DRIVER ACCUSED OF HAULING DRUGS ON SCHOOL BUS

ADVANCE -- A bus driver who drove handicapped children to Parkview State School in Cape Girardeau was arrested for allegedly transporting drugs in the bus after hours, the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department said.

Kimberly Sue Talley, 38, of Advance was stopped Tuesday about 8 p.m. driving on Highway C near Advance. She was arrested and charged with the class B felony of drug possession, said sheriff's deputy Jesse Miller.

"Our main goal was to get her to quit driving the bus," he said.

The arrest culminated a month-and-a-half-long investigation, Miller said.

Stoddard County residents had told the sheriff's department that the school bus, specially equipped for wheelchair passengers, was being driven around at odd hours, Miller said.

"People weren't used to seeing a school bus out at 1 o'clock in the morning," he said.

Miller, who conducted the investigation jointly with the Advance Police Department, began by interviewing prisoners who had knowledge about drug use in the area, he said.

Regular surveillance during March showed that Talley would drive the bus from her home in the evening, Miller said. She also traveled to Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties, Miller said.

Talley had worked as a bus driver for the school for over two years, the deputy said, and this year she was transporting six children.

"At this time we have no evidence that shows she was doing this on the job," he said.

Investigators are waiting for results of a urinalysis from the Southeast Missouri Crime Lab, which will help determine if drugs were in her system, Miller said.

At the time she was arrested, Talley had a small quantity of marijuana in one plastic bag, he said.

A week prior to the arrest, law enforcement officers had searched the residence of a man who had frequent contact with Talley and often stayed at her residence, Miller said. Items used for taking methamphetamine were found, he said.