Morrison issues crime alert in its search for man wanted on DWI warrant

On Tuesday, the Morrison County Sheriff's Department took the unusual step of issuing a statewide crime alert through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for a man wanted on a warrant for felony first-degree DWI.

Morrison County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Tom Ploof said the sheriff's department typically has hundreds of outstanding warrants. The warrant for 32-year-old Cory John Schilling, however, represents a special case, he said.

In 1997 he was convicted of criminal vehicular homicide in Stearns County for driving drunk and crashing his car and killing his passenger, 19-year-old Jody Kleve.

In April, he was arrested in Little Falls and charged with felony DWI - a charge escalated because of the criminal vehicular homicide charge. Schilling pleaded guilty to the charge and on Aug. 12 was to be sentenced to an anticipated 60 months prison, Ploof said.

Schilling, however, failed to show at his sentencing and a warrant for his arrest was issued. When Kleve's family inquired about Schilling's status, Ploof said his department took the unusual step of issuing a crime alert in an effort to locate Schilling.

"He needs to be in jail," Ploof said.

Ploof said the crime alert has resulted in increased attention to Schilling's flight, led to a few leads but "nothing has panned out."

Anyone with information on Schilling's whereabouts is asked to call the Morrison County Sheriff's Department at (320) 632-9233.

In 2006 Schilling was sentenced to a year in jail after being convicted of felony DWI in Aitkin County.

MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.