Suspected Kansas City highway shooter found in previously searched Independence home
Authorities said Wednesday they believe they have found the body of Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, the man suspected in a series of shootings on Kansas City roadways in June, in the basement of a burned home in Independence that police said they had previously searched “thoroughly.”
The home in the 700 block of South Brookside Avenue where the body was discovered Wednesday was the site of a police standoff and a fire last week and was the man’s primary residence, police said. Police said they are awaiting a coroner to make a positive identification of the body.
Independence police had the street blocked off Wednesday.
Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department, announced the news Wednesday evening and said it was a summons from family members of Sanchez-Munoz around 2 p.m. that brought police back to the residence.
The human remains were found under debris in the basement of the home. Becchina said that as family members were removing debris, they smelled a “distinct odor” that led them to search further, and they found the body. Becchina said the person was wearing clothing consistent with what the alleged shooter was wearing on June 16, the night of the highway shootings.
“The family had been coming, working on the recovery effort here trying to kind of go through the rubble and the damage, the water damage, the fire damage, the collapse damage,” he said. “They’ve been in there several times. They’ve been in the basement several times.”
Becchina said there had been “several feet” of water in the home’s basement on the night of the standoff and fire last week and said that when investigators were processing the scene the next day, there was some water remaining in the basement. He also said it was “one of the most congested basements I’ve seen in my 23-plus-year police career” and said part of it had collapsed.
“This home was very thoroughly searched,” he said. “I can completely understand it raises the question, ‘How could this happen?’”
Becchina acknowledged that the case has been “at the forefront of concern for a lot of people in our community.” He said that the news provided “relief.”
“We have things we’re going to learn from this,” he said. “We have things we’ll iron out with our partners in Independence. We’re going to have conversations after this as well.
“But the important thing for people to know (is that) if you changed anything throughout the course of your everyday life because of concern from this, you don’t have to anymore, and there’s definitely a sense of relief,” Becchina said.
The discovery of the man’s body marked the conclusion of a remarkable manhunt that stretched over several days after Sanchez-Munoz was accused of firing shots along a stretch that included Interstate 670, Interstate 70 and Truman Road on June 16. One man was killed; four others were injured.
As recently as Wednesday afternoon, Kansas City police indicated they were still searching for the man and released new photos of him.
Brandy Suhr, of Norfolk, Nebraska, a longtime friend of Jeremy Keenan, 43, who died after one of the shootings and a crash last week, said Wednesday evening that she hoped the news would bring Keenan’s mother closure.
“It was kind of like a relief, but it brought on a whole new wave of sadness, too,” she said after learning of the discovery of Sanchez-Munoz’s body.
She described the emotions of the last week: “It’s literally just a roller coaster of emotions. First, it was shock, and then sadness, and then the anger part comes about, knowing that someone could do this. And then it was bitter, because how could they — we thought — let him get away, and then just the anxiety of it all, too. Where could this guy be at? What’s coming next? What’s going to happen? Now, the whole relief part of it, knowing that they did find him, and we can start the whole healing process."
End of manhunt
Last week, following the shootings, police said they had tracked Sanchez-Munoz to the Brookside Avenue home. After a fire broke out at the house, police said they searched the residence and did not find the man.
“KCPD Detectives worked with Fire Department Personnel, as well as Missouri State Fire Marshals, to include K-9’s to thoroughly examine the burned house,” Becchina said in a June 17 news release. “As of this afternoon, a search of the property and house has yet to locate the subject of interest.”
The search continued, and police were led to another residence in Kansas City, where they did not locate the man. The FBI joined in the search and offered a reward of up to $25,000.
In a TV appearance Monday, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that Sanchez-Munoz might have been dead, but said authorities were still working to confirm that information. The news surprised local law enforcement, who said the information did not come from them.
“We think we got him tracked to a house in Missouri,” Blanche said in his appearance on Fox News on Monday. “We’re still looking into whether he’s there and what condition he’s in. That’s an example of when law enforcement works together and the public helps as well.”
In the highway shootings on June 16, an Uber driver taking fans to the Argentina-Algeria World Cup match was injured. A woman who had just left work and was heading to pick up a family member heard a noise as she was exiting Interstate 70 and was shocked to find she had been shot in the leg.
Keenan, the man who died, was found in a vehicle that crashed along Truman Road. He was found to have been shot. He died at a hospital after the crash.
Police also linked Sanchez-Munoz to a June 11 shooting in Kansas City, Kansas, where another vehicle was struck by gunfire. No one was injured in that incident, but the shooting set off an alert to officers in the metro.
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 6:01 PM.
