ST. LOUIS — As this year comes to an end, let’s look back on 2019’s top news stories from the St. Louis area.
In July, a man made a disturbing discovery in his mom’s freezer. Adam Smith’s mom lived in an apartment complex in south St. Louis for years. Smith moved into her apartment to help her after she was diagnosed with cancer. After his mom died, he rummaged through her stuff.
He found a box in the back of her freezer. He said his mom always told him it was a wedding cake top.
"It turns out it was a baby," Smith told 5 On Your Side. He said the frozen baby was wrapped in a pink fleece.
"It still had skin hair and everything it was mummified," he said. "After that, I freaked out, put it in the box and called police right away."
In October, Schnucks Markets Inc. announced it was closing three of its St. Louis area stores due to poor sales.
The following stores closed on Nov. 10.
St. Peters, Missouri 100 Jungermann Road, 63376
O’Fallon, Missouri 1421 Mexico Loop Road East, 63366
Edwardsville, Illinois 2122 Troy Road, 62025
An Army veteran from O’Fallon, Missouri disappeared in October and was later found dead in Wyoming.
Caleb Rio’s parents found out he was looking up suicide articles online prior to his disappearance.
It was over the Fourth of July holiday when a man who was annoyed by fireworks, shot a teen and a 12-year-old in Washington Park, Illinois.
It was quite the scene along Interstate 70 in Illinois in March. There were nearly 3,000 piglets that were loose. Police said the piglets got loose after a truck carrying them was involved in a crash. The crashed happened because the driver was ill, police said. The driver was cited for improper lane usage.
In October, Andrew D. Martin announced the Wash U Pledge, a new financial aid program that will provide free undergraduate tuition to full-time Missouri and Illinois students who are either Pell Grant eligible or from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or lower. To be eligible for the program, students must be admitted to the school as a full-time, first-year undergraduate student, live in the designated area and fit the financial criteria.
Aerial images showed the Mississippi River breaching the Pin Oak levee in Winfield back in June. The flooding has damaged or destroyed several homes, businesses, and properties in the area.
'You made my week, my year, my life' | Dog who ran from deadly St. Charles crash reunites with owner
A pup named Blake who ran off after a deadly crash was reunited with his owner.
Two women were killed in a tragic crash in St. Charles County in November. Robyn Schupp was driving her Jeep on Highway D near the August A. Busch. Memorial Conservation Area. While trying to round a curve, she crossed the center line and hit an Audi.
Schupp and her passenger Barb Boeshansz both died in the crash. The Audi driver, Rose Smith, broke her arm and a bone in her heel. Her two dogs were in the car at the time of the crash. The Golden Retriever Cody was taken to an animal hospital, But Blake ran off.
While 5 On Your Side was doing a story with Rose Smith’s boyfriend, he got the call that someone had found Blake.
In March, a former school nurse with the Fox C-6 School District in Arnold was charged for having sex with a student under the age of 16 and for tampering with a victim.
According to a 2018 probable cause statement from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the victim stated that Tina Maria Sumner, 47, had sex with him eight times between 2015 and 2017 at the victim's home, at Sumner's home and on Fox C-6 school property.
Sumner was originally arrested in September 2017 and advised not to contact the victim or his family. The victim said after Sumner's arrest, Sumner offered him $2,000 to pay off his vehicle in exchange for dropping the case.
A North County Police Cooperative officer was shot and killed at the Wellston Food Market in June.
Officer Michael Langsdorf was called to the market for a report of a bad check. Minutes later, officers received a call for an officer down.
