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Arrest Made in Bundy Murder

On August 7, 2008 the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office obtained an arrest warrant in connection with the Glenn Bundy Murder case.

On July 6, 2008 Glenn Bundy was found murdered in his residence located on FM 590 south of Comanche.

The Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the Texas Rangers and the DPS Crime Scene Lab Technicians.

A Capital Murder warrant was served on Rocky Dee Hidrogo, 26, of Comanche, by Texas Ranger Jesus Ramos. Hidrogo who has been incarcerated in the Comanche County Jail since July 17 on fifteen counts of Burglary of a Habitation had bond denied on the Capital Murder charge by Justice of the Peace Bill Koenig during magistration on August 8.

According to Texas law, Capital Murder is the act of committing murder during the commission of another felony offense; in this case burglary of a habitation.

The Sheriff’s Office has been in constant communication with District Attorney B. J. Shepard in the development of this case. The Sheriff’s Office expects other arrests as this case develops.

Edward Duane Ray, 21, was arrested with Hidrogo in July, in connection with the burglaries, but he has not been charged in connection with Bundy’s death.

Commissioners Consider Road Closing and Road Map Corrections

By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter

COMANCHE -- A variety of fairly routine issues were on the agenda in the County Courtroom Monday morning. A requested county road closing, a needed county road map correction, flooding in the courthouse basement, and leaking roofs at the county annex buildings were some of the issues presented for consideration.

The Commissioners Court met on Monday, August 11, with all members present. Judge Arthur conducted the meeting with Commissioners Garry Steele, Kenneth Feist, Bobby Schuman and Jimmy Dale Johnson participating.

Other county officials present included County Clerk Ruby Lesley, County Sheriff Jeff Lambert, County Attorney Craig Willingham, County Auditor Joey Boswell, County Constable Mark McDonald, Chief Deputy-Enforcement Chris Pounds, Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg, Assistant Emergency Services Coordinator Trish Grimshaw and County Extension Agent for Agriculture Whit Weems.

Commissioner-elect Sherman Sides and candidates David Rogers and Corky Underwood were also in attendance.

Road Closing Request

The first order of new business was the presentation by Robert Vanzant of an application for closure and abandonment of county maintenance of a portion of CR 328 in Precinct 2 between Proctor and Gustine.

Vanzant described vandalism and trash from beer drinkers as the reason for seeking the closing. He said the road was barely passable in the requested closing area. He further described the legal procedures he and his attorney had followed in seeking the closure, noting that all affected landowners had agreed to the closing and that no public access to cemeteries would be affected.

Kenneth Feist stated that he had no objections to the closing, adding that the road was hardly ever used and was often in impassable condition.

No formal action was taken and the matter was tentatively set for consideration at the first Commissioners meeting in September following the posting of notices and other required formalities.

Road Map Correction Requested

Rita Wilson addressed the Commissioners regarding difficulties she had encountered during the July 22 wildfire near Lamkin.

She described her repeated attempts to get firefighting help by calling the county's Central Dispatch office.

Because the county road maps did not show the section of CR 260 which connected to CR 286 west of Lamkin, 9-1-1 dispatch argued with Wilson, stating that the road number she was giving did not exist in the area. Wilson said she was looking at a county road sign posted nearby.

There was considerable discussion regarding differences between the published county road maps and the actual road that exists. Craig Willingham joined Wilson in expressing concern over the inaccurate maps.

Despite her frustration with the maps and Central Dispatch, Wilson had words of praise for the volunteer firefighters who risked their lives on behalf of the county residents.

"They were wonderful, and courteous and nice," she stated.

The Commissioners agreed that the official and unofficial county road maps needed to be corrected to reflect the actual road and pledged to take action accordingly. No official action was taken.

Courthouse Flooding

The heavy rains last Wednesday caused water to flood into the courthouse basement County Extension offices. Whit Weems described how water came through the basement walls early in the morning and covered almost the entire office floor before being found when employees reported for work.

Weems noted that around 50-60 gallons of water was vacuumed, and that the office carpeting is still wet and smelly.

There was extended discussion regarding the problem, which is not unique to the Extension Office, but includes the entire perimeter of the courthouse building.

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Dubious Report Prompts Massive Flood Rescue Effort

By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter

A large scale search along a section of the South Leon River in southeast Comanche County just east of Gustine produced only frustration among the large numbers of the swiftwater rescuers and law enforcement and emergency management officials who were involved last Wednesday, August 6.

No evidence of floodwater victims was found, however, and now there are indications that criminal charges may be filed for making false statements to public officials.

As the remnants of tropical storm Eduoardo drifted slowly in a northwesterly direction through Central Texas, it slowed early Wednesday morning over the area where Comanche, Hamilton and Mills counties meet, and then dumped large amounts of rain. The result was heavy local flooding that damaged roads and bridges. Numerous county roads in the area were also flooded and temporarily closed to traffic as well.

The new Swiftwater Rescue Team, formally known as the Cen-Tex Technical Rescue Team, was formed after a flooding death in the county in March 2007. DeLeon VFD fire chief Doyle Rone, and firemen Cloyd Teague, Dan Moss, Shalor Nowlin, Josh Smith and Joe Burnett are some of the charter members of the team. Rescue team members include Sipe Springs fire chief Ed Millwee, Kerry Travis from Desdemona, Keith Anderson from Promontory Park, Josh Constanzio and Terry Ware from Rising Star and others.

Team members were aware of the flooding occurring that morning and were already on alert status.
The Swiftwater Rescue Team was dispatched around 11:30 a.m. to aid the driver of a stranded 18-wheeler truck that had been swept off of Highway 36, just across the Hamilton County line. As they were arriving on the scene and getting set up, however, the truck driver was rescued and their services were no longer needed.

As the team began heading back home around 12:30 p.m., another call was received. It was reported that a pickup truck with two occupants had been swept off of a CR 260 bridge over the South Leon River.

They immediately responded to the nearby location.

A fruitless search ensued for over eight hours. Not only the Swiftwater Rescue Team, but numerous law enforcement and other personnel, including a Texas DPS helicopter overhead, searched all afternoon and early evening.

An individual who drives a delivery truck for an area business told what was described as a detailed and plausible story to the Sheriffs Office, the Swiftwater Rescue Team, the Department of Public Safety and even to Texas Rangers. He described seeing a pickup truck with two occupants and a portable welding rig in the truck bed swept off of the county road bridge and disappear beneath the floodwaters of the South Leon River.

As the searchers failed to locate virtually any evidence that anything or anyone had been swept into the flood from the bridge, doubts about the report began to grow. As the waters slowly subsided back to more normal levels, the lack of any truck, welding unit or survivors or victims fed the growing skepticism.

Doyle Rone said afterward, "The aggravating part, the unbelievable part, is that someone would make that kind of story up, and I guess that's what happened. I guess it's not official until the officers file charges, but this guy told a wonderful story about this vehicle going over the bridge, so we tied up all our resources from 12:30 until 9:00 that night, all swiftwater rescue resources for four counties, on what apparently was a hoax.. I'm pretty flabbergasted that man did this. He told a good story... there was no physical evidence, but man, this guy was convincing."

Not only did the rescuers walk the mile and a half segment of the river where the pickup and welder was expected to be found, but the DPS helicopter spent hours on the search, staying until dark. No reports of missing individuals similar to those described as having been swept off the bridge have been received.

Rone added that if a vehicle had been located, that the SWR team would have had further difficulty effecting a rescue since they do not yet have a rescue boat that can be used in such events. He hopes to secure the funds to obtain a military style inflatable boat that will be impervious to barbed wire fences and brush.

Law enforcement officials are reported to be considering filing charges against the man who made the reports. If charged and convicted, the penalty can be up to two years in prison.

2008 Festival Wraps Up

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

For many DeLeon residents, the past week was a blur of tractors, dances, little girls in fancy dresses, food (and more food), extreme temperatures, heavy rain, and festive floats.

Although everyone wondered for a while if the parade floats would actually float down main street, the rain finally stopped late Wednesday and the parade went off without a hitch. The resulting mud complicated things a bit, with a “Park at Your Own Risk” sign appearing in the parking lot of the new Community Park, but people found a way around that temporary obstacle by parking on the sides of the road.

And the triple-digit temperatures the day before had caused a few problems for Tuesday’s pageant-goers, but event organizers said they were pleased with the results, especially since two new pageants had been added this year -- Petite Miss and Junior Miss DeLeon -- and the whole affair took longer than usual.
Although the numbers were down somewhat from last year for Melon Patch Tour participants, and the dances, some organizers believe the economy may have more to do with that than anything else.

Tractor pull organizers, on the other hand, reported an increase in attendance.

“They told me, and I heard it from other people as well, that it was standing-room-only out the tractor pull Saturday night,” Golden said.

As for the “Same Theme, New Scene” aspect of the festival, most people agreed that the new Community Park site worked out just fine.

“All in all, things went well,” Golden said. “There are a few things we need to work on for next year, but now we know what they are.”

Linda Levens, the Chamber of Commerce executive director, said that although it was her first year to work the Golden Saturday activities (antique car show, booths, etc.) -- downtown, she was pleased with how things went.

“I think it went exceptionally well,” Levens said. “We even got one call that said that we had the best car show they’d ever seen.”

Festival Committee members for the 2008 Peach and Melon Festival included Avery Carlisle, chairman; Jaye Golden, secretary; Treasure Mailoux, treasurer; Heath Matteson, tractor pull co-chairman; Monty Stewart, tractor pull co-chair; Bobby Campbell, Kathy Campbell, Ruby Carlisle, Johnny DeLatorre, Richard Gonzales, Chris Fulligar, Cody Hodges, Clayton Hudson, Jackson Jobe, Walter McCurry, Warren Mitcham, Rosa Segura, Maria Segura Mix, Jeremy Sparger, Dean Thompson, Bobby Winkles, Jr. and Dovie Withers.

Chambers board members who conducted the Golden Saturday activities included Dr. Randy Mohundro, Tim Beaty, Barry Hooker (with help from Feltz Terrill), Matthew Iley, Peggy Jordan, Teresa Lampman, Sherry Morgan, Kevin Storey, Jamie Welch and Linda Levens.

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