Free Republic

HAWK POINT • The prime suspect in the abduction of a Louisiana, Mo., girl is dead, the Missouri Highway Patrol said Thursday morning. The suspect shot himself in the head when authorities closed in Wednesday afternoon, a day after the little girl was found alive in a St. Louis County strip mall parking lot. Cpl. Jeff Wilson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the man died at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Charles. The patrol didn't confirm the man's death until Thursday morning. Police sources say the suspect is Paul S. Smith, a sex offender who...

Suspected child abductor kills himself kmoxnews@kmox.com ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- St. Louis County Police confirm for KMOX News that the person of interest in the Alisa Maier child abduction case shot and killed himself as he was approached by police in Lincoln County on Highway D. A police spokesman tells KMOX that they have also located a car matching the description of the suspect's vehicle but police are stopping short of calling him the abductor The 4-year old Louisiana, Mo. girl was found wandering around a parking lot of a car wash in Old Town Fenton last night, after someone...