One meth

suspect still wanted In

Sibley County

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

GAYLORD -- Officials in Sibley County are still looking for a New Brighton man wanted in connection with a meth operation discovered on New Year's Eve.

The Sibley County Sheriff's Department took James Alan Miller, 34, of Le Sueur, into custody two weeks ago after he was arrested in the Twin Cities on the weekend of Feb 16.

But so far, Jeffrey Clayton Henschke, 33, has managed to elude law enforcement since it raided Miller's house in Kelso Township nearly two months ago.

"We don't know where he's at right now," said Sibley County Sheriff Doug Shulte.

Henschke and Miller face two counts of controlled substance crime in the fifth degree, allegedly for making meth in the house Miller rented out, which is about 1 mile north of the Nicollet County line near Rush River State Park.

On the night the house was raided, Miller reportedly fled the scene in a Chevrolet pickup truck, but Henschke was taken back to his home in Le Sueur later that night. His whereabouts are still unknown.

The meth lab was discovered late on the night of Dec. 31, 2001, by a Sibley County Sheriff's Deputy, who originally went to the house to take a theft complaint. The deputy allegedly smelled meth while inside the house and later learned that the two men used the house and its shed to make meth. Both men denied knowing about meth production, according to Sibley County court documents.

Miller's arrest warrant said he had a non-verbal agreement with the house's tenant that said he "wasn't supposed to live at the house, but kept his stuff there and could stay there if need be." It said Miller was at the house often, stopping by once and sometimes twice a day but did not live in the house at all.

He and Henschke allegedly made meth in the basement with Henschke actually cooking the meth and Miller supplying the chemicals, court documents said.

Both men face maximum sentences of 30 years in jail and a $10,000 fine for each charge. Miller recently appeared in Sibley County District Court for a bail hearing. No bail amount was available at this writing.