Death of Gardner woman found in Olathe hotel room is being investigated as homicide
Two days after a woman was found dead inside an Olathe hotel room, police have announced that the case is now being investigated as a homicide.
Shortly before noon on Sunday, police officers were called to the 20600 block of West 151st Street to conduct a welfare check on a hotel guest who had not left the room before checkout. Inside they found 53-year-old Rhoda Morgan of Gardner.
Sgt. Joel Yeldell of Olathe Police said Tuesday that there were no immediate, obvious signs that the manner of death was homicide. He said the conclusion came through investigators working closely with the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Yeldell said a person of interest had been identified as of Tuesday afternoon. No arrests had been made, he said.
The homicide is Olathe’s first of the year in 2023, according to data maintained by The Star. Two were investigated by the department in all of 2022, according to The Star’s data.
Olathe police were asking anyone with information relevant to their investigation of Morgan’s homicide to contact the Olathe Police Department at 913-971-6363 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 6:23 PM.
