In brief: Help sought finding fugitive
The nonprofit Secret Witness organization is offering a reward for a fugitive wanted for alleged possession of drugs and stolen property.
The suspect is Tony Ray Pelley, 52, whose last known address was in the 7100 block of East Ninth Avenue in Spokane Valley. He has a 35-year history of convictions for drug crimes and traffic offenses, including drunken driving, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan.
Pelley is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.
To collect the reward anonymously, call Secret Witness at (509) 327-5111 and use a code name or number.
Spokane
Children removed in marijuana bust
Spokane County sheriff’s detectives collected 103 marijuana plants, a shotgun and a couple of children when they raided a Deer Park home Monday.
Ryan G. Tongue, 26, and Karma J. Prosser, 22, were arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance.
Two of the couple’s children – a 2-month-old baby and a 2-year-old – were removed from the home. Those children and a 7-year-old sibling, who was at a Deer Park school, were turned over to Child Protective Services.
Kootenai County
Information sought on woman
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a 51-year-old Hayden woman whose daughter hasn’t heard from her in about two years.
Sheriff’s investigators have checked available databases and found no activity associated with the missing woman, Kathleen Ellen Durkin, since December 2004.
Durkin is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds and has blond-red hair and brown eyes, according to the Sheriff’s Department. She has a tattoo on her left shoulder that says “Julian.”
According to the Sheriff’s Department, Durkin was a known methamphetamine user, and she suffers from lupus. She was reported missing by her daughter, Robyn Ott. Ott, a Coeur d’Alene resident, told investigators she was away from the area for some time and had not heard from her mother in about two years.
Anyone with information on Durkin’s whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (208) 446-1300 and ask for Detective Jason Austin.
Boise
Simplot released from hospital
After more than a month of recuperation, billionaire potato magnate J.R. Simplot was released from the Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital on Tuesday and was resting at home, a spokesman said.
Simplot, 98, fell from his motorized wheelchair and hit his head in the University of Phoenix stadium parking lot while returning to his car after Boise State’s Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl victory.
He was having trouble speaking after the injury but has partially regained his speech, said J.R. Simplot Co. spokesman David Cuoio. Doctors anticipate he will continue recovering at home, Cuoio said.