Radio feature from Michael Calhoun

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) – If you can believe it, today marks five years since the “Missouri Miracle,” the remarkable rescue of kidnapped boys Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby.

It still brings a shiver to your spine to hear that, from January 12th, 2007. But the Missouri Miracle began October 6th, 2002 on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Eleven year-old Shawn Hornbeck, left for a ride on his brand-new bike and wouldn’t come home for 1,558 days leaving only theories and hope for Shawn’s mother Pam Akers. “I can still, to this day picture his smile,” cried Akers unwilling to give up.

For more than four years candlelight vigils became the new routine for Shawn Hornbeck’s family. Then news came in of another missing boy, thirteen year-old Ben Ownby. “What is this world coming to,” said Akers. “I don’t understand how these things can keep happening.”

But it wasn’t until 24 hours later that an Amber Alert sounded for Ben, and it was 24 hours before a miracle. Investigators searched the woods where Ben was last seen along with a lead from one of Ben’s classmates or a white pick-up truck leaving the scene January 10th, 2007.

Michael Devlin

Their captor, pizza-parlor manager Michael Devlin eventually pled guilty to a long list of unspeakable crimes, and is serving three life sentences at Crossroads Correctional Center in northeastern Missouri. He was stabbed by another inmate in April, 2011. His is a name not welcome in the Hornbeck household.

Shawn graduated high school a semester early, went to college, wants to carry on the mission of the foundation which bears his name.

Copyright KMOX Radio

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOX) -  Overcast weather has forced the cancellation of today’s planned re-tests of St. Louis County’s tornado siren warning system.

Weather permitting, the re-testing will be performed next week, according to the St. Louis County Departments of Highways and Traffic and Public Works.

OUR EARLIER STORY:

Yet another test of the tornado sirens in St. Louis County is planned for Wednesday afternoon.

This latest re-do comes after a number of county residents complained that they didn’t hear the tornado warning that sounded last Tuesday morning.

“We’ll look to make sure that they’re loud enough, and that the sirens’ volume is up to the manufacturer’s specs,” says David Barney, who heads up the Emergency Communications Network.

The tests are set to take place between 10 am and 2 pm Wednesday, but could be postponed if there’s bad weather in the region at that time.

They’ll be testing individual sirens throughout the county, including those in St. Ann, Kirkwood and Wildwood.

It’s all part of the ongoing effort to tweak the 187 new sirens that went online last spring.

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KMOX © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) -  Six men have been arrested on federal charges in connection with an alleged drug ring that was operating in Kirkwood’s Meacham Park neighborhood.

Following an investigation by the DEA, Kirkwood and St. Louis city police, a federal grand jury returned indictments in the case earlier this month, which were kept sealed until all six defendants were in custody.

Charged with conspiracy to sell crack cocaine and heroin, possessing firearms while operating a drug operation, and maintaining a drug involved premisis are:

Chaz Alexander Baker, 32, of Kirkwood

Ervin J. Thompson, 28, of Kirkwood

Martez D. Jones, 39, of Kirkwood

Duan Drayton, 42, of Kirkwood

Marlowe Parsons, 28, of Kirkwood

and Kevin Ragland, 35, of Richmond Heights

If convicted on all charges, each defendant faces the possibility of life in prison.

KMOX © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX)-Law enforcement agencies in and around Kirkwood are breathing a little easier after the arrests of half-dozen men on federal drug and weapons charges.

Kirkwood Police Chief Jack Plummer tells KMOX that 32-year-old Chaz Alexander Baker, 28-year-old  Ervin Thompson, 39-year-old Martez Jones, 42-year-old Duan Drayton and 38-year-old Marlow Parsons of Kirkwood and 35-year-old Kevin Ragland of Richmond Heights aren’t your fly by night bad guys, but are career criminals, “Involved in drugs, pseudines and firearm violations for a number of years. In and out of prison, in and out of jails, repeatedly.”

The six were indicted by a federal grand jury February 8 on charges including conspiracy to distribute in excess of 280 grams of crack cocaine; distribution of crack cocaine; distribution of heroin; possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and maintaining a drug involved premises. If convicted, they each could face life in prison.

Plummer says the six operated mainly out of the Meacham Park neighborhood, ‘When you can take the career criminals who are very, very good at what they do and get them put away, that’s a very good accomplishment. It helps us deal with the ones that are left behind you might say.”

Plummer says the arrests are due to the teamwork of local and federal agencies, which he says has never been better. He says their aggressive efforts have drug dealers in Meacham Park, becoming suspicious of ech other, “People doing drug deals, they were patting each other down to see who had a wire on them, because they were getting so paranoid by the number of arrests we were making, which obviously makes us real happy.”

KMOX © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) - Teacup dogs: they’re tiny, adorable and often expensive, but they can also become lunch for birds of prey. Small dogs like Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas are being snatched out of back yards in St. Louis County by Red Tailed Hawks.

But it’s not only hawks that could do this, according to Wayne Boillat, a veterinarian with Chesterfield Veterinary Group. He says this type of thing doesn’t happen often, but as more counties spread into wooded areas, the possibility becomes more likely.

“They won’t move, they’ll adapt,” he said of hawks and other birds of prey. “It’s possible they’ll search for other food sources.”

And your dog could be one of them. Boillat says any dog that weighs less than ten pounds should be watched when it’s outside at any time of the day. At night, owls are a concern as are raccoons, opossums and other dogs. He added that driving into St. Louis, hawks can be seen on traffic signs and telephone polls well into the city, so people in Brentwood and Kirkwood should also beware.

In the few cases Boillat has heard of dogs being attacked by birds, the dog lived. The owner was there, was able to scare off the animal with a pellet gun or a rake, and the dog survived with some scratches. It would be unusual for the bird to kill its prey on site. It would most likely carry it away and wait for it to die later, so owners have the chance to chase off the hungry bird, which is unlikely to then attack the owner. Though any dog is considered to be part of the family, some of these dogs are expensive, well into the range of a few thousand dollars. All things considered, that’s an investment worth protecting.

So there might not be reason to install flood lights on the back of the house or never let Fluffy out to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night again, but for those who see hawks or owls regularly, it’s something to keep in mind.

(KMOX © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -  St. Louis gets yet another visit from a GOP presidential hopeful this week.

Front-runner Mitt Romney plans a stop in St. Louis County late Tuesday, where he’ll speak at a town hall meeting in Kirkwood Park on South Geyer Road, beginning just before noon.

Campaign officials say he’ll talk about the economy and jobs.

From here, he’ll head west to Liberty MO for another rally at William Jewell College.

Republicans Rick Santorum and Ron Paul also made recent stops in Missouri, considered an important swing state in past presidential elections.

KMOX © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -  Mitt Romney ignored his GOP presidential rivals Tuesday as he asked Missouri voters to help him secure the party nomination and take on President Barack Obama this fall.

Romney told a St. Louis-area crowd of about 400 that Obama is content with high deficits and high gasoline prices.

The former Massachusetts governor repeated his promises to cut spending, create jobs and boost the military.

Romney did not refer directly or indirectly to his GOP rivals in his 15-minute speech under blue skies.

But he had the current occupant of the White House squarely in his sights.

“There’s a big difference between me and (Obama)…he seems content with running up a trillion dollar budget,” Romney told the partisan crowd. “How do we look at our kids and say ‘We passed on these trillions to you’? We will not do it if I’m president. We will cut federal spending and finally balance our budget!”

He chose to spend the day in Missouri, which holds caucuses Saturday, rather than in Alabama and Mississippi, where Republicans were voting Tuesday.

A Romney victory in either of those states could help solidify his claim as the likeliest nominee.

His first of two planned public events Tuesday was scheduled to last 50 minutes in the west county suburb of Kirkwood.

But he spoke only 15 minutes, took no questions, and began shaking hands and posing for photos with voters, before moving on to do one-on-one interviews with reporters.

Romney’s schedule called for him to spend much of Wednesday and Thursday raising money in New York before traveling to Puerto Rico on Friday. Puerto Rico’s Republican primary is Sunday.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Today, Kevin visits with John Matyiko of Expert House Movers, Inc. about the unusual reasons houses get moved…

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) — Six teachers at a suburban St. Louis high school are being disciplined for violation of the district’s drug-free workplace and staff conduct policies.

The Kirkwood School District says the incident involving Kirkwood High School teachers occurred Friday and no students were involved. District spokeswoman Ginger Fletcher says the drug-free policy prohibits employees from using or possessing alcohol or controlled substances on campus. She says no illegal drugs were involved, but declined to discuss further details.

The teachers are suspended with pay, but the district is not saying for how long except to say they will return by the time the school year ends on May 24.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

KIRKWOOD (KMOX) – A teenager wearing headphones was struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Kirkwood on Wednesday.

14-year-old Cameron Vennard of Oakland  was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. He was walking on the tracks near the 300 block of Leffingwell Avenue at about 4:45 p.m.

The conductor blew the train’s horn to warn the victim, but was unable to stop.

An Amtrak representative told KMOX that the train, traveling from Kansas City, had 84 passengers on-board. The train was delayed for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Cameron had just completed middle school and would have attended Kirkwood High School in the fall.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) -  A memorial fund has now been set up for the family of Cameron Vennard, the 14-year-old Kirkwood boy who was struck and killed by a train Wednesday.

“Cam was an amazing child at the age of fourteen,” Vennard family friend Donna Eisenberg told guest host John Hancock on Friday’s Charlie Brennan Show. “He was wise beyond his years, his heart and his smile were equally big.”

Cameron was wearing earbuds as he walked along the railroad tracks, as he’d done many times before, when he was struck and killed by a westbound train.

The engineer “leaned on” the horn, according to authorities, but wasn’t able to stop the train in time.

Cameron was the son of Darryl Vennard, whom Eisenberg revealed may only be alive today because of his son’s quick thinking and actions following a car wreck a couple of years ago.

“(Darryl’s) alive because of Cameron…it’s kind of ironic,” Eisenberg explained. “They were in the middle of the country, Darryl would have bled to death.”

Donations can be made to:

Cameron Vennard Memorial Fund at any Frontenac Bank (w/ locations in Kirkwood, St. Charles, Frontenac and Earth City).

Checks should be made payable to: Cameron Vennard Memorial Fund.

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -  It was one week ago when a 14-year-old Kirkwood boy was struck and killed by a train as he walked down the tracks wearing music earbuds.

Then early Tuesday near Poplar Bluff, two girls were killed and another critically injured when a train slammed into their Jeep after they had parked on the tracks to take part in an Internet-fueled game called called “Ghost Train”.

In both instances Amtrak trains were involved, and spokesman Mark Magliari says what often goes overlooked in the outpouring of grief and concern for the victims’ families is what the crews of those trains are having to deal with.

“I know of cases where engineers have stopped being engineers,” Magliari related to KMOX News. “They’ve quit or they’ve gone out on disability because of the trauma of something like this. Because this often happens in ways that the engineers and the conductors simply can’t prevent.”

Incredibly, according to statistics, a collision between a train and a vehicle or pedestrian happens an average of every two-and-a-half hours on railroad tracks across the nation.

“If it’s true that these teenage girls had intentionally parked their vehicle down on the tracks in Poplar Bluff, if it’s indeed true that this young man near Kirkwood was walking down the tracks with headphones on, there’s nothing our engineers can do to stop that from happening,” Magliari pointed out, “but they have to face it when it happens.”

Crews on trains that have been involved in fatal “incidents” — Magliari refuses to call them “accidents” — are immediately placed on leave and sent back home to let the healing process begin as quickly as possible.

In addition they’re given access to free counseling through employee assistance programs offered both by Amtrak and by the train engineers’ union.

Magliari said the fact that the rural crossing where the fatal crash near Poplar Bluff occurred had no lights or crossing-arms, just a simple “crossbucks” sign, didn’t necessarily play a role in the tragic outcome.

“What we’ve found is that these incidents occur even when there are warning systems,” he said. “Where drivers simply try to beat the train even though the warning devices are triggered. Drivers just go around the gates.”

One good sign…despite Tuesday’s tragedy, the number of collisions at train crossings nationwide has been declining in recent years.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The lawyer for a suburban St. Louis man convicted in a sex trafficking conspiracy asked a judge Tuesday to set a sentencing date or explain why his client is still being kept in solitary confinement six months after he pleaded guilty.

Bradley Cook, 33, of Kirkwood, has been in solitary confinement since December 2010, which is about when prosecutors say they learned he tried to hire a hit man to kill a woman once kept as a sex slave and the lead prosecutor in the case.

Cook has denied involvement in any such scheme. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion in a deal that calls for him to receive a 20-year prison sentence. He is being held in a western Missouri jail.

“He suffers from an extremely restrictive form of pretrial detention where he is unable even to leave his cell without the entire facility’s being locked down,” attorney Carter Collins Law wrote in a motion requesting a July sentencing date. “He gets no recreation, much less outside recreation. He is rarely even permitted a change of bed linens.”

Cook was arrested in September 2010 on charges that he participated in the sexual torture of a young woman held for years as a sex slave in a rural Lebanon mobile home.

Edward Bagley Jr., 45, and his wife, Marilyn Bagley, 46, are scheduled to go to trial Sept. 17 in Kansas City on a number of charges, including sex trafficking, forced labor trafficking, document servitude and use of an interstate facility to facilitate unlawful activity.

The charges involve a woman who says she moved into the Bagleys’ trailer in 2002, when she was a teenager, and was forced to be Edward Bagley’s sex slave. He is accused of giving her drugs, sexually abusing her while she was a minor and then torturing her after she turned 18.

Cook was accused of participating in the torture, as were three other men who also have pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Law said she’s afraid Cook will be kept in solitary confinement until the Bagleys go to trial in September. Cook’s deal does not require him to testify against them.

“There is a concern … that Mr. Cook, who has no part to play in the upcoming trail, could be subjected to continued solitary confinement in a local jail indefinitely,” Law wrote.

Prosecutors have said Bagley persuaded the woman to sign a “sex slave contract” and tattooed her in several places, including with a bar code on her neck. He is accused of beating, whipping, flogging, suffocating, electrocuting and mutilating the young woman in videos posted on Internet sites and letting other men do the same.

Marilyn Bagley is accused of not doing anything to stop the abuse.

Prosecutors say the woman was forced to work as an exotic dancer and threatened with punishment if she was not a top earner at the clubs where she stripped.

She also appeared on the cover of the July 2007 issue of Taboo, a publication owned by Larry Flynt’s Hustler Magazine Group, and was the subject of a story inside.

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX/AP) — Services are set in suburban St. Louis for a former Missouri woman fatally injured in a fall from rocks on the side of a Colorado ampitheater.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) -  You’ve heard the forecast…starting today and stretching into the foreseeable future, local temperatures will reach triple digits and will likely threaten decades-old records for daily highs.

But too hot to celebrate the nation’s birthday?

Not necessarily too hot, say fire officials, but certainly too dry.

The ongoing drought has already forced the cancellation of the annual community fireworks display in Farmington, and many other cities are considering doing the same thing.

Now comes word that Kirkwood officials may cancel their Independence Day fireworks.

Firefighters there are telling residents that it’s probably not a great idea to set off firecrackers in your own back yard.

With an eye toward what’s happening with that massive wildfire in Colorado, more communities may be calling off their public fireworks displays as we suffer through the days leading up to July 4th.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) -  The city of Kirkwood, which operates its own water utility company, is now urging residents to use restraint when watering lawns and gardens.

The voluntary restrictions will remain in effect for the duration of the current heat wave.

One of the main reasons for the request: city leaders say it’s critical for public safety that water storage tanks remain full for firefighting needs.

Typically, grass watering drops significantly when customers realize the futility of trying to maintain a green lawn in the middle of a heat spell, city leaders say.

Coupled with lower water pressure levels and higher-than-normal water bills, officials are suggesting that Kirkwood customers cut back on all lawn watering.

The city of Kirkwood has already reduced its own municipal use of water for general irrigation, and postponed any new tree or landscape planting that would require extensive watering.

“With the city working in cooperation with residents and businesses, we will get through the drought together,” said Mike Brown, Kirkwood’s Chief Administrative Officer.

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (AP)- For the second time in a month, authorities in the St. Louis area say a teenager has been struck and killed by a train while wearing earphones.

The boy’s mother tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she warned her 15-year-old son, Mitchell Maeserang, about the dangers of wearing the buds in both ears while walking near traffic. But authorities say that’s what the teen was doing around 9:45 a.m. Sunday while crossing the tracks in Wentzville.

Mitchell was hit by a Norfolk Southern freight train. Railroad officials say the crew spotted the teen and sounded the horn. Bystanders also tried to get his attention.

On May 30, a 14-year-old boy was also wearing earphones when he was killed by an Amtrak train while walking along railroad tracks in Kirkwood.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Archdiocese of St. Louis has announced funeral arrangements for the Glendale mother and two young children killed in an apparent murder-suicide Monday.

The funeral will take place Saturday morning at the Cathedral Basilica. The three will be buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Kirkwood. Friends, family and church members are invited, members of the media are not.

“A Glendale family that is grieving the deaths of a mother and two children has asked that they, and their community, be allowed to grieve privately,” the Archdiocese wrote in a press release Thursday. “Out of respect for this grieving family, media will not be permitted to the Murch wake, funeral or burial services.”

Investigators believe mother Catherine Murch shot and killed her 11-year-old son Mitchell and 9-year-old daughter Mary Claire before turning the gun on herself.

The husband called 911 at about 11 a.m. Monday and told police he heard gunshots from inside his home and went to check outside, but found his wife’s body before he got to the door.  When police arrived, the father was performing CPR on his son.

The children were taken to an area hospital were they were pronounced dead.

GLENDALE, MO (KMOX) - Citing a history of mental illness, along with recent financial troubles, Glendale police have confirmed that the deaths of Catherine Murch and her two children Monday was an instance of murder-suicide.

Speaking at a press conference, Lt. Tim Fagan laid out the evidence that Catherine Murch, 42, purchased a gun at an area gun store and, two days later, gunned down her children, 11-year-old Mitchell, and 9-year-old Mary Claire.

“Early on we cautioned that we were going to go slow and be as methodical as we could in order to come to the correct conclusion,” Fagan said. “I think I’m comfortably at a point where I can tell you that I believe this incident was as reported, I think this was a very tragic murder-suicide.”

“Not only all the physical evidence we have but certainly all the circumstantial evidence we have just points to one conclusion.”

Among the pieces of evidence cited by Lt. Fagan was a receipt for the murder weapon, video of Catherine Murch purchasing the weapon, Internet searches from the family computer related to suicide, and Catherine’s long history of mental illness. Ballistic evidence also supports their conclusion, Fagan said.

Mitch Murch - the husband of Catherine and father of the children - called police to report the shootings around 11:00 Monday morning.

The funeral for Catherine Murch and her two children will take place Saturday morning at the Cathedral Basilica. The three will be buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Kirkwood. Friends, family and church members are invited, members of the media are not.

“A Glendale family that is grieving the deaths of a mother and two children has asked that they, and their community, be allowed to grieve privately,” the Archdiocese wrote in a press release Thursday. “Out of respect for this grieving family, media will not be permitted to the Murch wake, funeral or burial services.”

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) -  As he got ready to step into the voting booth Tuesday morning, the future of the U.S. economy was top-of-mind for Scott Field of Kirkwood.

“There’s still a huge amount of unneccessary spending in Washington and we’re building a huge legacy of debt,” Field said. “A one-and-a-quarter percent boost in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the the last quarter? It’s sickly.”

Roughly one-in-four eligible voters in Missouri were expected to join Field at the polls, about average for a statewide primary election.

One of the main issues that got Winnie Doctor down to her polling place at Kirkwood High School was the constitutional amendment that would allow Missourians to pray in public, if they don’t disturb the peace.

“I am for religious freedom and I’m glad that we got to vote on it,” she explained.

Other issues and races drawing early birds to the polls included:

*  A Republican primary to sift out a winner from the vast throng hoping to advance to a November showdown with Democratic incumbant Claire McCaskill for U.S. Senate. The field includes Todd Akin, Jerry Beck, Sarah Steelman, John Brunner, Mark Memoly, Mark Patrick Lodes, Robert (Bob) Poole, and Hector Maldonado

*  An unusual battle of incumbants between sitting Congressman for a single seat in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, redrawn after the 2010 census. After his 2nd District evaporated, Russ Carnahan decided to go up against former friend and legislative ally William Lacy Clay, with today’s winner virtually guaranteed to go on to victory in November.

*  Missouri Governor, with incumbant Democrat Jay Nixon expected to advance to November’s general election against a GOP primary ptting four candidates against each other…John Weiler, Dave Spence, Bill Randles and Fred Sauer. Likewise a crowded race for Lieutenant Governor.

Many voters had high hopes for the future as they arrived at the polls, but others were motivated by fear.

“I’ve never been so worried about an election before,” admitted Joanne Aldridge. “I’m really concerned about (President Barack) Obama getting four more years because I don’t think there’s any stopping him then.”

But as she arrived at Kirkwood High to cast her ballot (“Of course I’m going to get a Democratic ballot…I’m a Democrat!”), Senator Claire McCaskill talked about why she feels President Obama should be elected to a second four-year term.

“I think President Obama’s much more focused on the middle class than (GOP hopeful) Mitt Romney has been,” said McCaskill. “That’s not just class warfare…that’s just fair.”

Her other thoughts on Romney?

“What Mitt Romney wants to do is take us back to the exact same policies that got us in this mess in the first place,” McCaskill opined. “Doing everything he possibly can to protect the tax rates for the very wealthy, to make sure that the oil companies continue to get big payouts from the American taxpayer.”

Polls stay open until 7 pm Tuesday.

Stay with KMOX News and www.kmox.com throughout the evening for election results and analysis.

8/7/12-U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill poses for a photo with her daughters after arriving at Kirkwood High School Tuesday morning to cast her ballot in the Missouri primary. (KMOX/Brett Blume)