Local News Now

NSBNews.net video by Sera Frederick
NEW SMYRNA BEACH --

Jennifer Rado, 41, was shown on the National Center for Missing Persons website after she was first reported missing July 13 in New Smyrna Beach and then four days later when she was at a party in Edgewater thrown by her accused killer, Frances Gibson, according to police there. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Despite her apparent addiction to prescription pills, murder victim Jennifer Rado was loved by her husband and their two children, say friends who knew her.

"She was a great person and a friend to all," said Renee Tyner-McGraw, both former employees of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

VCSO jail mug / Frances R. Gibson of Edgewater, shown at left in the larger photo, has been charged with murder in the slaying of Jennifer Rado, a wife and mother of two from New Smyrna Beach.  

EDGEWATER -- Jennifer Rado was murdered and her alleged killer led investigators to her skeletal remains off Maytown Road, Edgewater Police Chief Dave Arcieri told NSBNews.net at 6:30 a.m., adding she "confessed" to the slaying in which the victim was beaten so badly with fists that they caused lacerations to her head and face.

"Frances R. Gibson confessed to the murder of Jennifer Rado and led us to the body," Arcieri said, adding she was charged with first-degree murder Monday night.

Charging affidavits released by police show that the victim, Jennifer Rado, was tied up with electrical tape and wiring before her body was disposed of in woods off Maytown Road in Oak Hill.

NSBNews.net photos by Henry Frederick / Oak Hill City Commissioner Kathy Bittle, shown at far left, casts the lone vote Monday night against a formal contract with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office to provide around the clock policing. In the middle photo are Sheriff Ben Johnson and Chief Deputy Bill Lee with former Oak Hill police officer M.J. Eberhart sitting in front of them.

OAK HILL -- The City Commission approved a contract with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office tonight for around-the- clock policing, but one commissioner dissented in protest to the earlier disbanding of the police force.

NSBNews.net photos by Henry Frederick / Gary Bittle, chairman of the Burns Science and Technology Charter School in Oak Hill is all smiles on the first day of school Monday morning as the buses pull in for the first time and Principal Jan McKee greets children and their parents.

OAK HILL -- When Oak Hill City Commissioner Kathy Bittle was a little girl, she attended the Burns Elementary School. 

In one meeting; one highly anticipated, highly controversial, highly watched meeting, the future of teens everywhere in Volusia County were dramatically changed!

Principal Jan McKee leads a ribbon cutting Tuesday for the Burns Science and Technology Charter School, 160 Ridge Road in Oak Hill, which welcomes 270 k-8th grade students on Monday.

OAK HILL -- With blue skies and a large tent to provide some relief from the hot sun, upwards of 300 people were welcomed Tuesday by Principal Jan McKee to the Burns Science Technical Charter School.

DELAND -- The Friends of the Library will sell hardcover books and paperbacks in the DeLand Regional Library auditorium from 9:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9; and 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.

A pre-sale will be open for viewing at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, and buyers can purchase books at pre-sale prices from 4 - 7:15 p.m.

Hardbacks will be sold for $1 each, large paperbacks for 50 cents, and small paperbacks and magazines for 25 cents.