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The search for a missing Lincoln County woman has ended tragically.

Authorities say just before noon Sunday, searchers found the body of 48 year old Jennifer Bogert in a creek less than a mile from her Eolia home.

The Lincoln County Sheriff says Bogert appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sheriff's deputies and volunteers had been searching for Bogert after she failed to show up for work Friday morning.

Former Alton Mayor Don Sandidge has died.

Sandidge served three terms as mayor of the metro-east city, from 1997 to 2009. He spent 27 years on the Alton police force before that, including three years as chief.

Sandidge died early Sunday morning following a battle with cancer. He was 75.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The top budget writer in the Missouri House has outlined a spending plan that omits Governor Jay Nixon's proposed Medicaid expansion.

The plan presented Thursday by Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream would also provide a smaller increase for public colleges and universities than Nixon had proposed for the 2014 fiscal year.

The Democratic governor wants to accept about $900 million from the federal government to expand Medicaid health care eligibility to nearly 260,000 lower-income adults. But Stream said he left that out of the budget because it runs contrary to Republican philosophy against bigger government.

Nixon had proposed a $34 million funding increase for colleges and universities. Stream's proposed budget pares that back to $20 million. It also provides less money for early childhood programs than Nixon had sought.