Missing Person Report
On Saturday June 6th at approximately 4:00 PM the Benton County Sheriff's Office received a notification about a possible missing person in the area, Cody B. Garrett 28, of Columbia, MO. Garrett's mother reported him missing to the Boone County Sheriff's Office after Garrett had not been in contact for approximately 48 hours. Garrett's mother reported that Garret had told her he was headed to Benton County with some friends to do some shooting and never returned.
A ping of Garrett's phone lead Benton County Deputies to his vehicle located on Benton House Avenue in Warsaw. While investigating the vehicle Deputies encountered a bicyclist exiting trails that were located nearby who offered to assist in searching the area due to the narrow bike trails. Garrett's body was located approximately ½ mile away from his vehicle, down a secondary bike trail. Due to the deterioration of the body and the torrential downpour on Friday, detectives had to wait for the preliminary report from the Jackson County Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death. It was ruled by the medical examiner to be a homicide.
Detectives are working several leads; this is an ongoing investigation that will take some time to unravel. If you have any information about this crime or any other, please contact the Benton County Sheriff's Office at (660) 438-6135 or email bc.sheriff@bentoncomo.com. I will keep you up to date when we have more information.
On Friday, June 18th at approximately 5:00 PM, law enforcement responded to a residence located on Panorama Road near Warsaw for a domestic disturbance involving gunfire. After an investigation, it was determined that Heather M. Mathias (McCormick), 50, of the residence, shot Charles M. McCormick the 3rd, ,also of the residence, twice before taking her own life. There was a juvenile in the residence at the time of the shooting who was not involved and unharmed. McCormick was life-flighted to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. McCormick's condition is unknown, but as of the time of this report I know he is still alive.
