Article about the small Kansas town of the kidnapping suspect

[scarlett1]

At the end there is an address that the people in Melvern, Kansas, which is home to the murder/ kidnapping suspect, set up a fund to help the Stinnett baby and her family. Both of the towns were the murder/ kidnapping took place and were the suspect are from are VERY SMALL Towns, around 500 people, they might be called a Hamlets in the East.


Media attention floods town after gruesome murder, kidnapping
By ANDY GASSAWAY, Herald Staff Writer

MELVERN ‹ As the lunch crowd files into Garry¹s Bar and Grill in Melvern, the regulars remark on how television news vans and reporters¹ vehicles now occupy their usual front row parking.
The television above the bar is tuned to a Kansas City network affiliate that sports tight shots of Main Street landmarks like the Whistle Stop Cafe.
When Melvern resident Lisa Montgomery, 36, was charged Friday with kidnapping resulting in death for the slaying of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, Skidmore, Mo., residents said the small town of about 400 suddenly became one of the biggest cities in the eye of the media.

³They¹re just being too sensational about it,² Dee Robinson, a member of Melvern¹s city council, said. ³Our whole community isn¹t like that. It¹s pretty unreal. Just sad.²
Darrel Schultze, chairman of Melvern PRIDE, a Kansas State University Extension Office-based community improvement group, said the last three days have been difficult for the city, and the attention the crime has garnered has been overwhelming.
³We feel terrible about (the murder),² Schultze said.


Police say Montgomery killed Stinnett in Skidmore, Mo., and cut Stinnett¹s unborn baby from her womb after months of telling friends and family she (Montgomery) was pregnant.


The infant girl is believed to have been brought to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center in Topeka, though hospital officials have yet to confirm that.


Kay Salisbury, who grew up in Melvern moved back there with her husband from the Kansas City, Kan., area three years ago, said she knew Montgomery and was still in shock about the charges.
³This doesn¹t fit the mold with her at all,² Salisbury said.
Salisbury said she often worked at craft fairs alongside Montgomery, an avid knitter.
³I don¹t know what¹s happened to her,² Salisbury said. ³I feel very, very saddened for Lisa¹s children. I don¹t want them to think they¹re responsible for what happened with their mother.²

She added that the grief and media attention the murder and kidnapping stirred have begun to overshadow the recent traffic accident death of a local man, Terry Burkdoll, who will be buried Wednesday. Businesses like Garry¹s plan to close for the funeral.
Burkdoll was a Babe Ruth baseball district commissioner and was widely know for being active statewide and had started three area leagues.
³Here we should be sharing feelings for his family,² Salisbury said. ³It¹s just too much for this community.²

But in the midst of tragedy, the community has organized a relief fund through the Melvern Branch Bank to benefit Stinnett¹s family.
Schultze said donors are already contributing.

³We¹re in awe and grieving as much as Skidmore,² Schultze said. ³It¹s a way we can show .²

He said anyone wishing to contribute to the fund may send donations to P.O. Box 121, Melvern, KS 66510.

[beyurslf]

1. Have you ever noticed all these crazy things happen in small towns?

One of my good friends is from a little town (population about 200) in eastern KS. Her family always tells her to be careful because the big city is so dangerous. (We live in Wichita--population about 400K).

I told her in "big" cities you don't trust strangers because strangers kill strangers. But in little towns, you can't trust family--because family kills family. And then they chop them up and bury them in the backyard under the oak tree.

I think I will take my chances with the strangers :)