Human remains found in Arkansas River in Jefferson County

JEFFERSON COUNTY – Officials with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said human remains were recovered from the Arkansas River on Thursday evening.

Around 5:30 p.m., officials said the Metropolitan Emergency Communication Association received a call from someone reporting possible human remains on the bank of the Arkansas River.

JCSO deputies arrived on the scene and were able to confirm them to be human remains.

Authorities said the remains will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab to possibly identify the remains and cause of death.

JCSO officials said this is an ongoing investigation and more information will be released when it becomes available.

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Prisons could use cellphone jamming systems under Tom Cotton bill

WASHINGTON — Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rep.

David Kustoff of Tennessee reignited their push Wednesday to prevent incarcerated people from using contraband cellphones through device jamming systems.

The Republican lawmakers are reintroducing identical legislation in their respective chambers of Congress that would allow state and federal correctional facilities to use these systems, which disrupt and interfere with wireless communication.

Federal law currently prohibits the use of cellphone jamming equipment, as the devices can interfere with 911 calls and threaten public safety correspondence.

“Within prison walls, contraband cellphones are dangerous weapons,” Cotton said at a press conference in the U.S.

Capitol regarding the bill.

“For too long, we’ve turned a blind eye to this glaring public safety threat as crimes are planned, facilitated and ordered by convicted criminals already serving a prison sentence,” he said.

Cotton clarified that the equipment would not interrupt the normal communications of law enforcement and emergency first responders, and state officials would have “full discretion as to where and how this jamming equipment is used in prison facilities.”

The measure requires that the Federal Communications Commission – which has jurisdiction over the matter – “may not prevent” correctional facilities from using these systems.

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The system operations would be limited to the housing units of the jail or prison.

Cotton said they would work with the FCC if the bill is passed to “make sure that it’s implemented in a careful and deliberate way that solves the problem that our correctional leaders have inside their prison without having any unintended consequences.”

Kustoff said “it really should not be possible for people behind prison bars to order hits on people, to conduct gang activity, to traffic drugs, while behind the walls of a prison.”

“The extent of this coordinated criminal activity carried out by inmates is a serious threat to everyone – those who guard and protect those in prison, as well as those in our communities,” he said.

The Urban Institute surveyed state correctional administrators and found that in 2020, more than 25,000 cellphones were recovered in their facilities across 20 states.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general led by Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and the U.S. Virgin Islands wrote to the leaders in the House and Senate, expressing their support of the measure and urging them to pass the legislation in their respective chambers.

They are joined by attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

At the press conference, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said he and leadership at the state’s Department of Corrections and Arkansas State Police are “begging for this bill to become law.”

Griffin, who called the measure “fundamentally common sense,” cited examples of dangers posed by the use of these prohibited phones, including a convicted rapist who he said used a contraband cellphone to plan his escape from prison.

The FCC did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

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Rape suspect out on bond arrested for failure to appear in court

JONESBORO — A suspect who was held on a $1 million bond for an alleged rape had the bond reduced to zero, didn’t show up for court, and was re-arrested again this week in Craighead County.

Mason John-Anthony Willis, 23, of Brookland, was arrested in 2023 for an alleged rape involving a child. In that case, Judge David Boling set bail at $1 million with an ankle monitor required.

Since then, his bail was reduced to an OR (own recognizance) bond. Online court records do not show which judge modified the bond.

However, records show a warrant was issued for his arrest on March 21, 2025, after he did not appear as scheduled in court.

Willis was arrested on March 25 for Failure to Appear, a Class C Felony. Willis appeared before Judge Tommy Fowler for a new bond hearing today. Judge Fowler was shocked that Willis’ bond had been reduced significantly, making several comments in court that he did not know how that had happened.

“How this got reduced to an OR bond, I don’t know,” Judge Fowler said in open court.

Judge Fowler set a $25,000 cash-only bond for Willis. An ankle monitor requirement was also put into place. Willis is next scheduled to appear in court on April 24.

On April 3, 2023, officers from the Jonesboro Police Department took a report from a mother stating that her child reported having sexual intercourse with then-21-year-old Mason Willis. At the time of the encounter, the child was 11 years of age.

The investigation showed that Willis was paroled out of prison and moved into the residence, beginning a relationship with the mother. Only after Willis moved out did the child come forward with the allegations. The child provided details to authorities about multiple encounters.

Willis was interviewed by police and began to cry, the affidavit said, mentioning to the investigator ‘what they do to people like that in prison.’

Willis only admitted to kissing the alleged victim. Anytime the conversation reached the topic of the alleged sexual encounter, Willis would go back to talking about what happens to people like that in prison.

Detective Bill Brown arrested Willis for Rape, a Class Y Felony, for having sex with a person under the age of 14.

Willis hung his head and started crying when arrested, the affidavit said.

A Class Y Felony is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison in Arkansas.

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