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   Officials at an eastern Missouri jail say a detainee used a blanket to hang himself.

   The Park Hills Daily Journal reports that 71-year-old Earl Tripp of Fredericktown died Wednesday afternoon at the Madison County Jail in Fredericktown. A jailer found Tripp in his cell, hanging without a pulse. No other inmates were in the cell.

   Sheriff Bobby Spain says Tripp was not considered a suicide risk. He was being held on several sodomy counts.

   The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating. An autopsy is planned.

 

Three jail escapees are back in custody.

Authorities found the three on Tuesday afternoon in a scrap yard where one of the men used to work. Matthew Cook, Kade Stringfellow, and Rodney Green escaped from the Butler County Jail by crawling out through the ceiling. After escaping, the men had to walk about five miles to get to the scrap yard. Cook and Stringfellow were being held on unrelated murder charges, while Green was accused of taking part in a violent home invasion.

No word on any additional charges after the escape attempt.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois village clerk seeking to be mayor is free on bond after being accused of sneaking a cellphone to a jailed relative while working as a records clerk for the sheriff's department.

Alorton Village Clerk JoAnn Reed was arraigned Monday on charges of official misconduct and bringing contraband into a penal institution.

St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson says he suspended Reed with pay in the wake of allegations she smuggled food and a cellphone to her niece while that relative was jailed Feb. 3 in Alorton on charges that accused her of assaulting a pregnant woman.

Reed's attorney, John O'Gara, declined to comment after Monday's court appearance.

The charges are the latest involving officials in Alorton. A former mayor and a former police chief are in prison.