According to authorities, a man that was found sealed in a 55 gallon barrel four miles east of Bayard along Red Willow Creek last Friday afternoon has been identified as 23-year-old Pedro Adrian Dominguez of Greeley, Colorado.
An arrest affidavit says 24-year-old Zachary A. Mueller of Bridgeport had connections with the murder. Mueller has been charged with first degree murder, use of a weapon to commit a felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. Officials have Mueller in custody. He is currently in custody on separate charges in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Authorities say that Mueller shot Dominguez sometime on November 22nd or 23rd and disposed of his body in a barrel.
Panhandle Post will have more information as it becomes available.
ELM CREEK, Neb. (AP) — Investigators have identified the man killed while walking along a highway in central Nebraska last week, but they haven’t found the vehicle that hit him.
The Buffalo County Attorney’s office says 57-year-old Billy Frank Barlow died Dec. 3 near Elm Creek.
Barlow, who is described as a transient from Texas, was walking on the shoulder of U.S. 183 just south of Interstate 80 near a truck stop when he was hit by a vehicle.
The incident was reported around 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 3 after Barlow’s body was found.
Authorities are still trying to identify and find the vehicle involved in the crash.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is releasing its disaster plan on how it will respond to El Nino weather conditions in the Southwest and West Coast this winter.
The warming of the Pacific Ocean could bring storms triggering flooding, evacuations, power outages and landslides.
The disaster plan focuses heavily on California. Land scorched by wildfire is susceptible to flooding and landslides. Coastal areas could see higher tides of up to 8 feet around Christmas.
In Arizona, flash flooding and rapid snow melt area concern. The impact to Nevada will depend on how much rain and snow falls on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.
FEMA is looking to recruit 500 people in the region who it can call on to respond quickly to disasters.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Colorado highway safety official says Nebraska should not wait for marijuana to become legal before acting to keep drugged drivers off the roads.
Glenn Davis, highway safety manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation, and others spoke Tuesday at a summit on drugged driving hosted by the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety and AAA.
Davis said that like Nebraska, Colorado consolidates bans on driving while intoxicated and driving while drugged, making it difficult to distinguish between arrests.
Phil Tegeler, executive director at The Bridge Behavioral Health, who spoke on a panel with state Attorney General Doug Peterson, said that there is no widely accepted cutoff for drugs similar to blood-alcohol limits.
Susan DeCourcy with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said more law enforcement agencies will begin to use saliva testing devices during the next five years.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. won’t elect a president until next year but the debate over the crowded field of candidates jostling for the Oval Office emerged as the hottest topic on Facebook this year.
The race for the Democratic and Republican party nominations eclipsed an outpouring of emotions over deadly attacks, strife, social issues and disasters.
The rankings released Wednesday open a window into the cultural mindset by analyzing how frequently specific high-profile events, politicians, entertainers, athletes, movies and TV shows were mentioned in the posts of Facebook’s 1.5 billion users.
British singer Ed Sheeran surpassed Taylor Swift on Facebook’s list of the year’s most-discussed entertainers, while the critically acclaimed “Game of Thrones” reigned in the TV category. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” due out next week, is Facebook’s favorite film.
A North Platte man is facing felony charges after he allegedly pointed a gun at a woman and made threats.
North Platte Police say officers were sent to the 1100 block of South Tabor Street at around 11:56 pm on Tuesday.
Officers arrived and met with the victim and witnesses, who alleged that Tyson Roy had arrived at the residence upset and looking for another male.
The victim and witnesses say Roy was asked to leave the property, at which time he became angry and removed a silver handgun that was concealed under his jacket.
Police say Roy then pointed the gun at her, racked the slide on the handgun and made a comment about “finding” the other male, then left the scene.
Officers had information that led them to believe that Roy was headed a residence in the area of F Street and Cottonwood Avenue.
Officers made contact with a male at the residence there who claimed that Roy had knocked on his door, but he ignored him and didn’t answer it because he knew Roy was upset.
Officers then responded back to the scene of the original incident and observed Roy leaving in a car.
A traffic stop was initiated and Roy was placed under arrest.
Police say Roy had a holster and ammunition for a handgun, but did not have the gun itself in his possession.
After learning that Roy was living in a camper in the backyard of a residence in the 1900 block of West 3rd Street, officers obtained a search warrant and conducted a search of the camper.
During the search, officers located a lockbox that contained suspected methamphetamine. They were also able to locate the handgun.
Roy was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed on charges of felony terroristic threats, use of a weapon to commit a felony and felony possession of a controlled substance.
BAYARD, Neb. (AP) — Western Nebraska authorities say a man whose body was found sealed inside a 55-gallon barrel was shot to death.
Morrill County Attorney Travis Rodak said Tuesday that an autopsy show the man died of a gunshot wound. The man’s identity has not been confirmed.
A farmer spotted the barrel floating along Red Willow Creek about four miles east of Bayard on Friday afternoon. He called the Morrill County Sheriff’s Office after opening the barrel and seeing the body inside.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 54-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $31,000 from a north Lincoln Sam’s Club.
Officer Katie Flood says police believe the woman, who worked in the accounting department, took the money from night deposits from the store between Jan. 1 and Sunday, when she was arrested.
Flood says staff at Sam’s Club’s corporate office noticed discrepancies in business accounts before further investigation pointed to the employee and surveillance video captured the woman taking money on numerous occasions.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that a store security employee called police to report the alleged embezzlement Sunday.
Flood says it’s possible that the loss amount is larger since an audit hasn’t been completed.
The employee remained in jail Monday on suspicion of felony theft by deception.
According to authorities, a man that was found sealed in a 55 gallon barrel four miles east of Bayard along Red Willow Creek last Friday afternoon has been identified as 23-year-old Pedro Adrian Dominguez of Greeley, Colorado.
