Marshals, according to a release from the Bloomington Police Department. Police arrested Vanleer during a traffic stop, and he was
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The FBI has confirmed in a press release that a man accused in a casino robbery earlier this year in Boonville has been arrested. Hollis Vanleer Jr., 20, was arrested on Wednesday in Bloomington, Illinois. He is charged in the case with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and first-degree assault. Authorities had been
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The FBI is offering up a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of a man who is accused of robbing the Isle of Capri Casino in March. Two men were charged in the robbery, with the first being Benjamin Charles, 21, of Columbia. He is charged with first-degree robbery,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A corrections officer at Boonville Correctional Center was charged with two felonies on Wednesday after authorities claimed she had sexual relations with an inmate. Emmalee Walker, of Boonville, was charged in Cooper County with first-degree sodomy and committing sexual conduct in the course of public duty. A $10,000 bond was issued on
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman who was sentenced last month in a Cooper County embezzlement case was sentenced to probation in her Boone County case on Friday. Both cases make a combined total of over $63,000 of stolen funds. Jennifer Waibel, 53, of Boonville, pleaded guilty on Friday in her Boone County case to stealing
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A tractor-trailer loaded with cheese crashed on Interstate 70 westbound on the west side of Boonville on Thursday, closing the road temporarily. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the injury crash happened at the 102-mile marker near the Ashley Road exit in Boonville. Crews were working late Thursday afternoon to clean up
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man accused in a criminal case involving a baby’s death and accusations of sex crimes and slavery has requested for his case to be moved to another county. Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, is charged with three counts of trafficking for the purpose of slavery/forced labor, a count of first-degree sodomy,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boonville man was charged on Friday with a pair of felonies after authorities claim he broke into a building by crawling through a hole that housed an office air conditioning unit. Joshua Allen Kautzman was charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle. A warrant was issued and
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boonville man is accused of breaking into a Rolla apartment and threatening to kill two people on Sunday morning. Shawn Allen, 27, is charged in Phelps County with first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. He is being held at the Phelps County Jail
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Two men from Mid-Missouri were charged on Wednesday in separate federal cases involving child sex abuse material. In the first case, Lance Larkin, 35, of Boonville, was charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. The Missouri State Highway Patrol determined an illicit file was shared from the IP address of Larkin’s computer,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has picked a contractor for the Improve I-70: Truck Parking project, according to a Wednesday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation. KCI construction Team was picked for the projects in Concordia, Boonville, Mineola and Wright City, the release says. The truck parking project is
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