(Radio Iowa) – The search for a missing Montezuma boy who was last seen late Thursday morning continues in Poweshiek County. Hundreds of volunteers turned out Sunday on Xavior Harrelson’s 11th birthday to search in areas within one mile of the boy’s home and in rural areas around Montezuma. Iowa D-C-I assistant director, Mitch Mortvedt gave an update today (Tuesday) on FOX News, and was asked why an Amber Alert hasn’t been issued.

“What we concluded thus far is that it could probably be one of four avenues,” according to Mortvedt, “it could be a walk-away or runaway situation. Whether he was somewhere and had a horrible accident and we have not been able to locate him year. Or it could be criminal. With the criminal element and the Amber Alert in Iowa, his disappearance thus far has not met the criteria for an Amber Alert in Iowa.” He says investigators are going over their plan to be sure they cover all angles.

“Reviewing everything that we’ve done thus far — yet getting new information in and trying to find where Xavier is,” he says. Mortvedt noted many of the same people who searched for Mollie Tibbetts near Brooklyn three years ago helped search for Harrelson. He says they have brought in search dogs and have searched Diamond Lake.

“We’ve done everything possible, and anything we can think of,” Mortvedt says. Mortvedt says this is classified as a missing child case — NOT a kidnapping. Searchers have gone door-to-door in Montezuma and dive teams have searched Diamond Lake which is about a mile west of Montezuma.

Police in Glenwood report three arrests took place over the holiday weekend, and the theft of several flags. Today (Tuesday), the Glenwood Library reported the theft of two American flags. And on Monday, the Loess Hills Funeral HOme and Glenwood Fire Department reported the theft of five and one American flag, respectively.

On Monday, 27-year-old Edward Parrott, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a warrant for Domestic Assault. He was being held in the Mills County Jail without bond. And, 33-year-old Christopher Carbis, of Glenwood, was arrested Monday for OWI/2nd offense. His cash of surety bond was set at $2,000. On Sunday, 30-year-old Cody Perez, of Omaha, was arrested in Glenwood for being a Fugitive from Justice. He was being held without bond.

One person was transported to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital, following a motorcycle accident Tuesday afternoon, near Brayton. According to Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson, the accident happened at around 2:38-p.m. on the Highway 71 curves, north of Brayton.

A motorcycle failed to negotiate one of the southbound curves and went off the northwest corner of the road. The single male operator of the cycle was injured and transported to the hospital by Exira Rescue.

No other details were immediately available.

(Updated) (Radio Iowa) – A Whiting man is in custody and charged with second-degree murder following a Memorial Day shooting in rural Woodbury County that left one person dead and another injured. Twenty-year-old Marvin Hildreth Junior is facing the murder charge and a charge of going armed with intent. Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan says emergency crews responded to a rural resident near Luton around 1:3o p-m Monday. “Upon arrival, a female and male were found in the front yard of 1932 250th Street, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds,” Sheehan says.

Marvin Hildreth, Jr.

Forty-year-old Russell Mohr or rural Mapleton died at the scene of the shooting. A woman who has not been identified was shot in the leg and hospitalized with what are called non-life-threatening injuries. Sheehan says they had a good description of a vehicle and a deputy spotted it on Highway 141 less than 20 minutes after they arrived on the scene. He says a witness called in and reported seeing the vehicle and the deputy stopped it and the driver was taken into custody without incident.

Sheehan says the shooting suspect and the victims knew each other — but the motive for the shooting is not known at this time. He asks anyone with information on the shooting to call the sheriff’s department at 712-224-3333.

Michael Lee Rose, Sr.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports that on May 27th, Deputies were called at around 1-a.m., to 112 2nd Street, in Hepburn. The call was with regard to a verbal dispute involving a firearm. An investigation was made and a weapon was located in the residence. The Sheriff says Michael Lee Rose Sr. was arrested for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm (a Class D Felony). His cash or surety bond was set at $5,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa man who will be arraigned this month for exposing himself to a teenager was sentenced last week to two years in prison for another child-related crime. Twenty-nine-year-old Matthew Reynolds of Sigourney received a two year sentence for enticing a minor in Wapello County. The incident occurred in 2018. The Sheriff’s Office says video evidence showed Reynolds driving a blue Pontiac in downtown Eldon and following a 9-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother.

Reynolds eventually rolled down a window and told the girl to get into the vehicle. Both children ran and were not harmed. Reynolds also faces an indecent exposure charge in Mahaska County. His arraignment for that case is scheduled for June 21st.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican U-S Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is blasting Democratic President Joe Biden’s six-trillion dollar budget proposal, which was unveiled on Friday afternoon. Grassley calls the budget “reckless” and the timing “one of the oldest tricks in the book,” suggesting the administration was hoping no one would notice, heading into a three-day holiday weekend. “Biden’s budget would shatter previous records for spending and debt,” Grassley says. “Under his plan, debt would reach 117% of gross national product. That’s well beyond World War Two levels, even adjusted for inflation.”

The spending plan, which Grassley calls “massive,” aims to make good on many of Biden’s campaign promises, including reinvesting in education and infrastructure.  “It also includes a slate of new taxes which would be felt at all income levels across the country,” Grassley says. “Keep in mind, this is on top of this administration’s nearly $7-trillion spending proposals Biden already sent to Congress.” Grassley says presidential budgets usually arrive on Capitol Hill the first week in February with much fanfare, but the Biden plan is “bad news,” in Grassley’s words. “As a member of the budget committee, I’ll push to restore some sanity to government spending,” Grassley says. “We simply cannot continue this reckless spend and tax strategy.”

Friday on Twitter, Biden tweeted that the budget “builds on the progress we’ve made over the last few months and makes historic investments that will help our nation build back better for decades to come.”

(Radio Iowa) – An infectious disease specialist in Fort Dodge says to hit the goal of herd immunity against Covid, vaccination rates must increase in Iowa and Dr. Megan Srinivas says creativity may be the key. “We’ve seen that incentive systems do work,” Srinivas says. “We saw in New Orleans that just having people who were willing to vaccinate during the time when people were going out at night and saying: ‘Hey, this bar is partnering with us. We’ll give you a free drink if you get your Johnson & Johnson one shot vaccine,’ was extremely effective.”

A chance to win a million dollar lottery prize has significantly boosted the Covid vaccination rate in Ohio. Dr. Leyla Best, an infectious disease specialist with UnityPoint, says one-on-one discussions with patients are key to addressing myths about the vaccines. “I always like to take the opportunity when I see patients in my clinics…to talk about, ‘Have you been vaccinated?'” Best says. “And without pushing — I’m not pushing or making people get the vaccine — I want to understand what their fears are.”

Best says this has been a difficult year for everyone and it’s important for physicians to be available for their patients to answer questions. About 43 percent of Iowans are fully vaccinated. Both Best and Srinivas specialize in health care outreach to rural areas. The two doctors made their comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television.

(Radio Iowa) University of Iowa researchers are sending out surveys to randomly-selected Latino households in nine Iowa counties with significant Latino populations to gauge the long-term impact of COVID-19 on that segment of the population. Miriam Velez-Bermudez is one of the U-I doctoral students leading the study. She says the findings will be sent to organizations throughout the state to help public health responses in the future. “We can’t address those needs if we’re not able to assess them,” Velez-Bermudez says. “So, this is sort of the first step in knowing what needs there are, so it can inform public health measures moving forward.”

The surveys come with a five-dollar incentive. The researchers hope to have enough data to analyze by early summer. U-I researcher Crystal Garcia says she’s starting to receive feedback and the responses will help the team figure out what effect the virus is having on Latinos in the state. “We don’t really have a good sense of what those long-term impacts might be,” Garcia says. “We’ve heard food security, mental health, but really quantifying what that looks like.”

Other organizations have tried to find that data in the past, but their efforts hit obstacles. Garcia says with their research, “disappearing is not an option.”

(By Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)