DOUGLAS COUNTY —On Saturday morning, members of the Douglas County Search and Recovery Dive Team recovered the body of a five year old child that was believed to be the third passenger in the vehicle that entered the river Friday, according to Officer Drew Fennely.

No one else is believed to have been in the vehicle, and the recovery operation in the river was completed.

On Saturday morning, authorities were unable to provide an update on the condition of the one-year-old or the adult female pulled from the river Friday. The investigation into this incident is ongoing, according to Fennely.

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DOUGLAS COUNTY —First responders were on the scene of a water rescue Friday afternoon in Douglas County.

Just after 1:15 p.m., emergency personnel responded to the south bank of the Kansas River, northwest of the intersection of 6^th Street and Vermont Street, for reports of a vehicle in the river, according to officer Drew Fennely.

Officers with the Lawrence Police Department arrived on scene and immediately entered the water to assist the occupants of the vehicle. Officers were able to locate an adult female in the water, and assisted her to the bank of the river. Officers also located a small child in the water and assisted the child out of the river. Both individuals were transported to local hospitals, where they continue to be treated. No update on their condition is available at this time.

Information was received that indicated there may be another occupant inside the vehicle. Officers assisted personnel from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical in attempting to locate the vehicle in the water. After unsuccessful attempts to locate any other occupants, the Douglas County Search and Recovery Dive Team was called in to assist in locating the vehicle and any other occupants. Friday evening, the vehicle was retrieved from the river, but no other occupants were inside the vehicle at the time of recovery. Investigators still believe there was another occupant in the vehicle at the time it entered the river.

Due to diminishing and unsafe light conditions, search and recovery efforts were discontinued for the night. Officers will remain on scene overnight, and the public is asked to avoid the area. Saturday morning, search and recovery personnel will return to the scene to continue recovery operations for any additional vehicle occupants. No timeline can be established for how long the recovery effort will take.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing at this time. It would be premature to speculate whether or not this was an intentional act, as investigators work to determine the events leading up to the vehicle entering the river. Further updates will be provided on Saturday as they become available.

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DOUGLAS COUNTY -First responders were on the scene of a reported water rescue Friday afternoon in Douglas County 

At 1:15 p.m., a vehicle was reported to be in the Kansas River near 6th street and Massachusetts in Lawrence, according to Officer Drew Fennelly. Emergency responders pulled two individuals from the water and they were transported to area hospitals.

Information received indicates there may have been additional occupants in the vehicle, according to Fennelly. Dive team personnel were on the scene assisting.

No additional details were released.

 

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Johnson County prosecutors say they will seek a death sentence for a 24-year-old man charged with raping and killing an Overland Park woman.

Korrey Rinke is charged with capital murder in the August 2016 killing of 46-year-old Julianna Pappas.

Rinke is accused of raping Pappas, beating her to death and leaving her body in a wooded area.

Rinke was arraigned on rape and capital murder charges Thursday afternoon in Johnson County District Court. His attorneys entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Court of Appeals has struck down as unconstitutional a 2013 change in the state’s workers’ compensation law.

A three-judge panel ruled Friday that the change approved by the Legislature in 2013 too severely limits an injured worker’s right to obtain a legal remedy for an injury.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office did not immediately say whether it plans to appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.

The case involved Howard Johnson III, who injured his back while working at U.S. Food Service in 2015.

His injury occurred after the change took effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The revised law used a version of an American Medical Association guide which greatly reduced the amount of settlements workers could be awarded.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Police say a Chinese missionary who had just arrived in Kansas City this week was shot to death for no apparent reason by an 18-year-old who went on a shooting spree while high on drugs.

The victim, Xindong Hao, was shot Wednesday while taking a walk. Prosecutors charged Curtrail Hudson on Thursday with second-degree murder. Court documents indicate investigators believe Hudson was high on PCP when he started shooting at people in a south Kansas City neighborhood where Hao happened to be walking.

Hao brought his wife and four children to Kansas City to join fellow missionaries at the International House of Prayer.

A GoFundMe page is assisting the family.

Hudson was also charged with four counts of armed criminal action, two counts of first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Emporia police are investigating the theft of more than $51,000 from a women’s shelter.

Police Capt. David DeVries confirmed that the Plumb Place reported a possible theft and an investigation was underway but provided no further information.

A former staff member at the Plumb Place is the focus of the investigation. That staff member has resigned.

A board member initially requested the possible discrepancy last year and the organization’s board requested a four-year audit. The results of the audit are expected in the next few weeks.

Earlier this year the United Way of the Flint Hills stopped funding Plumb Place because of the alleged theft. The shelter’s funding was restored at a meeting on Wednesday but won’t be released until more requirements have been met.

By Leslie Eikleberry

SALINA — A Kansas woman was critically injured Friday morning after a violent crash into a home in Salina.

Just before 2.a.m., a Toyota driven by Kaitlin Varga, 25, Salina, was eastbound on West South Street at a high rate of speed when the vehicle left the roadway, striking the brick and concrete porch and porch pillar and then the house at 822 West South Street, according toSergeant Brent Rupert.

The vehicle rolled on its side and stopped east of the porch.

The impact was such that bricks from the pillar and porch flew through the air and damaged the house next door to the east, including one brick that flew through the bedroom window of the house next door. The woman sleeping in the bedroom at the time was not injured, Rupert said. Additionally, brick debris flew over the house next door, landing on the property two houses east of the accident.

Emergency personnel had to secure the vehicle before they could extract Varga from it. She was taken to Salina Regional Health Center with critical injuries. She later was transferred to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Rupert said. She was not wearing a seatbelt, he said.

Rupert said that later in the morning a City of Salina building inspector checked the house that was struck and determined it was not inhabitable. Several people live in the house, he added. The damaged part of the house was temporarily shored up to prevent further damage.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, according to Rupert.