Update: 4:15 p.m.

The Pettis County Sheriff's Department issued the following press announcement.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m. this morning Pettis County Sheriffs deputies, assisted by members of the Rural Missouri Major Case Squad, searched a vacant resident on the Turkey Kern Memorial Wildlife Area located on Johnson County SE 650 Road.  The location is just outside the Pettis County line in rural Green Ridge.  Deputies were canvassing the area for James Barton Horn, following up on reports of suspicious activity in the area.
During the search, deputies shot and killed Horn after encountering him inside the residence. Horn was armed at the time of the encounter.  None of the officers were injured in the incident.
Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond was first to arrive on scene after the shooting, followed shortly by Johnson County Sheriff Scott Munsterman.  The Rural Missouri Major Case Squad has been tasked with the responsibility of processing the scene, and criminal investigators from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Drug and Crime Control Unit are working the shooting incident.  The involved deputies have been placed on routine paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol following such an incident.
James Horn has been positively identified as the deceased individual.  This clears a month-long search for Mr. Horn and clears several felony criminal cases in Sedalia, Clinton, and Pettis County.

Update: 3:00 p.m.

Authorities have announced that  James Horn Jr. was shot in the Kearn Memorial Wildlife area around 11:15 this morning.
"They encountered Mr. Horn," said Clinton police Lt. Sonny Lynch. "He was in a closet, he was armed, he refused to surrender and threatened the search team with a weapon and he was shot and killed."

Original Story: Initial reports indicate that James Horn Jr. was shot in the Kearn Memorial Wildlife area, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today (May 23)

Horn Jr. has been at large since April, when a victim, Sandra Sutton, escaped when she was held captive since January in a box.

The manhunt escalated after the victim, Sandra Sutton and her son Zachary, were found killed on Thursday morning. Later that morning the car from the scene was found in the Bothwell Regional Health Center and there was a constant surrounding of his home as it was believed he was there, but that turned up empty.

Various law enforcement have been working this case and there is an expected press conference to share more details on the manhunt for James Horn. Jr.

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