MOUNT VERNON, Mo. (AP) — A 65-year-old man is set to be formally charged in the killing of a southwest Missouri woman more than 30 years ago.
Lawrence Gene Timmons, of Pierce City, is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday. He’s accused of first-degree murder in the killing of 31-year-old Cynthia Smith, of Aurora.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Smith’s body was found in August 1988, in the Dry Valley Cemetery area near Pierce City, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Springfield, Missouri.
She was last seen about a week earlier leaving a bar with a man. A babysitter filed a missing person’s report when Smith didn’t collect her 4- and 8-year-old sons.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Timmons. He also faces multiple forgery and unlawful firearm possession charges in unrelated cases.
