Springfield Leader and Press from Springfield, Missouri • 7

Obituaries page 2 Entertainment pages 6-7 Comics page 8 Friday, April 20, 1984 Investigations into bodies produce few clues An autopsy conducted Thursday at St. John's Regional Health Center also failed to reveal whether the child, which still had its umbilical cord, was stillborn or simply abandoned at birth, Ayres said. "Decay and decomposition kept them from telling how well developed the child was," Ayres said. "We may never know anything more about that baby unless someone who knows where it came from feels like they want to talk with us." Detectives were checking records at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department for leads Ayres said. "If we can find someone who was receiving pre-natal care but stopped abruptly and can't account for their baby, we rrtay have a way of finding the mother," he said.

If the baby was stillborn, the person who abandoned it could be guilty of a misdemeanor offense for failing to report a death, Ayres said. "If the child was alive, it could be manslaughter," It is possible that the woman was poisoned, but the condition of the body may prevent forensics specialists from learning much from toxicological tests, Ayres said. Two rings removed from the woman's hands could give some good leads on the case, Ayres said. Police first reported that at least one ring was onihe body when it was recovered, but two rings were found during the autopsy, Ayres said. Springfield Crime Lab chemist Don Smith was to examine the rings today, he said.

Meanwhile, Ayres" said that even less is certain, about the identity of a newborn infant whose severely decomposed body was discovered in a vacant lot at 1324 N. National Ave. Thursday, police said the baby appeared to be a girl, but Ayres today said the remains were "badly, badly, badly decomposed," and the baby's sex and race could not be determined. By Chris Whitley 'The Leader Press Preliminary autopsy results have failed to show what caused the death of a woman whose nude, decomposed, body was found Wednesday in Fellows Lake, Detective Sgt. Walt Ayres said today.

"No signs of physical said. "No fractures, no entrance wounds, no signs of strangulation." "We still don't know positively who she is or how she died." he said. Also nearlystalled was an investigation into the death of a newborn hjBfcnt, police said. The baby's body was found in a vacant lot about an hour after the body in the lake was discovered, but the deathsare unrelated, police said. Dr.

Jay Dix, a forensic'pathologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, performed the autopsy on the woman's body Thursday afternooh in Columbia, Ayres said. Dix kept some tissue samples for possible toxicolo- logical exams and sent the body back to Springfield, Ayres said. Investigators say thety don't much more about the woman today than they did Wednesday, when two. fishermen found her body, wrapped with automotive jumper cables and anchored Jo' the bottom of the lake with a concrete block. Two slits had been made in the woman's heels, just behind the Achilles tendons.

The cables ran through the slits, through the cinder block, around the torso and were left in a loop around the neck, police said. Advanced decomposition and algae growth on the body made estimating the woman's age, height and weight difficult, Ayres said. "The autopsy indicated she had been in the water at least three months," he said. "But (Dix) couldn't say if she was alive when she went into the water or not. She may have been suffocated." Around the Ozarks The Auction Of ictals await John Gard examine? the ruins-of The Auction Barn, 3418-A W.

Division where a fire of suspicious origin was reported shortly after 5 a.m. today. Springfield Fire Department officials said the building, owned by Fay Layton, of 3418 W. Division was extensively damaged by the early morning" fire. An exact cause for the three-alarm blaze was not immediately known, but arson detectives planned to meet with Gard this afternoon and re-examine the damage, a fire department spokeswoman said.

Gard, who operated the business, valued his loss between $30,000 and $50,000. He said the contents of the building, including furniture, appliances and assorted auction merchandise, were not insured. Staff PhotoSandy Watson of bank-heist suspect Positive identification still has not been made of a 30-year-old man charged with one count of unarmed bank robbery in connection with a Springfield bank holdup Wednesday. The charge named "John Doe" because the suspect had refused to give his name, Assistant U. S.

Attorney David C. Jones said. Officials later discovered that the man's name is James Robert Day, but he will not be definitely identified until his fingerprint samples are checked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jones said. Day was carrying the identification of a person named Kenneth J. Day.

Day was arrested Wednesday when he left a plane in Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. Springfield police had questioned and released him shortly after the ErnFire Bank North, 2501 N. Kansas Expressway, was robbed Wednesday afternoon. Police said a man entered the bank, gave tellers a note asking for money and promised they would not be hurt if they cooperated.

The tellers then gave the man money. Jones said Day was being held in St. Louis and will be returned to Springfield on Monday or Tuesday to appear before a magistrate. TeleAuction nets $15,000 in night Public' television station KOZK, channel 21, raised $15,000 Thursday night during its annual Tele-auction. That brought the total raised during the two-week event to $138,000.

KOZK's goal is $200,000. Items to be auctioned tonight, the auction's final night, include a one-week sailboat cruise in the Virgin Islands, a diamond pendant, a Sanyo 128K computer, use of a Bass Pro party barge for the summer, a snow plow, a complete home entertainment center with VCR and stereo, a canoe, luggage, several weekend trips, a pony and lunch with Gov. Christopher S. Bond and his wife. Also for sale at midnight will be chances to throw a pie at Drury College professor Joe McAdoo.

Bids for the pie-throw are already up to $100. 'McRegistration Weekends set A series of "McRegistration Weekends" to register new voters at the six Springfield McDonald's restaurants will begin May 5, Greene County Clerk Roy Blunt said today. County residents will be able to register between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. each Saturday at any of the restaurants through Oct.

27. Blunt said in a news conference today at the fet -r-tfft Park board set to open bids on moving of historic house Plato man dies of car-wreck injuries An elderly Plato man died Thursday of injuries he suffered in a Texas County auto cation nearly two weeks ago, the Missouri State Highwafirol said. Lawrence C. Hutsell, 71, diea it 5:25 p.m. at Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston, the patrol said.

Hutsell was injured April 9 in an accident at Missouri 32 and Missouri 17 in Rcby, troopers said. The other driver, Evelyn S. Arms, 32, of Cabool, suffered arm injuries and a broken nose and was later released from the hospital. The patrol said the accident occurred when Hutsell's car got in the path of the Arms car and was hit in the left side. Meanwhile, a 25-year-old motorcycle rider was reported in critical condition today in intensive care at Cox Medical Center as the result of an accident Thursday night on Christian County Route CC about 4 miles northwest of Ozark.

Michael Shelton, of Springfield, suffered a severed foot and other injuries about 8 p.m. when his motorcycle was struck by a car driven by Larry Stephen Hurd, 32, of Nixa, the patrol said. The accident occurred when Hurd's vehicle crossed the center line and struck the cycle nearly head-on, troopers said. Shelton's cycle overturned in the road while Hurd's See WRECKS, Page 2B The house, believed to be about 130 years old. is considered historically and architecturally significant.

At one time, the structure was the home of John Polk Campbell, a nephew of the City's founder. Campbell bought the property in 1865. He was married to Sue Gray, the daughter of Elijah Gray, who had owned the property from 1845 to 1863. The house also is considered significant because of its ftcation on the Kickapoo Prairie. It is the only surviving pioneer-generation farmstead on the Kickapoo Prairie, as far as local historians have been able to determine.

The structure, which has been vacant for about 30 years, has been used for hay storage in recent years. Murder trial venue changed One of three men charged with capital murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a fellow Missouri state penitentiary inmate faces trial in Greene County on a change of venue. The case of Lloyd E. Schlup, 23, was moved to Greene County Circuit Court from Cole County. Also charged with the killing is Robert Earl O'Neal 22, a Joplin man who is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder from Greene County.

O'Neal's case was moved to Butler County. A third man, Rodnie Stewart, 25, faces trial in Cape Schlup, O'Neal and Stewart are accused of the Feb. 3 killing of Arthur Dade, 33. Dade was stabbed five times in the chest and once in the right arm with a homemade weapon after being released from his cell to eat his noon meal, earlier reports said. Circuit Judge Jack Appelquist has set the case for his next criminal jury session the week of May 21.

By Gloria Sunderman The Leader Press The city purchasing-department was scheduled to open bids this afternoon on a proposal to move the historic Gray-Campbell house in southwest Springfield. The house will be moved to Nathanael Greene Park on South Scenic Avenue. The successful bidder will have until Sept. 1 to complete the work. The structure, which is about 200 yards north of Missouri Highway (Republic Road), sits in the path of the proposed Kansas Expressway extension.

Kansas Expressway is being extended from Sunshine Street to Highway M. Only the main part of the house will be moved, Public Works Director Dave Snider said. A rear addition to the house will be torn down and the materials will be saved for possible restoration work, he said. The city will pay the moving costs as part of the right-of-way work for Kansas Expressway, Snider said. Local historic groups, however, will be responsible for the restoration work, he said.

Under an agreement with the Springfield Park Board, the historic groups will have 18 months to begin the restoration and an additional 18 months to complete the resto-" ration. Snider said. If the historic groups do not start the project within 18 months after the move, the Park Board will have the pmnT'fe1hdvng SiifmssttrttmiaM--Greene Park or extending the agreement, he said. The moving costs will be determined once the bids are opened. Bids submitted in February ranged from $16,000 to $28,000 and were rejected as being too high.

No cost estimates have been made on the restoration work. Local historic groups started a fund drive last fall to finance the project. Today's deaths McDonald's at 2512 E. Sunshine St. The county has 120 regular registration sites, he said, and 90 percent of the people in Springfield live within six blocks of a permanent registration site.

Luanne Post and Jane Tucker, the wives of McDonald's operators Joe Post and Hayes Tucker, suggested the McDonald's registration weekends, Blunt said. The weekend registration series is part of a voter-registration outreach program designed to increase the number of registered voters by 10 percent from 1983 levels before the November elections. Dillon's markets will offer registration opportunities this summer, and people also will be able to register during Firefall '84 and other events, Blunt said. DWI convict appeals revocation A convicted drunken driver is fighting the Missouri Department of Revenue's attempt to revoke his driver's license for 10 years. Donald Dick Middlemas, 53, a Greene County resident, was convicted by a jury in Greene County Circuit Court of 'felony 'Sunken "driving and received a two-year state prison term and a $3,000 fine.

Middlemas went to prison last summer after losing his appeal and was freed on role early this year, said his attorney, Dee Wampler. The revenue department is attempting to revoke Middlemas' license for 10 years because of multiple DWI convictions. In addition to the 1982 felony DWI case, Middlemas has four prior state court DWI convictions and one municipal court conviction. In his associate circuit court petition, Wampler asked that the revocation rule be declared unconstitutional or that Middlemas be given a limited driving permit. The petition said Middlemas uses a motor vehicle in his employment.

Wampler said Middlemas is a self-employed farmer. Associate Circuit Judge George Donegan set a hearing for May 11 and issued a temporary order stopping the revocation pending his final ruling. Meanwhile, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Richard Monroe filed a motion asking Circuit Judge Jack Appelquist to commit Middlemas to Jail for non-payment of his $3,000 fine and $225 costs. Agency gets heating-aid funds The Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. has received Here is a list of today's new obituaries: Verner H.

Bun' Beard, 73, Ulman; Pfc. Keith W. Bresee. 25, Springfield; Bessie M. Pipkin, 90, Houston; Robert L.

Russell, 74, Ozark. Complete obituary information is on Page 2B. Child-support payment advocate works for change By Barbara Clauser The Leader Press Turning the tables on recalcitrant fathers who manage to avoid paying child support seems Focus: Vickl Pinegar an unlikely oc- cupation for "It's a national disgrace. It's all over the United States, and about one-third of child support is not paid." Mrs. Pinegar isn't just talking to women who presently are having child-support difficulties.

"I tell these women, 'You may not even be divorced right now, but you don't know what the future is going to hold for you or for your daughter when she gets She could be in the same situation. They need to get the laws changed. And it's going to take changes not just in legislation but in social attitudes', too." People must realize that the money Is for the child, not alimony for the ex-wife as some ex-husbands feel, she said. Perhaps the father would feel better about the situation if he were required to make payments to a trust fund set up in the child's name, with the mother authorized to spend the money for the child, Mrs. Pinegar said.

"And 1 think the public really leels that child support only concerns a select few, that It is low income and uneducated people that art not accepting their responsibilities. It's a very Incorrect misconception. Vickl Pinegar. But she has spent about the last six months working to win support from official! and the public to get laws changed or passed to prevent such men from taklriff ad. Mrs.

Pinegar discovered firsthand that non-support problems are much worse for working mothers who are not receiving aid to families with dependent children and for women whose ex-husbands are self-em. ployed. When a person owes a debt to the state of Missouri for the state's support of the person's children, for example, the state can legally seize the person's state and federal income-tax refunds. Legislation is pending to make the same provision for any person who has an unpaid child-support judgment. Mrs.

Pinegar said her case was not unusual, that there are many women who don't receive public assistance and who receive few or no child-support payments from their former spouses. Many times the payments are irregular and are below the court-ordered amount. ers non support as a form of child abuse because the child was really emotionally hurt by the father's lack of interest and the mother having to work long hours." Many children grow up neglected because the mothers have insufficient time to devote to them, Mrs. Pinegar said, "and we've got to do something about it. These gals that I have been talking to have been working eight and 10 hours a day and sometimes holding down two jobs and then coming home and doing laundry until midnight.

They don't have the time or the money to go and fight It" Many fathers don't pay support but entertain the children lavishly when they have temporary custody, Mrs. Pinegar said, "When they go with daddy It's Disneyland, and It's macaroni and cheese with momma." Mrs. Pinegar, who has remarried, said she Is one of the few fortunate ones who the time to devote to the campaign. $21,750 under a Missouri Senate bill to assist households In restoring or continuing heating services. "The fundi will be divided among the 10 counties OACAC serves, with Greene County receiving $7,000," executive director Carl Rosenkranz said.

LowrincomeJieads pf householdi who are elderly, disabled or currently unemployed and receiving unemployment benefit! Of who have exhauited wch benefit! are eligible for the program. However, people received help under OACAC's Energy Criiii Intervention Program are not eligible to apply for assistance from the fundi, Rosenkranx laid. People who qualify and who need luch help may contact Greene County Neighborhood Center at 1451 E. Py- thlan In Springfield, 866-6656, or an OACAC Neighbor hood Center in Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Polk, Law- fence, Stone, Taney or Webster counties. vantage of Inad-1 4 Vlckl Pinegar equate legislation.

She makes speeches to any group that will listen and has talked to numerous Greene County and state officials. "It's a vicious circle with the poor child In the middle of it," Mrs, Pinegar said. "I 1 had one woman tell me she really consid-- It's a problem that readies from one end of "This li not lomethtna that is lust a problem in our areC-Mrs. Pinegar to the other..