POPLAR BLUFF POLICE SEARCHING FOR MOTHER AFTER INFANT FOUND ALONE IN A RESIDENCEAn infant was found alone in a residence on Monday and Poplar Bluff Police are currently trying to find the child’s mother.

We spoke with Captain Dave Sutton with the Poplar Bluff Police Department about the incident.

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DAVE SUTTON:

On Monday morning at approximately 9:30 am, Officers with the Poplar Bluff Police Department were dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of West Midland Street in reference to an infant left alone inside the residence. Upon officer arrival, they found the child lying in a bed crying, with a heavily soiled diaper. It was not clear how long she had been left unattended; but she was found lying in a bed with a fan blowing over her, and an empty bottle was lying next to her. So it seemed as though someone took care to make her comfortable for an extended period. The eight month old child was released to an Investigator with the Missouri Children’s Division. The child's mother is believed to be Jasmine Baldazo , 19, of Poplar Bluff. A friend to Jasmine Baldazo told Officers that Julissa Baldazo, an older sibling, was staying with an unidentified grandparent in Arkansas. At the time of this report, efforts to locate Jasmine Baldazo were unsuccessful. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Jasmine or Julissa Baldazo is asked to contact the Poplar Bluff Police Department at 573-785-5776.

A picture of Jasmine Baldazo is available on our Facebook page.

11 YEAR OLD BOY KILLED IN CLAY COUNTY WRECK A child died over the weekend in a utility vehicle wreck in Northeast Arkansas.

According to authorities, a side by side utility vehicle overturned on a Clay County road Sunday. An 11 year old passenger in the vehicle later died from injuries he received during the wreck.

Two other people in the vehicle suffered minor injuries.

PARAGOULD POLICE SEARCHING FOR LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER Police in Northeast Arkansas are asking for the public’s help in locating a level three sex offender.

Officials with the Paragould Police Department tell us that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of 62 year old Richard Whittaker.

Whittaker was released from prison on March 13th and has failed to report to his probation/parole officer along with registering his current address.

Anyone with information concerning Whittaker’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Paragould Police Department at 870- 236-7621.

A picture of Whittaker is available on our Facebook page.

SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE WITH TODAY’S STORM SYSTEMS An official with the National Weather Service tells us that there is some concern that Southeast Missouri could see severe weather today.

We spoke with Warning Coordination Meteorologist Rick Shanklin with the National Weather Service Office in Paducah about the concerns:

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RICK SHANKLIN:

The thunderstorm activity across the region this morning will determine part of what the severe weather threat will be this afternoon. So I have to watch that closely and not just activity but the cloud cover from that because that's actually what's going to determine how much we heat up. That instability will allow the atmosphere to become more conducive to producing severe weather. So I have to watch that closely this morning, and we do have some concerns with severe weather. In fact, at this time we had a hatched area across Southeast Missouri, which is basically a significant threat of severe weather which includes winds of at least 75 miles an hour, hail at least 2 inches in diameter, and even the possibility of a strong tornado. So again we’ll have to watch that closely as the day progresses, see how the atmosphere recovers from the overnight and morning thunderstorm activity. The key thing really is to stay prepared to stay informed through this particular time of severe weather concern. And there are excellent ways to do that and you certainly need a way to be alerted. Weather radio is a primary means of being alerted. Cell phone alerts are another excellent way to be alerted. Stay informed to this radio station for example to stay up on the latest information. Once you're alerted it's very important that you heed those warnings and take shelter if that warning is for your particular area.

We will be following the storm system throughout the day and will bring you the latest information on any severe weather as it occurs.

MAN FLOWN TO ST. LOUIS HOSPITAL FOLLOWING WRECK IN BUTLER COUNTY A Greenville man was seriously injured in a wreck early Tuesday morning in Butler County.

According to authorities, 29 year old Joseph Coble’s vehicle ran off the side of Route O and overturned. Coble, who was reportedly not wearing a safety device, was ejected during the wreck.

Coble suffered serious injuries and was flown to a St. Louis hospital.

TWO POPLAR BLUFF STUDENTS MEDAL AT MATH FIELD DAY Two Poplar Bluff math club members recently received medals during the Math Field Day at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Junior Humza Siddiqui and sophomore Adeesh Mishra placed first and second respectively in the computational math competition. Adeesh also came in second in non-routine level one and Humza placed second in trigonometry.

A total of 25 Poplar Bluff High School students participated in the annual event. The students competed both individually and as part of a team.