Lagrange County

LAGRANGE COUNTY - Homeowners are being warned about a rash of daytime burglaries in LaGrange County. Police believe two groups of people have been breaking into homes, the latest of which happened Monday between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. when 14 guns were stolen from a house in the 10000 east block of CR 375 N. A combination of handguns and long guns were taken. Detectives say a crowbar was used to break into the house. The sheriff's department is urging homeowners to keep a close eye on their surroundings and call in any suspicious vehicles, people, or activity they see. Anyone with information on this crime may contact the LaGrange County Sheriff's Department at (260)

LAGRANGE - LaGrange County's 911 system is down. County 911 Director Arron Knisley tells WSBT just before 4 p.m. Monday, a contractor cut into a large set of fiber optics just north of the county sheriff's department and emergency dispatch center. Knisley says contractors and Century Link are trying to make repairs. Until they do, business lines at the sheriff's department are down, and 911 calls are being answered by surrounding counties. Knisley says his office is in radio contact with neighboring counties for emergency calls, and even though 911 calls are being answered outside LaGrange County, all that information is being relayed to the LaGrange County dispatch center.

TOPEKA - A big barn fire in LaGrange County is under investigation. Just after 9 p.m. Monday, the Topeka Fire Department got a 911 call of a fully-engulfed barn fire at 8285 W. 600 S. Fire Chief Stewart Bender says 57 firefighters battled high winds that spread the fire to a shop and also into one of the homes at the site. Damage to the shop and home was limited to the attic areas. Bender says three other barns and a house were spared. The barn was a total loss.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - A one-car crash in LaGrange County has left one person dead and another badly hurt. It's a crash the county sheriff's department blames on excessive speed. It happened around 9:40 p.m. Saturday on C.R. 600 near N 250 E in Lima Township. When officers got to the scene, they saw 25-year-old Efren Caballero of Lagrange had been thrown from the wreckage and 23-year-old passenger Hermosa Murray of Elkhart was laying on the ground partially under the car. Police say Caballero was driving his 1997 Honda Civic when he lost control and hit a utility pole.

A well known tourist attraction in LaGrange County, especially for families, is facing financial trouble. Watch the video posted above for the full report from WSBT Reporter Ed Ernstes.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - LaGrange County dispatch confirmed that an accident occurred Friday evening. Police say a little before 5 p.m., they were called to CR 1150 West and US 20. We do not know how many people were involved in this accident and if there are any injuries being reported. Drivers should try and avoid the area. Stay with WSBT-TV and WSBT.com for updates as they become available.

A LaGrange County dispatcher says two separate crashes Tuesday required a helicopter to transfer patients to the hospital. One crash happened around 8:45 at 600 South and State Road 5. The other was a two-car crash involving a car and pickup that happened around noon at 4485 East and 550 South near Wolcottville. There is no word on how many people are injured or what the extent of their injuries are. Stay with WSBT.com for updates.

LaGrange County police arrested Jeremy Rupkey Saturday night, charging him with causing a death while driving under the influence. A police news release indicates Rupkey, 36, of LaGrange County, was driving a 2006 Town & Country van south on C.R. 500 East when he looked away from the road to pick up his cell phone from the front passenger seat. Rupkey’s van then struck a horse-drawn cart operated by 12-year-old Jonathan Bontrager. The impact threw the boy from the cart.

LAGRANGE COUNTY -- A 16-year-old boy is dead after he drowned while swimming in Howe, Ind Wednesday. According to a release from the Indiana DNR, several juveniles were swimming at a public boat ramp on Pigeon River at Ontario Dam around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. One boy stepped off the end of the boat ramp and went into the water, which was several feet deep. The boy didn't know how to swim and panicked. He slipped below the water and did not resurface.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - The body of a missing LaGrange County woman has been positively identified. Dental records show the body found in a field near Ann Arbor earlier this month is that of 58-year-old Catherine Sackrider. Sackrider was reported missing September 24 after visiting family in Ohio. Her truck was found the next day in Sylvania, Ohio. Sackrider lived along Wall Lake in LaGrange. The last murder there was back in 2005. Neighbors are shocked. They say Sackrider was a nice woman and can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her. The community along Wall Lake is a close-knit, safe one. "We always thought that this neighborhood down at Wall Lake was a safe environment," said neighbor Frederick Cumings.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - Homeowners are being warned about a rash of daytime burglaries in LaGrange County. Police believe two groups of people have been breaking into homes, the latest of which happened Monday between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. when 14 guns were stolen from a house in the 10000 east block of CR 375 N. A combination of handguns and long guns were taken. Detectives say a crowbar was used to break into the house. The sheriff's department is urging homeowners to keep a close eye on their surroundings and call in any suspicious vehicles, people, or activity they see. Anyone with information on this crime may contact the LaGrange County Sheriff's Department at (260)

SOUTH MILFORD -- LaGrange County police say suspects in the theft of a donation can meant to help sick children have turned themselves in - and it was all thanks to help from the public. Tips identifying the suspects started coming in immediately once a surveillance photo from the South Milford Landing gas station and convenience store was released, say police. Detectives were then able to confirm the identities through driver's license photos and telephone conversations. Garrison A. Beitz, 27, of Waterloo and 42-year-old Monica S. Babin of Kendallville turned themselves in on Thursday.

LAGRANGE COUNTY -  An seemingly confused Pennsylvania man is behind bars in LaGrange County after claiming he was lost and then was busted for drugs. County police late Monday night were called to the area of 5250 W. State Road 120 for a suspicious vehicle with a suspicious person that appeared to be trying to get into a home. When officers got to the scene, they found the suspect had left the road and had a minor car crash. The man was soon identified as Ryan Chiappeta, 24, of Beaver Falls, Pa. Police say Chiappeta claimed he was lost and thought he was at his girlfriend's home in Pennsylvania.

Just how healthy is the county you live in? A new study breaks down nearly every county in the country. The Robert Wood Johnson report released Wednesday looked at 25 factors, including childhood poverty, obesity and smoking rates, as well as social and economic factors, like graduation and crime rates to rank counties. St. Joseph County, Indiana came in average, placing 43rd out of 92 counties. That's the same ranking the county received last year, which has some health providers concerned.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - A LaGrange County woman is in jail after leading police on a high speed chase with her four children in the car. Police found 29-year-old Jilyan Snyder with meth in her purse. The chase late Friday night lasted about 10 miles reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour before Snyder had to pull over with a flat tire. Snyder is being held on preliminary charges of four counts of neglect of a dependent, resisting law enforcement and possession of meth.

LAGRANGE COUNTY - A one-car crash in LaGrange County has left one person dead and another badly hurt. It's a crash the county sheriff's department blames on excessive speed. It happened around 9:40 p.m. Saturday on C.R. 600 near N 250 E in Lima Township. When officers got to the scene, they saw 25-year-old Efren Caballero of Lagrange had been thrown from the wreckage and 23-year-old passenger Hermosa Murray of Elkhart was laying on the ground partially under the car. Police say Caballero was driving his 1997 Honda Civic when he lost control and hit a utility pole.

A new Post Office is about to open in LaGrange County, but it's not where you might expect. The new Shipshewana Village Post Office will open Tuesday. It's in the Town and Country Hardware store on South Van Buren Street. The Village Post Office system started two years ago for rural communities. These post offices are run out of local business and offers products and services you can find at normal post offices. There will be 40 of them in Indiana and Michigan by the end of this week.

WOLCOTTVILLE, INDIANA -- Relatives of an abducted LaGrange County boy who was found this week in Minnesota say they always felt he was safe. “We never thought anything bad,” said Jack Landers, whose uncle and aunt, Richard and Ruth Landers, are alleged to have abducted their grandson, five-year-old Richard Wayne Landers Jr. in 1994. Landers Jr. and his grandparents were found living in the town of Long Prairie, Minnesota this week. “They were just good solid people,” said Jack Landers, who lives in rural Wolcottville, Indiana.

CLARISSA, Minn. (AP) - A Minnesota dairyman says he was stunned to learn that one of his workers is accused of abducting his 5-year-old grandson from his LaGrange County home nearly 20 years ago in an Indiana custody dispute. Patrick Lunemann of Twin Eagle Dairy near Clarissa says the grandfather, Raymond Iddings, has worked as a herdsman for him for more than a decade. Authorities say Iddings and his wife took their grandson from his birth mother in 1994. They just announced this week that the grandson, now 24, was alive and well and living in Minnesota as Michael Jeff Landers.

An incredible story - a 5-year-old boy abducted by his grandparents nearly 20 years ago has been found. Richard Landers Jr. disappeared from his LaGrange County home back in 1994, during court proceedings over his custody . Police found him in Minnesota, married and doing fine - now 24 years old.     Over the years, Police searched for him. He was considered missing and endangered.   Warrants were out for his...