NEWS

Positive ID made in Ozark homicide case

Sarah Okeson
News-Leader

The woman whose body was found in a burned house in Ozark on June 17 has been identified as Bailey Clemons, 29, according to the Christian County Coroner.

Clemons was identified through DNA samples submitted to the State Crime Lab, said Christian County Coroner Brad Cole.

The cause of death is not being released at this time.

Authorities have said that her death is a homicide but have not said if there is a suspect in her death.

Clemons' badly burned body was found in the basement of the house at 1205 E. McCracken Road, which was filled with debris and water from fighting the fire on June 16. White said part of the first floor had burned through and collapsed into the basement.

In March 2010, Clemons sought an order of protection against her husband in Greene County saying that he had assaulted her March 6 at their home in Ozark. She listed a different Ozark address then in court documents.

"He slammed my left arm in the fridge door and shoved me," Bailey Clemons wrote. "He hit me in the face and tried to shove me down stairs. Abuse has occurred over the six years of our relationship and marriage."

She also wrote that he had sent her harassing emails. The couple had two children when she filed the petition, a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. Judge Mark Fitzsimmons ordered Aaron Clemons on April 15, 2010 not to have any contact with Bailey Clemons for a year.

But in July 2010, Bailey Clemons asked that the order be terminated, writing that her husband had entered a domestic violence program.

"He entered the hit no more program and is not longer a threat," she wrote. "We are working things out, and I want him to be there with his kids."