DPS Employees of the Month
September Sworn Employee of the Month
Barbara M. Littrell
Trooper
Missouri State Highway Patrol
September Non-Sworn Employee of the Month
Lori Blatter
Floodplain Management Section
State Emergency Management Agency
Linda Olsen
Floodplain Management Section
State Emergency Management Agency
Barbara M. Littrell, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, has been selected as the Department of Public Safety September 2019 Sworn Employee of the Month. Barbara, a nine-year Patrol veteran, is an investigator with the Division of Drug and Crime Control in Troop B.
Barbara was selected for her extremely thorough and relentless work to reunite a father and his missing daughter.
In July 2013, a woman gave birth to a daughter in Boone County, Missouri. The father was Tyler Bozeman. Days after the child’s birth, the mother left the state and cut off all contact with Bozeman. Bozeman spent years trying to locate his daughter. In 2015, a Boone County court granted Bozeman full custody of the child.
In 2016, Bozeman contacted the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control about his daughter; Barbara was assigned to the case. Beginning with virtually no leads, Barbara would devote much of the next three years to attempting to locate the child. In May 2018, she obtained an arrest warrant for the mother for child abduction. Still unaware of the girl’s location, Barbara reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other agencies.Â
Barbara finally obtained a search warrant for the Boone County residence of one of the mother's relatives. During a June 2019 search, information was obtained connecting mother and child to rural North Carolina. Barbara hurriedly coordinated law enforcement efforts in North Carolina; shortly thereafter, investigators in Cherokee County, N.C. arrested the mother and recovered the child. The mother had been using an assumed name for years.
On June 13, 2019, Bozeman and his daughter were reunited. She would turn six-years-old the following month.
Because of Barbara’s tireless, indefatigable investigative efforts over a three-year period, a father and daughter were reunited. If not for Barbara’s determination, they might never have met.
Congratulations, Barbara! You have set an outstanding example for your co-workers throughout the Department of Public Safety.
Lori Blatter and Linda Olsen, of the State Emergency Management Agency, have been selected as the Department of Public Safety September 2019 Non-Sworn Employees of the Month.
During historic flooding in 2019, which led to two federal disaster declarations, Lori and Linda displayed tireless dedication to affected Missouri communities across the state. Lori and Linda traveled much of the state, often working nights and weekends, to assist National Flood Insurance Program-participating communities deal with what became Missouri’s longest-lasting flood event in state history. They attended community meetings to answer questions from residents and local leaders; they acted as liaisons between participating Missouri communities and the NFIP.
In addition, Lori and Linda participated in many Multi-Agency Resource Center that were held in flooding-impacted communities. There they assisted with NFIP compliance questions and provided information about the NFIP claims process.
Whenever NFIP-participating communities are affected by flooding, SEMA’s Floodplain Management Section must quickly and efficiently carry out a series of critical tasks to ensure that insured residents receive the assistance to which they’re entitled and so that NFIP program regulations are followed. SEMA was able to accomplish this in 2019 because Lori and Linda had built such a strong program foundation in advance, and had become subject matter experts on the NFIP.
Congratulations, Lori and Linda, for your outstanding efforts and the example you have set for your co-workers throughout the Department of Public Safety!
The Missouri Department of Public Safety. Many Missions. One Team.