Toddler missing after triple homicide in Kansas, arrest made

Update:

Police have arrested Kyle Flack on suspicion of first-degree murder of Andrew Stout, Kaylie Bailey and Stephen White in Ottawa Kansas last week.

In a news conference Thursday, Franklin County officials said they believe Bailey's missing toddler, 18-month-old Lana-Leigh, is dead, although they have not found her body, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.

Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had sent a team to attempt to locate the missing child. A Johnson County search and rescue team would would assist the search for Lana and the crime scene investigation.

Flack was not at first not identified as a suspect in the deaths, and was taken for questioning after fleeing with Kaylie Bailey's car.

He was booked on charges of first-degree murder at Franklin County Jail Thursday morning.

Original story follows

Police are investigating the deaths of three people whose bodies were discovered on a farm in Kansas Monday. They were found by three friends who went to check after one of the farmowners had been missing for days.

Although authorities have declined to identify the victims, Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards said the case was linked to reports of two missing men from the area.

“We have recovered three adult bodies, two males and one female," Richards said. “We are working to identify the victims, and until we have completed that process and notified their next of kin, we will not be releasing any names."

“We have three homicides on one very large scene. It’s a country acreage, it’s very large -- not just a city lot.”

Police also declined to release the details of how the victims died.

Richards confirmed to media they had interviewed one person of interest, and had located another, to help identify the victims.

Kyle T. Flack, the second person located by investigators on Wednesday, had been living with Andrew Stout and Steve White, both of whom have been missing since April 25. Andrew Stout had been dating Kylie Bailey, 21, who disappeared with her 1-year-old daughter last Wednesday and were reported missing to the authorities Friday.

Richards said Flack, 27, was not being considered a suspect.

Kourtni McGill, 22, was one of three people who called police after noticing a foul odor at the farmhouse Sunday. She said Flack and another man may have once lived at the farmhouse but were evicted after failing to pay rent.

McGill told the Topeka Capital-Journal she and two others had come to the farm Sunday to look for their missing friends. She said it was unusual for Stout to leave town without telling his parents or making sure someone would care for his pets. They found his dog acting strangely, clearly hungry but refusing to enter the house where the food was kept.

McGill and her friends called the police after noticing a foul odor coming from near Stout's bedroom.

They returned to the farm Monday, where they found the body of the female victim in the garage covered by a tarp, and McGill said she recognized her as Bailey.

Sheriff Richards admitted police had not found anything suspcious when they responded to calls Sunday, and but found the bodies Monday after obtaining a warrant.

"I'm very frustrated,’’ said Shona Osladil, one of the friends who had found the bodies. ‘‘Without us going out there how long would it have been before they found that body?"

Sgt. Brad Caldwell of the Olathe Police said the child, Lana Bailey, did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert, as there was no evidence the girl had been abudcted.

Bailey and Stout's family members told investigators they had contacted banking and phone services and were told Stout had not used his phone or credit card since April 25, the same day he was fired from his job at an American Eagle Outfitters distribution center.

The last activity on Bailey's phone an unanswered call to Stout's phone on May 1, the day she was to drop off her daughter with him.

Investigators already interviewed Cyle Bailey, the brother of Shawn Bailey, who is the father of Kaylie Bailey's child. Shawn Bailey has been in jail in Missouri since January on burglary charges.

Flack was convicted in 2005 of intentional attempted murder in the second degree of Steven Dale Free, the Ottawa Herald reported. Free was shot multiple times but survived the incident, although he died in 2011. Flack was paroled in 2009 after serving less than four years.