Author: KMIZ

Nia Hinson

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

There was a large police presence in Boone County late Saturday night.

An ABC 17 News reporter on scene saw roughly 20 Columbia Police Department vehicles on Lightpost Court in Boone County, just east of Columbia just before 11 p.m. A Boone County Sheriff’s Office vehicle was also on scene.

A neighbor told ABC 17 News they went outside for about an hour after they saw a large police response. The neighbor said they witnessed a group of people being escorted from a home by officers. That same group was later seen being questioned by police by an ABC 17 News reporter at the scene.

Neighbors also reported seeing officers enter and search a home on the 5900 block of Lightpost Court.

Several CPD vehicles were seen along South Rolling Road, and appeared to be monitoring the back of the home involved.

ABC 17 News is working to learn more information.

Check back for updates.

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Nia Hinson

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

A person who was wanted by the Fulton Police Department is now in custody, according to a Saturday afternoon social media post.

According to the post, police were searching for a suspect who was allegedly involved in an incident in the 1400 block of Bluff Street. Police said the person possibly left in a gray 2004 Ford F-150 and urged people in the community not to approach them.

Police later said the suspect was located in the Auxvasse area and was taken into custody.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The first snowfall of the season created difficult driving conditions across Mid-Missouri on Saturday.

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers are warning drivers to slow down after the season’s first snow led to a string of crashes across Mid-Missouri.

ABC 17 News traveled to Jefferson City, Columbia and Moberly Saturday evening to track how the snowfall impacted road conditions across the region. Based on observations, Moberly appeared to take the hardest hit, with noticeably more snow still covering roads compared to surrounding cities. Some drivers said they were frustrated.

“I don’t like snow,” Moberly resident Brittany Dye said.

In Jefferson City and Columbia, most of the snowfall melted after afternoon rain. But in Moberly, several areas still had visible accumulation late into the evening.

Terry Martan, who stopped for gas on his way back from holiday travel, said conditions were challenging on the interstate.

“I was traveling back on I-70 from Hermann and it’s just really crazy through there,” Martan said. “There’s a lot of traffic during the holidays and then the trucks are all on the move. With the snow and the rain and the barricades on both sides, it really made it tight to get through.”

An ABC 17 News reporter saw multiple tow trucks working on clearing parking lots and side streets.

Some Moberly drivers said the city worked quickly to clear major roads, but noted that residential streets still needed attention.

“They’re pretty good with the main roads,” driver Dewella Shuck said. “Side roads — I mean, it’s typical. They get to it when they can, but it’s not too bad.”

According to a social media post, MSHP’s Troop F responded to:

65 calls for service

20 stranded motorists

26 non-injury crashes

4 injury crashes

As of 8:30 p.m., MoDOT’s road conditions map listed most Mid-Missouri roads as clear. Randolph and Montgomery counties were listed as mostly clear, while parts of Audrain County remained partly covered.

Around 4:50 a.m., a driver on Highway 54 westbound at County Road 110 skidded on a snow-covered road, hit an embankment and overturned, according to an MSHP crash report. The driver, a 43-year-old man, suffered minor injuries and was taken to University Hospital. Damage to the 2023 Chevrolet Blazer was described as “extensive.”

An ABC 17 News reporter saw several cars that were stuck in the snow from Mexico to Montgomery City while driving from 5-10 a.m. Saturday.

One of which was a semi-tractor-trailer that rolled over on the side of I-70 eastbound near mile marker 152, just outside of Kingdom City. The reporter saw about three MSHP vehicles at the scene around 9:15 a.m.

The patrol posted to its X about the incident. The post says the tractor-trailer truck will remain on the side of the road until conditions clear.

🚨Rollover Crash on I-70 at 153 MM🚨

Troopers are investigating an injury crash involving a tractor trailer on eastbound I-70, east of Kingdom City, in Callaway County.

The truck has been pushed off I-70 and will remain roadside until conditions improve for it to be towed. pic.twitter.com/rd3DwTx8ip

— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) November 29, 2025

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Euphenie Andre

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A peaceful march unfolded in Jefferson City on Friday night, bringing together friends, family and community members to honor the late Erik Spencer II.

The event comes nearly a month after Spencer was shot and killed outside an Old Navy store while visiting Jefferson City for Lincoln University’s homecoming.

The march on Friday began at 4:30 p.m., with participants making their way from the Cole County Prosecutor’s Office to the steps of the Missouri Capitol. The crowd of roughly 20 people carried a strong, unified message: Justice for Erik.

From heartbroken friends and family to concerned community members, everyone present expressed a desire for answers.

“We need justice… please,” Spencer’s stepfather Sean Reynolds said.

Supporters spoke out about seeking transparency in the case.

“I just want to see change, you know, with stuff like this,” Thomas Barton, a supporter, said. “You know it’s 2025, and for things to be still going on like this without answers is just completely unacceptable.”

An incident report in previous reporting details the moments leading up to the shooting through calls to emergency dispatchers. The narrative said callers reported a man and woman in an argument before the shooting, which shattered plate glass in the front of the Old Navy store.

Spencer’s family continues to call for answers as the investigation moves forward.

“We know it’s an ongoing investigation, but you know, we just need some answers. Erik don’t deserve this,” Reynolds said.

Friday marked the second public event following a balloon release held on Nov. 11 in Erik’s memory. The march, organized by his sister Ka’leen Spencer, was supported by Jefferson City police officers who helped guide the group and ensure their safety as they moved through the streets, while Ka’leen voiced the family’s ongoing frustrations.”

“We’re here to demand transparency, to demand some answers,” she said.

The marchers carried signs and raised their voices, leaving no question about their purpose.

“We want to know the truth. I think that we deserve that. I think that the community deserves that and that my brother deserves justice,” Ka’leen Spencer said.

The march took place just one day after Thanksgiving, a holiday the Spencer family said felt incomplete without Erik.

“We’ve had my brother with us every holiday and he is the glue to our family,” Ka’leen Spencer said. “He’s the jokester, he’s the one that brings the party, he’s the one that brings the laughter and all of that. So to not have that I think that impacted our family greatly.”

Ka’leen Spencer said she hasn’t been able to fully grieve her brother’s death because she is focused on pursuing justice.

“If we had more answers, but at this time I think that I’m more concerned for getting justice and getting answers and then we’ll start the grieving process,” she said.

Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson told ABC 17 News on Friday that the investigation remains active and the family is being kept informed, but no additional details can be released at this time in order to protect the integrity of the case.

The family plans to attend Monday night’s Jefferson City Council meeting, inviting supporters to join them as they seek answers from officials. Following the meeting, a vigil will be held for Erik at 7 p.m. at 3535 Missouri Boulevard—the same location where he was shot and killed—marking one month since his passing.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two teenagers were seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash Thursday on Jones Road in Pettis County, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The report says a 2003 Nissan Xterra was heading northbound when it went off the right side of the road. The driver — an 18-year-old woman from La Monte, Missouri – overcorrected several times before the vehicle overturned and stopped on its side, the report says. One passenger was ejected from the vehicle, the report says.

The report says a 16-year-old girl from Zillah, Washington, had serious injuries and was flown to Research Hospital, while the 18-year-old woman also had serious injuries, but was brought to Centerpoint by ambulance. Neither of them wore seatbelts, according to the report.

A 20-year-old man from Palmer, Alabama, had minor injuries, but was not transported to a hospital, the report says. It is not known if the man wore a seatbelt.

The vehicle was totaled.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 14-person snow plow crew reported for duty at 7 p.m. Friday as the first impactful snowfall of the season is expected to come through the area, according to a social media post from the city.

A few inches of snow are possible throughout Mid-Missouri early Saturday, prompting the ABC 17 News Stormtrack Weather Team to call for a Weather Alert Day.

“Public Works staff will continue monitoring the storm as it tracks primarily north of Columbia. If the front shifts south, additional resources will be activated. Extra crew members are on standby. A daytime crew is scheduled to report at 7 a.m. Saturday to continue monitoring conditions,” a social media post from the City of Columbia Public Works says.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is also prepping for the potential snowfall, with areas north of Boone County expected to get more precipitation with 2-4 inches.    

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Transportation is preparing for Mid-Missouri’s first snowstorm of the season to hit this Thanksgiving weekend.

An ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day has been issued for Friday night through Saturday for the potential for the first accumulating snowfall of the season.

The heaviest snow will fall northeast of Columbia, where 2 to 4 inches is possible in places like Macon, Moberly, Mexico, Paris and Montgomery City. A quick changeover in Boonville, Columbia and Jefferson City will bring a mix of rain and snow, and a trace to 2 inches of snow is possible.

Mostly rain is expected at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Jason Shafer, MoDOT Central District maintenance engineer, said the possibility of rain before the snow can make it harder to successfully pretreat the roads.

“Treating in advance, it’s just going to get washed off the roads. So you know we’re going to go into it being prepared for whenever the weather does change, and you know that’s still quite effective,” Shafer said.

Shafer said MoDOT uses melting salts and beet juice for its road treatments. Drivers will be rotating around the clock every 12 hours, Shafer said.

There are still several unfilled driver openings, but Shafer says the number of openings is less than in previous years.

“We’re still down statewide by several hundred,” Shafer said. “Everyone’s had very comprehensive training as far as what to do during these storms, so everyone’s prepared.”

Drivers have been training since September and October.

AAA projects 81.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday period. AAA projects at least 73 million people will travel by car — that’s nearly 90% of Thanksgiving travellers and an additional 1.3 million people on the road compared to last Thanksgiving. 

“If your trip normally takes you 3 hours, plan on 3.5 hours. I mean, maybe even plan for four hours,” said Jon Nelson, MoDOT’s state highway safety and traffic engineer. “I think if people go into it with the mindset like, hey, this may take a little bit more time that’s gonna help them be patient as drivers.”

Freezing air will also move in once rain and snow end Saturday evening, so any roads that are still wet or slushy will freeze by Sunday morning.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA (Mo.) KMIZ

Petitioners trying to get Missouri’s new congressional map on the 2026 ballot collected signatures on Black Friday as the deadline to submit approaches.

The Boone County Democratic Party posted on Facebook, requesting volunteers to sign up for shifts on the big shopping day.

This comes after Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced her office was investigating a company that employs people to collect signatures for using illegal immigrants, which the company denies. The Republican National Committee targeted Missourians with text messages this week, saying groups from outside the state are trying to “trick” people into signing the petitions.

Marlyn Whitney, one of two people collecting signatures in the parking lot of the Shoppes at Stadium, said the petition is for the voters to approve the actions of the General Assembly.

“It just puts it on the ballot so that we the citizens can have a say in what our state legislature is doing, because we feel like we should choose our politicians, our politicians should not choose their voters,” Whitney said.

She got about 12 or 13 signatures within her first hour-and-a-half, Whitney said. Most people she talked with didn’t make a scene or were curious to know what the petition was for.

An ABC 17 reporter saw who seemed to be recording or taking pictures of Whitney, and walked off asking people not to sign the petition, saying it’s not good for Missourians.

People Not Politicians, the group backing the referendum, has to submit signatures by Dec. 11.

The Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County say they will wrap up signature collection by Wednesday. The Democratic Party will have a “drive-thru” style signature collection Saturday, and the League of Women Voters will be in downtown Columbia throughout the weekend.

People Not Politicians Executive Director Richard von Glahn said signature collection statewide will go through the first weekend of December.

“We will be gathering up through next weekend so that as many Missourians as possible get a chance to participate in our democracy,” von Glahn wrote in an email.

The new congressional map would carve up Missouri’s Fifth District, eliminating a seat historically held by Democrats. Republicans in the Missouri General Assembly approved the map over the summer after a White House push to secure more safe Republican seats in Congress.

Redistricting has historically been done after the census every 10 years.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Branson woman has died after a crash in Cooper County on Thanksgiving morning.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that the crash happened on Highway 135 at Lang Road at 2 a.m. Thursday. Troopers say a 40-year-old Branson woman was driving when she went off the road and hit an embankment.

The car went airborne, and the driver was thrown from the vehicle, according to the report.

The woman was transported to University Hospital by Cooper County EMS, where she later died from her injuries.

She was not reported to be wearing a seatbelt.

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John Ross

An ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day is in effect for Saturday, after several inches of snow fell in the morning. Scattered rain is expected for the rest of the day before precipitation ends Saturday evening.

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for Montgomery, Audrain, Randolph, Monroe, and Macon Counties until midnight Sunday morning for remnant travel impacts following heavy snow in northern Missouri.

SETUP

Our first winter storm of the season brought several inches of snow to northeastern Missouri, with a report of 5 inches of snow in Ethel, Missouri, northwest of Macon. Randolph County also received 3 inches of snow in the early morning.

Warmer temperatures in southern Missouri kept precipitation as rain, where over half an inch of rain fell.

FUTURETRACK

Snow will track east of Mid-Missouri before lunchtime as temperatures warm above freezing. The day will still be wet with a cold rain falling through the evening. Flurries are possible before precipitation ends early tonight.

Temperatures will drop to the lower 20s by early Sunday, and highs remain below freezing in the upper 20s through Monday.

IMPACTS

With nearly a half-foot of snow in north and eastern Missouri, travel will be tricky for most of Saturday. Some improvement is possible in the afternoon, but wet roads will persist as rain falls through the evening.

Freezing air will move in once rain and snow end Saturday evening, so any roads that are still wet or slushy will freeze by Sunday morning. Bitter cold is expected early next week, with high temperatures in the 20s on Sunday and Monday.

CONFIDENCE AND WHAT COULD CHANGE

The system bringing this weekend’s snow made landfall on the West Coast Thursday night, and our weather data network will get a much better sample of data from the storm. This will reduce uncertainty in forecast models and increase confidence in snow totals and location.

We are very confident in the timing of precipitation, beginning Friday night and lasting through Saturday afternoon. There is also high confidence in the far northern and southern portions of the area, where snow is expected in northeastern Missouri, and rain is likely over the Lake of the Ozarks. The transition is still somewhat uncertain, and that changeover happens directly over major areas of Mid-Missouri like Columbia and Jefferson City.

There’s a scenario that may beef up totals in both the transition zone and the snowier side of the map. If the dynamics of this system are strong enough to create more efficient precipitation, the sublimation/evaporation of precipitation in the drier air at the surface could cool temperatures enough to help snow accumulate more effectively in spots. Add to that the increased snow rates, and we could have to increase totals.

Until it becomes clear in guidance if this will happen, we will stick with a more conservative forecast.

Make sure you have the ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather app no matter where you plan to travel this holiday weekend, and set your location to get alerts and the hourly forecast.

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