Today is
Tuesday June 09, 2026
HOUSTON – A former Tyler resident is reported missing in southeast Texas. She is 36 year old Greta Payne. According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, she was last seen around 1:00am on March 17th. She is said to have left her apartment in Houston and did not return. She was driving a pearl white 2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV with a sun roof and Texas license plate number JTD 1593. The report says she is 7 months pregnant. If you know where she can be located, you are asked to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-274-9360. Her case number is HC-18-43545.
LIBERTY CITY — The pastor of Liberty City’s First Baptist Church says he is increasing security after the destruction of three buses by fire in the church parking lot. According to our news partner KETK, the vehicles caught on fire about 5:00 Monday morning. The Sabine Fire Department quickly put out the flames. An official cause was not immediately released, but Pastor Paul Michael Vacca says he has no reason to believe it’s a hate crime.
LIBERTY CITY – Investigators are continuing their probe in Gregg County into a fire that destroyed a church’s 3 buses. The vehicles caught fire around 5:00am on March 26th. The vehicles were in the church’s parking lot. The fire was quickly put out by the Sabine Volunteer Fire Department. At the time, the church’s pastor Paul Michael Vacca said he had no reason to believe it’s a hate crime. Investigators say they know the fire was started by someone, but they have not determined at this time if was accidental or intentional.
AUSTIN – An East Texan is one of among 5 persons Governor Greg Abbott has reappointed to the Texas School Safety Center Board. Among those reappointed to the panel is Nacogdoches lawyer Paul Robbins. They were appointed for terms set to expire on February 1, 2020. Robbins, who has his office in Lufkin, serves as a regional attorney for the Texas Municipal Police Association. He is also immediate past president of the East Texas Peace Officers Association. The board reports to the Governor, the legislature, the State Board of Education, and the Texas Education Agency regarding school safety and security, and advises the center on its function, budget, and strategic planning initiatives.
PALESTINE – For the second time in a week, Palestine High School was on lockdown. A threatening note found on the campus around 8:30 this morning caused the lockdown. According to the school district, the note is “of a more specific nature than last week’s threat and will be able to be investigated in less time.” Nothing was found and the lockdown was lifted at 10:30.
LONGVIEW – A fatal Longview fire has been ruled accidental. The fire occurred the night of March 9th in a duplex on Cherie Lane. Killed were Randall Russell and his daughter, Lisa Russell Tesmer. A woman was arrested as she stood outside the burning home holding a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid. At the time, arson was suspected. But the fire marshal’s office said Thursday the fire was accidental and there will be no criminal charges filed against the woman.
WASHINGTON – Tyler congressman Louie Gohmert says he supports President Trump’s decision to send national guard troops to the southern border of the United States. In a statement released by the congressman, he said he thought the president’s decision was ” sensible, prudent, and has plenty of precedence.” Gohmert said not only will the troops aid in the defense of our law, it also will prevent gang members, drug smugglers, sex traffickers, or terrorists from hiding among, what he called, the “civilian invaders.”
LONGVIEW – Two persons have been arrested by Longview police in connection with the death of a child. A warrant was served Wednesday on Ciara Channel Dison, 27, of Longview, for murder. Shaglenda Denise Reddix, 31, of Longview, is charged with injury to a child. On January 6th, the police assisted EMS with a child call on East Hawkins Parkway. They were told a year old girl was not breathing. She died later that evening. The warrants were served Wednesday morning in the case. Investigators determined that Dison’s action resulted in the death of the child and that Reddix failed to seek the necessary medical treatment to protect the youngster. Both remain in the Gregg County Jail. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – A Longview shooting suspect has turned himself in to police. Gary Lee Nelson 29, showed up at the police department around 6:15 Wednesday evening. He was booked into the Gregg County jail on an aggravated assault charge. He is accused of shooting a woman around 45 minutes earlier on 8th Street. A police report said the woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
TYLER – City and school elections are coming May 5th. You must be registered at least 30 days prior to the election to vote. If you need you need to register, or file a change of address to vote, today is the final day to do so. You can register at the Smith County Elections Office, 304 East Ferguson in Tyler. You can also go to http://www.votetexas.gov and fill out a registration form. But you still need to bring or mail the form to the county election’s office. Early voting in the May elections runs April 23rd through May 1st.
TYLER – The Smith County capital murder trial for Gustavo Zavala-Garcia is still set, at least for right now, to begin in October. During a Wednesday pretrial hearing, State District Judge Jack Skeen said he will not sign the defense’s motion for continuance until he hears if additional DNA testing is needed. That could be answered with some trace results that are expected to be released at the end of the month. Zavala-Garcia is accused of kidnapping Kayla Gomez from a Bullard church in November of last year. Her body was found days later in a well on the man’s property. According to an arrest affidavit, a witness said they saw the man with Kayla shortly before she disappeared.
TYLER – A man threatening to jump from a Smith County bridge is now safe. After negotiating with him for around two hours, officers were seen putting handcuffs on him. The confrontation took place on the Toll 49 bridge on Highway 69 south.
LONGVIEW – Two Longview residents have been busted. Andrew Clements Trimble, 40, and Linda Gaile Hyatt, 33, were arrested Tuesday at the Lone Star Motel on East Marshall Avenue. As the officers served a narcotics search warrant, they found in the motel room drug paraphernalia and over 47 grams of methamphetamine. Trimble has been charged with the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance. Hyatt was arrested on an outstanding Gregg County warrant for possession of a prohibited weapon. Both remain in the Gregg County Jail. Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE – Kilgore has recorded a traffic fatality. Donald Jacobs, 49, of Las Vegas, Nevada has died in a Shreveport hospital following a two vehicle accident last Thursday. The accident happened shortly before 11:00 that morning at the intersection of U.S. Highway 59 and Post Oak Road. Investigators say Jacob’s van pulled into the intersection and was hit by a car driven by Cameron Griffin, 18, of Houston. Griffin was treated for minor injuries at a Longview hospital. Kilgore police say the accident remains under investigation.
GILMER – A woman, whose body was found in Upshur County, has been identified. She is Rachel Rhoads, 24, of Longview. Her body was found around 3:30 Sunday afternoon off Farm Road 726, just north of Highway 154, by people riding recreational vehicles. Authorities say the condition of the body indicates that it had not been at the location for more than a very few days. She was reported missing to Longview police last Saturday. No word yet on the cause of death but investigators say the circumstances surrounding her death were “suspicious.”