LINCOLN COUNTY > Major Case Squad investigates woman's death — The area's Major Case Squad is investigating the death of a woman who was found in a Lincoln County home Tuesday. Officials with Lincoln County Sheriff's Department identified her as Elizabeth Faria, 42. She was found in a home in the 100 block of Sumac Drive about 9:40 p.m. Police would not say whether she lived in the home. Investigators described her death as suspicious and said an autopsy was being performed.

O'FALLON, ILL. > Roofer killed in fall from home — An O'Fallon, Ill., man fell to his death while on a job site Wednesday. Joel Ponce-Luna, 36, was working with a crew at 10:20 a.m. installing a roof on a new home when he fell, O'Fallon police Sgt. Craig Koch said. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room. Other workers saw Ponce-Luna fall off the roof of the home in the Windsor Creek Subdivision, police said. Police did not know the name of the company that employed Ponce-Luna. Police are investigating the accident along with the Occupation Safety and Health Administration.

RICHMOND HEIGHTS > Man is found fatally shot — The Major Case Squad is investigating the fatal shooting of Shaun Hitchens, 35, of the 1700 block of Banneker Avenue in Richmond Heights. Hitchens was found fatally shot about 10 p.m. Monday at his house in that block, authorities say. He died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Police provided no other details about the case. Raleigh Johnson, 67, who lives across the street from Hitchens, said he heard a single shot Monday night and saw three people leave the home and drive off in a sport utility vehicle. Johnson said he then ran across the street and found Hitchens in the backyard bleeding from a gunshot wound to his abdomen. "He was dying when I got up there," Johnson said.

Two die in crashes — Two people were killed in separate fatal crashes Tuesday night in Jefferson and St. Charles counties, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. The first crash was at 8:43 p.m. in Jefferson County. Ernest W. Jones, 42, of De Soto was killed when the 1995 Ford Taurus he was driving crossed the centerline of Highway 21 about a half mile south of Mothershead Lane and struck a 2005 Ford Explorer head-on. Jones was ejected from his car. His passenger, Seth Crumpton, 24, of De Soto, who was wearing his seat belt, suffered minor injuries. The collision sent the Explorer off the highway, causing it to flip over. Its driver, Frank G. Ciliberto, 74, suffered serious injures and was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis for treatment. He was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.

The second crash, at 8:48 p.m. in St. Charles County, killed Daniel L. Rich, 69, of Lake Saint Louis, who was driving a 2011 Cadillac SRX, and injured passenger Sharon S. Rich, 64, also of Lake Saint Louis. She had minor injuries. Rich was heading west on Highway 40 (Interstate 64) east of Highway N when Rich began suffering from a medical condition, the patrol said. He accelerated the vehicle while Sharon Rich tried to steer. The car slammed into a cable barrier in the median and veered back toward the highway before striking the cable barrier again and stopping on top of the barrier. It was unclear Wednesday whether Daniel Rich died of the medical condition or as a result of the crash.

ST. LOUIS > Nude pictures lawsuit will go back to court — A woman awarded $100,000 after pictures of her nude torso appeared without her permission in a Riverfront Times article will get a chance for more money, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. The woman, who now lives in Georgia and has been identified only as "Jane Doe," had already sued a Creve Coeur cosmetic surgery company claiming malpractice when her lawyers showed her a 2006 Riverfront Times newspaper article about cosmetic surgery. The article was accompanied by photos of her nude torso before and after surgery to reduce excess skin produced by her dramatic weight loss. She sued Body Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and Skin Care Center Inc. and Drs. V. Leroy Young, Robert Centeno and C.B. Boswell, claiming invasion of privacy, breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful commercial appropriation and exploitation of her image and medical information. In a trial in federal court in November 2009, jurors awarded her $100,000 in compensatory damages, finding that the doctors and practice had violated their fiduciary duty to her but not her privacy. Although she asked for millions in compensatory damages alone, one juror told the Post-Dispatch that the jury awarded her only enough to pay something to her lawyers and to allow for her hotel and travel expenses. She appealed. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday stopped short of ordering a new trial, with the majority saying that a new jury should hear only the issue of whether punitive damages should be awarded on the claim of breach of fiduciary duty.