The body of a black female in her 20s, which was found Friday alongside Hwy. 45, has been identified. Barney Gowin, a Metro Squad spokesman and Kansas City police detective, said the body is that of Leslie Michelle Stillman, 23, of Leavenworth, Kan. She had been missing since January. Some marks on her throat led officers at first to suspect she had been strangled but a doctor said they were not sufficient to cause death, Gowin said. “The cause of death is still not known,” the Metro Squad spokesman said Tuesday. The woman was identified through fingerprint records, a watch and a couple of rings that were found on the body. Platte County Sheriff Tom Thomas said his department received a call around 10:30 a.m. Friday from a motorist whose car broke down and he saw what he thought was a dead body. The motorist would not give his name but gave the location on Hwy. 45, about two miles north of Beverly near one of the twin bridges. “We don’t see him as a suspect, but we would like to have him call,” Thomas said. Metro Squad spokesman said the woman was last seen leaving her grandmother’s house in Leavenworth with an unidentified man on Jan. 15 and was reported missing three days later.
Heavy earth-moving equipment was moved in last week on a tract of land behind the Platte City Middle School where a park with soccer fields will be created. Don Haugland of Sonny Hill Motors agreed to lease the land to the City of Platte City for $1 per year for five years.