2025 Team Member of the Month Archives

Corporal Blake G. Groves and Trooper Scott T. Roettger, Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Investigators, are the DPS Sworn Team Members of the Month for April 2025 for their thoroughness investigating the horrifying physical abuse of an infant, which resulted in a long prison sentence for the abuser.

In March 2023, a six-month old child was brought to a St. Louis emergency room for multiple injuries, including broken ribs and a lacerated liver. The suspect said an older sibling was responsible for the injuries but made contradictory statements and was served with an order of protection to have no contact with the victim. Despite that, in April 2023, the child was again taken to the emergency room with a broken leg. The suspect was charged with violating the protection order and harassment of the infant’s mother but continued to contact her through many means.

In October 2023, the Pike County Prosecutor’s Office contacted the Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control about the case. Blake interviewed the victim’s mother, who provided evidence the suspect had attempted to contact her over 100 times. He left messages that contained threats of violence and the release of sensitive material. Blake sent search warrants to several companies and was able to confirm the suspect’s contact with the victim’s mother. Blake and Scott conducted interviews that confirmed the suspect’s abuse of the child.

Blake and Scott’s investigation showed the suspect was hiding in Quincy, Illinois. With assistance from Quincy Police, they arrested him on existing warrants for harassment. During an interview, the suspect admitted to specifics of his violence toward the child and to harassing and stalking the mother.

Late last year, the perpetrator pleaded guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. The prosecutor in the case wrote that had it not been for Blake and Scott’s thorough and impressive investigation she would not have been able to move forward with the case. Just as important, she said the child, now almost two, “is a healthy and happy little boy.”

Jennifer Rehmsmeyer, a Cemetery Representative with the Missouri Veterans Commission, is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for April 2025 for her quick thinking, compassion and dedication to Missouri’s veterans, which may have saved the life of a distraught veteran in December 2024.

On Dec. 4, 2024, Jennifer took a phone call at the Higginsville Veterans Cemetery where she has worked for a year. The caller asked if a person who took his own life would be eligible to be buried at the cemetery. He said he was calling a behalf of a friend, but it soon became obvious that he was the one who was troubled. Jennifer prolonged the conversation and tried to get the veteran to call 988 the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. He shouted he was not interested and only wanted to be with his wife, who is buried in the Higginsville cemetery. Jennifer got his name by saying she could check to see if he was pre-certified for burial there. He gave his name, was told he was pre-certified, and he then hung up the phone.

Jennifer quickly checked with the Cemetery Program Director to see if it was OK to call the person listed as his next of kin. She called 988 to report the crisis and another team member called the next of kin, who made it to the veteran’s residence within 20 minutes and was able to intervene and calm the veteran.

In a situation for which there was no training, and with a veteran’s life on the line, Jennifer demonstrated the compassion and selflessness for which she is known, and likely helped save a man’s life.

Trey A. Gaedke and Justin D. Hedrick, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers in Troop C, are the DPS Sworn Team Members of the Month for March 2025 for their bravery and skill in ending the threat posed by a dangerous felon fleeing the state of Texas.

In September, the Highway Patrol received information a suspect from Texas was likely traveling to Missouri with a woman he had accosted. A license plate reader confirmed his vehicle was on Interstate 44 and approaching the St. Louis area. Trey located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop but the vehicle fled the scene. Trey and Justin then pursued the vehicle, which exited the interstate, traveling on local streets before rolling over, with no other vehicle involved.

Following the crash, the driver opened the vehicle door and produced a handgun. Trey and Justin ordered him to drop the gun, but he refused. Trey and Justin exchanged gunfire with the man, who died at the scene. The woman was located deceased in the vehicle; further investigation revealed the gunman had killed her several hours earlier.

Trey and Justin acted courageously and ended a highly dangerous situation, without any innocent members of the public being hurt. Their actions that day were in keeping with the finest traditions of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Anna Sprous, a Restorative Aide at the Missouri Veterans Home in St. Louis, is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for March 2025 for her incredible productivity, willingness to support other team members and the individualized attention she gives veterans in the home.

Anna works so efficiently that she recently completed all the restorative therapy sessions in her wing and then took on all the other sessions for the entire home. She then weighed every veteran in the building for their required monthly charts, though that is not one of her assigned duties.

When other team members were busy with a week-long survey conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Anna helped by transporting veterans to and from their doctor appointments outside the home. She regularly assists the home’s certified nursing assistants. Anna is such a compassionate caregiver that veterans frequently ask for her by name and she never turns them down!

She is an invaluable part of the functioning and positive environment of the St. Louis home.

Corporal Kyle Seabaugh, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Special Victims Unit, is the DPS Sworn Team Member of the Month for February 2025 for his leadership in expanding a child pornography case, which led to removing four young children from extreme, ongoing sexual abuse.

In March 2021, Kyle was assigned as lead investigator in a child pornography distribution investigation in Henry County. He organized a team of experienced investigators that conducted two coordinated searches. As he dug deeper, Kyle located hidden incriminating evidence of child sexual abuse on the suspect’s cell phone. He and a second suspect were arrested and charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking, statutory sodomy and rape.

Kyle and his team worked relentlessly over three years to build their case, including collaboration with a forensic pediatrician and an FBI expert, to correctly identify the child victims. In June 2024, the initial defendant was found guilty on 23 counts of sex trafficking of a child, statutory sodomy and rape.

Kyle’s leadership of his investigative team, which included troopers, officers from the Clinton Police Department, Henry County Sherriff’s Office, and Missouri Department of Social Services State Technical Assistance Team, ended the horrific continuing abuse of four children. It also resulted in the initial suspect receiving 23 life sentences.

The second defendant is currently awaiting trial. The charges against her are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of these charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

*Named State Team Member of the Month for March 2025

Keli Theison, an Office Support Assistant in the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control’s Kansas City District office, is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for February 2025 for her attention to detail, resourcefulness and excellent work assisting liquor licensees and the public.

Recently, while conducting a background check on a liquor license application, Keli uncovered that the applicant had an alias. His application had indicated he had no criminal record. As the ATC team investigated further, it was found that the applicant had actually been indicted on six counts of theft of government property and two counts of money laundering. The federal indictment indicated he was considered to be a threat to the community.

Keli’s attention to detail and thorough background check provided key information and resulted in the liquor license application being denied. Her work exemplifies ATC’s commitment to ensuring all licensees are reputable and legally operate establishments that are safe for the public.

Corporals Greg Tesch, Joe Pithan and Louis Lairmore, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Gaming Division, are the DPS Sworn Team Members of the Month for January 2025 for their heroic actions after a suspect pointed a loaded handgun and threatened multiple patrons on the gaming floor of a casino.

On April 14, 2024, Greg, Joe and Louis were on duty at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City monitoring casino security radio channels, when they overheard a suspect was brandishing a handgun near the gaming tables. Hundreds of patrons and employees were fleeing the area, hiding behind slot machines and running for emergency exits. Greg, who was working the gaming floor, immediately located the suspect and surprised him from behind, grabbing his arms. The suspect managed to maintain control of the gun and directed it toward Greg’s head.

Joe and Louis immediately responded from the casino’s Missouri Gaming Commission office to assist. Joe gained control of the suspect’s shoulders as he and Greg wrestled him to the ground, forcing him to drop his gun. Louis also joined the struggle and used physical control techniques to bring the gunman under control. Joe handcuffed the suspect as Greg secured the gun. The gun was determined to be loaded with nine rounds and one round in the chamber.

With a gunman threatening hundreds of casino patrons and employees, Greg, Joe and Louis bravely and professionally prevented further escalation and ended the threat without anyone being injured.

Angela Engle-Walton, Admission Coordinator at the Missouri Veterans Home in St. James, is the DPS Non-Sworn Team Member of the Month for January 2025 for the compassionate care she provides veterans and their families during often emotionally trying circumstances.

Recently, there was a medical emergency in the St. James home’s parking lot with a new veteran admission. Angela greeted and sought to calm and reassure the veteran’s family members, who were nervous about the move and then worked with the veteran and family through challenging times.

As Angela entered the transport van, she immediately noticed the veteran was not responsive. She had difficulty detecting a pulse. Angela calmly asked the veteran’s daughter, who had been assisting her, to sit with her mother. Angela had the transport driver sit with the veteran and call 911 while she ran inside the home to get a nurse. Several nursing team members responded and treated the veteran until an ambulance crew arrived, took over treatment and detected a pulse.

The veteran was transported to a hospital, received treatment for several days and was then released and directly admitted into the St. James home. As a veteran faced a medical emergency in the home’s parking lot, Angela shifted roles from admission coordinator to responder, got a patient the care he needed and comforted his family through a difficult period. Her work that day was emblematic of the compassionate care Angela provides to all veterans and their families.