Fulton homicide case led to Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad being activated for first time in over a year

MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Fulton police are continuing its investigation into the shooting death of 17-year-old Mason Sheets with the assistance of the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad.

According to the Fulton Police Department's last social media update about the investigation, the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad has followed up on more than 250 leads. The Audrain County Sheriff’s Office also stated that it took the Case Squad five days to identify possible suspects, who are reportedly juveniles from outside Fulton. 

After not being activated in 2024, Sheet's death marked the first time the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad has been activated in over a year. Prior activations included a murder investigation in Mexico in 2020 and another case on the Audrain-Boone County line in 2017.

The Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad, established in 1965, consists of officers from 11 sheriff’s offices, 13 police departments and agencies including the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI. The board of directors -- which oversees activations -- includes Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller, Moberly Police Chief Troy Link and Mexico Police Chief Brice Mesko. All other police chiefs and sheriffs on the squad make up the squad’s board of advisors. 

• Current Counties In Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad
  • Sheriff offices: Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Gasconade, Howard, Moniteau, Montgomery, Osage and Randolph 
  • Police departments: Ashland, Boonville, Centralia, Columbia, Fayette, Fulton, Hallsville, Holts Summit, Jefferson City, Mexico, Moberly, Montgomery City, and University of Missouri in Columbia.
    

The Mid-Missouri Case Squad’s training policies changed after a series of retirements from chiefs and sheriffs between 2010-16. By 2016, then-Callaway County Sheriff Dennis Crane was the only member on the Board of Directors, however, Crane announced he was leaving office at the end of the year. According to Mesko, this led Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey, former Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers, and former Mexico Police Chief Susan Rockett to oversee a review of the squad's procedures and training. 

Mid-Missouri is one of several other major case squads across the state designed to create a formal partnership between multiple law enforcement agencies that pool resources to quickly resolve serious crimes. 

“Most law enforcement agencies are always going to help each other out on a case-by-case basis. The difference with the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad is it’s kind of a formal partnership where we’re all agreeing to pool our resources,” Mesko said. “We might get a call from another law enforcement agency to help with an investigation. We sure might help them out as we can, but we're also going to be handling our own calls that are coming in, our own issues that are going on, so we're maybe a little more limited as to how we can help.

"When  a major case squad activation is done many of the agencies donate  several officers who will only be working on that case  no matter where the case takes them.”

Missouri law also gives officers who are part of a Major Case group the power to arrest anywhere in the state, as long as it is within the scope of that particular investigation. The squad can only be activated for new cases that must fall within the state's bylaws, according to Mesko.

“It has to be a newer, a new case, something that just happened,” Mesko said. “We don’t want to activate the major case squad to go back and review some old unsolved case from years and years. There are other ways for that to happen.”

To join the squad, an officer must be nominated by their chief or sheriff, demonstrating investigative skills. Those selected complete a training program to learn how large-scale investigations are conducted. 

“With a large investigation, with many, many people in it there's a lot of information coming in, a lot of things that are happening all at the same time, so coordination can become a little bit of a challenge so the officers get trained in that,” Mesko said. 

The squad’s roster includes about 160 investigators, though not all are used for each case. The chief or sheriff who requests assistance from the squad will meet with the board of advisors and detail what they believe they will need for the investigation. 

Moberly Police Chief Troy Link emphasized the importance of collaboration among law enforcement, particularly in rural areas.

“I think most police departments operate that way, especially in rural America, where you have small but just two small agencies,” Link said. “Any of those types of relationships are beneficial for the ultimate goal, which is getting good law enforcement to the people.”