OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man hasn’t given up hope that the 40-year-old disappearance of his missing wife will be solved.

The Kansas City Star reports that Donald Evitts’ wife, legal secretary Loy Gillespie Evitts, went missing after leaving work to run some errands on Feb. 28, 1977.

Police believe Loy Evitts was abducted. It’s the Kansas City Police Department’s longest unsolved missing persons case.

The supervisor of the department’s missing-persons section, police Sgt. Ben Caldwell, says there are no new leads. He says the case is suspended.

Donald Evitts of Overland Park, Kansas, says he’s cautiously optimistic someone will come forward with information that would solve the mystery. He says he’s learned to never get his hopes up because “they all failed in the end.”

LARNED – Staff of Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility (LJCF) said goodbye as the doors of the facility were permanently closed Friday. The facility capable of housing 128 male youth is now empty.

The remainder of the declining number of juveniles housed by the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) at Larned were recently transferred to the State’s sole correctional facility for youth, the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka. The state has seen a decline in the number of incarcerated juveniles by about 35 percent since 2010.

The facility employed about 140 full-time workers. The decision to close the facility was announced in July of 2016.

Staff of the facility gathered to express their feelings about the closing and to say goodbye to their co-workers. KDOC Secretary Joe Norwood and Deputy Secretary of Juvenile Services Terri Williams attended the ceremony and reception. They expressed their appreciation to the Larned community, as well as surrounding towns, for their support of the facility over the years. Williams thanked the staff for their service and stated she understood how difficult the process of closing had been on them.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the staff and leadership at LJCF,” Williams said. “Closing a facility is a challenge logistically, and the work is compounded by the fact people are feeling emotions about it, as well as the need for most to find a new place of employment. They handled it admirably.”

Williams specifically praised LJCF Superintendent Wendy Leiker for her leadership throughout the process.

“I have been to many leadership classes and have had several mentors, but one of the things that no one can teach you is how to close a facility,” Leiker told the staff. “They cannot teach you how to say goodbye. This experience has changed me and has helped me to become a more compassionate leader. Thank you for letting me be your leader. You are still a part of my family and I will always be there for you.”

KDOC staff both at LJCF and at the Central Office in Topeka worked diligently to assist employees to find other employment, with the state if they so desired.

“The LJCF staff pulled together as a family to help each other out with job leads, resume building, mock interviews, advocating for each other and supporting each other,” Williams said. “We continue to work to place as many staff as possible, and to ensure that all the staff is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve for their outstanding service.”

NEOSHO COUNTY- A Kansas teen died in an accident just before 4a.m. on Saturday in Neosho County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Chevy pickup driven by Nickolas LeviGofourth,16, Independence, was eastbound on 10th road two miles north of Dennis.

The pickup traveled off the roadway into westbound ditch, hit a tree at the driver’s side door, and flipped. The driver and a passenger were ejected.

Gofourth was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

Passengers in the pickup Michael Wayne Curtis Killough, 17, and Pete Bryan Rehmert,
18, both of Thayer, were transported to Labette County Medical Center.

They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

MARQUETTE, Kan. (AP) — Officials worry this year’s potential for a fire outbreak in Kansas could be worse than last year, when the state saw its biggest known wildfire.

Jim Unruh, a volunteer fire department chief in Marquette, helped fight last year’s Anderson Creek blaze that charred 390,000 acres in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Unruh says that this year “just scares me,” because of already dry conditions and a lot of fuel on some pastures.

Problems already have surfaced. Unruh’s crew last month battled a wildfire of 3,600 acres.

Kansas Forest Service fire specialist Eric Ward says the state had three large wildfires in January. “Large” is defined as a fire that burns at least 100 acres of trees or more than 300 acres of brush.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — The owner of cattle that escaped when a truck overturned near Kansas 10 and Interstate 435 in Kansas is trying to round up the strays.

A semi-trailer truck overturned Friday near Lenexa, releasing cows in all directions. Highway ramps were closed for hours while several law enforcement and private individuals tried to capture the nearly 35 cattle that escaped. The effort ended when the sun went down.

Lenexa police spokesman Danny Chavez says about 25 of the cows remained free in fields near the highways Saturday morning. He tells The Kansas City Star that police have decided the cattle are safe so no roads will be blocked Saturday.

Police aren’t trying to corral the cows but Chavez says the cattle’s owner is working to recover them.

ansas State makes $6 million budget reduction
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State officials say the university will reduce its budget by $6 million.

President Richard Myers said Friday the cuts to the current fiscal year budget are in response to a drop in enrollment and uncertain state funding.

The Manhattan Mercury reports (https://bit.ly/2mntkTS ) the cuts represent a 2.21 percent across-the-board reduction. Department heads will be responsible for determining how the reductions will be implemented.

Myers says the cuts will allow the university to continue to provide scholarships and respond to a deficit in its central scholarship account.

He said the university’s future funding remains uncertain because the Kansas Legislature is still putting a budget together and hasn’t chosen to raise taxes to respond to a budget deficit.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The youngest of five people convicted in a 1988 arson fire that killed six Kansas City firefighters could be released from prison soon.

A federal judge ruled Friday that Bryan Sheppard, who is now 45, should have his sentence reduced to 20 years in prison. Because Sheppard has already served 22 years, he could be released. Details of his possible release were not available Friday.

Sheppard was 17 when he was sentenced to life in prison for the November 1988 explosion.

The Kansas City Star reports he was granted a new sentencing after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional unless a judge first considered their individual situation.

The five people sentenced in the case have long maintained their innocence.