Midwest
Kansas City Chiefs fans' cause of death revealed after being found frozen in friend's yard
The causes of death have been revealed for the three Kansas City Chiefs fans who were found dead in the backyard of their friend’s home in January 2024.
A forensic exam determined David Harrington, 37, Clayton McGeeney, 36, and Ricky Johnson, 38, “all died of fentanyl and cocaine combined toxicity,” according to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The documents reveal what responding officers encountered the day they were called to the Kansas City, Missouri, rental home, where the group of longtime friends had celebrated the Chiefs’ victory just days earlier.
On Wednesday, Jordan Willis and Ivory J. Carson were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoid. Each charge carries a maximum of 10 years.
SUSPECTS IN KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS’ DEATHS PLEAD NOT GUILTY
David Harrington, Clayton McGeeney and Ricky Johnson were found dead outside their friend’s Kansas City, Missouri, home on Jan. 9, 2024. (Ricky Johnson/Facebook)
Willis and Carson had court appearances on Thursday, joining separately via video from the jail, wearing orange jumpsuits during their arraignment in Platte County, Missouri.
Willis’ lawyer, John Picerno, entered a not guilty plea on Willis’ behalf, and the judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Carson, who does not yet have an attorney and plans to apply for a public defender.
Deadly Kansas City discovery
McGeeney’s fiancée, April Mahoney, called authorities after discovering the frozen bodies of the trio on Jan. 9, 2024. The friends had gathered at Willis’ rental property to watch the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers around 7 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2024.
Mahoney, according to court documents, grew alarmed that her fiancé had seemingly disappeared — eventually going to the home and spotting McGeeney’s red Ford F-150 pickup truck parked outside the residence.
Repeated door knocking yielded no response, leading Mahoney to climb through a basement window, documents revealed.
“They located an isolated deceased person on the back patio and called police,” documents say, without specifying which body was first found.
Court documents note that all three of the victims were found deceased in the backyard of the home.
TWO CHARGED IN KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS’ DEATHS 14 MONTHS AFTER BODIES FOUND FROZEN IN BACKYARD
An exterior view of the backyard and porch of Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 26, 2024. The bodies of Willis’ three friends — Ricky Johnson, Clayton McGeeney and David Harrington — were found in his backyard on Jan. 9, 2024. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
When police arrived at the single-family home, Mahoney told authorities that her fiancé would drink and use cocaine. She noted that McGeeney “would get low on money,” and Willis would “usually supply cocaine to his friends.”
Police wrote in court documents that they discovered a bag of a “white powdery substance” in the top drawer of an end table and a second bag of “white powdery substance” on top of the entertainment center in the living room.
READ THE PROBABLE CAUSE: MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE
Willis told police on Jan. 9 that he believed McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson had left his home on Jan. 8 around 4 a.m., according to court documents. Picerno previously told Fox News Digital that his client went to sleep while the four men were still awake and hanging out at the house.
Picerno also previously revealed to FOX 4 that Willis was asleep with air buds and a loud fan on.
FAMILY OF KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FAN FOUND DEAD OUTSIDE PAL’S HOUSE THINKS HE WAS DRUGGED
Jordan Willis, left, and Ivory J. Carson were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoid. Each charge carries a maximum of 10 years. (Platte County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office)
Two other unidentified witnesses, who were present at the football watch party, told police that they “drank, smoked marijuana and used cocaine.” One of the witnesses said that he left “shortly before midnight” on Jan. 8, documents said.
Another witness said that before heading to Willis’ rental home, he saw a “large plate of cocaine allegedly supplied by Mr. Willis that everyone was using” at Harrington’s home, the documents said.
Court records also indicated that Carson, who went by “Blade Brown,” supplied and sold cocaine to Willis and the victims, and that his DNA was found on a bag of fentanyl.
WATCH: Families of Chiefs fans demand answers
The Kansas City Police Department said that it investigated the three deaths for 14 months before charges were filed.
“KCPD detectives never stopped working on the case, waiting for all the facts to come in. Reaching this point is a testament to their dedication to delivering justice for the victims and their loved ones,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Wednesday.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
North Dakota
In ‘last chapter,’ North Dakota son who made ultimate sacrifice in World War II comes home
DAHLEN, N.D. — A spectacular summer day with blue skies, puffy clouds and a light breeze served as a perfect backdrop for the homecoming for a North Dakota hero of World War II.
Hundreds of people came to pay respects to U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Irvin C. Ellingson on Saturday, June 20, in his hometown of Dahlen, North Dakota, 55 miles northwest of Grand Forks.
His funeral and burial were the culmination of three days worth of ceremonies, remembrances and celebrations for the extended Ellingson family, friends and community members.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Brittany Jallo, a great niece to Ellingson, said the family has never let him be forgotten.
“It’s so surreal, it’s like I’m smiling and crying at the same time,” she said.
Terry Ellingson, one of Irvin’s nephews, said they can finally put him to rest alongside other family members.
“It’s a real gift to us, and it’s something that we don’t have to keep wondering about anymore,” he said.
Contributed / Lon Enerson
This was a day many prayed for
but feared might never come.
Ellingson, then 25, was working as a radar operator aboard a B-29 Superfortress that had completed a combat mission over Tokyo when it was fired upon by a Japanese fighter plane on April 14, 1945.
He and other crewmen parachuted safely, only to be captured by the Japanese military and held as prisoners of war. The American POWs in the Tokyo military prison died tragically six weeks later when a fire, sparked by U.S. bombing runs and high winds, swept through the wooden building.
Contributed
Positive identification of remains seemed almost impossible. But almost exactly one year ago, with the work of
forensic anthropologists using advanced DNA technology
and persistence by family members, it happened.
Lon Enerson, another of Ellingson’s nephews, spearheaded the years-long effort and plans to finally bring Ellingson’s remains back home.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Enerson, now living in St. Cloud, Minnesota, grew up a few miles from the farmstead where Ellingson was born and raised.
He’s been trying to write a book about his uncle Irvin for four years.
“The book’s on hold, of course. I never knew we’d get this last chapter,” he said.
Ellingson’s remains arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii, early Wednesday, where family members waited on the tarmac.
“It was such an intimate experience for all of us, something that I’ll never forget, really,” Enerson said.
A contingent of law enforcement officers and motorcyclists escorted his remains north.
On Thursday, another convoy brought Ellingson’s remains
from the Fargo Air Museum to Grand Forks
for a ceremony featuring Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Julie Fedorchak.
A family celebration on a rural Nelson County farmstead filled the day Friday leading up to Saturday’s farewell.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
At Dahlen Lutheran Church, one of Ellingson’s dress uniforms was on display in his open casket, with his wrapped remains situated toward the top.
His remains, and those of 61 other U.S. servicemen who perished in the Tokyo military prison fire,
first arrived at a forensic lab in Honolulu
in spring of 2022, where the painstaking work of identification began.
Many Ellingson family members contributed DNA to assist in that process.
Two forensic anthropologists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, working in that lab in Hawaii, helped identify Ellingson’s remains.
The family grew so close to Kristen Grow and Melissa Menschel,
they invited them to Ellingson’s farewell. To many family members’ surprise, the two women were able to make the trip.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
“Everybody keeps thanking us, but we thank them for allowing us to be part of this process, for them having that persistence in the beginning, and then trusting us with this profound responsibility,” Grow said.
“We don’t interact very often with families unless they come to our lab, and so this is a rare opportunity for us … so we said we can’t miss it,” Menschel said.
The funeral featured music and scriptural readings from many extended Ellingson family members.
Enerson played the trumpet in several orchestral arrangements, and four other Ellingson nephews sang beautiful harmonies.
In the homily, Pastor Val Teppo spoke of the letters Ellingson wrote home to his family, saying it was time for him to get home.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
“Today isn’t the homecoming I am sure he was envisioning then when he wrote those letters, but more than 80 years later, Irvin is indeed coming home,” Teppo said.
Col. James Schlabach, commander of the 91st Missile Wing at the Minot Air Force Base, spoke of how Ellingson, at age 22, during the deadliest conflict in history, raised his right hand and said he was ready to serve.
“What I’d like to do as a final thank you on behalf of a grateful nation, a grateful U.S. military, is offer Staff Sgt. Irvin Ellingson one final salute,” Schlabach said.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
He left the lectern, approached the casket, and fired off a sharp, solemn salute.
Attendees loaded onto buses for the convoy to Middle Forest River Cemetery, just a few miles away on gravel roads.
First, the silver hearse carrying Ellingson’s casket had an important stop.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
It was driven onto the farmstead where Irvin once lived with his parents, Tommy and Ella Ellingson, and seven siblings — the place where the family spent many waking hours, wondering whether Irvin would ever come home.
The old farmhouse is no longer but the property is still very much in the family, as Ellingson’s great niece Brittany Jallo, her husband and children built a home there.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The hearse circled the driveway and paused, looking out onto the rolling hills and creeks for one final farewell, as children waved American flags and a family member in Marine Corps blues stood at attention.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The convoy proceeded to the cemetery for final military honors, which included the flyover of a B-52, a long-range strategic bomber from Minot Air Force Base.
With attendees craning their necks toward the sky, the plane’s wide wings appeared a stark contrast to fluffy clouds as it flew by.
At the conclusion, one attendee who said he wasn’t a family member, thanked Enerson and everyone involved for what he described as “an experience of a lifetime.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) — The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Chardon Post is investigating a fatal plane crash that killed three people around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
According to a press release, about one mile east of the Geauga County Airport, a Piper Comanche 250 crashed into a field.
The plane sustained major damage — killing three Ohioans who were identified as Thomas A. Cunningham, 76, of Rome, John W. Taipale, 71, and Alexander C. Taipale, 40, both from Geneva.
OSHP was assisted by the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, Geauga County Coroner’s Office, Geauga County Emergency Management Agency, Middlefield Fire Department and Community Care Ambulance.
The Western Reserve Port Authority, Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport’s executive director, Anthony Trevena, reached out to our team with a statement regarding the crash.
“We were heartbroken to learn that members of our extended YNG and Youngstown aviation family, were victims in today’s crash in Geagua County. Our deepest condolences go out the Cunningham and Taipale families. We ask that their privacy please be respected during this difficult time. The FAA and NTSB are leading the investigation to determine the cause and will provide any updates as information becomes available.,” Trevena said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
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