Horse is found dead in Overland Park flood; search goes on for second horse

The search for two horses missing after Thursday morning’s floods grew grim this weekend after friends in kayaks found the body of one of the horses Saturday.

Lytia, a 31-year-old white horse, was found dead amid debris in the Blue River west of U.S. 69. She had disappeared with 17-year-old Agapey, a brown horse who remained the subject of a broad search in southern Overland Park Sunday.

Agapey is younger and stronger, but owner Sherra Schuck feared that Agapey has also been lost in the record flood that sent Wolf Creek and Blue River rushing over their banks into the horses’ pasture Thursday morning.

“That river was mean,” Schuck said. “And with the amount of debris we’re seeing I can’t imagine she made it.”

Still, the search continued Sunday. Many people were inspired to join in, including strangers and some searchers on horseback.

“I don’t know how many there are (helping in the search),” Schuck said. She left the searching to the others Sunday while she worked on getting help with recovering Lytia’s body.

Santa Fe Tow Service in Lenexa had volunteered to help transport the horse, she said. Meanwhile, Drone on Demand in Shawnee has had drones in the air helping with the search.

Schuck has had Lytia “since she was a baby,” she said.

Schuck’s horses stayed in an open barn on a friend’s property near 179th Street and U.S. 69. Schuck, who lives miles away in Prairie Village, woke to the news of just how severe the morning rain had been.

She went to the farm to find a flooded barn and the fields overrun by as much as 10 feet of water. The horses were gone.

Many people have helped with the search, and Schuck is going to need help with one, and maybe two, burials. She intends to set up a GoFundMe page, she said.

This story was originally published July 30, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Horse is found dead in Overland Park flood; search goes on for second horse."