Three photos used in the search for Micki Jo West, who disappeared at age 19 in 1979.
Missing, but not forgotten
Recently-retired Monett police chief recalls biggest case
I
n 1985, detectives at the St. Joseph Police Department received a phone call about an unidentified female body discovered near Shell Knob. This was not the first such call from one particular father. Micki Jo West was reported as a missing person on Sept. 11, 1979, in St. Joseph. Every time an unidentified female body surfaced anywhere in the state, her father called, asking officers to investigate. Arden Locke knew his daughter was not just missing, she was dead — murdered by a man known to the police and the family. That man was Marvin Irvin. That year, Detective Sergeant
Story by Murray Bishoff
Tim Schweder was assigned to investigate the call. It was not Micki Jo West’s body. But that assignment was Schweder’s first involvement in the Micki Jo West case, a case that would occupy much of his time for the next five years. Little did he know that 30 years later, he would be the chief of police in Monett, which is near Shell Knob. But the case of the missing daughter, Micki Jo West, would haunt him, and take five years — and the deaths of at least two more women — before Schweder faced Marvin Irvin and said, “You’re under arrest for murder.” “That was the high point of my career.” Schweder recalled.
Tim Schweder Former Monett Police Chief
Detective Schweder appeared on the episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” focusing on the disappearance of Micki Jo West. Schweder is the retiring police chief in Monett.
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