WJON reports the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Stearns County Sheriff’s Office saying they have recovered the gun believed to be used in the shooting death of Officer Tom Decker. Police also have a new person of interest in the case.

Officers were trying to do a follow-up interview Wednesday afternoon at a home in the 22-thousand block of Great Northern Drive in Cold Spring, when they say 31-year-old Eric Thomes fled to an outbuilding on the property and refused to come out. Officers tried to contact Thomes for several hours. Shortly before 7:00 p.m., agents entered the building and found Thomes dead of suicide by hanging. The follow-up investigation led to the 20-gauge shotgun at a separate property.

BCA Superintendent Wade Setter says Thomes is a person of interest in Decker’s killing but the investigation is still active and ongoing.

Setter says Thomes’ vehicle is similar to the black van they were looking for, which was spotted leaving the Winner’s Bar parking lot shortly after the shooting.

Police are looking for information on any activities or notable actions taken by Thomes between the week prior to Decker’s killing and Thomes’ death Wednesday.

The sheriff’s department report says 57-year-old Kathleen Ponsness died of manual strangulation at her Lake Edward Township home last April. Her husband, 56-year-old Kenneth Ponsness died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Both bodies were found in a bed in the master bedroom. A German shepherd dog was found fatally shot on the floor.

The report says the state fire marshal found two fires were intentionally set in the garage and five more were set in the home. Deputies say a suicide note was found in the Ponsness’ vehicle parked on the road.

The Brainerd Dispatch (http://bit.ly/OCciMc ) says investigators have closed the case as a murder-suicide.

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Information from: The Daily Dispatch, http://www.brainerddispatch.com

Police have released the results of an autopsy on 20-year-old Blake Ayling of Minneapolis. They show that Ayling was legally drunk at the time of the incident.

One of Ayling’s roommates told investigators that Ayling routinely walked through the rail yard as a shortcut from their apartment to campus. Police have ruled the death an accident.

Authorities say they have reason to believe the girl cannot adequately care for six-month-old Shaquan Rulford. The mother was last seen with the child just before noon on Wednesday. She was with the baby during a supervised visit.

Police say the mother and child are probably still in Minneapolis, possibly on the north side.

The Minnesota Air National Guard says about 300 unit members will deploy to Kandahar Air Field in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in August.

It’s the first time the unit will deploy with the Block 50 F-16 aircraft, the newest F-16 in the U.S. Air Force fleet.

The unit is expected to be deployed for two months.

Wisconsin produced 2.3 billion pounds of milk in May. That’s an improvement of 54 million pounds over the same month last year.

Most of the 23 major milk-producing states in the nation showed similar gains. Two states had lower production, and Minnesota’s output was unchanged at 786 million pounds.

California remains the nation’s leader, with 3.7 billion pounds of milk harvested last month. Wisconsin is still in second place, producing about as much as the next two states combined. Idaho and New York each produced about 1.2 billion pounds.

Overall, the nation produced 16.4 billion pounds, a 2 percent gain.

40-year-old Dino John Bastian was taken into custody after allegedly following someone.

He will now likely face his original charge of 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct again.

Bastian moved to the 200 block of North Minnesota Street in New Ulm in November of 2011 after serving a 21-month prison term for criminal sexual conduct involving girls under the age of 13. He was given a 10-year conditional release parole following the prison time, but is now in the Brown County Jail awaiting a court hearing.

Level 3 predatory sex offenders are considered the most likely to re-offend.

The biggest U.S. specialty electronics retailer also says it lost money in its fiscal fourth quarter partly because of a restructuring charge, but its adjusted results topped Wall Street’s expectations.

Best Buy lost $1.7-billion, or $4.89 per share for the period ending March 3rd. That compares with a profit of $651-million, or $1.62 per share, a year ago.

The money is aimed at lowering the cost of advanced fuel cell systems by developing cost-effective, durable and highly efficient fuel cell components.

The 3-year project will focus on boosting the performance of fuel cell systems for vehicles and stationary applications while driving down costs.

The investments are a part of the Department’s commitment to U.S. leadership in innovative fuel cell technologies that give American families and businesses more options to cut energy costs and reduce petroleum use.

Over the past several years, Michael J. Lindell has become a household name, and now with a newly launched infomercial, he is one of the most watched persons in America. Born and raised in Minnesota, Michael has been an entrepreneur all of his life. His creativity and driving passion to find success helped him conquer addictions, bankruptcy and several near death experiences to develop the life-changing product that became MyPillow. His extraordinary life story of recovery and perseverance inspires everyone who hears it and has attracted the attention of movie producers and writers from Hollywood. He has also started work on a memoir to share is story and inspire others for success.

Mike recently created his own television show called “The Mike Lindell Show”. Mike’s goal for the show is to help people change their lives by sharing personal, inspirational experiences from the heart and bringing on guests from around the country to do the same. His honesty and candor is refreshing at a time when the population is seeking authenticity.

Mike began his quest to create “the world’s most comfortable pillow” eight years ago when he was having difficulties in his life including not being able to sleep. He recalled the comfort he found in his pillow in his youth and set out to find this same comfort in his adult life. After years of research of both pillows and sleep disorders and experimentation with fill and fabrics, he combined health, comfort and durability to create one of the only patented pillows made here in the USA. He shared it with two of our country’s top neurologists who specialized in sleep disorders. They tested it and found that MyPillow properly supported the vertebrae which led to greater amounts of REM sleep and significantly better overall rest for the body. MyPillow now has thousands of personal and medical/professional testimonials and endorsements.

Since the first pillow was made in Carver Minnesota, MyPillow has been invited to be part of the gift basket programs at the Academy Awards (Oscars), the ESPY Awards and the American Music Awards, making MyPillow “The Pillow to the Stars”.

Orange County Choppers has developed a special bike for Mike Lindell celebrating his individualism, character, perseverance and the success of MyPillow. The April 5th unveiling brings Orange County Choppers to Minnesota for the very first time to honor this “hometown entrepreneur.”

Mike Lindell is a regular on ”The Laura Smith Show” on FOX radio. Later in April, he will be an honored guest at a FOX News forum with Geraldo Rivera called “Putting America Back to Work.”

Being a “life changer” at heart, Mr. Lindell is using his success to help change the lives of others. His charitable contributions have included MyPillows for our Military as well as The Imus Ranch, a working cattle ranch for kids with cancer. Mike has also partnered with “Breaking Free” which helps victims of human trafficking by offering employment and assistance in returning to society. At the heart of Mike’s passion is The Lindell Foundation, recently created to ‘reach the unreachable’, starting with those who are suffering with crack addition of the worst kind. He plans to open ‘free’ centers nationwide to support addicts both with recovery and mainstreaming into society and create an environment of hope in the lives of those seeking a better life free from addiction. Mike’s commitment to create jobs here in the USA with an All American made product has become a reality in a overall unstable economy. The dream of owning your own business with a worthwhile product is alive and well here in homegrown Minnesota.

ABOUT MyPillow:
Founded in 2004 by Michael J. Lindell, MyPillow is one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in the USA. An advocate for American Made product and ambassador for creating jobs in America, the company manufacture “the worlds most comfortable pillow’. Promoting health, comfort and durability, MyPillow is renowned for owning the only US paten in the category. A philanthropist at heart, Michael J. Lindell recently founded The Lindell Foundation to ‘reach the unreachable’ and continue his thrive towards an addiction free society. For more information please visit: www.mypillow.com