Highway Patrol Stop Leads to Drug Arrests

Two suspects with a history of drug-related arrests find themselves in jail again on several more drug-related charges. Courthouse records indicate that 29-year-old Stephanie Marie Kepley, of Eldon, and 20-year-old Jeffery Loren Barlow, of Jefferson City, are each charged with felony second-degree trafficking, three felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and a felony for possession of drug paraphernalia—amphetamine or methamphetamine. Kepley is also charged with felony tampering of physical evidence. The probable cause statement alleges that the two were in a car driving in a suspicious manner during the early morning hours on Monday. As the traffic stop was being initiated in the area of the Doolittle Trailer Park, the Highway Patrol trooper observed objects being thrown out the passenger side window. Seized from the scene were pills, methamphetamine, marijuana and paraphernalia. Kepley and Barlow were both taken into custody and booked into the Miller County Jail. They are being held without bonding pending their first appearances in court.