Two suspects have been charged with the murder of Iolan Shawn Cook, whose disappearance in mid-March sparked a 16-day countywide manhunt before his body was discovered northwest of Iola.
Allen County Attorney Jerry Hathaway announced this morning first-degree murder charges were filed against Amber Boeken, 24, Iola, and Joshua Knapp, 34, of Bourbon County.
Cook, 33, was last seen by relatives on March 13. He lived with his aunt, Becky Reaves, in the 400 block of South Kentucky Street.
When relatives did not hear from him over the next few days, they reported him missing March 17.
A flurry of activity by Iola police, Allen County sheriff’s deputies and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation followed, with the execution of search warrants in Iola and Gas.
Boeken was arrested March 21 in Iola on unrelated drug charges; Knapp was arrested March 24 in Linn County on unrelated warrants out of Allen County and Vernon County, Mo., and on a no-bond warrant issued from the Kansas Department of Corrections. Knapp was identified then as “a person of interest” in Cook’s disappearance.
Authorities found Cook’s body April 3 along the banks of the Neosho River, near the Woodson-Coffey county line.
Hathaway declined to comment on whether other suspects are being investigated in connection with Cook’s death, saying only that the case remains under investigation.
A murder weapon has not been located, Hathaway said.
Hathaway urged anyone with information regarding Cook’s death to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), Iola Police Department at 620-365-4960 or the Allen County Sheriff’s Department at 620-365-1400.
