OTTAWA, Kan. — Investigators on Wednesday said they have located a car and the person — or people — they were looking for in connection to the triple homicide in Franklin County, Kan.
While police confirmed a Toyota Corolla and person or people were located, no other information has been released.
According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, investigators discovered two bodies at a residence on a Franklin County farm on Monday, May 6. Three friends who located the first body said at least one was located in the garage — possibly a woman’s. On Tuesday, May 7, law enforcement officials said a third body was found inside the residence — two days after deputies first searched the home and left thinking a foul odor coming from the home was trash. The victims are two men and one woman, all adults.
“I can tell you at this time that we have recovered three bodies. There’s one female and two males. All of them are adults. At this time we are working to identify the victims,” said Jeff Richards with the Franklin Co. Sheriff’s Dept. “Until we identify the victims we won’t be releasing any names.”
The sheriff’s office said autopsies of the three adults are being conducted to determine a cause of death. In addition, a canine unit from Kansas Search and Rescue searched the area around the residence and found nothing.
Timeline:
Sunday, May 5 — Friends visit the home of Andrew Stout whom they hadn’t heard from in about a week. Smell foul odor, call police. Police come, enter house, smell odor, but dismiss it as trash.
Monday, May 6 — Friends return to the home of Andrew Stout, still concerned about his well being and are curious about the smell. Discover body in garage within five minutes. Call police. Police arrive, search property, located second body
Tuesday, May 7 — Police confirm a third body was located inside the residence. Conduct search and find no other bodies on the property. Autopsies begin to determine cause of deaths on three victims.
Background:
Three friends, Shonda Osladil, Cory Scholtzhauer and Kortni McGill, went to the home located off K 68 near in the 3100 block of Georgia Roadon near Ottawa, Kan., on Sunday. They were checking on 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. They called police. According to the friends, police assumed the smell was trash and left.
After police left, so did the friends, 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.
SEE ALSO: Friends tell how they found the body
Shortly after the friends found the first body in the garage, they called police and authorities returned to the property and focused their attention on the garage. Authorities revealed Tuesday in a news conference that a third body was discovered and all were homicides.
“There was another adult male missing in our county,” Sheriff Richards said, although he did not name him.
The Franklin County sheriff said 40 detectives are working the case from various agencies.
When asked about Andrew Stout and the woman and child that friends said were staying with him — Kaylie Bailey, 22, and her one-year-old daughter — investigators said they could not confirm they had ever arrived at the address, although the three friends said they saw baby items in the home. In the news conference, authorities said there were not actively looking for a missing child at this time.
Family members are furious with police for not issuing an Amber Alert for one-year-old Lana, however police said since they have not confirmed the female body is that of Kaylie Bailey the have no evidence to suggest her daughter is missing or in danger.
Questioning police procedures
Sheriff Richards said once the investigation was complete, they would determine if police procedures were followed correctly, addressing concerns that deputies smelled a foul odor on Sunday but left without finding the bodies, saying the smell was due to trash.
“I don’t want to Monday morning quarterback at this time, so after this is all said and done, we’ll review everything that happened in this case, and if there’s anything, we’ll take care of that and find out everything that has to do with that at that time,” Richards said.
