Dead Neb. Couple Had Meth in Their Systems

PAPILLION, Neb. - A young couple lost during a snowstorm in rural Nebraska
died of hypothermia and had methamphetamine in their systems, a doctor said
Friday.

Michael Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel, both 20, had levels of
methamphetamine in their systems that could have impaired their judgment,
said Dr. Henry Nipper, director of toxicology at Creighton University
Medial Center in Omaha.

Nipper said methamphetamine can cause confusion, anxiety and hallucination.
It also can cause irrational behavior and cause people to feel hot,
prompting them to perhaps not dress properly for the weather, he said.

Investigators trying to find the source of the methamphetamine served a
search warrant in Kearny early Friday and arrested a mother and son.

Judy Morel, 56, and Mica Morel, 19, were arrested on suspicion of
possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, said Sarpy County
Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeff Davis.

The night they died, Wamsley and Hornickel had called 911 at least five
times from a cell phone. The calls, however, had bounced off different
cellular telephone towers, making it impossible to accurately trace their
whereabouts.

Wamsley's snow-covered body was found Jan. 6, and Hornickel's was found six
days later at the edge of a sand pit lake. Both were within two miles of
Hornickel's truck.

On the evening before they died, Wamsley and Hornickel had been stopped by
police for traffic violations in Geneva, about 100 miles west of Omaha. The
couple, both from Ord in central Nebraska, said they were lost, and the
officer pointed the right way to Omaha.

Hornickel was a junior at Creighton University in Omaha. She and Wamsley
had dated about a year, and most recently they had worked at the same
telemarketing company.