MAN CHARGED IN MURDER

CARUTHERSVILLE -- A 29-year-old man from Alton, Ill., was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in the death of 11-year-old Koesha Rodgers, the Pemiscot County prosecutor's office said.

Kevin Orlando Bess had been living in Caruthersville when Rodgers disappeared on Aug. 22, said Tommy Greenwell, Pemiscot County sheriff.

Bess is in the Lincoln County Jail on separate felony charges, Greenwell said. Although he was charged in St. Louis, he is being held in Lincoln County on a change of venue, pending trial.

Bess is charged with first-degree assault, kidnapping and two counts of forcible sodomy, the St. Louis City Circuit Clerk's office said. He was charged in St. Louis on Dec. 14.

Bess will be transported to Pemiscot County at a later date to face the murder charge, the sheriff said.

Pemiscot Prosecuting Attorney Mike Hazel had said a few days before Christmas that one suspect had been found in the murder.

The charges were filed based on scientific evidence, Greenwell said.