Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

HUNSTVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

Four people charged in connection with the death of a Moberly teenager appeared in court on Monday.

Alayna Mason, 20, and Hunter Ames, both of Moberly, are charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in the death of 16-year-old Kayla Huff. Ames faces an additional charge of tampering with evidence.

Dave Kirschner was assigned as a special public defender for Mason. She has a hearing scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, while Ames has a hearing scheduled for bond hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 1.

Christopher Hull, 23, and Julian Mason, 26, both of Moberly, also appeared in court. They are both charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence. They have a hearing scheduled for at 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 1.

All four people are being held at the Randolph County Jail without bond and Hull, Ames and Julian Mason all applied for a public defender. A juvenile is also accused in the case.

Huff went missing earlier this month and was found dead by authorities last week.

A probable cause statement says Alayna Mason told investigators that she, with help from Ames and Hull, had taken Huff to the Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area in Randolph County with an unknown person in the trunk of a vehicle, where they beat and shot her. Ames allegedly told investigators that the group killed Huff, court documents in previous reporting show.

Court documents in Julian Mason’s case say he helped to pour motor oil into the gas tank of Huff’s car and helped dispose of a telescoping baton reportedly used in the crime near the Chariton/Carroll County line.

Alayna Mason is also charged with stealing a vehicle, stealing a gun and escaping confinement after she allegedly stole a Randolph County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle.

Skyler Powell, 24, of Moberly, was accused of helping Alayna Mason evade police and was charged with hindering the prosecution of a felony. He is also being held at the Randolph County Jail and is due back in court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday for a bond hearing.

Randolph County Prosecutor Stephanie Luntsford says its unclear if Powell could be charged in connection to Huff’s murder.

“I think at this point that would be a preliminary determination on if there is any evidence that would indicate he was involved in anything in that capacity but this investigation is ongoing, so at this point I don’t necessarily know,” Luntsford said.

In some cases, suspects can undergo trial together, but Luntsford says separate trials are more common.

“There are mechanism in place where defendants can be tried at the same time when its the same evidence but most generally we would see those cases tried separately,” She added.

The five adult suspects remain in the Randolph County Jail, while the juvenile suspect is being held at a Juvenile Detention Center.

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Ryan Shiner

CENTRALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Centralia home was seen smoking for hours on Monday.

Firefighters were called at 12:59 p.m. to the 23000 block of North March Road for a report of a house fire, according to dispatch logs.

Firefighters saw smoke coming from the building when they arrived, according to a Boone County Fire Protection District assistant chief.The home was still smoking when an ABC 17 News reporter was on the scene around 2:30 p.m.

There were seven fire trucks and five response trucks on the scene, as well as an ambulance.

Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Chuck Leake told ABC 17 News at the scene that there were no injuries. He also stated the age of the home, 124 years, played a role in the fire taking longer to put out.

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hundreds of people were still without power Monday afternoon near the Lake of the Ozarks.

Storms caused a significant number of people to lose power earlier in the day, with more than 3,700 electricity customers in Columbia at one point being without power.

The outage map for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives showed there were 238 Southwest Electric Co-op customers in Hickory County without power at around 1:30 p.m., while Morgan County saw 208 Co-Mo Electric Cooperative customers without power and Camden County had 83 households without power, nearly all of which were Southwest Electric consumers.

Benton County had 159 customers without power, nearly all of which were for Southwest Electric.

Ameren’s outage map showed there were 125 consumers in Gasconade County without power, while the AMEC map showed 97 Three Rivers Electric customers did not have power and 14 Crawford Electric customers were experiencing an outage.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boonville man is accused of breaking into a Rolla apartment and threatening to kill two people on Sunday morning.

Shawn Allen, 27, is charged in Phelps County with first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. He is being held at the Phelps County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

The probable cause statement says police were called just after 3 a.m. Sunday for a reported burglary. Allen allegedly woke up the victims by pounding on their apartment door while “flashing a gun he had concealed in his waistband,” the statement says.

Allen allegedly kicked in the door and pointed a gun at the two victims, the statement says. Police wrote that Allen nodded “yes,” when they asked him if he was going to kill the victims.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Medical Examiner is set to perform an autopsy Tuesday on a body found in Perche Creek, an MU Health Care spokesman confirmed on Monday.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body Sunday night. The body was allegedly found altered suspiciously and in a decomposing state inside a container. The container was found by fishermen in the area after they saw it floating in the water.

Jason West, a City of Columbia Utilities spokesman, confirmed with ABC 17 News on Monday the container was a City of Columbia roll cart. The Solid Waste division is also working with investigators on where the cart was registered.

“Those [roll carts] are registered to a residence, they are not registered to customers, so we are able to look up and see what address that roll cart is associated with,” West said.

Nearly 38,000 carts are currently being used in the city. According to the city’s website, carts will have barcodes assigned to a specific address and a missing or stolen cart will be brought back to its assigned location if reported.

“There are occasions where carts go missing, especially if there might be a transfer of residence. Someone moving in, a resident takes their roll cart, not knowing that it’s supposed to stay at that address,” West said. “We have had a few where they’ve kind of disappeared all of a sudden.”

West adds that this is a first-time occurrence for the city.

“We have had reports of people decorating their roll carts or roll carts getting damaged, but this is the first one,” West said.

Capt. Brian Leer with the Boone County Sheriff’s office told ABC 17 News that investigators have not been reported at the scene today. However, officials may return to the area as the investigation continues. He adds that with current weather conditions, investigations may be affected by changing water levels.

The department has also not yet released any suspects related to the investigation.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Moberly man is in custody after officials claim he helped a woman accused of murder escape from law enforcement custody.

Skyler Powell, 24, is charged with hindering the prosecution of a felony in Randolph County. He is accused of helping hide Alayna Mason after she allegedly stole a Randolph County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle.

Powell is being held at the Randolph County Jail without bond. He was booked into the jail on Saturday and charges appeared on Monday. He appeared for an arraignment on Monday afternoon and is due back in court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday for a bond hearing.

Powell was allegedly an “overnight guest” at Mason’s residence on May 7, court documents say. The probable cause statement says Mason told him that she stole a patrol vehicle and Powell “permitted” Mason to hide herself in the basement of the building. He also allegedly cut Mason’s handcuffs.

Mason is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in the death of 16-year-old Kayla Huff. She is also charged with stealing a vehicle, stealing a gun and escaping confinement in the patrol vehicle theft case.

She will appear in court Monday afternoon along with Hunter Ames – who is also charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping – and Christopher Hull and Julian Mason, who are each charged with first-degree kidnapping and tampering with evidence.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 30-year-old Macks Creek woman died in a crash after her vehicle hydroplaned in Camden County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred in the eastbound lane of Highway 54, west of Route AA, according to the report.

The report says the woman’s 2017 Hyundai Sonata hydroplaned as it was heading westbound and started to spin. The vehicle crossed the centerline and hit a 1997 Chevrolet GMT – driven by a 39-year-old Roach man.

The Hyundia went off the left side of the road and hit a guardrail, the report says. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The report says she was wearing a seatbelt.

The man also wore a seatbelt and was brought to Lake Regional Hospital by ambulance, according to the report.

A 63-year-old Columbia man was also hurt in a separate weather-related crash Monday in Jefferson County.

According to the crash report the man was driving southbound on Highway 55, north of Imperial Main street when his car began sliding on the wet roadway, traveled off the left side of the road and struck the concrete median barrier. When he returned to the road, he collided slightly with another car causing him to travel off the right side of the road and hit a fence.

Dobbs Tire and Auto Centers reports the best way to avoid hydroplaning is to first make sure the car tires are properly inflated and that the tire tread is not thin or bare. After getting on the road take it slow, keep the cruis control off and avoid driving through puddles or standing water.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Power is being restored in Mid-Missouri Monday morning after storms rolled through.

According to the City of Columbia’s outage map, nearly 1,800 customers are without power due to six electrical incidents.

This is an improvement from earlier Monday morning, when more than 3,700 customers were without power due to seven power incidents across the city.

More than 1,300 customers are without power on the west side of town in the area of Scott Blvd.

86 customers are without power in the Ridgemont Dr. area, and 26 customers are affected by an outage near Red Oak Lane. An outage by Canterbury Dr. has 57 customers in the dark.

Two more outages reported near S. Providence Rd and E. El Cortez Dr. have nearly 200 customers in the dark.

Downed trees and tree limbs in Boone County have been reported on Rock Quarry Road and E. Gans Road and W. Gillepsie Road at S. Coats Lane, according to alerts from Boone County Joint Communications.

According to Matt Nestor with City of Columbia Utilities, two of the outages are due to trees falling onto power lines. Nestor says crews are working to get them fixed.

According to the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives’ outage map, 581 customers have no power in Miller County. 389 customers in Gasconade are powerless, 299 customers have no power in Osage County and 163 customers in Cole County are without power.

Around 100 customers are without power in Camden and Benton Counties.

Less than 20 outages are being reported in Callaway, Howard, Phelps, Pulaski, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery and Morgan Counties.

It is unclear when power will be fully restored.

This is a developing story.

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Matthew Sanders

The hantavirus outbreak among members of a cruise ship has garnered extensive coverage from national and international media.

Health officials continue to identify more cases from the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius. The latest came this weekend, when a Canadian passenger tested positive for the virus. Three people have died so far and dozens across the United States, including in Kansas, are being monitored for symptoms.

Experts say the public shouldn’t be too worried about hantavirus right now, but should keep alert to the latest developments related to the outbreak.

Do you think the outbreak is getting the right amount of attention, or is there too much focus on it? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Alison Patton

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Parents within the Moberly School District are starting a memorial scholarship for Kayla Huff, who was found dead in a wooded area after she had been missing for a week.

Moberly School Board Vice President Heather Cleavinger and parent Michelle Tindle started the scholarship fund.

“A lot of parents and kids came to me and said ‘Hey, we want to do something. We feel helpless. We want to keep her memory alive,'” Cleavinger said.

The scholarship will be awarded to a student from Huff’s class in 2028, Cleavinger said. While the scholarship is still in the early stages, the goal is to award at least $1,000, and as of Sunday evening, about $330 have already been collected.

Huff, 16, was a virtual student with the Moberly School District. She was in her sophomore year of school and her best friend, Kaidence Tiger, said Huff would be proud.

“She was really well known, and just the community coming together and doing this for her is just–I think she would really like it,” Tiger said.

Tindle and Cleavinger said there were many ideas to remember Huff, like a bench, but the scholarship won overall.

“I just think that the best thing we can do for our kids is educate them,” Tindle said. “What’s more important than educating them with, you know, helping with a scholarship to get them educated? And hopefully this brings more awareness and keeps her memory alive.”

Huff went missing on May 6, and her body was found a week later in the Rudolph Bennitt Conservation Area. Four adults have been charged in connection with her disappearance, including Alayna Mason and Hunter Ames, who face felony murder charges among others.

Jessie Dunwoody said she works with Huff’s mom, Renee Huff, and would often see Kayla. Dunwoody said she saw Huff just days before she went missing.

“I just told her [Huff] ‘See you soon, beautiful,’ and, yes, it’s [the scholarship] in honor of her,” Dunwoody said.

The Moberly community has come together in the days of Huff’s disappearance and death, with volunteers searching the conservation area; the Huff family’s church holding space for grief through mental health days and a vigil; and now the scholarship.

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