Hunt for slaying suspect continues in Texas County

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies were leading a manhunt for a third day Thursday in the wooded Ozark hills of Texas County in south-central Missouri for a man charged with fatally shooting his wife.

Deputies from four counties assisted by officers from the State Highway Patrol and other agencies were looking for Neldon H. Neal, 60.

Neal is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Judy Lewis, 51, after a fight Tuesday in their trailer home near the rural community of Roby.

"The investigators first thought she (Lewis) was his girlfriend, but it turns out they were married," Sheriff Carl Watson said.

Neal is considered armed and dangerous.

The manhunt caused two nearby school districts in Plato and Success to cancel classes Wednesday. Those schools were scheduled to remain closed Thursday and Friday for spring break.

Sergeant Marty Elmore of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Neal is an outdoorsman who grew up around Roby and knows the land, which includes parts of the Mark Twain National Forest.

"It's pretty rugged territory, with lots of caves and cubby holes. He probably knows every one," Elmore said.