Missouri jail staff finds gun in detainee’s possessions, believe woman 'concealed gun in body cavity'

COLUMBIA, Mo. (TCD) --

A Missouri woman was charged this week after jailers found a gun in her possession they suspect she smuggled into the facility inside her person, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Moberly resident Amy Wilhite, 39, had been in Boone County Jail custody after a Feb. 14 arrest on drug charges, outstanding warrants, and an unlawful possession of a firearm charge.

She was searched when she was arrested, and a sergeant working in the Boone County Jail thoroughly patted down Wilhite when she was admitted, and a procedural strip search of Wilhite was later conducted by another officer before she was placed in general population, according to the sheriff’s office.  No gun was found.

On Wednesday, Boone County Jail staff found the gun, described as a .22-caliber North American Arms revolver in Wilhite’s belongings.

“It is believed Wilhite had the very small revolver concealed within a body cavity when she was brought into the Boone County Jail on 02/14/2021,” the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies believe Wilhite “removed the firearm from her body and concealed it” in her belongings. The gun is about 4 inches long, 2.4 inches wide, and weighs 4.6 ounces.

Wilhite was charged with delivery or possession of a weapon at a jail, a felony.