Category: kmiz-local-news

Olivia Hayes

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the ballot for Columbia’s Ward 4 seat is Ryan King, Dave Sorrell and Sharon Jones.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

OLIVIA HAYES: We’re here with Ward 4 city council candidate Sharon Jones. Sharon, thank you for joining me today.

SHARON JONES: Thank you, it’s a pleasure.

HAYES: So we’ll start with, what is your history with Columbia? Tell me about that.

JONES: I moved here from Springfield, Missouri, when I went to college in, uh, Fayette, Missouri, which is just north of here, Central Methodist University, and as I was graduating out of there, my then boyfriend and now husband and I moved here to Columbia. So we’ve been here in Columbia full-time since about 2000.

HAYES: And what made you decide to run for this seat?

JONES: I have been on planning and zoning for about 6 years. I got interested in the planning and development because I watched Columbia grow up, and since Nick Foster was leaving, I had some people reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, you’re chair of planning and zoning. Would you like to be on city council? We’d love to support you.’ So I thought it sounded like a great way to continue my service to the community.

HAYES: When we spoke to Nick Foster shortly after his resignation announcement, he said that whoever took over the seat, he wanted them to match the same ideals that he had. Is there anything that you plan to pick up where Nick Foster left off and keep the ball rolling on?

JONES: We’ve talked a lot over the years, Nick and I, about the short-term rental ordinances and the long-range planning documents that the city is getting ready to do, and I hope that I can take some of what I’ve learned from him and the collaboration we’ve done and move that forward in my own way, uh, as we do these long-range plans.

HAYES: What do you think is the biggest challenge currently facing Ward 4?

JONES: I think the biggest challenge we have in Ward 4, because it moves all the way out to the west, almost into the county, or frankly into the county, I think our biggest challenge is that sort of western edge of the community and getting services out there. Getting utilities out there, getting infrastructure, like good quality roads all the way out as we sprawl that way.

HAYES: And you previously shared that you plan to continue your work life as a lobbyist. How do you plan to balance those responsibilities with the work for responsibilities that you would kind of take under your belt if you were to be elected?

JONES: Yes, so being a lobbyist or really it’s advocacy that I do is very interesting because it’s all sort of concentrated while the legislature is in session, and then when they’re not in session I have a lot more flexibility to work from home or from Goldie’s, which has become a habit of mine, or you know, take a day off and go and have meetings so I think it’s going to work really well. I also have a great team of employees in both of the businesses that I own who can manage things day to day if I need to step back, so I can do more city council work.

HAYES: Definitely, it’s good to have a support system behind you. Is there anything else that you want the ward for voters to know about you?

JONES: I think it’s really important to know that I come at everything from the same frame that I come at my work from, which is I am here to make sure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity. That they have a workplace where they can feel safe and respected, that they have a home where they can feel safe and proud of their community that they live in, so I really want to make sure that I’m making Columbia work for everyone.

HAYES: Alright, well thank you so much for sharing that with us and thank you for joining us. Again, we have Ward 4 city council candidate Sharon Jones.

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Olivia Hayes

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the ballot for Columbia’s Ward 4 seat is Ryan King, Dave Sorrell and Sharon Jones.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

OLIVIA HAYES: Today, I am here with Columbia City Council Ward 4 candidate Ryan King. Ryan, thank you for joining me today.

RYAN KING: Thank you, Olivia. Happy to be here.

HAYES: So just to start, tell me about your history with Columbia. You can talk about your personal history, work history, whatever you want to include.

KING: Sure, yeah. So I moved here in 2019. My wife is getting her PhD, and I’ve been involved a lot in the community. So I’m a board member of Columbia Track Club, community wellness is really important to me, parks and community wellness, and we’re a nonprofit. So I joined that, I’m on the board, and I even have my own race that I direct each year.

Also within the community, I’m on the Housing and Community Development commission, so we work a lot with affordable housing and some other things. We make recommendations to the city council. So, I’ve been pretty heavily involved with the community since I moved here.

HAYES: What made you decide to run for this seat?

KING: Well, I just feel that my ideas, if implemented, would make a big difference in the lives of Columbia’s residents. So, I’m a pretty independent voice. I don’t have a lot of political connections, and my career has been based in public service and community service. So I want to make Columbia’s neighborhoods stronger through fiscal responsibility, infrastructure, also access to parks and trails, and we also need to focus on affordable housing to make sure that, you know, young families especially are able to live in Columbia and enjoy all the great things about it.

HAYES: Explain what you mentioned about physical responsibility? What does that mean to you?

KING: Oh, fiscal responsibility, sorry about that. Yeah, so Columbia, we’ve been running a deficit in the millions like the last year, especially. So we just need to … we have a rainy day fund, we have a reserve fund, but you know, we need to make sure that things are balanced. We need to make sure our spending is deliberate and that what we’re spending money on is things that we actually need, so essential services and things like that. We, we just have to make sure that things are in balance.

HAYES: And what do you think is the biggest problem currently facing Ward 4?

KING: Currently facing Ward 4? I think infrastructure is a big one. I mean there are some infrastructure projects that were approved by voters in 2015, and they still haven’t been completed, so we just have tens of millions of dollars sitting in escrow. If you think about what’s happened since 2015, the rate of inflation. I don’t even know if we have enough money from those bonds to pay for these projects anymore, so we just need to be deliberate about completing infrastructure projects because they said that these lines were needed in 2006. We just need to make sure, for the future and for everyone who currently lives there, that we complete projects like this.

HAYES: Yeah, I know we’re seeing a little bit of that issue in some Ward 5 projects like the water tower situation. It’s gone up tremendously to actually do it.

KING: Right, and water especially, it’s all connected, you know. So things in Ward 5 could also impact Ward 4, and I think we’re seeing that and there’s like a proposed ordinance saying when we can and cannot water our lawns, so infrastructure is very important, and it makes a big difference in our lives.

HAYES: Definitely, and when we spoke with Nick Foster around the time of his resignation announcement, he said he wanted whoever took over the seat to kind of match his same ideals. Is there anything from the work that Nick Foster did that you would like to continue and kind of pick up where he left off?

KING: Sure, well, I’m really big on community. I already mentioned affordable housing, but on the, on the Housing and Community Development Commission, we hear a lot of proposals from nonprofits, and there’s a lot of great work being done on affordable housing, like Habitat for Humanity building a whole neighborhood, but some other things I’d like to emphasize are multi-family. Like, especially if we have empty lots in certain areas of Columbia, I’d like to try to … incentivize multi-family and you know, try to get some, some housing on these lots because with multi-family, you know, what’s better than, than one unit? You know, two units, three units. Let’s increase the supply and try to get some more housing out there for people.

HAYES: I know that two of your other candidates, or the two other candidates that you’re running against, they have some involvement in the City of Columbia government. Sharon Jones is on the Planning and Zoning, Dave Sorrell has a long history with Columbia Utilities. I know that you are on some committees through the city as well. How do you think, given your guys’ involvement across the board in the city, what do you think sets you apart as a candidate from the other two?

KING: So I’m on the Housing and Community Development Commission, but the big thing for me is my public service and community service. So I’m an attorney, I’ve worked in social services for the last 14 years. I’m also in the Army Reserve. I’m a judge advocate, and as I mentioned before, I’m on the board of Columbia Track Club. So I have all these, all this diverse experience, and I think that would serve me well in serving a diverse group of people like we have in Ward 4.

HAYES: It sounds like you serve the community with everything you’re a part of, but you’re also a part of it at the same time.

KING: Yes, yeah, the things I care about I like to get directly involved, and that’s a big reason why I decided to run for, run for this office.

HAYES: Definitely. Well, is there anything else that you want the ward for voters to know about you?

KING: Well, I’m big on community well-being, and parks are really important to me. I feel like one of the great things about Columbia, of Columbia’s character, are our parks and forests, and I think access to parks is a big thing. We need to make sure that as Columbia grows, that parks and trails are at the center of our neighborhoods and not big box retail development. You know we want to avoid sprawl. We want to keep Columbia, you know, the way that it is … with access to parks, so.

HAYES: It’s good scenery.

KING: Yeah, they’re very much at the center of the, like the life of my family. We walk there, we bike there, we picnic there, we meet people who we would never meet, you know, just walking through the parks, and it’s something that everyone should be able to experience.

HAYES: Definitely. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today.

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Olivia Hayes

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the ballot for Columbia’s Ward 4 seat is Ryan King, Dave Sorrell and Sharon Jones.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

OLIVIA HAYES: We’re sitting down right now with Columbia Ward 4 candidate Dave Sorrell. Thank you for joining us today.

DAVE SORRELL: Thank you for having me.

HAYES: Yeah, so I’ll just start with, tell me about your history with Columbia, whatever you wanna talk about.

SORRELL: Well, I’ve lived here for 39 years, and my wife Dee and I have raised three children here; they’re all grown. Two of them are still in town, they’re attending the university. I served this community, I have the privilege of serving the community as a city employee for 24 years. I started out as an engineer in public works, had several different positions, and retired last year as director of utilities. So I’m very familiar with how the city operates. I know all the processes, and I had a lot of good opportunities to work on a lot of good projects during that time.

HAYES: So you’ve lived in Ward 4 then your entire time here?

SORRELL: Not my entire time, but for the last 28 years, 29 years.

HAYES: And what made you decide to run for this seat when it opened up?

SORRELL: Well, like I said, I retired last year, but my commitment to public service didn’t end when I retired, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to continue to provide service. I think I could help the city get its focus back on the basic functions, which would include strong public safety, infrastructure, planning for growth, wise use of our financial resources and accountability to the ratepayers and taxpayers.

HAYES: And what do you think is the biggest problem facing Ward 4 right now? Or problems if you had multiple?

SORRELL: Well, I think it’s really, I think we need to get our focus, like I said, back to the basics, the fundamentals, and focus on those as our highest priorities, and that’s public safety, infrastructure, planning for growth, financial management.

HAYES: When we spoke with Nick Foster after his resignation announcement, one thing he expressed to us is he hopes whoever takes over the role has the same ideals as he had. Is there anything from the work that Nick Foster did that you keep, you plan to keep the ball rolling on if you were to be elected?

SORRELL: Not necessarily. Like I said, I’m, I wanna focus on the fundamentals and get back to good government that doesn’t have politics involved in decisions.

HAYES: And after your candidacy was announced, you faced some criticism from one of Columbia’s former mayors over your time with the Columbia Utilities department, specifically, unfinished projects was one of the things he touched on. I know you responded at that time to Mayor Treece, but for any Ward 4 voters still a bit unsure about who they’re casting their ballot for, what do you have to say about this?

SORRELL: I think if you go back and look at the history of the projects that were mentioned, most of those were not approved by previous elected officials. Uh, the staff doesn’t hold the purse strings. We can’t appropriate funds, and we can’t approve projects; we can only request. So it was not for lack of effort.

HAYES: Is there anything else that you want the voters of Ward 4 to know about you?

SORRELL: I don’t think so.

HAYES: Well, thank you so much for joining us.

SORRELL: All right, thank you.

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Olivia Hayes

ABC 17 News has interviewed candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the ballot for Columbia’s Ward 4 seat are Ryan King, Dave Sorrell and Sharon Jones.

FULL INTERVIEW LINKS: Ryan King – Dave Sorrell – Sharon Jones

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

When Columbia’s former Ward 4 Councilman Nick Foster announced his resignation in May, he was just over a year into his new term.

Foster has been on the council since 2022 and was re-elected April 2025. Around 21,000 Columbians reside in Ward 4.

The turnaround to get his seat filled has been quick, with little time to campaign before August elections, but the three candidates looking to fill his seat all say they are qualified.

Dave Sorrell, Ryan King and Sharon Jones will face off Aug. 4 in a special election that coincides with the statewide primary. Sorrell and Jones have spent decades in the city, while King moved to the area in 2019.

Sorrell was a city employee for 24 years, starting as an engineer in public works and holding several other positions before retiring last year as Director of Columbia Utilities. He’s lived in Columbia for 39 years and in Ward 4 for 29 years.

Sorrell said setting focus back to “the basics and fundamentals” is the biggest hurdle facing Ward 4.

“I want to focus on the fundamentals and get back to good government that doesn’t have politics involved in decisions,” Sorrell said.

Sorrell said he wanted to run for the seat when it opened because his commitment to public service didn’t end when he retired.

“I think I could help the city get its focus back on the basic functions,” Sorrell said. “Strong public safety infrastructure, planning for growth, wise use of our financial resources and accountability to the ratepayers and taxpayers.”

Former Mayor Brian Treece criticized Sorrell on ABC 17 News’ Facebook page in May, questioning Sorrell’s time as utilities director and citing delayed or unfinished projects. The two worked together for six years when Treece was mayor.

“Before asking voters to entrust him with another public role, residents deserve a clear explanation for why so many of these long-promised improvements remain incomplete,” a portion of Treece’s comment says.

Sorrell attributed the problem to previous elected officials.

“The staff doesn’t hold the purse strings. We can’t appropriate funds, and we can’t approve projects; we can only request, and so it was not for lack of effort,” Sorrell said.

Campaign finance documents released July 15 show Treece donated $200 to the campaign of Sorrell’s opponent Sharon Jones.

However, Sorrell’s campaign, Neighbors for Dave Sorrell, received financial support from some of his former coworkers, iIncluding $1,041 from City of Columbia HR specialist Jeanne Locklear and $208 from City of Columbia civil engineer Lindsey Cook. In total, Sorrell has raised $15,041.

Jones has lived in Columbia since 2000. She has served on Columbia’s Planning and Zoning Commission since 2020 and is now chair of the commission.

Jones said getting sufficient services out to the ward’s western edge is the biggest challenge facing the district.

“Getting utilities out there, getting infrastructure like good quality roads all the way out as we sprawl that way,” Jones said.

Jones said she decided to run for the seat after motivation from people in the community following Foster’s announcement.

“I had some people reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, you’re Chair of Planning and Zoning. Would you like to be on City Council? We’d love to support you.’ So I thought it sounded like a great way to continue my service to the community,” Jones said.

Jones works in Jefferson City part of the year as a lobbyist for civil-rights groups, Missouri voters and LGBTQ+ rights through her Jone Advocacy Group. Jones said she isn’t worried about the job taking away from the duties she would have to Ward 4 residents.

“It’s all sort of concentrated while the legislature is in session, and then when they’re not in session, I have a lot more flexibility,” Jones said. “I also have a great team of employees, in both of the businesses that I own, who can manage things day to day if I need to step back so I can do more city council work.”

Jones said she wants to make Columbia work for everyone.

“I am here to make sure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity, that they have a workplace where they can feel safe and respected, that they have a home where they can feel safe and proud of their community that they live in,” Jones said.

King described himself as an independent voice looking to make Columbia’s neighborhoods stronger.

“Through fiscal responsibility, infrastructure, also access to parks and trails,” King said. “We also need to focus on affordable housing, to make sure that young families, especially, are able to live in Columbia and enjoy all the great things about it.”

King said infrastructure is the biggest problem facing Ward 4.

“There are some infrastructure projects that were approved by voters in 2015, and they still need to be completed. I don’t even know if we have enough money from those bonds to pay for these projects anymore,” King said.

He also touched on the city’s financial situation and the need to balance the budget, as years of waning tax revenue have created ongoing deficits.

“We’ve been running a deficit in the millions, like the last year especially,” King said. “We need to make sure our spending is deliberate and that what we’re spending money on is things that we actually need.”

King proposed incentivizing multi-family housing to create more affordable options in the city.

He is a member of the city’s Housing and Community Development Commission and part of the board for the Columbia Track Club.

Along with his community involvement, King is a social services attorney and a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve. He called his life experience diverse and believes it will benefit him if elected.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cases of cyclosporiasis, a diarrhea-causing foodborne illness, are on the rise in Missouri, with cases in Mid-Missouri increasing over the weekend, and the cause of the outbreak is still unknown.

The Columbia/Boone County Health Department reported 37 cases of cyclosporiasis as of Monday, which is seven more since Friday.

The Cole County Health Department reported five cases of the parasite Monday, after choosing not to provide the case counts Thursday because it was smaller and releasing that information could identify the sick person.

Statewide cases have increased fivefold over the past week. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports 216 cases total for 2026 after reporting just 43 cases as of last week.

DHSS epidemiologist Nathan Koffarnus said cases could continue to rise because symptoms, on average, take a week to come on. He also said people are getting tested more often for cyclosporiasis because it’s being talked about so often.

Health officials are still investigating the cause after the FDA issued a “false positive” statement on Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce Sunday.

Taylor Farms also issued a statement, saying the FDA apologized for the confusion. Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled iceberg lettuce products.

Koffarnus said that the recall is still in effect and people should avoid eating those products. He added that the FDA is still investigating Taylor Farms as the possible contaminant.

“These are very targeted investigations, and so they would not have been at that producer in the first place if there wasn’t some really solid epidemiological data that kind of pointed them in that direction,” Koffarnus said.

The University of Missouri said last week that it has pulled iceberg lettuce from its dining halls in response to a recall.

The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri spokesperson, Katie Adkins, said the food bank’s supply was spared from any known voluntary recalls, but partner agencies could have some items.

“We’ve asked our partner agencies to review their inventories and let us know if they have any affected Taylor Farms products,” Adkins wrote in an email to ABC 17 News.

Walmart also took four bagged lettuce bags branded as Marketside off shelves in 27 states, including Missouri, according to a statement from the company.

“Although there is no indication that products sold in our stores are affected by the current Cyclospora investigations,” spokesperson Rachel Simmons said in an email. “There have been no confirmed illnesses associated with these products at this time. We are working closely with our supplier and took immediate steps to remove the products from sale.”

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Randolph County man was charged with five felonies, including assault a law enforcement officer, after a deputy shot him during a confrontation at a mobile home park last week.

Thomas D. Crewse Jr., 36, was shot by a deputy after he pointed a gun at law enforcement officers Friday at Tallman’s Trailer Court in Huntsville, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Prosecutors charged him Monday with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of resisting arrest.

Deputies were sent to the trailer park at about 8 a.m. Friday after the landlord complained of a person illegally staying on a lot. Crewse came out of a fifth-wheel camper on the lot with a long gun pointed at an officer, who then shot Crewse, according to a probable cause statement.

Deputies gave Crewse medical aid after forcing him to the ground and handcuffing him, according to the statement.

A no-bond warrant has been issued for Crewse’s arrest. He was hospitalized after the shooting.

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Melissa Houston

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

The Boone County Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges against a Columbia man on Monday after a gun went off during a fight outside an apartment complex.

Lorenzo Toledo-Vara, 22, will remain in the Boone County Jail without bond after his hearing Monday.

The Columbia Police Department responded to a call around 2 a.m. Sunday of shots fired in the 10 block of Old Highway 63, outside Cliffside Manor apartments.

The probable cause statement states the 26-year-old victim was taken to the hospital with minor head injuries.

The victim told officers that Toledo had a gun and threatened to kill him, according to the statement. The victim allegedly told police that the gun went off as he and the victim were fighting, and he felt pain like a bar hitting him in the head and believed he had been shot.

However, the statement doesn’t explicitly say the victim’s wound was from a bullet.

Toledo told police that the victim had been “trolling” him and that the gun was fired accidentally during the struggle, according to the statement. A bullet hit the window of a vehicle when the gun went off.

Toledo is set to appear for his arraignment in court at 1 p.m. Monday.

Crimes against persons are seeing a slight downward trend, according to a graph from the Columbia Police Department.

It shows that from January to July 2025, 1,037 crimes have been reported, compared to 1,027 crimes so far this year.

At court on Monday, Lorenzo Toledo-Vara appeared via Zoom for his hearing. The judge went over his charges and said Toledo-Vara is facing up to 8 to 30 years in jail for the combined charges.

For felony assault, it is 5 to 15 years, and armed criminal action is 3 to 15 years.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson said a case like this could take a while because the investigation is still ongoing.

“And so in a case like this, it could be many months before we would be ready to move forward to trial,” Johnson said.

According to the probable cause documents, there was one charge Toledo-Vara did not officially get charged with in court. That charge was unlawful use of a weapon.

Johnson said that because there are many factors that go into a court investigation, the charges will get dropped and added as they begin to unveil evidence.

“In any case, the investigation continues while the cases pending and it’s very typical for charges to be amended or changed as the case goes forward,” Johnson said.

During the hearing, Toledo-Vara asked the Judge if it was possible to give him house arrest and court fines because he said it was his first time ever getting in trouble.

No motion was made to grant his request.

Toledo-Vara is filling out the application for a lawyer and will have a bond hearing to try and make changes on July 28 at 1 p.m.

Johnson said he noticed the decrease in crime rates this year and believes it is due to the combined efforts of agencies working to keep Columbia safe.

“I could say overall that I think you’ll see a continued decrease in violent crime as the number of police officers on the street goes up,” Johnson said. ” We’ve been successful in cooperating with our federal partners, especially  the Boon County Sheriff’s Department and Columbia Police Department, combining their efforts with federal agencies  to get some guns off of the street.”

Johnson expects to see a decline in crime rates as more police officers continue to patrol the streets.

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Gabrielle Teiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The 4200 block of St. Charles Road in Columbia shut down for a couple of hours Monday morning due to a crash.

According to a Facebook post from the Columbia Fire Department, crews are working on an extrication accident involving one person.

Photos posted show a large MACK truck lying on its driver’s side as firefighters work the crash. Columbia Police Department spokesperson Brian McNeill says it is a cement truck and was the only vehicle involved.

An ABC 17 News videographer attempted to get to the scene, but was met by the Columbia Police Department blocking the road off at both ends of the crash site.

The post asks drivers to avoid the area and use an alternate route to allow crews to work on cleaning up the crash.

A Boone County Joint Communications alert sent just before 7:30 a.m. states that one lane is closed in the 4712 block of St. Charles Rd. due to a motor vehicle collision. The road reopened about two hours later.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)The

The Jefferson City Council is set to meet Monday night to discuss the next steps in development projects around the city and Third Ward council seat nominations.

City leaders will meet at Jefferson City Hall at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss the conference center and hotel and its design, as well as a multi-family residential development project.

Council Members will discuss executing a Master Development Agreement Amendment and moving forward with a resolution to update the project development plan to reflect the design drawings and engineering considerations of the conference center and hotel. The hotel is set to have 215 rooms, a three-star restaurant, a lobby lounge & bar, a café/market, a terrace-level lounge with an outdoor patio, and a fitness center.

The conference center will have 9,860 square feet of dedicated meeting space, including a 14,250-square-foot Grand Ballroom, plus an additional 11,900 square feet of flexible event space, for a total of approximately 31,000 square feet of net conference center space, plus adequate support and back-of-house spaces. Parking Garage with 567 parking spaces, with an additional 52 parking spaces available on adjacent surface parking lots.

The resolution will also establish the final budget and schedule of the project.

City leaders will also discuss a funding agreement with a developer for a proposed 180-unit multifamily residential development project. The project would be located in the 3600 block of W. Edgewood Dr. The developer is required to make an initial deposit of $40,000 to the city to pay professional service expenses. The funding agreement requires no financial commitment by the city.

The council will go over nominations to fill the city’s Third Ward seat. According to city documents, the residents have submitted letters of interest: Susan Cook, Hal Dulle and James Spradlin.

The city looks to replace former councilman Derek Thomas, who resigned in June after he moved out of state due to medical issues affecting his family. The city plans to have a candidate forum on Aug. 3 and plans to appoint a new council member on Aug. 17.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A scam that makes people believe their loved ones are in danger using artificial intelligence has hit Boone County, and the sheriff’s office is warning people after a resident reported a call.

According to a Facebook post, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said the victim received a call Friday that showed their daughter’s contact name and number. The caller allegedly had the daughter’s voice and told the victim she had been kidnapped at gunpoint before another voice demanded money, essentially asking for a ransom.

“It was later determined the person they were speaking with was not the daughter but rather an AI generated voice that sounded like their daughter,” the post says.

A coordinated law enforcement response found the real daughter in Jefferson City, unaware of the scam.

The office said this is the first time a scam like this has happened in the county. People are urged to use caution should they encounter a similar situation.

“If you receive such a call, try to verify the loved one’s identity through questions to which only they would know the answer(s) or try to contact the person through other means, such as calling them from another phone,” the post says.

BCSO Captain Brian Leer said that this is the first time the department has encountered a call using AI voice impersonation.

Adding that scammers will often play on the emotions of people they are trying to scam.

“Scammers so often play on the emotions; they play on the emotions of people through fear, or you know panning. That’s the sad reality of these situations,” he said.

Leer said this type of scenario is not common in Boone County.

“Very rarely do we see a true what we call a swatting incident where they call in and say that something’s happening at a specific address or that a specific crime is in progress.

Adding that this call generated a large law enforcement response and attempted to extort someone.

“This did both. They generated a large response for a law enforcement agency trying to, you know, basically scare everybody and get everybody on edge, and then they try to extort and scam people,” he said.

When it comes to the investigation, Leer said these cases are difficult to solve.

“They are not able to be tracked back really well. They know that if they route things back through other countries and back into the United States, a lot of times it’s impossible to come back and pinpoint who it was,” he said.

Additionally, Leer believes that these types of scenarios will become more common as technology advances.

“Our detectives were already aware of this happening, and certainly in some jurisdictions, but this is the first time it’s happened locally. You know, as they were looking at it and researching it yesterday, they were able to find several other common scams, swatting incidents that were out there,” he said.

The Better Business Bureau suggests people have a safe word that they keep private to use in case an emergency happens. If a caller doesn’t use the safe word, then hang up and call the person directly.

People should also report any similar calls to local law enforcement. A suspect hasn’t been identified or arrested, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

The FBI reported Americans lost over $893 million to AI scams in 2025, and Missourians lost $233 million in total to all scams, including AI.

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