Investigating agency is Columbus, Indiana, Police Department

A STATEWIDE Silver Alert has been declared.
The Columbus Police Department is investigating the disappearance of an adult from Columbus, Indiana. Columbus is located approximately 45 miles south of Indianapolis, Indiana. Vonda D. Fivecoat is 57 year old white female, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 95 lbs, with blond hair and blue eyes. Vonda Fivecoat was last seen at 7:00 pm on Thursday December 20, 2012 in Columbus, Indiana, and is believed to...

The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service Sex Offender Investigations Unit are both seeking assistance from the public in locating a Michigan City man who is reportedly a sexually violent predator. The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office reports it was recently discovered that 28 year old Maurice Ward was no longer living at his registered Michigan City address, on the seven-hundredth block of Popular Street, and failed to notify authorities of a change in address, a...

Poor winter driving conditions continue to plague central and south Indiana.  Caution is advised for drivers headed southbound, south of Remington.  The latest from the Indiana State Police:

Currently, Troopers are working several crashes in White County between the 193 mile mark and the 200 mile mark.  Roads are described as having a layer of Black Ice.  Troopers are also working several slide-off incidents in Clinton County near the Boone Count line in the area between the 158 mile mark and t...

Two region fire departments were busy on Christmas. The Portage Fire Department reports a stove fire in a third floor apartment of Park Place Apartments that afternoon, caused all the residents of the 24 unit building to be relocated for the night, due to a significant amount of exposed wiring from the fire, which was isolated to the walls on third and second floor, and a small area of the attic. At last check, power to all but two of the severely affected apartments had been restored as of...

Road conditions in southern Indiana today have become quite hazardous due to the first major storm of 2012, and have caused numerous multiple vehicle crashes, including a couple on I-65 near Lafayette. Indiana State Police are offering you some tips on what to do, and what not to do, in the event weather becomes an issue.

• Do not call city, county or state police to check on road conditions – police agencies across the state want to keep phone lines open for emergency phone calls
• For u...

A 59 year old physician with offices in Chicago and Michigan City was indicted on federal charges of health care fraud and making false medical claims last week. According to the Times, the charges against Paul Madison are linked to his Chicago practice, and a 67 year old nurse at the Chicago practice has also been indicted. Published reports say, between 2005 and 2009, Madison allegedly caused more than three-point-five million dollars in bills to be submitted for medical services not provided...

Two 20 year old Chicago men are in custody after leading multiple agencies on a foot-chase through portions of Highland last night, stemming from an armed robbery incident in Burnham, Illinois. Highland Police say the suspects were reportedly being pursued by the robbery victim, who fired shots at the victim, until their vehicle, which had been reported as stolen, crashed in Highland. Authorities, with the assistance of a K-9, tracked the two suspects to a backyard on the 89-hundredth block of...

The Lake County Coroner's Office and Gary Police are investigating the death of a 44 year old Portage man. The Coroner's Office reports an investigative team was dispatched just before 9 this morning to the 11-hundredth block of Benton Street in Gary, where a body identified as that of Norman Klaus was pronounced deceased at 9:45 this morning. Authorities report injuries and the cause of death are pending, and no further information is available at this time.

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If you plan on traveling south towards Lafayette or Indianapolis today, you may want to reconsider those plans due to the weather. Indiana State Police are dealing with another multiple vehicle crash, this time though on northbound I-65, on the east side of Lafayette, south of the State Road 25 exit. At last check no injuries were reported, but at least two semi-tractor trailers and six to seven vehicles were reportedly involved, and traffic there is expected to be shutdown for some time. This...

The Lake County Coroners office says a death investigative team from their office was dispatched to the 19-hundred block of Columbus Drive in East Chicago at 6:45 Tuesday night. Police say a 58-year-old man of the same address where they responded was pronounced dead , and manner and cause of death were reported as pending. East Chicago Police are investigating.

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