‘I believe Lucas just didn’t walk out of the house,’ police captain says

On Friday, day 14 of Lucas Hernandez’s disappearance, a Wichita police captain said, “I believe Lucas just didn’t walk out of the house.”

That’s something police haven’t said publicly before about the 5-year-old boy who was reported missing by his stepmother on Feb. 17.

Police have said all along that they don’t think Lucas Hernandez was abducted.

So the investigators have now eliminated the possibilities of him walking away or being abducted. They say they remain hopeful he will be found and want people to share pictures of him and to contact them with information for their criminal investigation into his disappearance.

On its Facebook page, Missing Pieces Network says it is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that is “dedicated to locating the missing and advocating for families of those who are missing, abducted, trafficked or murdered.”

In the group’s update Friday on Lucas’ disappearance, it quoted Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred saying: “Lucas just didn’t walk out of the house. There’s somebody or somebodies that knows something about Lucas and maybe someone will hear something and give us that information that will lead us to Lucas.”

Police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson told The Eagle he could verify the quote but added that Allred thought he began his statement to the group with “I believe ….”

Lucas’ stepmother, Emily Glass, reported him missing from their South Edgemoor home at around 6:15 p.m. Saturday Feb. 17. She told police that she had last seen him in his bedroom around 3 that afternoon, and that she fell asleep and later realized he was gone. Relatives have said that Lucas’ father, Jonathan Hernandez, was out of state working and returned home when he was told about the disappearance.

The investigation of the his son’s disappearance – which has sent officers and canine and mounted units to a number of Wichita parks – gained new information that turned their effort into a criminal investigation, police have said.

It has led to the arrest of Glass on suspicion of endangering Lucas and a 1-year-old child, police have said. As a result of that arrest, prosecutors have charged Glass with misdemeanor endangerment of a 1-year-old. Glass has a 1-year-old daughter. The 26-year-old remained in jail Friday on a $50,000 bond.

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 3:49 PM with the headline "‘I believe Lucas just didn’t walk out of the house,’ police captain says."