Police

Divers from the Michigan State Police recovery unit had no success in a search Thursday for locating the remains of Venus Stewart. Acting on a tip, divers spent the morning searching a stretch of the St. Joseph River in Colon Township, adjacent to her parents’ residence on Driftwood Drive. A cadaver K-9 helped pinpoint an area to search, but divers …

The Three Rivers City Commission dealt with a variety of items during a relatively brief regular meeting last week (July 17) The session included three public hearings during which there were no citizen comments. In each case, the commission approved the issue at hand. Specifically, commissioners: • approved a Special Exception Use Permit for a Massage Establishment and Day Spa …

A monument to mark the gravesite of Jodi Parrack was put into place last month, thanks to the efforts of Constantine Police Chief Jim Bedell. The headstone is a permanent tribute to the 11-year-old girl, whose murder remains unsolved more than four years after she was last seen riding her bicycle from a friend’s house. The monument is placed at …

A Sturgis woman was killed in a 1-car crash Friday morning on M-60 in Branch County’s Sherwood Township. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Natasha Richardson. She reportedly lost control of her car, rolling it over. The car caught fire, trapping her inside. Richardson’s sister, 23-year-old Catherine Richardson, was a passenger in the vehicle. She was able to escape from …

A breaking-and-entering incident at a Centreville apartment is being investigated by the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department. According to a department news release, an apartment in the 300 block of West Main Street was entered between noon Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday. The main item of value taken from the residence was a flat-screen television.

Investigators from the Michigan State Police are looking into the breaking and entering of the former Med Tech building, on U.S. 131 and Anderson Road in Mottville Township. Owners of the property had previously discovered that the building had been burglarized but did not report the incident because the building was vacant. Last Friday, however, the owners noticed electrical wiring …

Three people last week were charged with methamphetamine-related offenses after a search warrant was obtained for a residence in the 69000 block of Sevison Road in White Pigeon Township. According to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, deputies arrived at the residence around 8 p.m. Friday to serve an arrest warrant. A person spotted inside the residence, however, refused to …

Deputies with the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the theft of irrigation wire following an incident in Nottawa Township. According to a department news release, the victim notified authorities around 10 p.m. Saturday that wire from three spans of an irrigation pivot was stolen between Tuesday and Friday last week. The incident occurred in a field near North …

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the larceny of scrap metal and several other items from outside a residence in the 200 block of east Market Street in Centreville. The incident occurred between July 1 and 9. Items were taken from next to a garage and included an air-conditioning unit, a basketball hoop frame and electrical wire. The …

Kalamazoo’s public safety department says its officers have helped recover the body of a woman that was found floating in the Kalamazoo River. The department says it got a report Thursday morning about a body in the water near Verberg Park. It says that the Kalamazoo County Marine Patrol and Comstock fire and rescue. The department says the woman’s identity …