Butler County sheriff seeks info on fatal hit-and-run

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 38-year-old Augusta man who was run over in a rural area of the county early Saturday.

Sheriff Kelly Herzet said he is encouraging people who may have seen anything suspicious from 12:40 to 4 a.m. on Saturday to call the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Jared K. Wright was last seen alive hitchhiking in an area of Yorktown and U.S. 54 shortly after midnight. At 4 a.m., two people delivering Wichita Eagle newspapers discovered Wright’s body on Tawakoni Road between Southwest 130th and Southwest 140th streets, the sheriff said.

He was missing his socks, shoes and pants. The sheriff’s detectives later found those items lying in a ditch 6 miles away, east of Yorktown Road on U.S. 54 near the Andover YMCA. Detectives also found a cellphone.

The county coroner has since determined Wright may have been run over by a vehicle. His body was then moved 6 miles away in the middle of another Butler County road.

“We are following up on leads, reviewing video from 54 highway,” Herzet said. “This is an ongoing investigation. We want people to call the crime tip number and our investigators if they have any information.”

The Butler County Sheriff’s Investigator’s number is 316-322-4257. The Crime Tip number is 866-484-5924.

This story was originally published May 15, 2017 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Butler County sheriff seeks info on fatal hit-and-run."