Category: News

Human remains have been discovered in the Beech Grove area of Coffee County.  

According to Coffee County District Attorney General Craig Northcott, human skeletal remains were discovered in Beech Grove off of Cole Ridge Rd. at approximately 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, 2019 and a joint investigation is underway involving the Manchester Police Department and the TBI.

Connie Ray

Connie Ray, 61, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with false reporting, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact. She remains in the Coffee County Jail on $600,000 bond. 

“It is my understanding that the state medical examiner’s office forensic team is on the scene and they will confirm [male or female],” Northcott told Thunder Radio.

Northcott said the medical examiner’s office will take the lead on identifying the remains. 

“Obviously they will be looking for any information that can give us cause of death and that will be the next step in this investigation,” said Northcott. 

Thunder Radio News (WMSR) was the first to report this story.

Click below to hear further comments from DA Northcott:

Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron’s Insurance company in Murfreesboro was being searched by officer’s of the Murfreesboro Police Department as part of an investigation related to insurance fraud involving the business Wednesday. 

Bill Ketron

Kelsey Ketron, a Tennessee Republican Party official and the daughter of Mayor Ketron, has been accused of fraud in cases related to Ketron’s insurance company. Kelsey is the vice president. 

Mayor Ketron told the Daily News Journal: “I was surprised and shocked of the search warrant at the office. As an elected official, I have always been transparent and I am cooperating with all that’s requested, and time will only tell us what happens next.”

Applicants for the Tennessee Promise from the class of 2020 will all need sponsors and tnAchieves has started its effort to recruit 9,000 volunteer mentors. 

Nearly 64,000 students from the class of 2019 applied for the scholarship, which has a universal acceptance policy. Program administrators are expecting more in the class of 2020. 

Mentors are needed to make the program successful. tnAchieves asks mentors to give one hour per month. The group provides a one-hour training session, a handbook and weekly communication to ensure the mentor is full equipped to serve students. 

To learn more about becoming a mentor, you can visit www.tnachieves.org/mentors/apply/

A former Grundy County resident was arrested by an FBI SWAT team and US Marshals Tuesday evening after three years on the run as a fugitive. 

Vincent Garner

Knoxville, Chattanooga and Tullahoma FBI Agents, along with U.S. Marshals located 53-year-old Vincent Garner at a mobile home in rural Sequatchie County Tuesday evening. He was taken into custody without incident.

Garner was indicted by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga on drug and gun charges in 2016.

He was booked at the FBI Office in Chattanooga and transported to the Hamilton County Jail until his initial appearance and arraignment on those charges in federal court later this week.

Human remains have been discovered in the Beech Grove area of Coffee County.  

According to Coffee County District Attorney General Craig Northcott, human skeletal remains were discovered in Beech Grove off of Cole Ridge Rd. at approximately 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, 2019 and a joint investigation is underway involving the Manchester Police Department and the TBI. 

Connie Ray

Connie Ray, 61, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with false reporting, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact. She remains in the Coffee County Jail on $600,000 bond. 

Northcott was not prepared to identify the remains.

“It is my understanding that the state medical examiner’s office forensic team is on the scene and they will confirm [male or female],” Northcott told Thunder Radio.

Northcott said the medical examiner’s office will take the lead on identifying the remains. 

“Obviously they will be looking for any information that can give us cause of death and that will be the next step in this investigation,” said Northcott. 

This is a breaking news story. Thunder Radio News will update this story as information is available.

CLARIFICATION

Craig Northcott originally told Thunder Radio News that the body was discovered on AEDC property. He has since changed that statement to say the body was discovered in the Beech Grove area of Coffee County. 

Manchester Police Department chief Mark Yother and officers were at it again Monday, logging another “patch run.”

Officers from day and night shifts started running the 16-mile route Sunday night from Manchester City Hall to the Wartrace Police Department and then continued 11 more miles Monday to the Shelbyville Police Department and Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. They also went another five miles to the Bell Buckle Police Department.

These runs are designed to bring awareness to the local special olympics. To donate, you can call the Manchester Police Department at 931-728-2099. 

The Department of Justice has made a dent in methamphetamine and fentanyl being trafficked into middle Tennessee. Twenty people have been sentenced for their roles which resulted in 21 kilograms of meth and one kilogram of fentanyl being trafficked into Middle Tennessee. 

Two dozen people from Tennessee and Georgia were arrested on drug trafficking charges. 

Friday, the leader of this organization, Filmon Mehtsentu, age 33, of Clarkston Georgia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Beginning in early 2017, Mehtsentu brought large quantities of meth and fentanyl to Middle Tennessee for distribution. He pleaded guilty. Tennessee residents sentenced were Shawn Dial, 31, of Ashland City, Shane Watts, 33, of La Vergne, Anthony Hampton, 39, of Shelbyville, Joel Stockham, 27, of Antioch, Juan Carranza, 39, of Nashville, Eddie Shaw, 53, of Nashville, and Randell Chaney, 35, of Murfreesboro. Three people are awaiting sentencing. 

Gas Prices in Tennessee have been creeping up over the past week, according to AAA. Last week, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.46 and that average as of Tuesday was 2.53. That price is 20 cents more than a month ago, but still 9 cents cheaper than this same time last year. 

The average price in Coffee County was 2.54 per gallon as of Tuesday, which is well below the national average of 2.79. The lowest price reported in Manchester Tuesday was $2.45.

Coffee County School System employees can expect a raise for this upcoming fiscal year – with the board of education approving a 1% raise for all employees fo the school system and step raises also coming

While the raises are welcome, surrounding systems have offered as much or more. The city of Manchester is giving 1% raises and Tullahoma schools gave a 2% raise, according to to Lisa Myers with Coffee County Schools.

A Manchester man sustained life-threatening injuries and a Gallatin man is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder and carjacking after an incident Saturday afternoon that began at Foothills Crafts on Woodbury Highway. 

According to a police report on file by the Manchester Police Department, Norman Vetter was leaving Foothills Crafts at approximately 4:40 p.m. Saturday when he encountered Ricky Guy Crews, age 48, of Gallatin sitting on the bench outside. Crews followed Vetter to his vehicle and asked for a ride. After making it about a half mile down Maple Springs Rd., Crews told Vetter to pull over, drew a knife and demanded a ride to Nashville. Vetter explained that his wife was expecting him and drove back to Foothills Crafts. Upon arriving at Foothills, Crews pulled his knife again and demanded a ride to Murfreesboro. Vetter explained that he could not drive him because his wife was expecting him. At that time, Crews allegedly stabbed Vetter in the neck. Mr. Vetter was able to gain control of the knife during a struggle, open the door of the vehicle and throw the knife under the vehicle. He then walked to Los 3 Amigos for help. 

When police arrived on the scene at Los 3 Amigos, they described Vetter as sitting against  the wall, holding his neck with blood-soaked clothes. 

While speaking with the victim, police located the suspect walking behind Foothills Crafts near a tree line. As police approached the suspect, later identified as Crews, he attempted to hide behind trees. MPD Officer Benjamin Sneed then unholstered his firearm and gave commands, at which point Crews complied. 

Crews was also charged with unlawful possession fo drug paraphernalia. He is being held in the Coffee County Jail on $111,500 bond.