22 years later, fatal shooting remains unsolved

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Southeast Missourian overlooked this case in its Aug. 2 roundup of unsolved homicides and disappearances. Today is the 22nd anniversary of the discovery of Lee Moore's body on his farm near Whitewater. Authorities have not made any arrests in the case and are seeking the public's help in bringing Moore's killer or killers to justice.

It has been 22 years since family members found 66-year-old Lee Moore shot to death in a ravine near a barn at his farm near Whitewater.

Then-Lt. John Jordan worked the investigation into Moore's death as part of the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger County Major Case Squad. More than two decades later, Jordan -- now Cape Girardeau County sheriff -- still hopes to bring Moore's killers to justice.

"We haven't had a call on that case ... in years," Jordan said in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon.

Moore had been missing several days when family members discovered his body on the morning of Aug. 12, 1991, at the isolated farm where he lived alone.

He had been shot several times in the head and upper body with a .22-caliber weapon, then-Sheriff Norman Copeland said at the time.

The day after Moore was found, authorities said the killer might have stolen a canoe and used it to flee the farm, which is on County Road 389 outside Whitewater, near the Whitewater River.

A year after the shooting, Copeland told a Southeast Missourian reporter authorities had evidence in the case but were unable to "tie it to someone."

On Sunday, Jordan said the sheriff's department continues to keep an eye on some "persons of interest" in the case, but lacks sufficient evidence to charge anyone with Moore's murder.

He declined to elaborate further on the case, including a possible motive, because the investigation remains open.

"Can't say a whole lot about the case," Jordan said. " ... It's still an active case, but it's a cold case for sure."

At this point, the department's best hope for solving the case and arresting the killer or killers lies with the public, Jordan said.

"It's one of those cases [in which] until certain people come forward with information, there's not a lot that can be done with it," he said.

Moore's death was not the first shooting to occur on the farm.

The Southeast Missourian reported in 1991 that Moore's son Gregory Moore, 21, and a neighbor, 61-year-old Carson Smith, apparently shot each other to death in a 1978 property dispute.

One of Moore's other sons, Kenneth Moore, told police he and his brother were working on the farm when a fight broke out between Gregory Moore and Smith over the rights to some nearby property, the Southeast Missourian reported.

According to the 1991 article, Kenneth Moore told police Smith shot his brother in the chest with a .25-caliber pistol, at which point Gregory Moore shot back with a .357 Magnum he had been carrying in a holster.

Smith was found dead at the scene, and Gregory Moore died on the way to a Cape Girardeau hospital, the Southeast Missourian reported.

After Lee Moore's death, authorities said there appeared to be no connection between the two cases.

Jordan asked anyone with information about the case to call the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department at 243-3551.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

County Road 389, Whitewater, Mo.