Woman killed in NE Wichita by driver fleeing in stolen vehicle was a ‘vibrant influence’
The 43-year-old Hutchinson woman who died when a person fleeing from officers crashed into her vehicle Monday in northeast Wichita traveled to remote parts of the world and, when she was home, worked with children with developmental disabilities.
Officers on Tuesday identified the victim as Mandy Lynn Buckwalter.
She died at the scene of the wreck, which happened at 12:38 p.m. near 29th and Wilderness in Wichita.
The wreck happened after a 24-year-old Wichita woman, who was a suspect in a stolen vehicle officers were tracking from the air, got out of that stolen vehicle, a 2014 Ford Escape, and stole a 2024 Ford Transit van from a business that she then wrecked into a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by Buckwalter.
The suspect was driving west in the eastbound lanes of 29th; Buckwalter was eastbound in the same inside lane as the suspect.
The drivers “attempted an evasive maneuver to the outside lane at the same time and struck head-on,” according to a Kansas Highway Patrol crash report.
“Though you may be gone, Mandy Buckwalter, your vibrant influence remains, empowering us to chase our aspirations and make a lasting difference,” a family member wrote on Facebook. “Love you!”
Buckwalter was a home assistant supervisor at Heartspring’s therapeutic school, which helps children with developmental disabilities, the nonprofit said Tuesday on Facebook.
She had been working there for three years.
She was a “cherished colleague who made a lasting difference in the lives of the children in our care,” the post says. “We are grateful to have experienced her warmth, commitment, and genuine spirit.”
A coworker wrote this about her on the post: “Amazing, amazing woman who lived a life of service and made immeasurable impacts around the world (literally!)”
Another person who shared the post said they were honored to work with her.
“It was clear the amount of love she brought into the group home everyday, she loved her students and was highly respected and loved by her staff,” they wrote. “A truly irreplaceable person who will be deeply missed.”
In February 2019, she posted a Facebook photo of her at Machu Picchu in Peru.
In July 2019, she posted a photo of her on the Great Wall of China in Beijing. In replies to comments people made, she said she was traveling a little before coming home and that she was now in Xi’an, which is about a 13-hour drive from the Great Wall.
“Wow you are a travelin gal!” one person wrote.
What happened
The suspect in the fatal wreck had not been booked into jail as of 2:35 p.m. Tuesday. Police said Tuesday morning that she was still hospitalized with injuries.
The crash report says she was taken to Wesley Medical Center with suspected minor injuries.
The incident started Monday morning when officers found an occupied stolen vehicle at the River Walk Apartments at 2701 South Emporia in south Wichita.
Officers followed in unmarked vehicles and with air support from the KHP, police said.
The driver stopped around noon at the Walmart at 29th and Rock and officers used a spike strip to deflate two tires.
“Despite this, the suspect fled the Walmart parking lot, striking a police vehicle,” police said in a news release. “Officers did not pursue the vehicle, but KHP air support continued to track it from above.”
The driver went to a business on north Webb Road near 35th Street, where two people exited the vehicle and fled on foot, police said.
A 24-year-old Wichita man was arrested less than three miles away at 8225 E 24th Court North on suspicion of temporary deprivation of a vehicle and driving while suspended, police said. Meanwhile, “a female suspect stole another vehicle from the business” and went south on Webb and then west on 29th, before crashing into Buckwalter’s car, police said.
The suspects had both driven the stolen 2014 Ford Escape, reported stolen on Oct. 24, police said Tuesday. The two suspects are acquaintances, police said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 2:57 PM.