WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A small, decomposing body found under a bridge in rural central Kansas is likely that of 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez, a Wichita boy who has been missing since February, police said Friday.
An autopsy to be performed Friday will confirm the bodys identity but it is likely Lucas, Wichita police chief Gordon Ramsay said at a news conference.
Law enforcement officers were called to the scene in Harvey County Thursday night after Lucas 27-year-old stepmother, Emily Glass, led a private investigator to the remains under the bridge on a gravel road near the town of Sedgwick, about 20 miles north of Wichita. Ramsay said there were other details that indicate the body is Lucas, but that police cannot share that information.
The investigator, David Marshburn, called police about the body, and officers met him and Glass at the scene. Ramsay said Marsh-burn was hired by Lucas family. Marshburn told local media that Lucas paternal grandmother first contacted him for assistance.
