Haley Payne has been with the Lewisville PD since 2021 and is married to Detective Kyle Payne. Originally from Fort Worth, she moved to Tennessee for college and graduated with honors from Belmont University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Multimedia Production with a minor in Education. She worked for the Walt Disney Company before being hired by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations to teach English in Japan. Upon returning to the States, she continued her education, graduating with Highest Graduate Honors from Austin Peay State University, earning a Master of Arts in Communication Arts with concentration in Media Management while also working as a substitute teacher.

 

In her current role with the Lewisville Police Property and Evidence Department, Payne is diligently reviewing older, non-digitized physical evidence for disposal. This requires her to go through paper property sheets and painstakingly research cases, some of which are more than 20 years old. In the past several months, Payne has disposed of more than 5,000 rolls of film alone. This is a tremendous accomplishment and is vital to keep the Property and Evidence Department current and running smoothly. The Lewisville Noon Rotary is honored to recognize Haley Payne for her service and dedication to her peers and the local community.

 

March 2024 service award recipient Detective Scott Kelly has been with the Lewisville Police Department since 1998.  He was selected to be a detective in the Crimes Against Persons (CAPERs) unit in 2012. He has been the lead detective on some of the most intriguing investigations known to Lewisville, including the “Baby Boy Doe” case from 1991, in which a citizen reported finding a deceased newborn. During the original investigation it was very difficult to determine where the child came from, who the parents were, and the circumstances which led to the child being abandoned. The case ultimately went cold, until Detective Kelly took it upon himself in 2013 to reopen the investigation. He remained engaged in the case over several years, during which time technology progressed to the degree that there was at least some hope to bring this mystery to a conclusion. Detective Kelly’s primary duties were to work on Robberies & Homicides, yet he still managed to dedicate time to continue his work on the cold cases. 

 

Eventually, advancements in analyzing genealogy of DNA led Detective Kelly to revitalize the case, based on the original evidence. In 2023, after many testing techniques and much assistance from other agencies, the mother of “Baby Boy Doe” was discovered living in California. Detective Kelly worked with California law enforcement to contact the suspect; however, she decided not to cooperate. The case is ongoing and is scheduled to be presented to the Denton County Grand Jury. 

 

Detective Kelly’s dogged commitment and unwavering dedication to finding the truth has made him one of the best detectives that the City of Lewisville has ever had. We are privileged to recognize him with the Lewisville Noon Rotary service award.

The Lewisville Noon Rotary club last week honored Bistecca executive chef Morris Salerno for his generosity and service to the local community and presented him with an honorary membership badge and welcome packet.

 

Among his many acts of kindness, Salerno provides all food free of charge for students and guests at the annual Circle of Friends Grand Ball, a prom for special needs students at Lewisville High School. “I want to tell everybody how proud I am for being a part of this club,” said Salerno. “It’s been a great relationship and I enjoy what y’all do and how you help the community,” he added.

Guest speaker Shane Rogers last week had members of the Lewisville Noon Rotary club on edge, as he recounted his previous career path making nuclear bombs in West Texas.

 

Rogers, who is currently employed as the service director at Sam Pack Five Star Ford in Lewisville, worked in his mid-20s as a nuclear weapons production technician and later as a production manager at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Amarillo, Texas. The Pantex facility, which employs about 3500 individuals and spans 16,000 acres, is owned by the Department of Energy and run by a third-party management and operations contractor, Rogers explained. “One of the biggest concerns when you’re making bombs is lightning,” Rogers said, noting that you have to isolate everything to protect against lightning strikes, while also grounding components to protect against static electricity. He described the complex steps needed to ensure both safeguards were in place to prevent a nuclear crisis. 

 

Rogers moved into management at age 34, overseeing engineers who had been doing their job longer than he had been alive. “We started having trouble recruiting engineers,” he said, recounting the plant's massive effort to find qualified employees. “During my last seven years at the facility, I interviewed about 1500 college students, hired 120 of them,” and then trained them, he said.

 

The last new nuclear weapon rolled off the assembly line in 1991, since by treaty manufacturing is no longer allowed. However, it’s still necessary to test and maintain all existing nuclear weapons year after year, Rogers noted.

 

Although he eventually left his hometown of Amarillo to move to Lubbock and later to North Texas, Rogers is grateful for his past experience at the Pantex facility and proud of what he and his team accomplished. “Everybody at the plant feels a strong sense of patriotism for what they do,” he said.