Cold Case Files: Missing 28 years from Jasper County, Mo.

JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — The Jasper County missing persons case of Grace Weber recently marked 28 years. #missinggraceweber

Grace Weber was last seen on October 6th, 1994. Her vehicle was found abandoned at the Twin Bridges Area at Grand Lake State Park (previously known as Twin Bridges State Park) in Fairland, Oklahoma.

At the time of her disappearance, Grace worked for a real estate company in Joplin, Missouri.

➡️ If you have any information regarding Grace Weber, please contact the Jasper County Missouri Sheriff’s Office at (417) 358-8177.

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MISSING MAN: FBI OFFER $30,000 REWARD

KOAM NEWS NOW (SEPT 23, 2022) — The FBI continues to offer $30,000 reward to locate missing man, he could be in Southwest Missouri.

FBI says some of Jason Lierl’s belongings were recovered in Eagle Rock, Mo.

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Missouri Detective solves five Cold Case Murders from 32 years ago

O’FALLON, Mo. — Five women murdered. In the early 1990’s. Cases never solved. Bodies were found dumped in the St Louis region, covering multiple jurisdictions across three counties. Now the killer of the five women has confessed.

He was dubbed the “Package Killer,” identified in court papers as Gary Randall Muehlberg. 

Between the years 1990 and 1991, Robyn Mihan, Brenda Pruitt, and Sandra Little went missing from south St. Louis City. Their bodies were found murdered at various locations in Lincoln, St. Louis, and St. Charles Counties. Little’s body was found in O’Fallon, Mo along the side of Interstate 70. Despite the best efforts of investigators from all three counties these murders remained unsolved.

In 2008, Det. Sgt. Jodi Weber took it upon herself to take another look at these cold cases. Over a period of 14 years, she organized witness statements, police reports, and physical evidence. Det. Sgt. Weber sent evidence to crime labs in hopes of finding DNA on evidence seized at the crime scenes. She would regularly follow up with the labs to see if any discoveries had been made.

In April 2022, with the advancement in scientific technology the St. Charles County Crime Lab technicians received a confirmed DNA match from a small amount of viable evidence. The DNA was that of Gary Randall Muehlberg who is serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder in Potosi Correctional Center.

Det. Sgt. Weber traveled to the Potosi Correctional Center two separate times to speak with Muehlberg. During those interviews, she obtained confessions for the murders of Robyn Mihan, Brenda Pruitt, and Sandra Little. Shortly after the second interview Det. Sgt. Weber received a handwritten letter from Muehlberg providing information about two additional murders in which he was responsible for.

Det. Sgt. Weber returned to the Potosi Correctional Center a third time to interview Muehlberg. During the interview Muehlberg confessed to the murders he mentioned in the letter. Det. Sgt. Weber was able to get details of both murders. Using that information Det. Sgt. Weber identified one of the victims as Donna Reitmeyer. The other female victim remains unidentified.

The most sacred tenet of law enforcement is justice for victims and closure for their families. Detective Sergeant Jodi Weber has demonstrated those ideals with her work on this case. Since 2008 she has shown relentless tenacity, steering this case through trending DNA technology, working with other agencies, and balancing the demands of her other assignments. This is a tremendous accomplishment for Det. Sgt. Weber and a solemn day for the victims, who we pray may finally rest in peace.” — Chief Frank Mininni, OPD

This is a breaking news story, stay with Joplin News First on KOAM News Now as we continue to follow updates. Scroll below and sign up for our JLNews updates so you don’t miss an article.

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The Missing Welch Girls featured on A&E Cold Case Friday 8 p.m.

JOPLIN, Mo. — Information obtained reveals The Missing Welch Girls, Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, will be featured in a new episode of A&E Cold Case Friday evening at 8 p.m. Joplin (central) time.

The title of the episode is: Cold Ashes.

The two have been missing since December 30, 1999, when the girls went missing during a teenage sleepover. Lauria Bible was staying with Ashley Freeman at her parents trailer house near Welch, Okla.

During the early morning hours about 5:30 a.m. the fire department was summoned to a fire where the trailer house was destroyed. In the rubble they find the burned body of Kathy Freeman. She had been shot, execution style,  before the fire.

The girls and the father Danny Freeman were missing.

The following day, December 31, the Bible family, searching the rubble of the home find something investigators overlooked. The body of Danny Freeman in the burned out trailer house rubble. He was also shot, execution style, prior to the house brining.

But still no sign of the girls. Now it has been more than 20 years.

“It’s been a long wait but we just got word that our episode on A&E’s Cold Case will be airing this Friday March 25th. We hope you’ll tune in! Thanks for all continued efforts in helping us spread the word that Lauria and Ashley still have not been returned to us and that will will never stop searching for them! — FIND LAURIA BIBLE-BBI

If you have followed Joplin News First these past few years you know this story of a local family that will not give up. They are waiting for the girls to be found.

COLD CASE: COLD ASHES PROMO

“Two 16-year-old girls, missing? What happened?” Craig County District Attorney Investigator, Gary Stansill.

Mother Lorene Bible says, “after 10 years? I don’t know where my child is… No matter what I have to do, I’m going to find her.”

Also featured in the episode will be OSBI Cold Case Investigator Tammy Ferrari, Sheila Stogsdill writer for the Tulsa World who has been covering the story since day one, and others.

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Read more on the man behind bars serving 10 years for Accessory to Murder for not telling police he knew now-deceased individuals had the girls captive.

Crews begin another search for missing Welch girls

PICHER, Okla. – The search continues Tuesday morning for the remains of two Welch, Oklahoma girls who went missing more than 20 years ago.

Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman went missing in 1999. Investigators believe the girls were kidnapped and murdered, but their bodies have never been found. In 2020, the last remaining suspect in the case, Ronnie Busick, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accessory to murder.

Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., crews will resume their search for the girls near 421 College Street in Picher, Oklahoma.

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News to Know (4/1/2021)

ATLANTA, Ga – With the U.S. well above 30 million confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, the nation is bracing for what health experts fear could become a fourth wave. New data from the CDC shows the highest number of cases per capita now concentrated in Michigan and parts of the northeast.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The state of Missouri looks to vaccinate up to ten-thousand residents at a “mega” vaccine site in Springfield. It will be held at the Hammond Student Center at Missouri State University. It’s a two-day clinic next Thursday, April 8 and the following Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on both days. The clinic will use the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. You must register in advance.

MCDONALD COUNTY, Mo. – Authorities in McDonald County, Missouri make a breakthrough in a cold case. For 30 years investigators worked off this rendering as they tried to identify a woman only known as “Grace Doe”. Investigators had been referring to the woman as “Grace” as they tried to uncover her identity because they thought, only through the grace of God would they figure out who she was. Now DNA evidence has revealed who she really is, Shawna Beth Garber. Garber was found dead in 1990 on Oscar Talley Road in McDonald County. Lieutenant Hall with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office says the case is far from closed.

PITTSBURG, Kan. – A multi-million dollar tax settlement involving Pittsburg native and entrepreneur Gene Bicknell has been overturned by the Kansas Court of Appeals. In a two to three decision, the court ruled that the district court of Crawford County improperly put the burden of proving that Bicknell lived in Kansas on the Kansas Department of Revenue. Bicknell’s legal fight with the state centered on whether he lived in Kansas or Florida when he sold his company, NPC International in 2006.

Victim identified in 1990 McDonald County cold case

MCDONALD COUNTY, Mo. – Authorities identify the victim in a 1990 McDonald County cold case with the help of forensic genealogy testing.

Last year, the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram to use advanced DNA testing and forensic genealogy to try and find the identity and closest living relatives to “Grace Doe.”

They found a half-sister and identified “Grace Doe” as a missing Kansas woman.

The Cold Case

On Dec. 2, 1990, a couple walking on Oscar Talley Road in the southwestern part of McDonald County found the decomposed remains of a young woman not far from the road. The Sheriff’s Office says someone hogtied and dumped the victim behind a rural farmhouse.

In the 2000’s, Detective Lori Howard nicknamed the woman “Grace Doe”. Howard believed it was only by the Grace of God that the young woman’s identity would be found, according to the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office.

A coroner wrote in the autopsy that “Grace Doe” had been raped and strangled about two months before her body was found. She was restrained with six different types of bindings: nylon and lead ropes, coaxial and telephone cables, paracord and clothesline.

The Sheriff’s Office says investigators determined that the paracord was military grade MIL-C-5040H type II, a rope that was exclusively sold to the military in the 1990’s.

But without more information, her case went cold.

(Read more about the history of the case here.)

Identifying “Grace Doe”

In September 2020, Othram Inc. contacted McDonald County Sheriff Michael Hall. They decided to use advanced DNA testing to identify “Grace”.

Othram extracted DNA from the skeletal remains, and using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, built a DNA profile to find distant relatives.

In January 2021, Othram Inc. called the Sheriff’s Office about candidate relatives identified for “Grace”. Othram identified them through genealogy research.

The Sheriff’s Office contacted the candidate relatives. Former Sheriff and current McDonald County Lt. Hall went down the list and contacted Danielle Pixler. During their conversation, Pixler said she had a half-sister, Shawna Garber. Garber was in foster care in Garnett, Kansas, but went back into state care.

Danielle didn’t know what happened with Shawna after she left foster care. She has been looking for her sister for more than 28 years.

Danielle agreed to contribute a DNA sample. The Topeka, Kansas Police Department took her sample and sent it to Lt. Hall, who forwarded it to Othram for testing.

Othram used a rapid familial test called KinSNP.

On March 29, 2021, Othram called the Sheriff’s Office saying the DNA from Danielle Pixler was a match to “Grace” as a half-sibling.

Shawna Garber was her only half-sibling that is missing.

Authorities have identified “Grace” as Shawna Beth Garber, born March 1, 1968.

Now, the Sheriff’s Office will work to trace Shawna’s steps and find out what might have happened to her.

Funding

They used DNASolves.com to help raise funding from the public for this case.
Southeast Missouri State University Anthropology Department contacted authorities and wanted to study the skeletal remains of “Grace” and allow students to do learning and anthropological analysis. Authorities allowed the study. The University also provided funding.