Tom Borck
Banned
Woman slain; unborn baby stolen
Friday, December 17, 2004
By ALYSON RALETZ, alysonraletz@npgco.com
A mother’s worst nightmare came true in Skidmore, Mo., Thursday afternoon.
An unknown individual entered the home of the Stinnetts — a couple married a little more than a year — and killed the 23-year-old wife, who was eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child, according to Nodaway Sheriff Bill Espey.
The unborn girl was cut out of the mother’s womb and taken from the house, Mr. Espey said.
“Someone was wanting a baby awful bad,” he said.
The mother of the victim found her inside the home, located on West Elm Street, and called police at 3:38 p.m.
Paramedics attempted to revive the victim and they transported her by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Mo. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“We’re looking into strangulation,” Mr. Espey said of the suspected cause of death. “… We know she was alive in the afternoon, within an hour of being found.”
Officials wouldn’t release the victim’s first name.
Bill Dragoo, who also lives on Elm Street, said the victim raised rat terrier dogs. A Bobbie Stinnett, who lived at 410 W. Elm St. in Skidmore, is listed on www.happyhavenfarms.com, as a breeder of rat terrier dogs. Another site, www.imageevent.com/happyhaven, states that Mrs. Stinnett worked at a four-wheeler manufacturer.
Mr. Espey said the victim worked at Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing in Maryville.
Mr. Espey said he had attempted to issue an AMBER Alert for the unborn baby, but was frustrated when he learned he couldn’t because the baby had not been born yet. He was told because there wasn’t a physical description of the baby available to release that an AMBER Alert wouldn’t be issued.
“I was told it didn’t meet the criteria because it was not a born baby,” he said. “I believe there is a live 8-month-old fetus out there we need to find.”
He requested that anyone with information surrounding a baby girl in the area that appeared to have been born this week, should call the Nodaway Sheriff’s Department at (660) 582-7451.
There were not any visible signs of struggle or forcible entry into the home, Mr. Espey said.
Authorities canvassed four blocks of Skidmore near the homicide. Neighbors hovered Wednesday night near the blocked-off crime scene, centered around a small, white, modest home that stood on a gravel road near the heart of town.
Christmas lights twinkled at virtually every house, except for the one deputies and police surrounded.
Authorities collected evidence and interviewed family members and neighbors.
But by late Wednesday night, they had exhausted all leads, Mr. Espey said.
They had, however, made one determination.
“The father is not a suspect,” Mr. Espey said.
Mr. Espey said the couple had no known enemies and was well-liked in the neighborhood.
“They stayed to themselves,” Mr. Dragoo said. “They didn’t bother anybody. It blows my mind that this happened. She was such a shy person. They didn’t deserve this.”
He said he had read in tabloid magazines of “this type of thing happening” to other people in other parts of the country.
“But not in Skidmore,” he said.
The state’s Major Case Squad, and Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H and Buchanan County investigation teams assisted Nodaway County deputies.
Mr. Espey said the victim’s body will be taken to the Jackson County medical examiner for an autopsy.
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Content © 2004 NPG Newspapers Inc. - St. Joseph News-Press
Software © 1998-2004 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved
Friday, December 17, 2004
By ALYSON RALETZ, alysonraletz@npgco.com
A mother’s worst nightmare came true in Skidmore, Mo., Thursday afternoon.
An unknown individual entered the home of the Stinnetts — a couple married a little more than a year — and killed the 23-year-old wife, who was eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child, according to Nodaway Sheriff Bill Espey.
The unborn girl was cut out of the mother’s womb and taken from the house, Mr. Espey said.
“Someone was wanting a baby awful bad,” he said.
The mother of the victim found her inside the home, located on West Elm Street, and called police at 3:38 p.m.
Paramedics attempted to revive the victim and they transported her by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Mo. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“We’re looking into strangulation,” Mr. Espey said of the suspected cause of death. “… We know she was alive in the afternoon, within an hour of being found.”
Officials wouldn’t release the victim’s first name.
Bill Dragoo, who also lives on Elm Street, said the victim raised rat terrier dogs. A Bobbie Stinnett, who lived at 410 W. Elm St. in Skidmore, is listed on www.happyhavenfarms.com, as a breeder of rat terrier dogs. Another site, www.imageevent.com/happyhaven, states that Mrs. Stinnett worked at a four-wheeler manufacturer.
Mr. Espey said the victim worked at Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing in Maryville.
Mr. Espey said he had attempted to issue an AMBER Alert for the unborn baby, but was frustrated when he learned he couldn’t because the baby had not been born yet. He was told because there wasn’t a physical description of the baby available to release that an AMBER Alert wouldn’t be issued.
“I was told it didn’t meet the criteria because it was not a born baby,” he said. “I believe there is a live 8-month-old fetus out there we need to find.”
He requested that anyone with information surrounding a baby girl in the area that appeared to have been born this week, should call the Nodaway Sheriff’s Department at (660) 582-7451.
There were not any visible signs of struggle or forcible entry into the home, Mr. Espey said.
Authorities canvassed four blocks of Skidmore near the homicide. Neighbors hovered Wednesday night near the blocked-off crime scene, centered around a small, white, modest home that stood on a gravel road near the heart of town.
Christmas lights twinkled at virtually every house, except for the one deputies and police surrounded.
Authorities collected evidence and interviewed family members and neighbors.
But by late Wednesday night, they had exhausted all leads, Mr. Espey said.
They had, however, made one determination.
“The father is not a suspect,” Mr. Espey said.
Mr. Espey said the couple had no known enemies and was well-liked in the neighborhood.
“They stayed to themselves,” Mr. Dragoo said. “They didn’t bother anybody. It blows my mind that this happened. She was such a shy person. They didn’t deserve this.”
He said he had read in tabloid magazines of “this type of thing happening” to other people in other parts of the country.
“But not in Skidmore,” he said.
The state’s Major Case Squad, and Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H and Buchanan County investigation teams assisted Nodaway County deputies.
Mr. Espey said the victim’s body will be taken to the Jackson County medical examiner for an autopsy.
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Content © 2004 NPG Newspapers Inc. - St. Joseph News-Press
Software © 1998-2004 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved
