FRANKLIN COUNTY, Kan. — Three bodies discovered in rural Franklin County, Kan., on Monday, have some fearing they could be their missing loved ones — but police are providing few details about the identifications.
In a news conference Tuesday morning, authorities revealed that they had found a third body in their search. They said the bodies are that of a two men and a woman.
Three friends went to the home located off K 68 near in the 3100 block of Georgia Roadon near Ottawa, Kan., on Sunday to check on their friend Andrew Stout whom they had not heard from in about a week. When they arrived on the property they said they smelled a foul odor.
“The south side of the house smelled really bad, like something had died,” said Kortni McGill, friend.
Shonda Osladil and Cory Scholtzhauer were with McGill, and after smelling the odor, called police. According to the friends, police assumed the smell was trash.
“They sent two officers out,” Schlotzhauer said. “They got in the house through the window because the doors were locked. Then for like 20 minutes they took a couple of pictures and said they smelled it but they didn’t see anything.”
McGill said she thought police should have done more.
“They just kind of stepped in and said, ‘Oh, well it’s the trash,’” said McGill. “And just kind of said, ‘Well it’s clear. Good to go.’ I was not satisfied with that. I mean, the smell was strong.”
After police left, so did McGill, Schlotzhauer and Osladil. But they returned on Monday, still concerned for their friend and curious about the smell. They said they wanted to check the trunk of the car that was located in the garage. Osladil said they found a person’s body within five minutes — not in the trunk but near or under cinder blocks in the garage.
“There’s a cinder block on the top right by where we were standing,” Osladil said. “She [McGill] went to bend down and pick it up and said ‘Oh no, there’s teeth.’ And then I went and I looked and I saw the whole face and then there’s hair. It showed like this much of the person’s face and then, like, hair, like, through the cinder block.”
Osladil said she and her two friends were dumbfounded by the find.
“It was more of like we were frozen,” she said. “We just stared. Even when we thought it was a body, me and her just stood there for probably, like, 30 seconds before I tapped it with my foot.”
It’s unclear where the second body was found or who found it — police or the three friends. On Tuesday morning, investigators announced they had discovered a third victim.
Friends did say they also found baby items on the property — in the house or in the garage — leaving some to believe one of the two bodies discovered on Monday is that of 22-year-old Kaylie Bailey, who has not been heard from in about a week. Bailey is from Olathe and friends said she and her 1-year-old daughter were staying with Stout in his home.
Shortly after finding the body in the garage, authorities returned to the property and focused their attention on the garage. Later Monday evening the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office held a news conference but released little information. They would not comment on the gender or the identities of the bodies, saying the investigation was still in the early stages. Authorities did say they were investigating the deaths as a homicide.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office asked anyone who might have information about the homicide to call 888-311-TIPS or to text 274 637 and use the key word “Franklin” in the message.
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