A former Wayne County resident, accused of killing his wife in Bowling Green in 1998, has been arrested in Mexico.

Leland B. Neal, Jr., was being sought on a murder warrant in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Carol Neal, in November 1998, when Bowling Green officials discovered earlier last month that he was being held by Mexican officials on unrelated charges.

Carol Neal disappeared from her residence on Shawnee Drive in Bowling Green, and evidence in the home led police to believe that she had been murdered, though her body has never been found.

Hikers in McCreary County found a portion of a skull in 2003 on Parker’s Mountain inside the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Police in Bowling Green indicated that this was an area where the Neals frequently hiked.

Forensic tests later confirmed that the skull was Carol Neal’s.

The couple were separated, and Carol Neal had filed for divorce in August 1998.

They were set to go to court on November 12, 1998, two days after she disappeared.

According to an affidavit filed by Bowling Green Police, Carol Neal had filed a domestic violence report against Leland Neal approximately three months before she died.

The affidavit also noted that Carol Neal’s friends and relatives told police after her death that she had been afraid of her husband.

Leland Neal was the lone beneficiary of a $50,000 life insurance policy on Carol Neal, according to the affidavit.

A murder warrant was issued for Leland Neal in December 2012. At that time, Bowling Green Police stated that he had last been seen crossing the border in 2008.

In a story published February 20, the Bowling Green Daily Times noted that Leland Neal was being held in Mexico when officials there discovered the murder warrant and contacted U.S. officials.

“We are thrilled with the capture of Leland Neal,” said Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron. “We very much appreciate the assistance of the Mexican authorities working with the United States Marshal’s Office.”

Neal was lodged in the Harris County, Texas Detention Center, where he waived extradition, according to Cohron.

He is expected to be in Warren County within the next couple of weeks.

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Transportation officials are currently involved in an ongoing investigation to determine the cause of a fire that occurred on a Wayne County School bus, which resulted in no injuries.

The incident occurred on Thursday, February 20 at the end of the 78-passenger bus’ daily run along a rural stretch in the Betsey Community.

Wayne County Superintendent John Dalton credited bus driver Debbie East for quickly getting the last three children on board off the bus, following proper emergency procedures. He said the driver had heard a boom coming from the rear of the bus and stopped immediately. She was about a tenth of a mile from the children’s home, so she was able to release them to walk home before returning to the bus, where flames had started during extremely windy weather conditions.

The driver then tried to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, along with help from the mother of the children who brought her two more fire extinguishers. Once they realized her efforts were not going to be successful, they moved away from the bus and waited for the local fire department to arrive and extinguish the blaze.

Superintendent Dalton said the bus was impounded after the incident.

The Kentucky Department of Education officials have already been in contact with a representative of the bus manufacturer and will continue to meet with their engineers to determine the actual cause of the mechanical malfunction.

“Even though it was a tough thing, the bus driver acted heroically,” Dalton said. “We’re very proud of her. The most important thing is no one was hurt.”

Wayne County School Transportation Director Philip Burton said he appreciated how all those involved followed the proper bus evacuation safety rules, which are practiced at school. “Our bus evacuation training drills are so important. We will use this event as a teachable moment when we go into our schools and train our students and staff on bus safety.”

He also said he appreciated how everyone rallied together to help at the scene.

All of the bus drivers follow a daily pre-trip inspection before they begin their runs. In addition, every bus undergoes a monthly 125 point maintenance inspection which is a routine check, where all the major components are examined and scrutinized.

The investigation will continue.

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Wayne County Schools have missed 15 days due to winter weather, and the calendar has been changed to reflect those days. The Wayne County Board of Education heard an update regarding the current school year’s calendar during a meeting on Monday, February 17.

Allen Clark told board members that an additional day was also missed because of the state football playoffs. Those 16 days will be made up by using days that were built into the calendar for work days and professional development, as well as days added on to the end of the school year.

If the district misses no more days, Clark said the final day of school for students will be June 4. The last day for teachers will be June 5.

Clark said there had been some communication to the local school regarding the possibility of the state legislature forgiving districts some of the days missed because of weather conditions. But at this point there has been no formal proposal, according to Clark.

He also noted there were other districts in the state that had missed well over 20 days this year because of weather.

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Wayne County has launched a feasibility study regarding bringing natural gas to the area. The study will identify three possible natural gas suppliers and will provide county officials with the number of potential customers as well as the cost of the project.

It should be completed within three months, according to County Judge/Executive Greg Rankin. Natural gas as a source of energy in Wayne County is a project that has been talked about a lot, but it has never happened.

“For probably 30 years or more the idea of natural gas in Wayne County has been discussed,” said Rankin. “But nothing has been done.”

The need for natural gas has become even more apparent recently, according to Rankin. In the past year, Wayne County was a potential site for a new industry that would have meant jobs for this community. The company really liked the idea of locating here but needed natural gas.

“They loved everything else that we proposed but they needed the natural gas,” said Rankin.

He noted that is often one of the first questions an industrial prospect asks when exploring the possibility of coming to this community.

There have long been obstacles to getting natural gas into Wayne County, as that possibility has been discussed over the years. Some people have talked about the difficulty of bringing natural gas across the lake, and others have talked about the size of supply lines.

But with this study, Rankin noted that the county will have in “black and white” where natural gas would come from, how much it will cost, and if it is a project that is feasible for this community.

Bell Engineering is conducting the study, which is something they have done for other communities in Kentucky. Natural gas has become so much cheaper, and it is something that communities like to be able to offer.

The study will provide any obstacles that the county might encounter with each proposal. The county will receive an Opinion of Probable Cost related to construction of each proposed alignment.

The potential number of customers in Wayne County will be identified in the study, as well as the preliminary recommended volume, pipe material and line sizes for the system.

Bell Engineering can also provide insight as to how the project can be paid for.

“I think it is time that we do something regarding this project,” said Rankin. “This has been talked about so long, and we have to get started sometime, otherwise another 30 years from now, they will still be talking about it.”