News Briefs: Search on for missing woman

Editor's note: The following is a collection of news briefs from Forum Communication Company newspapers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

MINNESOTA

Search on for missing woman

CHISAGO LAKE TOWNSHIP, Minn. -- The parents of a missing 27-year-old woman asked the public to help in the search for their daughter.

The parents of Danielle Jelinek talked with reporters Wednesday afternoon in rural Chisago County northwest of the Twin Cities as about 100 volunteers searched snow-covered roadside ditches and open fields for any sign of Jelinek, missing since early Sunday.

The search focused on a few-mile stretch of a two-lane road near a home where authorities were told Jelinek was last seen.

The house belongs to Aaron Schnagl, who authorities said was with Jelinek late Saturday night and early Sunday morning at Minneapolis bars before returning to his home.

"There is no evidence of foul play," Duncan said Wednesday. But, he noted, foul play had not been ruled out.

Jelinek's car and some possessions including her shoes, cell phone and purse were found at the home. Schnagl told authorities Jelinek left early Sunday, after 4 a.m.

Schnagl was arrested after authorities searching the home found marijuana, Duncan said. Schnagl was being held in jail on a fifth-degree drug charge and a probation violation, but Duncan said Wednesday Schnagl was not a suspect in Jelinek's disappearance.

Ponemah man sentenced for stabbing

MINNEAPOLIS -- A man from Ponemah, Minn., a community in the Red Lake Indian Reservation, was sentenced Wednesday for stabbing another man while on the reservation.

Randall Dean Jones was given 41 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle in Minneapolis. Jones pleaded guilty on May 17 to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.

He admitted that, on June 18, 2011, he called another man into the road, where he repeatedly stabbed him. According to a law enforcement affidavit, police were called to a residence afterwards. The victim was taken to a Fargo hospital.

NORTH DAKOTA

Former school counselor sentenced for soliciting

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The former high school counselor charged with soliciting a prostitute has been sentenced to 15 days in jail.

Michael Delmore, 61, pleaded guilty last week to hiring a woman for sexual acts in his Grand Forks home in the spring of 2011.

Three other people face felony charges of trafficking a 17-year-old girl as a prostitute.

Delmore’s cooperation, as well as little evidence he knew the girl’s age, led to his misdemeanor charge, prosecutors said.

Judge Joel Medd sentenced him to 30 days, with 15 days suspended plus a year of unsupervised probation.

Delmore retired earlier this year after more than two decades as a counselor in Larimore High School. Delmore’s wife, Lois Delmore, is a longtime state legislator.

Travis Johnson, Joshua Harry and Amanda Stewart are charged with human trafficking for allegedly pimping the girl to several men in Grand Forks in their homes and motel rooms in early 2011. The charge has a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Heitkamp announces Senate committees

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp has been appointed to the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Indian Affairs, she announced Wednesday.

These are her first and second choices for committees because they are so important to the state, she said in a news release.

She will also serve on the Banking, Small Business and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.

Air Force delays tanker base list

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The U.S. Air Force has delayed its decision to release a list of bases eligible to receive the KC-46A aerial refueling tanker mission, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Wednesday.

Hoeven, who met last week with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh to make the case for Grand Forks Air Force Base to be a site for the new tanker mission, said Welsh had indicated he expected to announce the finalists today.

While the Air Force did not have an alternative date Wednesday, Hoeven said the indications are that the list will be released sometime over the next few weeks.

Thompson woman dies in Michigan crash

MUNISING, Mich. -- A Thompson, N.D., woman was killed Wednesday in a car crash in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, according to the Michigan State Police.

Sarah Gunderson, 25, was westbound on state Highway 28 when her 2008 Ford Focus was hit by an eastbound 2006 Pontiac driven by Richard Vanverschaegen, 31, of Munising, Mich.

Police said his car crossed the center line and hit Gunderson’s vehicle.

She was declared dead at the scene. Vanverschaegen was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Seat belts were worn by both drivers and alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash, police said.

GF robbery suspects arrested in Fargo

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Three people were arrested in Fargo after a woman reported a robbery in Grand Forks on Tuesday night, police said Wednesday morning.

William Antoine Dontae Meadows, 35; Semereab Tesfaye; 24; and Kia Yang, 26, were stopped later that night in Fargo, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said.

Grand Forks police officers initially responded to a call at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police report. A woman told them she was assaulted and robbed by two men she met earlier in the evening.

A state trooper stopped the men in a 2003 Cadillac Deville around 9:35 p.m. because it matched the description, the patrol said. Evidence linking the suspects to the robbery was found with them, the police said.

Each suspect was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Grand Forks police forwarded charges of robbery, aggravated assault and terrorizing against Meadows and Tesfaye to the state’s attorney’s office.

Cass deputy cleared in inmate escape

FARGO – A Cass County sheriff’s deputy who was escorting a jail inmate to a transport van when the inmate escaped Oct. 12 has been cleared of wrongdoing after an internal probe.

The investigation, conducted by the Office of Professional Standards and reviewed by command staff, found that Deputy Pete Wold had no misconduct and didn’t violate any policies or procedures, said Sgt. Tara Morris, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

Wold was preparing to put 25-year-old Francisco Ayala Jr. into the van outside the Cass County Courthouse when Ayala ran. Ayala was free for less than an hour before authorities found him hiding in an apartment house and took him into custody without incident.

Ayala pleaded guilty last week to a felony escape charge and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He also has been indicted on drug charges in federal court, the prosecutor said.

The investigation found that Ayala had fashioned a makeshift key to undo his handcuffs and leg restraints.

WISCONSIN

Boy killed by vehicle plowing snow

STAR PRAIRIE, Wis. -- A 4-year-old boy died shortly after he was struck by a vehicle plowing snow at the family's property in the town of Star Prairie, the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies and emergency crews were called to the scene at 1:52 a.m. Tuesday. The boy was transported to Westfield's Hospital in New Richmond where Collin Fitzgerald was pronounced dead, according to a press release from the sheriff's office.

Collin is the son of Daniel and Rachel Fitzgerald of rural New Richmond.

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