News Release



For further information please contact:

Sergeant Martin K. Elmore

(417) 469-3121

G-05063

May 12, 2006



EMPHASIS: Arrest Made in Death of Child





On Wednesday, May 10, 2006, officers with the Troop G Unit of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control were asked to assist the West Plains Police Department with an investigation involving the death of a female infant.



At 02:50 a.m., May 10, 2006, Jaycee R. Hardin, age 18 months, was pronounced dead at Ozarks Medical Center, West Plains, Missouri, after being transported there from her family’s residence in West Plains. Preliminary autopsy results indicate the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the abdomen.



On Friday, May 12, 2006, officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the West Plains Police Department arrested Jaycee Hardin’s stepfather, Joseph W. Frye, 22, West Plains, Missouri. Frye has been charged with Second Degree Murder in conjunction with the infant’s death.



The charges for which Frye was arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.