OZARKS CRIME WATCHReal cases. Real impact.Reviewed case files stay connected to sources, official contacts, corrections, and future updates. The broader index shows every case covered in the episode archive.
Every case covered in Seasons 1 and 2 has a direct link to its completed public case file.
Tracy Ann Pickett was 14 when she disappeared from the Webb City and Joplin area. She was last seen leaving a friend’s residence in Webb City. Tracy has not been seen since, and official public records state that foul play is suspected.
Sixteen-year-old friends Lauria Jaylene Bible and Ashley Renae Freeman disappeared on December 30, 1999, after a fire destroyed the Freeman family’s mobile home near Welch, Oklahoma. Ashley’s parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were found shot to death. The teenagers’ remains have not been recovered, and the Craig County Sheriff’s Office lists the case as open.
Elizabeth Gwendolyn Creekmore was found dead inside the home she shared with her mother at 915 North Sergeant Avenue in Joplin on May 28, 1950. Contemporary reporting described a violent and initially conflicting death investigation. No one was charged, and the case remains unresolved.
Jennifer D. Judd was 20 years old when she was found dead inside her residence at 219 North Park Avenue in Baxter Springs on May 11, 1992. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says she died from multiple stab wounds. A $5,000 Governor’s Reward remains offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Sherrill Levitt, her daughter Suzanne “Suzie” Streeter, and Suzie’s friend Stacy McCall disappeared from Levitt’s Springfield home during the early morning of June 7, 1992. Suzanne and Stacy had returned after attending graduation parties. None of the three women has been seen or heard from since.
Kenneth Jay Mathews, 46, was killed in a shooting near 5th Street and Connor Avenue in Joplin on May 16, 2022. A second adult man was critically wounded. Joplin Police said the suspect or suspects left in a dark-colored passenger vehicle and asked the public for information.
Socorro Moran-Mendoza was 42 when her body was discovered inside a suitcase beside a roadway in Benton County on February 1, 1997. Arkansas State Police records say she had been strangled and beaten and had previously been reported missing in Mexico by her boyfriend.
Jim Potts, a 51-year-old private investigator from Wyandotte, Oklahoma, was found dead beside his vehicle along Kansas Highway 26 south of Galena on August 26, 2003. Cherokee County authorities classified the death as suicide. Potts’s family publicly disputed that ruling, and the U.S. Department of Justice later confirmed that the FBI had been asked to conduct a preliminary review.
Lucinda Jolene “Cindy” Adams was killed during an overnight shift at the Fastrip convenience store at 1204 North Duquesne Road in Joplin in the early hours of October 2, 1991. Archival reporting says she was shot and money was removed from the register. No suspect has been publicly named.
Sarah Elizabeth Burton was last seen near 10th Street and Rex Avenue in Joplin on July 16, 2018. Her mother reported her missing on July 20. The FBI’s Kansas City Division is assisting Joplin Police, and the FBI offers up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her disappearance.
Sandra Louise “Sandy” Spoon was 57 when she disappeared from Joplin on August 28, 2005. Missouri State Highway Patrol records say she left a Pearl Street residence with an acquaintance at about 10 p.m. The acquaintance returned about two hours later and said Sandra had been dropped near 22nd Street and Byers Avenue. Sandra has not been seen or heard from since.
Branson Kayne Perry was 20 when he disappeared from his home in Skidmore, Missouri, on April 11, 2001. An official Missouri State Highway Patrol case poster says Branson left the residence on foot at about 3 p.m. to take jumper cables to a nearby shed and did not return. He remains missing.
Jeffery “Jeff” Slama was 58 when he was shot and killed during a home invasion near Joplin on October 16, 2013. Public episode records state that Jeff was speaking with a 911 dispatcher when he was shot and that a man was seen leaving the area in a black car. No one has been publicly charged with his homicide.
Cheryl Feeney and her children, six-year-old Tyler and 19-month-old Jennifer, were found murdered in their Springfield-area home on February 27, 1995. Cheryl’s husband, Jon Feeney, was later tried on three first-degree murder charges and was acquitted on all counts on October 5, 1996. No one else has been publicly charged, and the case remains unsolved.
Donna Faye Schatz was 21 when fishermen found her body in Grand Lake near Jay, Oklahoma, on May 8, 1980. Public reporting based on the Delaware County investigation says she had been shot multiple times and a concrete block had been attached to her body. Her homicide remains unsolved.
Cheryl Ann Kenney was 30 when she disappeared after closing the convenience store where she worked on Business 71 in Nevada, Missouri, on February 27, 1991. Her time card showed that she clocked out at 10 p.m. Her car remained in the store parking lot, but Cheryl did not arrive home and has not been seen since.
Echo Michelle Lloyd was 47 when she disappeared in Benton County, Missouri, in May 2020. The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s current poster lists her last contact as May 14 at her Edwards residence; earlier public materials listed May 10. Her vehicle and personal items were later found at the residence, and no subsequent phone, financial, or prescription activity has been publicly reported.
Jamie Michelle McChurin was 16 when she disappeared from Muskogee, Oklahoma, on March 18, 1997. She was last seen at a friend’s residence near F and Elmira Streets. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says she disappeared under suspicious circumstances and remains missing.
Sheryl Denise Taylor was 12 when she disappeared in Picher, Oklahoma, on July 20, 1978. Public case summaries say she left home on foot for a nearby grocery store and was last seen in the store area between about 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. Sheryl has not been found, and no one has been publicly charged in connection with her disappearance.
Aubrey Dameron, a 25-year-old Cherokee Nation citizen and transgender Two-Spirit woman, disappeared from the Grove, Oklahoma, area on March 9, 2019. Human remains recovered in rural Ottawa County on January 31, 2025, were identified as Aubrey on February 5. The public source record reviewed for this file does not state a cause or manner of death, and the investigation remains active.
Each episode below links directly to the completed case file for that story.
Missing Person • Webb City, Missouri
Missing Person • Welch, Oklahoma
Unsolved Homicide • Joplin, Missouri
Unsolved Homicide • Baxter Springs, Kansas
Missing Person • Springfield, Missouri
Unsolved Homicide • Joplin, Missouri
Unsolved Homicide • Benton County, Arkansas
Suspicious Death • Near Galena, Kansas
Unsolved Homicide • Joplin, Missouri
Missing Person • Joplin, Missouri
Missing Person • Joplin, Missouri
Missing Person • Skidmore, Missouri
Suspicious Death • Newton County near Joplin, Missouri
Unsolved Homicide • Springfield, Missouri
Unsolved Homicide • Grand Lake near Jay, Oklahoma
Missing Person • Nevada, Missouri
Missing Person • Edwards, Missouri
Missing Person • Muskogee, Oklahoma
Missing Person • Picher, Oklahoma
Suspicious Death • Grove and rural Ottawa County, Oklahoma