A small piece of ground behind Dollar General has a new owner - and its name alone has people wondering what’s next for emergency services in Crane.

According to a warranty deed filed with the Stone County Recorder of Deeds, the Crane R-III School District sold about 2.09 acres of property along Highway 413 on September 10 to a newly created company called Crane EMS, LLC. The deed was filed the next morning.

The company’s name mirrors the very service now taking over the county’s ambulance operations, but business filings list its purpose simply as real-estate investment. Crane EMS, LLC was formed just a week earlier, on September 3, using a Kansas City–area registered agent that represents hundreds of other LLCs around Missouri. No local owners or managers are identified in the state filing.

The 2.09-acre parcel was originally part of the land the district purchased before the 2022 bond issue, using lease-purchase funds. The later $1 million no-levy increase bond, approved by voters in 2022, financed the construction of the district's track-and-field complex on the adjoining property. When Crane EMS, LLC approached the district about purchasing part of the tract, that southern section was divided out and sold. The strip runs between the funeral home and Dollar General, with direct access to Highway 413.

Just days before the sale, the Stone County Ambulance District finalized a three-year contract with Mercy Emergency Medical Services, replacing Cox EMS as the county’s provider. Mercy officially assumed operations on October 8 and has moved into the existing north-side ambulance building previously used by Cox EMS - a facility owned by Crane Property Resources LLC, an entity registered to Mayor Collin Brannan.

No one has announced formal plans for the newly sold parcel, but the timing and its name - Crane EMS - suggest the property could be tied to Mercy’s long-term presence in the area or future facility development.

Crane.news reached out to Mayor Collin Brannan earlier this week with questions about both the existing EMS building and the newly purchased lot. As of publication, he has not responded.

For now, the sale shows how closely public projects and private development can intertwine in a small town like Crane. With Mercy EMS settling in and new activity along Highway 413, the area’s next chapter may already be taking shape.