Man arrested in Butler County crash that killed Wichita school teacher, son and nephew
A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a June crash that killed a Wichita teacher, his son and nephew in Butler County.
An arrest warrant was issued on July 3 for the Mansura, Louisiana man. He was arrested about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Beech Grove, Indiana on suspicion of three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Authorities think the man left Kansas, went back to Louisiana and was then found and arrested in the Indianapolis area. The Eagle does not name suspects in criminal cases until they are formally charged in court.
The accident happened the night of June 11 on U.S. 400 near Leon in rural Butler County.
Eliot Eichbauer, Arlo Eichbauer and Silas Eichbauer, ages 46, 19, and 16, were heading west in a Toyota Tacoma. The man police arrested was heading east in a Chevrolet pickup that crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the Tacoma head-on.
All three family members in the Tacoma died at the scene, Butler County Undersheriff Daimon Cundiff said.
The driver of Chevrolet and two other passengers were taken to the hospital with serious injures.
A witness told deputies that the truck had been weaving back and forth on the highway before the crash. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash, Cundiff said.
Authorities are working to extradite the man from Indiana to Kansas.
Arlo is Eliot’s son and Silas is Eliot’s nephew. Eliot, who went by his middle name of Britton, was a social studies teacher at Curtis Middle School and Silas attended Wichita North High School. Arlo graduated in 2024 from Goddard High School.