Great Bend

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has issued an Emergency Order of Suspension against a licensed day care in Great Bend.    The suspension comes after an inspection of the Schloemer Day Care Home, 314 N. Washington, Great Bend. A state report says investigators found a 15-year-old caring for seven children ages three months to school age. The report says the teen was hired by the operator, who was out of state on vacation. Inspectors also say they found dog feces and food on the floors, overflowing trash cans and a bath tub filled with trash and papers.

A body was found late Tuesday afternoon a few miles outside the town where police have been searching for 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt. Vehicles from the sheriff's office, Great Bend Police and the Kansas Highway Patrol are at a construction site southwest of Great Bend. The Attorney General's office confirms the site where the body was found is at the corner of K-56 and SW 56th Avenue. (see related photo) Map - Location of Construction Site The press is being kept at a distance, but Cliff says he can see police tape.

The people of Great Bend gathered today to say goodbye to murdered teen Alicia DeBolt.  The service at the First Assembly of God Church opened with music, a song called "Goodbye for Now". A family spokesperson then read a poem and a letter from the family. It described Alicia as open and trusting, a friendly girl who never met a stranger. The 14-year-old was also remembered for her personal style. Her friends say she loved to wear bright colors. Her last day was spent shopping for new clothes with her family.

Quiet, safe---they're words that describe a typical day in the western Kansas town of Great Bend. But that's not the way people remember September 4th, 2002. Kathye Phelps "Wichita maybe, Topeka maybe. Not Great Bend, Kansas" Guy Sunderland: "It's something that's every parent's worst nightmare. " A nightmare that's yet to end for those close to these two women. Mandi Alexander was a clerk and Mary Drake was a customer at what used to be the Dolly Madison bread store.

By Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) A Great Bend mother will spend 109 months in prison for killing her three-month-old son.  Megan Mott was sentenced Thursday in the death of Robby Cox, though even the boy's father spoke out in support of Mott instead of the infant child. Mott pleaded no contest to second degree murder on April 12. Prosecutors recommended 109 months in prison as part of the plea agreement, the defense asked for probation. Mott's defense attorney says her son, three-month-old Cox, was sick from birth.

Authorities in Great Bend are investigating a suspicious device brought into the Great Bend Police Department.  Chief Dean Akings says there was no threat made and authorities are in the process of evaluating the device to see what it is. Akings says the device was moved to another location.  No one was evacuated from the police department. 

(GREAT BEND, Kan.)  You find a lot of numbers at the grocery store.  $8, Aisle 12, 14 cents. 22 pounds of meat, and a price tag for $2.90 (or 29 if you move the decimal point). Those numbers added up to Don Damon's winning Powerball ticket. He bought it at the Customer Service counter at the Dillon's off 10th street in Great Bend. There's a lot of excitement in the grocery store. It will receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket. And it seems all 15,000 people in town now want to buy a ticket at this lucky counter.

She was only supposed to be gone for an hour, but police in Great Bend and the KBI are now looking for a 14-year-old girl missing for three days.  Alicia DeBolt was last seen Saturday night. Tammy Conrad says her daughter left her house with a 19-year-old man, and the two planned to go to a party.  DeBolt had a midnight curfew and was supposed to meet another friend at a nearby gas station, but she never showed. "I started calling at midnight because her curfew's midnight, and we have a system," says Conrad.

The former head of a program that brought World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. is accused of stealing more than $100,000. LaVeta Miller was arrested Thursday on a warrant charging her with theft by deception. A Barton County records clerk says Miller is jailed on $20,000 bond. The clerk didn't know if Miller had an attorney. Miller worked as program director for Central Prairie Honor Flight. She was fired in July. The Great Bend group raised nearly $1.2 million.

The body found badly burned outside Great Bend this week is that of missing 14-year-ol Alicia DeBolt. The Attorney General says the investigation is continuing. Investigators are asking anyone who had any contact with DeBolt on Saturday night to contact them. Six said the case is being classified as a homicide, but investigators do not believe the case is a 'random act of violence.' So far, police have not made any arrests. Police have questioned a 19-year-old, but aren't saying if that's the same person who picked Alicia up from her home Saturday night.