Pleasant Hill Grad Dies

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A soldier raised in Missouri has died in Baghdad of injuries that weren't sustained in combat. The death of 31-year-old Army Specialist Randy Pickering is under investigation. His brother, Chris Pickering, says the family expects to get the autopsy results soon. The Michigan man says the family is skeptical of initial reports from the military that the death might have been a suicide. Randy Pickering grew up in Pleasant Hill in the Kansas City area and later lived with his grandparents for several years in Liberty. Chris Pickering says his brother didn't graduate from high school but earned his equivalency certificate and had a college degree in computer programming. He lived in Missouri until his mid20s, when he moved to Minnesota with his father and other family members. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) AP-NY-12-14-07 0811EST