BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with the disappearance and death of a 2-year-old Barton County girl.
Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Hoisington Police department received a report of a missing Iviona Lewis. She had last been seen just before 11p.m. on Sunday in the 400 Block of Elm Street in Hoisington, according to the Barton County Sheriff’s office.
On Wednesday, authorities found the girl’s body in rural Barton County and arrested her mother’s boyfriend Chaz Stephens, 25, of Hoisington.
He is being held on a $1,000, 000 Bond for alleged second degree murder, according to the sheriff’s department.
Hoisingon police Chief Kenton Doze said the girl’s mother had been visiting her brother in Great Bend, and the delay in reporting Iviona’s disappearance stemmed from confusion over who was supposed to be caring for her.
Once the autopsy is complete formal charges will be filed by the Barton County Attorney’s office, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
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BARTON COUNTY – The Hoisington Police Department, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) have found the missing girl, Iviona Lewis, age 2 of Hoisington, Kan. She has been located deceased in rural Barton county, according to a KBI media release.
Agents and local law enforcement worked through the night and made an arrest at approximately 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Chaz Stephens, age 25, of Hoisington, acquaintance of Lewis, was arrested and booked into Barton County Jail on second degree murder. Once the autopsy is complete formal charges will be filed by the Barton County Attorney’s office.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time
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BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for help to locate a missing child.
Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday the Hoisington Police department received a report of a missing child. Two-year-old Iviona Lewis was last seen just before 11p.m. on Sunday in the 400 Block of Elm Street in Hoisington, according to the Barton County Sheriff’s office. She was only wearing a diaper.
Iviona has brown eyes and black hair. She is thirty-seven inches tall and weighs twenty-seven pounds. Please call 911 if you have any information.