On May 5, 2020, deputies in West Plains, Missouri, found two men shot dead inside a red passenger vehicle parked on private property off County Road 4000. Victims were identified as 30-year-old Richard Lee Kuntz and 28-year-old Frankie L. Ziegler; both had sustained apparent gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say the pair were lured to the remote location under the pretense of a drug transaction as part of a planned ambush. Court documents and police statements allege a shooter waited in nearby bushes and fired multiple shotgun rounds into the vehicle. Three suspects were arrested days later: Joey Allen Marcak, Levi Daniel Gunter, and Kyla R. Croney. Marcak was accused of being the gunman; Gunter and Croney were accused of arranging the meeting. Charges included first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and attempted robbery, and prosecutors initially sought the death penalty for Marcak.

Croney later pleaded guilty in October 2020 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to twelve years; subsequent filings led to dismissal of the murder charge and a modified four-year sentence in November 2022. Gunter was released on bond and reported missing; his body was found during a search operation in January 2024, which ended his prosecution. Marcak remained in custody facing a jury trial. Anyone with information about Kuntz, where he spent his time, or the events leading up to May 5, 2020, is asked to come forward.