Author: KMIZ

Jazsmin Halliburton

BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cooper County judge denied bond for the leader of a “cult-like” Amish community after new charges, including manslaughter, were filed against him this week.

Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, appeared Tuesday in front of Judge Keith Bail after the new charges were added for a previously scheduled bond reduction hearing. Bail oped against reducing Shetler’s $100,000 bond.

He will make his first appearance in court Tuesday, one day after seven new charges were filed, including manslaughter in the 2025 death of an infant.

Shetler has been held in the Cooper County Jail since his arrest last month. His lawyer had asked for a $50,000 bond, but Judge Keith Michael Bail denied that request after a statement from the victims was read.

Shetler is now charged with three counts of trafficking for forced labor, first-degree sodomy, first-degree sex abuse, four counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. He was originally arrested and charged last month. The additional charges were filed on Monday.

Five new victims from the Amish community came forward to speak with investigators following Shetler’s arrest after a years-long investigation into an Amish Mennonite retreat run by Shetler, authorities allege.

Witnesses allegedly say Shetler discouraged the parents of a 6-month-old baby from getting medical help at a hospital.

According to court documents, a deputy learned from the baby’s parents that the child had been sick since March 2, 2025,  and was having breathing issues and had “turned blue.” The parents brought the baby to Shetler, who allegedly identified as a “holistic doctor.”

Shetler allegedly gave a “lavender breathing treatment” that the parents gave to the baby, but the baby was not responsive on March 6, 2025. A biology virus report indicated the baby had multiple viruses, including COVID-19.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

It’s been one year since a tornado destroyed Columbia’s recycling facility and city officials told ABC 17 News the city is spending more money to transport recyclables than what it makes in return.

Recovery Supervisor Tom Elliot with the city’s Solid Waste Division said the revenue impact is due to profit sharing and contaminated material, but operations are still within budget.

“Currently, we’re getting very little value. However, it is staying out of the landfill, which is our primary objective,” Elliot said.

Elliot said the facility has also seen a drop in incoming material, meaning fewer households recycling.

“For the first half of fiscal year ’25 – that would have been October 2024 through March 2025 – there was just under 5,000 tons,” Elliot said. “The same time period from ’25 to 2026, we were right at 2700 tons of incoming material, so that’s a pretty good drop.”

Following the tornado the city contracted to split materials it takes in with a company in Jefferson city. The company helps Columbia’s operation to bale together the materials, and the bales are shipped to a processing plant in Illinois.

The money that is sent back for the materials is then split between the two operations.

Elliot explained the city used to get the full profit back when the facility had the ability to process and bale the materials completely themselves. According to Elliot the profit is even less when contaminants are found in the bales, like glass.

“We’ve asked that glass no longer be put in the co-mingled recycling,” Elliot said. “Most of the contamination that we were getting was from the drop off sites.”

One year later, Elliot said the facility is as fully operational as it can be, but with no structure to cover machinery, its all weather dependent.

In Dec. 2025, the Columbia City Council unanimously approved the construction of a new building for the recycling site. The city expects the construction to cost $3.5 million and the funds will come from an insurance reimbursement and capital funds.

The city is now taking bids for the design and build plans of the building structure, the funds do not include any machinery. Elliot said he wants the building construction to be finished by the beginning of 2028.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Monday approved the development plan and preliminary plat of a 240-unit, multi-family housing complex in east Columbia.

The 50.8-acre complex – known as The Vantage — will be located on the east and west sides of Rolling Hills Road, south of Richland Road. The approval also comes with a revised statement of intent.

In February, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to send the plan to the City Council. During the Feb. 5 meeting, residents had raised concerns about traffic congestion at nearby intersections. Similar concerns were raised by nearby residents over Ashford Place, a proposed triplex development that the City Council rejected in January, according to previous reporting.

Meeting documents show that sidewalks are proposed for Richland and Rolling Hills roads and the possible construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Richland Road, Grace Lane and Rolling Hills Road.

A timeline for the construction of the roundabout was not listed in city documents. Those same documents say Tori-Bens Farms would pay a “proportional contribution to offset the costs of constructing the future roundabout.”

Previous reporting shows additional plans for traffic easement included widening Richland Road to four lanes, which could be finished by 2031.

Previous reporting shows the city has cited a 2024 Boone County and City of Columbia Housing Study that identified a shortfall of roughly 900 multi-family rental units each year.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A public hearing will be held early next month about the construction of a new Columbia fire station.

The Columbia City Council on Monday approved to schedule a public hearing for Monday, May 4 for the construction of a new Fire Station No. 5 that is proposed for the intersection of Ballenger Lane and Ria Street. An interested parties meeting was held on March 18.

Previous reporting shows that $5 million was allocated by the city last year to replace the aging fire station.

Columbia Fire Assistant Chief Jeffrey Heidenreich previously said the current station is the third-busiest in the city next to the downtown station and the location on Worley Street.

The current Fire Station No. 5 was built in 1971, and city documents and previous reporting say the building is nearing the end of its lifespan, citing  the deteriorating and sinking conditions of the station. City documents describe the problems at the station as “unsolvable.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A fall that occurred last week at a University of Missouri construction site is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

A US Department of Labor spokesman wrote in a Monday email that OSHA has up to six months to complete its investigation.

A worker suffered minor injuries after they fell about 18 feet at a construction site, previous reporting indicates.

Workers are building the Michael L. Parson Meat Science Education and Training Laboratory at the site. Ground was broken on the project in April 2025.

The site is located on Ashland Road next to the Trowbridge Livestock Center. The worker was sent to University Hospital after the fall.  

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 33-year-old man was seriously injured in a crash on Monday evening on Deans Creek Road in Camden County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says the crash occurred in the 1700 block of the road. A 33-year-old Richland man was described as a pedestrian in the report.

The man allegedly tried to stop a 2024 Polaris Ranger as it began to roll down a hill, but the man became pinned between the Polaris and a parked 2015 Mazda 3, the report says.

The man was brought to Lake Regional Hospital by a private vehicle, the report says.

The Polaris had no damage, while the Mazda had minor damage, the report says.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council on Monday awarded a $74,800 contract to Double Arch Construction in order to repair the High Street viaduct.

Previous reporting shows that Jefferson City Public Works shut down the viaduct after what was initially reported as a pothole turned out to be a significant structural issue. Early estimates had put the cost around $34,400, per previous reporting.

Additionally, the council also approved to spend a $100,000 grant on a system study of JEFFTran, the city’s public bus system. Meeting documents from April 6 show that the grant has a 20% match.

The council also did not vote on improvements to the Jefferson City Police Department’s 911 infrastructure, which allowed the bill to expire.

If approved, it would have renewed the city’s Intrado for five years, which includes call handling. It was expected to update trunk lines to a next-generation emergency services IP network, previous reporting indicates. The issue had been tabled at prior council meetings.   

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged Monday in Audrain County after he allegedly poured gas on the yard and porch of a Mexico, Missouri, home early that morning.

Cheyenne Hott, of Mexico, Missouri, was charged with first-degree attempted arson, armed criminal action and fourth-degree domestic assault, a misdemeanor. He is being held at the Audrain County Jail without bond and a confined docket hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The probable cause statement says officers were called just after midnight after the victim claimed Hott had poured gasoline on the victim’s yard and porch. The victim also allegedly said Hott had been holding a butane torch, the statement says.

A witness corroborated the victim’s statement and also claimed they heard Hott say he planned on burning down the home, court documents allege.

Hott allegedly told officers that he poured gas in the street, the statement says.

Court documents say Hott allegedly told police, “If you guys are going to get me with attempt wait until I get released and I’ll show you attempt.”

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A National Weather Service team identified damage from an EF-0 tornado Monday after it ripped through Hartsburg and crossed the Missouri River toward Fulton.

The tornado, with winds of about 85 mph, caused sporadic tree damage partially tore the roof of a hangar at the Fulton-Elton Hensley Memorial Airport on Friday. The weather service thinks the tornado touched down and lifted up multiple times along the track.

The severe weather outbreak led to at least six tornadoes that have been identified in or close to Mid-Missouri on Friday night: three in Morgan County, two in Benton County and the newly tracked twister in Boone and Callaway counties.

Crews with the NWS spent Monday surveying storm damage in Moniteau, Cole, Callaway and Boone counties, including a stop in Fulton. A spokesman for the NWS said overall damage reports were limited on Monday afternoon, but added that they still had yet to visit multiple counties. 

Callaway County EMS Director Charles Anderson said impacts were relatively minimal despite the length of the tornado’s track.

“A few trees falling down here and there, but nothing that impacted our response time or anything like that,” Anderson said. 

In Boone County, emergency management officials also reported only minor damage within populated areas.

“As far as from citizens and public safety reports, we only had one report come in as a large tree down inside the actual city limits of Hartsburg,” Boone County Director of Emergency Management Chris Kelly told ABC 17 News. 

Even with minimal damage reports, survey teams continue to examine even small indicators of tornado activity.

“They’re still looking at outcomes, even looking at minuscule any kind of signs of tornadic damage,” Kelly explained. 

At the same time, the storm served as the first real-world test of Boone County’s automated outdoor warning system, CommanderOne, which was adopted in May 2025.

Outdoor warning sirens were activated four times on Friday evening, at 7:43 p.m., 8:02 p.m., 8:18 p.m., and 8:42 p.m.,  as multiple tornado warnings moved through the area.

The system allows sirens to be triggered based on National Weather Service warning polygons, targeting only areas under threat.

“Our old way was three districts or three zones, one in the north, one in the central, and one in the south county. That wasn’t precise because us as humans have to look ‘Where is the polygon? Alright, this is the north and central zone.’ So at that point you’re warning areas that are not impacted by the warning, and so this is very precise,” Kelly said. “You want to alert with precision the areas under threat.”

Kelly also emphasized that outdoor warning sirens are designed to alert people who are outside and should not be relied upon as the sole source of warnings.

“Outdoor warning sirens are for folks that are outside, do not rely just on weather sirens. Likely, most people this was forecasted. They’re inside. They’re not meant to be heard inside. They’re meant for the people that are outside working, recreating to go inside, seek information from local media, news, or website.”

Boone County emergency management officials said residents should have multiple ways to receive alerts, including wireless emergency notifications, NOAA Weather Radio and local media as the severe weather season continues.

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Jessica Hafner

The National Weather Service in St. Louis has confirmed a sixth tornado touched down in Mid-Missouri following severe weather on Friday night.

The EF-0 tornado touched down at around 8:08 p.m. near Marion in Cole County, and continued along a more than 23 mile track through southern Boone and Callaway counties.

The tornado had maximum winds of up to 85 mph as it left tree damage in Cole County before it crossed the Missouri River and left behind some more tree damage in Hartsburg.

The tornado then lifted the roof of a hangar at the Fulton Airport on the southwest side of town before dissipating around 8:33 p.m.

This tornado was the 6th confirmed from Friday, after NWS Springfield survey crews found two tornadoes in Benton County and three in Morgan County.

Crews with the NWS spent Monday surveying storm damage in Moniteau, Cole, Callaway and Boone counties, including a stop in Fulton. A spokesman for the NWS said overall damage reports were limited on Monday afternoon, but added that they still had yet to visit multiple counties. 

Callaway County EMS Director Charles Anderson said impacts were relatively minimal despite the length of the tornado’s track.

“A few trees falling down here and there but nothing that impacted our response time or anything like that,” Anderson said. 

In Boone County, emergency management officials also reported only minor damage within populated areas.

“As far as from citizens and public safety reports, we only had one report come in as a large tree down inside the actual city limits of Hartsburg,” Boone County Director of Emergency Management, Chris Kelly, told ABC 17 News. 

Even with minimal reports, survey teams continue to examine even small indicators of tornado activity.

“They’re still looking at outcomes, even looking at minuscule any kind of signs of tornadic damage,” Kelly explained. 

At the same time, the storm served as the first real-world test of Boone County’s automated outdoor warning system, CommanderOne, which was adopted in May 2025.

Outdoor warning sirens were activated four times on Friday evening, at 7:43 p.m., 8:02 p.m., 8:18 p.m., and 8:42 p.m.,  as multiple tornado warnings moved through the area.

The system allows sirens to be triggered based on National Weather Service warning polygons, targeting only areas under threat.

“Our old way was three districts or three zones, one in the north, one in the central, and one in the south county. That wasn’t precise because us as humans have to look ‘Where is the polygon? Alright, this is the north and central zone.’ So at that point you’re warning areas that are not impacted by the warning, and so this is very precise,” Kelly explained. “You want to alert with precision the areas under threat.”

Kelly also emphasized that outdoor warning sirens are designed to alert people who are outside and should not be relied upon as the sole source of warnings.

“Outdoor warning sirens are for folks that are outside, do not rely just on weather sirens. Likely, most people this was forecasted. They’re inside. They’re not meant to be heard inside. They’re meant for the people that are outside working, recreating to go inside, seek information from local media, news, or website.”

Boone County emergency management officials said residents should have multiple ways to receive alerts, including wireless emergency notifications, NOAA Weather Radio and local media, as the severe weather season continues.

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