Body found in Butler County; police working two crime scenes

Someone ran over a Butler County man in a rural area of the county Friday, picked up the body, and drove it six miles south, dumping it in the middle of another county road, Sheriff Kelly Herzet said.

Butler investigators have no suspects. “We need the public’s help, because we really need to find the vehicle that did this, and find those people,” Herzet said.

Two people delivering Wichita Eagle newspapers found the body about 4 a.m. Saturday, on Tawakoni Road between Southwest 130th and Southwest 140th, Herzet said. “They’ve been very cooperative and helpful,” Herzet said. The county coroner at the scene said the body appeared to have suffered trauma from being run over by a car, Herzet said.

The victim was missing his socks, shoes and pants. Detectives investigating later found a site, six miles away, just east of Yorktown Road Highway 54 near the Andover YMCA. At that site, they found a cell phone, pants, shoes and socks lying in the ditch, Herzet said.

“Kind of a crazy thing,” Herzet said. “The place where he was apparently struck is kind of a rural place. Why didn’t they drag him into the bushes, where it might have been some time before we found him? Why take him six miles away and dump the body in the middle of the road, almost like they wanted us to find him.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Investigators shut down traffic on Highway 54 while they investigate, Herzet said.

The victim is a Butler man in his late 30s. Herzet declined to identify him, pending notification of next of kin.

He said the man was last seen alive walking away from an Arby’s restaurant just after midnight Friday, eastbound on Highway 54, not far from where investigators found his belongings in the ditch.

The Butler County coroner said the man died of blunt force trauma, Herzet said.

Anyone who may have information, including whether they saw anything at either location, should call Butler County 911, Herzet said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2017 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Body found in Butler County; police working two crime scenes."