WELLINGTON

Probe continues into train death

The Sumner County Sheriff’s Department said Friday it was “diligently working” to determine the cause of the death of an Argonia teenager whose body was found Monday after being hit by a train.

“Many questions are yet to be answered and may take some time,” according to a brief release issued by the Sheriff’s Department.

Autopsy results on the death of Jacob “Jake” Allen, 19, are pending, it said, and those results are not expected for six to eight weeks.

Various law enforcement and railroad sources connected with the investigation have said the 19-year-old, who graduated as Argonia High School’s valedictorian in May, had apparently been tied with baling wire to the tracks.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Peers help judge punish AWOL alternate juror

An Independence, Mo., woman will have some time to think about her attempt to duck jury duty.

Barbara Sparkman, 54, was serving as an alternate juror in a Jackson County murder trial when she left a message Thursday morning with court officials, saying she was too stressed to continue.

Circuit Judge Thomas Clark wasn’t pleased and ordered deputies to find the woman and bring her to court to explain herself.

Once found, Sparkman told Clark and the her co-jurors that she didn’t want to view crime scene and autopsy photos, had had an asthma attack Wednesday night and worried about her mother in a nursing home.

After consulting the other jurors, Clark sentenced Sparkman to sit in the jury pool gathering room throughout the rest of the trial, which is expected to end next week. Clark also may order Sparkman to serve on another case.