Texas volunteers come up empty in search for missing Wichita boy, police say

A Texas-based search team has not found anything so far associated with the case of a missing Wichita 5-year-old, police said.

Texas EquuSearch, a mounted team that searches for lost and missing people, came to Wichita on Saturday to look for Lucas Hernandez, the group announced on its website. Officer Charley Davidson said police met with the organization on Saturday.

Nothing found by the group was associated with the search for Lucas, Davidson said Monday.

EquuSearch joined other volunteers and police in the search for Lucas, who has been missing for 16 days. The boy was reported missing by his stepmother at around 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 17 at her house in the 600 block of South Edgemoor.

Over 100 law enforcement officers and divers have used horses, dogs and drones when searching the home’s neighborhood and at least five parks since then. Police last week suspended active park searches, but said more areas could be searched if new information came in.

Davidson said tips are still coming in to the tip line at 316-383-4661 and asked anyone with information to call police.

An Amber Alert was never issued because there was no evidence that Lucas had been abducted. Last week, a Wichita police captain said, “I believe Lucas just didn’t walk out of the house.”

The case is considered a criminal investigation, and police have asked volunteer searchers to not disturb anything that might be evidence. Davidson advised searchers to be careful to not trespass on private property. Missing Pieces Network said in a Facebook post that the family is asking private land owners in Wichita and surrounding counties to search their properties.

The stepmom, Emily Glass, 26, was arrested on Feb. 21 and later charged with child endangerment.

Lucas has brown hair and brown eyes, is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds. He was last seen wearing black sweats, white socks and a gray shirt with a bear on it.

This story was originally published March 5, 2018 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Texas volunteers come up empty in search for missing Wichita boy, police say."