PANAMA CITY — A Youngstown man has been arrested for allegedly pushing the mother of his child from a moving car, according to arrest records.

Sammy Joe Campbell, 24, was arrested Sunday at about 1:30 a.m. after a domestic altercation near the Wal-Mart on 23rd Street. Police reported Campbell struck the victim, who is the mother of his child, in the face several times in the store’s parking lot. Then, while driving east on 23rd Street, Campbell allegedly punched the victim out of the car, she told police.

The victim sustained road rash to her stomach, hand and arms.

Campbell was charged with aggravated domestic battery and is being held on a $17,500 bond.

PANAMA CITY — Police are investigating a kidnapping in which a young woman was held at gunpoint as her captor attempted to force himself upon her, according to Panama City Police Department reports.

Details were scarce regarding the incident, but PCPD did report responding to a kidnapping May 18 at about 11 a.m. near East 11th Street and Mercedes Avenue. A young woman told them she had been forced into a vehicle at gunpoint and that the gunman then attempted to force himself upon her, officers reported.

PCPD issued a countywide alert with all pertinent information on the suspect, and the case was turned over to investigations. A description was not available in released police reports.

However, a poster being circulated via social media describes the attacker as a 40- to 50-year-old black male, with a low fade haircut and light eyes. He drives a gold sedan, which could possibly be a Honda or Acura, with diamond design seats and a baby seat in the back, according to the poster. The distributors of the poster are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to call PCPD at 850-872-3112.

PANAMA CITY — A man accused of contracting the abduction and assassinations of two local judges intends to use insanity as his defense against the charges, according to court documents.

Joseph Russell Schmitt, 48, on Monday set a hearing date for later on in the week to discuss the appointment of an expert to examine him in anticipation of an insanity defense. Schmitt is accused of conspiring to murder two local judges and leaving a trail of violent crimes in his wake across the South, court records indicated.

Under state law, forensic psychological records are confidential, but after Schmitt’s attorney filed a notice of intent to rely on an insanity defense, prosecutors responded with a request for a doctor to examine whether Schmitt was insane “at the time of the crime,” prosecutors wrote.

Court records indicated Schmitt only intends to plead insanity to the two counts of solicitation to murder and two counts of solicitation to kidnap.

Schmitt was wanted in Bay County on a series of charges, including allegedly attempting to arrange the murder of Circuit Judges Allen Register and Chris Patterson, from August 2013. While being wanted in Bay County, Schmitt allegedly beat and attempted to smother his 90-year-old mother in Texas and threatened authorities with explosives after his arrest in Louisiana. He then was transferred to St. Johns County to face cyberstalking charges before returning to Bay County to have a combined bond of $200,000 placed on his release.

Schmitt allegedly had threatened to kill several people, including Register, of Bay County, and Patterson, of Washington County, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrest records.

During the course of discussions with an undercover BCSO officer, Schmitt was to provide a storage area to carry out the abduction, torture and murder of the judges, according to BCSO reports. An exact figure was not revealed, but the officer said a substantial amount of money was to change hands.

BCSO also wanted Schmitt for allegedly making a false child abuse report to the Department of Children and Families.

Schmitt will be back in court Friday to discuss the state’s motion for an expert examination. Including the solicitation to commit murder and kidnapping charges, Schmitt faces charges of aggravated stalking and making a false report of child abuse.

Charges in Texas and Louisiana remain open against Schmitt for those incidents, officials reported.

PANAMA CITY — All pending cases before a federal judge in Gainesville, Pensacola, Tallahassee and Panama City have been reassigned to alternate judges, according to federal court documents.

Cases docketed for Judge John Richard Smoak Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, will be reassigned to other judges following an order Friday from chief U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

Pending cases in the Gainesville division will be reassigned to Judge Mark E. Walker, a judge in the Pensacola division; and all pending cases filed in Tallahassee and Panama City to Judge Mark E. Walker and Judge Robert L. Hinkle, according to court documents.

Officials within the U.S. District Court did not immediately return several requests for comment Monday. However, Smoak is an Article III federal judge, which means he is appointed by the president for life, during “good behavior.”

Smoak joined the court in 2005 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Smoak graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, with his bachelor’s degree in 1965 and later graduated from the University of Florida College of Law with his Juris Doctor, J.D. degree in 1972.

Smoak was a private practice attorney in the state of Florida from 1973 to 2005. Prior to that, he served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1970.

On the recommendation of then-Sen. Mel Martinez, Smoak was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida on June 8, 2005, to a seat vacated by Clyde Vinson, as Vinson assumed senior status.

Smoak ruled on significant free speech cases. In 2008 in Gillman v. Holmes County School District, Smoak ruled that students of public school have the right to wear gay pride T-shirts and pins. This ruling came after a Florida principal suspended many students for wearing such items. Smoak also ordered the school to notify, in writing, all high school and middle school students that they possessed this right.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Police have arrested a Georgia woman who allegedly scattered alcohol containers and kept her 2-year-old in a hot car, according to arrest reports.

Alexis Lynn Finney, 31, was arrested Sunday after residents noticed her and the child inside an SUV outside of an apartment at Sandy Dunes, 8011 Front Beach Road, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Officers reported she was intoxicated with her 2-year-old child in the back hatch of the parked SUV. The temperature was about 87 degrees at 3 p.m., and Finney claimed to be broken down, BCSO reported.

Finney was not a resident of the apartments. Witnesses said they smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle and saw the child sweating profusely in the back of the car, officers said. Deputies found several open alcohol containers in the back hatch of the SUV and beside the driver’s seat, and noticed a strong odor of urine emanating from the SUV, according to the reports.

Finney, of Bainbridge, Georgia, was charged with child neglect without great harm. She was being held Monday on a $5,000 bond.

LYNN HAVEN — A teenager was arrested for robbery of a local Domino's, the Lynn Haven Police Department reported.

Sheldon Quinn Carpentier, 16, was charged after an attempted robbery at the Lynn Haven Domino's, 1616 Ohio Avenue, at 11:38 p.m. on Sunday, police reported. Carpentier also was charged in connection with an armed robbery at the same location on May 21, police said.

Domino's staff called police on Sunday and said Carpentier was outside the store wearing a mask covering his face and waving a gun. The caller said the suspect was a white male wearing the same clothing during the robbery on May 21, police said. Carpentier was unable to gain access due to the door being locked, which was a security precaution made after the first robbery, a Domino's official said.

Carpentier fled the area on foot and was located while crossing 17th Street near Michigan Avenue, according to police. Clothing and a BB gun were retrieved from Carpentier’s backpack and he admitted to the robbery on May 21 and the attempted robbery on Sunday, according to police.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Panama City Beach Police Department closed its investigation into alleged mistreatment of veterans by fraternity members during the annual Warrior Beach Retreat in April and announced there was no probable cause for an arrest in the matter, according to police reports.

PCBPD released the 22-page investigative report on Tuesday into the incident reported at Laketown Wharf. A press release said investigators did establish some of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity members’ behavior was vulgar and inappropriate toward veterans.

However, due to a lack of cooperation from the fraternity and a witness being unable to positively identify a suspect, PCBPD said it “could not sustain members of the fraternity singled out veterans as a group or establish if there was any criminal intent regarding their behavior.”

Check back later for more on this story

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HILAND PARK — A toddler died on Tuesday at Cedar Grove Elementary after being left inside a car, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Police responded to a life-threatening medical call at 3:15 p.m. and discovered an unresponsive 18-month-old girl, BCSO reported. EMS arrived and the toddler was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The toddler’s mother, Jamie Buckley, a teacher at Cedar Grove Elementary, arrived at school Tuesday morning between 7 a.m. and 7:30 and forgot the toddler in the car, police reported. When she went to leave after school she found her child, Reagan Buckley, still in her car seat, BCSO reported,

The body was turned over to the Bay County Medical Examiner’s Office and the investigation continues.

Check back later for more on this story

PANAMA CITY — A Fountain woman charged with the death of her boyfriend, a former deputy, has pleaded not guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter with a firearm, according to court documents.

Cheryl Gay Hundley, 56, was arrested and charged with an open count of murder April 27 after an early morning shooting that left former Bay County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sam Walter Denham, 60, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Denham died from his wounds shortly after being rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

Hundley later was charged with his death after investigators learned a domestic quarrel led to the shooting, BCSO reported, but the charge of manslaughter indicates the prosecution believes the killing was not malicious.

Hundley, “by her own act, or culpable negligence,” killed Denham “under circumstances not constituting excusable homicide,” according to court documents filed by the prosecution.

According to BCSO reports, officers arrived at 12406 Silver Lake Road at about 5:15 a.m. after Hundley called 911 to report she had just shot her boyfriend of 13 years. She immediately approached deputies, saying she “shot Sam,” officers reported.

“What have I done?” officers quoted her as saying.

Denham was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead about an hour later.

Meanwhile in one of BCSO’s interview rooms, Hundley told investigators her side of the story. She and Denham had been going through issues, and he’d moved out to another piece of property the couple jointly owned.

The night before the incident, Denham left his cellphone at their Silver Lake home and showed up early that morning in search of it, she told investigators.

Denham confronted her about knowing the whereabouts of the phone, and she lied about not knowing, she said. He became irate, Hundley said, and started searching the home for the phone, which was under the mattress upon which she and a .38 special revolver laid.

Denham began beating on the door at one point, and when Hundley opened it he pushed her and spit on her, she told investigators. Hundley pushed Denham back and he returned a push. That’s when she grabbed the revolver and leveled it on Denham and “advised him to leave,” according to BCSO reports.

“At which time Sam raised his arms up in the air and told her to go ahead and shoot him,” officers reported.

Denham began to approach once more as Hundley bore down and fired the fatal shot into his abdomen.

Hundley admitted to intentionally hiding the phone and told investigators Denham did not say he would harm her during the incident and at no point possessed a weapon.

Hundley is charge with manslaughter with a firearm. She is being held without bond.

PANAMA CITY — A Bay County jury has convicted a 45-year-old Panama City man of raping a 14-year-old girl, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Assistant State Attorneys Alicia Carothers and Devin Collier convinced jurors that 45-year-old Carlos L. Beale had sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl in May 2014, officials reported.

Beale was found guilty of lewd or lascivious battery and attempted lewd or lascivious molestation. He faces up to 20 years in prison when Circuit Judge Elijah Smiley sentences him June 15.

CALLAWAY — A car crash on County 2297 killed the driver and passenger in the predawn hours Wednesday.

Cara A. Sindt, 30, of Panama City, was identified as the driver of the 2004 Chevrolet Corvette and Scott D. Cooper, 47, Panama City Beach, was a passenger. The wreck was discovered by a passerby at 6:05 a.m., according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. Neither victim was taken to a hospital.

The Florida Highway Patrol report states the vehicle was headed north on County 2297 when it failed to negotiate a left turn and entered the east shoulder. The car then began to rotate counter-clockwise, colliding with a mailbox, and then overturning. While the vehicle was rolling, it struck a wooden fence before coming to a stop on its roof.

Sindt and Cooper were wearing seatbelts.

PANAMA CITY — A 67-year-old man convicted on child sex charges in Florida has been sent back to southeast Louisiana to face charges he raped a girl there 30 years ago, the Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, sheriff's office said Wednesday.

Investigators believe Joseph Gable Wood Sr. may have other victims along the Gulf Coast and as far away as Montana and Alaska, and want to hear from them, said Cmdr. Eric Becnel. Wood was being held in Bay County, where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February for lewd or lascivious battery on a 13-year-old girl.

“Hopefully this will encourage other victims to come forward and find closure on a terrible chapter in their lives,” Becnel said in a phone interview from Belle Chasse, a New Orleans suburb.

Becnel said a Louisiana woman in her 40s told investigators that Wood abused her from the time she was 5 years old until she was 14, threatening to kill her if she told anyone. She was interviewed after a relative went to deputies, he said.

He said investigators have rape evidence, which he cannot discuss because the case is not yet in court.

It was not clear Wednesday whether Wood has an attorney who could comment. The public defender’s office said he refused its service. District Attorney Charles Balley says he expects to learn Wood’s attorney’s name at a bond hearing Friday.

Becnel said Wood was extradited last week from Florida, where a Bay County jury convicted him in January of molesting a 13-year-old girl. Wood was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and ordered to register as a sexual predator once he got out of prison.

Wood also has served time for fondling a 13-year-old family friend in 1992. He was convicted in 1993, won a reversal, pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to 4½ years with credit for time served, according to a news release from Sheriff Lonnie Greco.

Becnel said Wood lived many places while working for a towboat company, including White Sulphur Springs, Montana; Sand Point Island, Alaska; Bogalusa, Port Sulphur, and Morgan City, Louisiana; Pascagoula and Lumberton, Mississippi; and in Florida, the Panama City area and Apalachicola, where Wood grew up.

Becnel said the sheriff’s office has had a warrant for Wood’s arrest since March 2014, but he refused extradition. Deputies got a governor’s warrant to bring him back to Plaquemines Parish but held off on it until the Florida charges were resolved.

WG

PANAMA CITY — The majority of six people responsible for a methamphetamine ring that spanned from Atlanta to Panama City Beach have been sentenced in federal court for their roles, according to court documents.

John Matthew Love, 36, and Bryant Anthony Kreis, 32, both of the Panama City area; and Carmen Theresa Silva, 40, of Atlanta, were sentenced Wednesday to spend several years in federal prison for conspiring in a methamphetamine ring, which transported several kilograms of narcotics into Panama City Beach.

Mabrye Joseph Bettinger, 41, and Dusti Nicole Broxson, 26, both of the Panama City area, were sentenced previously. Anastacio Mendoza, 37, of Atlanta, has yet to be sentenced.

Their arrests stemmed from September 2014, when law enforcement established surveillance on a black Chrysler 300 driving along State 20 in Ebro, headed for Panama City Beach. Officers tailed the car to an apartment, where Love stepped out the car and opened the trunk. He removed several bags and began walking toward a stairwell before DEA agents descended upon him, according to court records.

DEA agents found a Kel-Tec 9 mm handgun in Love’s back pocket. In the bags, officers found five plastic containers filled with about 9 lbs of methamphetamine.

From then on, Love cooperated with law enforcement.

He told authorities that over the past few months, he ran roughly 4 kilograms of meth over 10 trips from Atlanta to Bay County, where he would distribute it to other individuals. Bettinger, Broxson and Kreis were mid-level people to whom he would often sell meth on the Beach, and Love organized meetings with them over the next few days. The three appeared at Love’s apartment with between $4,000 and $13,900 to purchase meth before DEA agents arrested them.

Several days after his arrest, Love made a call to his meth connection in Atlanta, who is only named in court filings as “Carlos.” Carriers Mendoza and Silva were arrested in Dothan, Alabama, while bringing an additional 4.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, intended for Love. Silva’s jailhouse calls revealed she was concerned one of her phones contained several incriminating messages related to selling narcotics, including methamphetamine.

Love was sentenced for his role in the conspiracy to nine years. Kreis and Silva were sentenced to four years and just under four years, respectively.

Bettinger and Broxson were sentenced previously to almost eight years and almost 13 years, respectively. Mendoza is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 at 9:30 a.m.

PANAMA CITY — One former prison guard will be defending himself at trial against charges he conspired in an orchestrated beating of an inmate.

Christopher Blake Christmas, 32, was scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. However, as Judge Robert Hinkle questioned him about changing his not guilty plea, Christmas denied any prior knowledge of a group attack on an inmate but said he was accepting a plea deal in hopes of a lighter sentence.

“I didn’t know they had plans to do anything other than escort the inmate,” Christmas told the court. “At no time did I hear (the captain) say he would yell [that] the inmate spit on him and that we were to jump on him, although I don’t doubt he said it, because he was that type of person.”

Christmas was one of five Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) officers indicted on charges of violating 31-year-old Jeremiah Tatum’s rights to not suffer cruel or unusual punishment at the Northwest Florida Reception Center (NWFRC) in Washington County during an act of jailhouse retaliation.

All but Christmas have pleaded guilty to the charges, with James Fletcher Perkins pleading guilty earlier Wednesday. William Francis Finch, Robert Lewis Miller and Dalton Edward Riley have admitted to accepting orders from former Capt. James Kirkland prior to slamming the inmate face-first to the ground and then falsifying reports of the incident. Kirkland has since died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Defense attorney Rachel Renee Seaton-Virga initially said in court Wednesday that with the four other men prepared to testify, Christmas was accepting a guilty plea to keep his family from suffering a longer hardship.

“He’s the sole provider for his family and if convicted at trial he faces a substantially longer sentence,” she said. “He has elected to forgo a trial in hopes of a lighter sentence.”

However, prosecutor Gayle Littleton said the evidence stacked against Christmas, including video from the prison beating, was the real reason he was accepting a guilty plea.

“The government’s evidence against Christmas is very strong,” she said. “It is clear the captain yells and all of the officers take the inmate down, including Mr. Christmas. Then the captain says, ‘He spit on me.’ ”

However, Christmas decided during the debate he will be going to trial.

The arrests of the officers stemmed from an Aug. 5, 2014, incident, during which Tatum was left severely injured. Prosecutors claim Kirkland sought retaliation from a previous incident, where Tatum deflected pepper spray onto him. Kirkland then organized an incident in which Tatum was again sprayed, and Kirkland called in a five-man extradition team to escort Tatum to a decontamination shower, prosecutors allege. As the men equipped themselves for the extradition, Kirkland allegedly told the officers he would state that Tatum spit on him leading up to the beating “to teach him a lesson,” according to court records.

Video from the prison showed Tatum being slammed face first to the concrete floor by Finch and Riley while Tatum’s hands were restrained behind his back and his ankles restrained. The three other officers then jumped on Tatum and pinned him to the ground, according to arrest records.

Christmas said he didn’t hear the orders to attack Tatum and that he helped restrain his legs because “that’s my job,” he said.

Hinkle encouraged Christmas to ask to take his case before a group of jurors to determine the facts in the case, but he also said precedent allowed him to accept a guilty plea from a person claiming innocence.

“This is the stuff of which jury trials are made,” Hinkle said.

Jury selection begins July 8. The four other officers face up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

SOUTHPORT — The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on a runaway teen believed to be in need of medical attention.

BCSO reports Kaylee Maria Wynn, 16, was last seen May 15 at her home on Long Road in Southport. Her family and BCSO are concerned for her safety, saying only they believe she requires medical attention.

Wynn is a white female, 5-foot-3, 120 pounds with a thin build and blue eyes. Her natural hair color is brown, but she often changes it and sometimes has multi-colored hair. She wears ear gauges and a nose ring.

Anyone with information is asked to call the BCSO at (850) 747-4700 or CrimeStoppers at (850) 785-TIPS.

HILAND PARK — Cedar Grove Elementary officials wiped away tears Wednesday as they recalled the death of a toddler found dead a day earlier in a heated vehicle at the school.

Reagan Buckley, 2, was pronounced dead at the school Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said her mother, Jamie Buckley, left her in the car in the school parking lot while she was teaching classes.

No charges have been filed in the case, but the Bay County Sheriff Office investigation continued Wednesday. The State Attorney’s Office is not currently involved in the case and will not be so until BCSO completes its investigation and turns over the case to the state attorney, spokesman David Angier said.

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Christy Williamson, a literacy coach at Cedar Grove, knew Jamie Buckley and said the mother is the educator every parent wants their child to have, someone who finds the good in her peers and students.

“It’s somber,” Williamson said. “Teachers are grieving. They’re hurting. They’re hurting for Ms. Buckley. She’s an outstanding educator.”

Williamson said the Buckley family worked on mowing grass and sprucing up the campus during a recent cleanup day at the school, and Jamie Buckley bragged on her children every day.

“I’m proud to say I know her,” Williamson said.                    

Deputies reported Jamie Buckley arrived for work between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and forgot her daughter was in the vehicle. When Jamie Buckley left school for the day, she found the child still in her car seat, BCSO reported.

Deputies found the child unresponsive when they arrived. Cedar Grove Principal Phillip Campbell said there were no witness reports given to the school about the child being in the car beforehand.

Account set up: Friends of the Buckley family set up a GoFundMe account, where financial donations can be made during their grieving.

“The Buckley family has suffered an unimaginable loss,” the account description says. “Prayers and financial support are needed to continue providing for them during this difficult time.”

Campbell spoke Wednesday about the mood and fallout at the school.

“We’ve experienced a tragic accident,” Campbell said. “We’ve had an outpouring of outside support, of prayers, from the community. We continue to be a very strong family here at Cedar Grove and that will help us get through this.”

Counselors, school district staff members and Superintendent Bill Husfelt were at the school Wednesday for support, Campbell said, along with extra law enforcement. Counseling staff talked to students individually, with services available through the end of the school year.

Kay Daniel, a social worker with the school district, was part of a team of the grief counselors. The team talked to students, teachers and staff, and part of the grief counseling for young students was letting children lead the conversation, Daniel said.

Campbell said the school was keeping operations “as normal as possible,” with a planned awards ceremony still occurring. Parents were informed that events like a fifth-grade graduation and year-end celebrations still would happen, as well, Campbell said.

“You want to keep as much normalcy and you want to get back to normalcy as fast as you can,” Campbell said. “That’s the best thing you can do in these situations. Stay busy. Stay focused. Remind them that life goes on.”

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Tuesday’s death marks the third time this year a child in the U.S. has died after being left in a vehicle, and all the cases occurred in Florida. According to kidsandcars.org, the average number of similar deaths each year is 38, or about one every nine days. Since 1991, more than 700 children have died after being left in hot vehicles. The high temperature at Tyndall Air Force Base on Tuesday was 82 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“The atmosphere and the windows of a car are relatively ‘transparent’ to the sun’s shortwave radiation and are warmed little,” noheatstroke.org said on how vehicle heating works. “However, this shortwave energy does heat objects that it strikes. For example, a dark dashboard, steering wheel or seat temperatures often are in the range of 180 to over 200 degrees.”

Some safety tips from kidsandcars.org include never leaving your child alone in or around cars, keeping the vehicle locked at all times, making sure all children have left a vehicle after parking and using drive-through services when available.

PANAMA CITY — A man was arrested and charged for possession of child pornography, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported.

James M. Watford, 67, of Panama City, was arrested on Thursday and charged with two counts of possession of the sexual performance of a child, BCSO reported. The arrest came after BCSO and Homeland Security Investigations served a search warrant at his residence, 3515 West 19th Street #4, in December 2014, according to police.

A computer was seized at the time and sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee for forensic analysis, BCSO reported. During an interview, Watford stated he viewed and kept images of child porn, according to police. Results of the forensic analysis yielded images of child porn on the computer, BCSO said.

Watford was booked into Bay County Jail and awaits first appearance on Friday.

CHIPLEY — Officials are advising restraint if the public spots a man wanted on 10 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on four different victims under 12-years old, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

WCSO is currently seeking the whereabouts of 64-year-old William “Pete” Jackson McCullers. He is wanted by Washington County authorities on 10 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on four people under 12-years old, WCSO reported. In an alert released Thursday, officers stressed that the public “take no action on your own” if they have any information regarding the whereabouts of William McCullers.

Instead, WCSO is encouraging people to immediately call the sheriff’s office or 911.

“We just don’t want anybody trying to make a citizens arrest,” said Andrea Gainey, WCSO public information officer.

Officers believe William McCullers is traveling in the company of his wife, Linda McCullers, both Washington County residents. However, William McCullers was spotted recently in the Houston County, Ala., area, WCSO reported.

William McCullers is described as a white male, 5-foot-9-inches tall, 64-years-old with gray hair. The couple could be traveling in a 2002 silver Chrysler Town and Country van, tag number: 0102PE, or a green 1997 Ford F-150 truck, tag number: 6872HM.

Anyone with information regarding William McCullers’ whereabouts is encouraged to contact WCSO’s lead investigator Capt. Mark Collins at (850) 638-6111.

PANAMA CITY — Officials issued a “scam alert” Thursday involving a fictitious government grant, according to a Bay County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Several complaints were filed Thursday with the BCSO from individuals who received cards via UPS from the National Media Group that claimed the recipient had just been awarded a government grant worth more than $20,000 dollars.

Instructions on the card request the victim to call a 1-800 number to receive the grant money. The card also instructs the recipient to send money to cover processing the grant.

“Do not send money to anyone requesting a fee to award grant money. Simply throw the card away and do not respond,” BCSO officials reported. “Such requests are scams.”

BCSO encouraged anyone who has been victimized by a scam to report the incident to law enforcement.

PANAMA CITY — Local Attorney C. Andrew Weddle has been named a 2015 Rising Star for the third consecutive year by Super Lawyers, a rating service of outstanding practicing lawyers from more than 70 practice areas.

Weddle currently works at the Panama City and Miramar Beach offices of Harrison Sale McCloy, and has also been appointed to serve as a member of the 14^th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission through 2018.

Rising Star was launched to recognize high-performing attorneys in Florida under age 40 and less than 10 years experience practicing law.

Weddle is a 2007 graduate of the Stetson University College of Law and obtained his undergraduate degree in Construction Management from the University of Florida. He is a past president of the Bay County Bar Association and a member of the Florida Defense Lawyers Association, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the St. Andrews Bay American Inn of Court and the Florida Bar.