Khighla Parks

On October 8, Anthony James Balbirnie was arrested and charged with abandonment of a body after leading Springfield Police on two car chases.  That arrest led to a person of an interest connected to the murder of Khighla Parks, whose body was found in Truman Lake.  Balbirnie was formally charged October 10 in Warsaw, Missouri and pleaded not guilty.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office identified the body found in Truman Lake on September 30 as 15-year-old Khighla Parks and are following tips in reference to her homicide.  The Benton County Sheriff's Office, Greene County Sheriff's Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol have followed leads that has led the investigation to the Dallas County area.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol had actively been searching for the identity of the body that was found in Truman Lake last weekend (September 30).  After a week of investigating, the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced that the body was that of 15-year-old Khighla Parks, who had been missing from her home in Willard, Missouri for the last two weeks.  The i

UPDATE: Police have identified the body and an investigation is under way. --- Benton County authorities are asking for assistance in identifying a female body found by a boater at Truman Lake on Sunday.  After an autopsy, authorities classified the death as suspicious and said that the body had been weighted down.