No charges to be filed in disappearance, death of man at Lake Afton
Authorities said Thursday that the death investigation involving a Wichita man who disappeared at Lake Afton in December has been closed after prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges against anyone.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said detectives presented their investigation to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office on April 22. But after reviewing the evidence, lawyers chose not to file any charges in the drowning death of 30-year-old Ian Alexander Shelton.
Authorities have said previously that they did not suspect any foul play.
“The Sheriff’s Office now considers the case closed,” agency spokesman Branden Stitt said by email.
Shelton went missing following a trip to Lake Afton with his girlfriend on Dec. 3. Authorities said early on that they think Shelton experienced some sort of mental health crisis that morning when he walked away from the car he was in and didn’t return.
His girlfriend told authorities they were near the lake’s shoreline but that she didn’t hear any splashing in the water, the Sheriff’s Office said previously. She left the lake when he didn’t come back.
His body wasn’t found until more than a month later, following extensive search efforts around and near the lake.
An autopsy determined Shelton died from drowning and ruled his death accidental. Someone passing by the lake on Jan. 10 contacted authorities after seeing his body floating in the water, his autopsy report says.
Lake Afton is west of Wichita, at 25513 W. 39th St. South.
