Category: kmiz-local-news

Melissa Houston

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

With the FIFA World Cup taking place in Kansas City, Columbia was described by some as being a “satellite city” as games occur within the state.

However, local restaurants are not seeing it affect their business as they originally anticipated.

With local bars and restaurants participating in “Kick it in COMO,” a citywide effort to bring the community together to celebrate the World Cup.

The Heidelberg, a popular downtown restaurant, has seen a slight bump in customer traffic compared to the typically slow summers, but it still sees empty chairs during some games.

“It’s summertime; we’re on campus, so it’s not usually a busy time of the year,” said Richard Walls, co-owner of the Heidelberg. “It’s a great time to come visit with extra parking and fewer people out, but you know, there has been some impact.”

Walls said the USA games are bringing in the most traction for his restaurant, and the business has also seen some decent turnouts for Germany, the team it chose to “adopt” for the tournament. Seven businesses were assigned a World Cup team for the “adopt a team” initiative.

“We did have a Germany vs. Ivory Coast game,” Walls said. “We had fans from both sides watching, which was fun. It wasn’t, wasn’t a huge crowd but, there was extra seating. People enjoyed it, they had a good time”

Even with less-than-expected traction, Walls said there is still some for more interest in the matches as the World Cup progresses.

“It’ll be interesting to see as the US and the games get more interesting as we get them in the Round of 32, Round of 16, and on down. So I think there’ll be some, hopefully some growth in the interest,” Walls said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Fulton man was charged on Wednesday with multiple child sex crimes.

Justin Stegeman, 33, was charged in Callaway County with sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 15 years old, fourth-degree child molestation and second-degree statutory rape. He is being held at the Callaway County Jail without bond. A bond hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

The probable cause statement says the victim spoke with police at Capital Region Medical Center on June 19 while a sexual assault exam was being conducted. The victim was allegedly assaulted on June 12 and June 18 at Stegeman’s residence, the statement says.

Stegeman allegedly first exposed himself to the youth on June 12 in a pool before attempting to rape them, the statement says. Stegeman allegedly “apologized” to the victim, court documents allege.

Stegeman had called the victim’s parent on June 18 to ask if they would head over to his residence to swim again and claimed his children would be there, the statement says. When the victim arrived, Stegeman’s children were not there, the statement says.

Stegeman allegedly then raped the youth after swimming, court documents say. The child texted their parent to pick them up, but Stegeman drove the victim back to just short of their residence. The parent noted Stegeman “dropped V1 off at the top of the road which was strange,” the probable cause statement says.

Law enforcement interviewed Stegeman on June 24 and he allegedly admitted to inappropriately touching the youth on June 12 and apologized for the June 18 incident, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two women from Higbee were seriously injured in a crash on Monday afternoon on Route A in Howard County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says one of the women drove a 2024 Honda SXS700M Side-By-Side northbound when the UTV went off the right side of the road, overturned and hit a tree.

Both women were bought to University Hospital in Columbia by ambulance. Neither woman wore a safety device in the vehicle, the report says.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 29-year-old Rolla woman died in a crash on Sunday in the 21000 block of Route J in Phelps County, according to a Missouri State Highway crash report.

The report says the crash occurred when a 2005 Toyota Camry – driven by a 21-year-old Rolla man – was heading southbound when it went off the right side of the road.

The driver overcorrected, causing the vehicle to go off the left side of the road, the report says. The driver overcorrected again and went off the right side of the road, causing the Toyota to hit a fence and tree, the report says.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:40 p.m. by the Phelps County Coroner, the report says. Neither person in the vehicle wore a seatbelt, according to the report.

The man had serious injuries and was brought to Phelps Health in Rolla by ambulance, according to the report. The woman’s body was brought to Rolla Cremation and Memorial.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Phelps County coroner announced in a Monday social media post that a car that was left running in a garage on June 19 led to the deaths of five people.

Four men and a woman were found dead that day in a home in the 11000 block of Village Circle in Rolla, the post says.

“Autopsies and toxicology’s have been completed and we are waiting on those results. We know there has been a lot of rumors out about this tragic event, we can say yes there was a car left running in the garage, which was the source of the carbon monoxide, yes, there is 4 males and one female all adults, these are the facts, all other information that has been put out is simply not true,” Monday’s social media post says.

Another person was critically injured, someone in the other side of the duplex had moderate injuries and a deputy was exposed to carbon monoxide, according to previous reporting.

Monday’s post says three of the victims were Honduran nationals, one was a Mexican national and another was a Guatemalan national. Four of the victims’ bodies are being transported to their original country and the coroner’s office wrote it is “working diligently to make sure the final victim’s disposition, and destination is achieved appropriately and expediently as possible.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 69-year-old Columbia man died from injuries he suffered in a crash on Saturday afternoon, the Columbia Police Department announced in a Monday social media post.

The post says Elbert Allen was driving east on Interstate 70 at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when he crashed his vehicle into a guardrail near the 123-mile marker, which is just west of the Stadium Boulevard exit.

Allen was brought to an area hospital in critical condition, but later died from his injuries, police wrote.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former University of Missouri student who was accused of strangling a victim at a residence hall last year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Maxwell Warren, 19, of Overland Park, Kansas, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of second-degree domestic assault and one count of fourth-degree domestic assault. He is currently being held at the Boone County Jail.

He was originally charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree domestic assault, first-degree domestic assault and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.

He pleaded guilty to strangling the victim in their dorm room in September after they had blocked him on Snapchat. He had also allegedly assaulted the victim in October 2025. A witness also reported seeing Warren assaulting a woman near the parking garage on Virginia Avenue.

Warren was subsequently banned from campus after he was charged in November.

Warren had prior criminal charges in Kansas as a juvenile, which included making a criminal threat and violating an order of protection.  

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Deputies in eastern Missouri arrested a man Sunday in connection with the 2019 discovery of human remains on the banks of the Gasconade River.

The Gasconade County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that Jefferson County, Missouri, deputies arrested Daniel W. Russell of High Ridge, Missouri, on Sunday on suspicion of first-degree murder, abandoning a corpse and evidence tampering.

The remains were found in a plastic barrel lodged next to a boat ramp at the river access in Gasconade, a few months after Michael A. Graham of Georgia was reported missing. Investigators later confirmed the remains were those of Graham.

“After taking office and recognizing that the investigation had become stagnant, I directed members of the Sheriff’s Office to conduct a comprehensive review of the cold case,” Sheriff Scott Eiler wrote in the Facebook post. “Through renewed investigative efforts and continued collaboration, investigators were able to develop additional evidence.”

The post doesn’t elaborate on the nature of the new evidence.

Russell was being held Monday at the Franklin County Detention Center without bond, the post states.

Information about Russell’s charges was not yet available in online court records Monday afternoon.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An Audrain County man was charged over the weekend with seven felonies, including first-degree assault, after three people were injured with a knife in a bar fight.

Robert H. LeCoque, 37, of Benton City, is accused of stabbing three people early Sunday after climbing onto a stage where a band was performing in a bar, according to a probable cause statement. The statement doesn’t identify the bar, but a Mexico Department of Public Safety news release stated the bar was in the 100 block of South Jefferson Street.

Police Chief Brice Mesko declined to disclose the name of the business. The owners have been cooperating with the investigation, Mesko said.

LeCoque was charged with three counts apiece of first-degree assault and armed criminal action and a single count of unlawful use of a weapon. His first court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday morning.

One victim suffered two stab wounds to the chest and two to other areas of the body, the statement says. The victim suffered internal bleeding and needed emergency surgery.

The two other victims had knife wounds to their hands and legs. All of the victims told police that LeCoque started a fight with them, according to the statement.

Multiple witnesses corroborated the victims’ story, the statement says. Officers later found the knife behind a dumpster outside the bar, and surveillance video showed the stabbing, according to the statement.

LeCoque reportedly contacted the Audrain County Justice Center and reported he had been in a fight at the bar and accidentally stabbed his friend. Police found him about a mile from the bar.

LeCoque allegedly told police that he swung the knife in self-defense.

He remained in the Audrain County Jail without bond on Monday.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been updated to reflect the passenger was a woman and has been pronounced dead.

A woman from Laquey died and a man suffered injuries in a motorcycle crash in Camden County on Sunday night.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 48-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man were heading eastbound on Route A near Rainwater Drive on a 2010 Harley-Davidson Ultra Glide just before 10 p.m. Sunday.

Online records state the crash happened when a deer traveled in front of the motorcycle, causing both riders to be thrown.

The 48-year-old passenger suffered serious injuries and was flown to University Hospital, and was pronounced dead. The 50-year-old driver had moderate injuries and was taken to Lake Regional Hospital by Mercy Ambulance.

Neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, according to online crash reports.

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