Kevin Dale Keeling, 52, Ryan D. Kelley, 31, and Stephen R. Klasing, 31 are wanted on felony warrants for drugs or gun theft.

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 23, 2013) — Sheriff Ron Long announced Wednesday morning that he needs help from area residents in his efforts to locate three fugitives with felony warrants.

The three wanted fugitives are Ryan D. Kelley, 31, with multiple felony arrest warrants for burglary and firearms charges from Pulaski County; Kevin Dale Keeling, 52, with a felony drug warrant from Pulaski County, and Stephen R. Klasing, 31, wanted for felony drug charges from Pulaski County and well as being a federal fugitive.

All three people have extensive criminal backgrounds. Kelley and Klasing should be considered “dangerous,” according to Long; Kelley should be considered armed, and Klasing’s criminal background is not only extensive but also violent.

“At no time should anyone other than law enforcement officers attempt to apprehend these fugitives,” Long warned. “Please contact the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department immediately if you have knowledge of where these individuals might be located.”

The sheriff’s department can be contacted at (573) 774-6196.

The outstanding warrants against Keeling and Klasing both involve drug sales to a confidential informant.

According to court records filed Dec. 17, Klasing, a St. Robert resident, met with a confidential police informant to purchase heroin in February of 2011. After being redirected to several area businesses, the informant successfully purchased heroin from Klasing. The drugs were later tested by the crime lab of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and verified on March 15, 2012, to be heroin. He was subsequently charged on Dec. 17 with a Class B felony of selling heroin, which carries a sentence of five to 15 years in state prison. Prosecutors requested a $100,000 bond, but Associate Circuit Judge Greg Warren set his bond at $30,000 with surety by a bail bondsman allowed; an arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 28.

Keeling’s current arrest warrant stems from failure to appear on Dec. 5 for a plea hearing on drug charges filed March 30 dating back to a St. Robert drug case involving Class B and Class D felony charges of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of precursor drugs to meth. Prosecutors requested and received a no-bond capias warrant from former Circuit Judge Tracy Storie when Keeling, who lists both Crocker and Dixon addresses and runs KJ Auto Sales, failed to appear in court. Keeling had earlier pleaded innocent on May 25 and attorney requested a change-of-venue to another county on Oct. 3, but that motion hasn’t yet been addressed by the court. He has a history of failure to appear, having not shown up for a July 26 hearing for which Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long issued a $5,000 cash-or-surety bond with a failure to appear warrant. Prosecutors had initially requested a $50,000 bond.

According to court records, the drug charges against Keeling stem from a March 30 incident in which a sergeant from the sheriff’s department and a Waynesville police corporal executed a search warrant at an address on Brownsville Road in rural northern Pulaski County, and found Keeling, who had an unrelated outstanding arrest warrant from the city of Waynesville for failure to appear, and another person who is a convicted felon for possession of a controlled substance. During the search of the home, law enforcement personnel found a .22 caliber pellet rifle, a .35 caliber marlin rifle, and a homemade crossbow, along with numerous items that tested positive for methamphetamine, and items which law enforcement personnel reported to be precursors to manufacture methamphetamine, along with receipts for a prescription for precursor drugs issued to a woman who was not in the home at the time.

The warrant against Ryan D. Kelley, a Waynesville resident, involves firearms rather than drugs in a case that began with theft of a wedding ring from his stepfather’s home where he had been staying.

Deputies responded to a Jan. 3 report of a theft outside the St. Robert city limits in which Kelley’s stepfather reported that Kelley had been staying with him since November, but after Kelley left on Jan. 1, stolen items worth $7,123.99 turned up missing.

A check with Spur Pawn Shop located a Stihl chainsaw and a Great Western revolver with pawn slips registered to Kelley, who was on probation for firearm burglary and had an active arrest warrant on a forgery charge. Prosecutors charged Kelley on Jan. 14 with six counts of stealing, one for the wedding ring and five for stealing firearms — a Mossberg shotgun, a Colt pistol, a Smith and Wesson pistol, a Taurus pistol, and the initially reported Great Western revolver, all of which were stolen from his stepfather about Dec. 20, according to court records. All are Class C felonies carrying a penalty of two to seven years in state prison or a $5,000 fine. Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long set his bond at $100,000 with surety by a bail bondsman allowed, with a warrant issued Jan. 16.

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