Slain Fulton man a registered sex offender

Thomas Craig
Thomas Craig

A Fulton man found deceased, lying on a rural Johnson County road early Wednesday, died from gunshot wounds, according to Warrensburg Police Chief Rich Lockhart, spokesman for the Missouri Rural Major Case Squad.

"We're not sure where the shooting happened yet," Lockhart said Friday afternoon. "The shooting was the cause of death."

The deceased man was identified on Friday as Thomas Noel Craig, 48, of Fulton. No address was given for Craig. Lockhart said he was last seen in Fulton about midnight Tuesday and found almost 5 1/2 hours later near the Blackwater River near Dunksburg - 95 miles west of Fulton.

Craig was a convicted sex offender, according to court and Callaway County sheriff's officials. On April 27, 2015, he pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender after being arrested in Callaway County, according to court documents.

Craig was convicted on Jan. 21, 1987, of sexual misconduct involving a 15-year-old female in Adair County, according to a Callaway County probably cause statement. He was 19 years old at the time of his conviction.

Craig verified his sex offender registration with the Callaway County Sheriff's Office Sept. 30, 2014, at which time he signed the Missouri Sex Offender Notification acknowledging he was required to report again by Dec. 29, 2014, according to the probably cause statement. He failed to verify his sex offender registration until Jan. 5, 2015.

Dunksburg is a small community of a few houses and trailers at the intersection of four counties: Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis and Saline, north of Whiteman Air Force Base.

The original call reporting the body came to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office, but deputies determined at the scene the body was in Johnson County. The initial crime scene investigation was done by Johnson County sheriff's officials, assisted by the Missouri Highway Patrol's accident team, which has precision measurement equipment. Sheriff Scott Munsterman then activated the squad, Lockhart said.

The body was transferred to Kansas City, where the Jackson County Medical Examiner's Office handled the autopsy.

More than 40 investigators from several law enforcement agencies have worked on at least 50 leads, Lockhart added.

"The neighbors have reported some things to us, but we're not reporting them at this time," he said.