After burned body is found in barrel in KCK, police investigate homicide
Police were investigating a homicide Wednesday after a badly burned body was found in a barrel in Kansas City, Kansas.
The body was found about 11:30 a.m. by a passerby near 18th Street and Kansas 5 highway, according to Officer Jonathon Westbrook, a Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department spokesman.
The passerby told police a human limb was sticking out of the barrel. Arriving officers discovered a male victim inside the barrel, Westbrook said. The victim had not yet been identified.
“It appeared that someone had attempted to burn the body that was inside that barrel,” he said.
Investigators were working to identify the victim. Detectives and crime scene investigators collecting evidence, checking cameras and speaking to anyone who was in the area to get a “clear picture as to what happened here in the last 24 hours,” Westbrook said.
Police think the body was there for less than 24 hours because the area is regularly patrolled for illegal dumping.
“Illegal dumping is very prevalent in this area, so it is not uncommon to come across tires, mattresses and trash from people’s houses,” he said. “But it is very rare that we come across a situation like this where someone dumps a body back hear and then make the extra attempt to burn it.”
There are ways that police collect evidence of those who dump illegally in the area. It’s possible that there are cameras in the area, Westbrook said.
Anyone with information about a missing person or about the body is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (84777).
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 1:08 PM.
