FALSE REPORT OF HOSTAGE SITUATION: Officers respond to report of Tecumseh residents held at gunpoint - but find it’s only meth-induced hallucinations

It was 8:23 a.m., May 6, when the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department 911 dispatch office received a call reporting a possible hostage situation in the Tecumseh area. 

Family members of Randy and Marsha Wilson told a dispatcher that they received a text from the couple who said that two men had broken into their home and were holding them at gunpoint in a hostage situation. 

The OCSD 911 dispatch report shows this entry: “[Reporting party] stated she received a message from a female saying two men are holding them at gun point, [it’s] unknown who. Son has female on the phone. Female dropped phone, and son can hear mother in background crying, and son can hear father begging for his life. No vehicles in driveway.”

The dispatcher notified OCSD deputies of the reported hostage situation, and they were dispatched to the scene. The officers arrived a short time later. The family members who called 911 also live on the property and were waiting for officers at the treeline of the property, watching the home. They told officers that no new vehicles had pulled in since they called to make the report. 

The 911 caller told an officer on scene that she stayed on the phone with her parents, and she could continually hear the pair crying and begging for their lives in the background.

The OCSD dispatch office also requested assistance from the Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force, which includes officers from Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and the Ava Police Department, and they sent several officers to help. Those officers were setup in various locations around the property and nearby county roads to provide aid to Ozark County officers in various ways as the rescue of the hostage victims and capture of the suspects was underway. 

Two ambulance crews from the Ozark County Ambulance District’s LifeCall were also dispatched for “standby,” arriving on scene in case their services were needed, according to the sheriff’s report. 

After approximately 30 minutes, the law enforcement team was able to get the two occupants safely out of the house. The Wilsons told officers that the men who were holding them hostage were still inside the house. 

Gas was deployed into the structure, and entry was made by the officers - who were met with an empty house. Each room was searched, but no armed gunmen were found. The house was cleared, and no one was located inside.

The investigation revealed that the occupants of the house were under the influence of methamphetamine, and no one had actually broken into the residence. Both occupants of the home had induced visions of intruders because of the use of amphetamines, the OCSD says. 

Meth and paraphernalia were located on the individuals and inside the residence in plain view. Randy and Marsha Wilson were arrested and booked into the Ozark County Jail for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.

“We are at a loss for words to describe our feelings on the subject. So, may we simply admonish you... say no to drugs,” a post on the Ozark County Sheriff’s Facebook page said in reference to the situation.