Undisclosed Meth Lab

My husband and I purchased a home in Morgan County, MO, (We live in AR). It was listed as : a "fixer, and price reflects that". The home needed some updating and heat and air system. When we went to the home to look at it, it was a hot summer day and all of the windows were open. They also had boxes of charcoal briquets all over the house. They told us an elderly woman had previously lived there and went to the nursing home. So we thought they were trying to cover up urine smell or whatever from the elderly lady.
We purchased the home after looking at it one more time with my father-in-law, and his wife. Nobody noticed anything strange at that time. Not even the R.E. agents. Well my husband and I were going to start painting and we realized that the urine smell was not going away. Even after we removed drywall that looked to be stained (this was previously covered with paneling). We ended up tearing out all of the kitchen cabinets, the ceiling and almost the entire LR, kitchen and bath. Well one day my husband went to city hall (right down the street), to pay the water bill and my husband mentioned the trouble we were having with the house. She laughed at him and said, "That was a meth house. Everybody knows that!". So my husband locked up the house and left it. It has been empty for several months now.
We have alot of documented proof that the previous owners knew about the meth lab. It was their son who was cooking in there and they contiuously bailed him out. We contacted several attornies, but they said they wouldn't make enough $$ off the case to make it worth their time. Aren't they saints?
So my question is: Can we take this to small claims on our own. They actually committed fraud. We also want monetary damages for our time, work, materials, house and ins. payments, etc... What should we do???

Small claims might be an option, depending on the max statutory limit of the court and how much you could potentially recoup. You'd need to find out the costs involved in pursuing this in court along with the money you're already out to determine if this is worth more time and money or not. It also depends on who "they" were .. did more than one party misrepresent the previous tenants? Does the jurisdication allow you to name more than one party? (You'd have to do some research before you proceed.)

Regardless, you also need to check the purchase agreement you initially signed. If the property was sold "as is," if the property was also appraised "as is," that's probably why you're encountering such legal resistance. "As is" covers a multitude of sins and in my opinion, that original purchase agreement is the key. On the other hand, if the seller also offered a home inspection & no note was made of that existing condition, it might be possible to pursue that contractor as well. (Probably not the case when selling a "fixer-upper.")

Just out of curiosity, have you ever contacted your own professional home inspection company to have the property inspected (even now) & find out what it would take to eliminate the problem? Unfortunately (& this is just my opinion) it appears that while you may or may not get some sort of compensation through legal action, you're still facing the same problem .. and possible future foreclosure if you can't afford that 2nd house. It may end up costing yet more in replacing the flooring (incl subflooring where typically the type of odor you've posted lingers until replaced), but at least it's an avenue to explore, at the same time you're researching your small claims jurisdiction. That cost could conceivably be included as well, in my opinion. (Just an opinion, and not to be construed as legal advice.)

Hope this helps. Good luck.