Woman who grew up in Springfield likely died in explosion in KC's Plaza shopping area

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A woman whose family is still in Springfield probably is the person who died on Tuesday in an explosion at a restaurant in Kansas City.  A spokeswoman for her family said Megan Cramer, 46, was a server at JJ’s Italian Restaurant on the Plaza.

A cadaver dog found a body in the rubble on Wednesday morning. 

“The family has been contacted by the Kansas City Fire Department and were told that a body found today is possibly that of Megan, but an official confirmation will not be forthcoming for 24 to 48 hours pending medical records identification.  Megan was the only unaccounted for victim of the tragedy,” said Ann Keyes, a spokeswoman for Cramer’s family.

From The Associated Press:

Genny Cramer, Megan Cramer's mother, says Fire Department officials told her dental records were being used to determine if Megan Cramer's body was the one found on Wednesday.   She said her family is certain their daughter died in the blast.
 
Genny Cramer says she talked to her daughter by telephone on Tuesday while Megan Cramer was getting ready for work.  She calls her daughter a special person who wrote poetry and helped establish the first lesbian/gay student group at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Here’s a news release from Keyes:

Megan Jennifer Cramer -- a poet, writer, attorney, social activist, and server -- loved and was beloved by those with whom she met and interacted.  Megan was born on June 21, 1966, in Emporia, Kan., three months before her family moved to Springfield, Mo., where the family continues to live.  She attended Delaware and Rountree Elementary Schools, Jarrett Junior High School, and graduated from Parkview High School.

She graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City as an undergraduate and also from the UMKC School of Law.  She spent many hours as a law student at the Center for the Study of Capital Punishment working weekly pro bono while in law school to assist prisoners on death row at Potosi Federal Prison.  She helped found the first chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Student Group at UMKC.

Megan lived in Kansas City for 26 years, living on the Plaza.  After practicing law in Kansas City, she returned to her love of working with people as a server, first at the Melting Pot on the Plaza and then at JJ’s Italian Restaurant.  Megan loved people, books, films, writing, reading, and painting.  She loved summer poetry and writing classes at the Provincetown Fine Arts Center, Provincetown, Mass., which the whole family attended for nearly a decade.
           
Megan is the daughter of Carter and Genny Cramer of Springfield.  Her sister, Stephanie Cramer and niece, August McGrail, also live in Springfield.