Crews search for girl’s body after dad drives into river

Law enforcement officers tried to take 2-year-old away from father who had been drinking, when the man drove off and drove his truck into the Walnut River.

By

State News

March 13, 2020 - 4:48 PM

LEON, Kan. (AP) — Crews are searching for the body of a 2-year-old southeast Kansas girl after her father drove them both off a 30-foot embankment and into a river, authorities said Thursday.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet said the father drove into the Walnut River near Leon Wednesday evening after officers tried to take his daughter from him because he had been drinking. The father’s body was later recovered from his truck, but the girl’s body likely was swept away immediately. The river was running hard because of recent rains, Herzet said. 

Leon officers began looking for the man, who was known to police, Wednesday after the girl’s mother reported he had the girl with him when he bought alcohol and had refused to take the child home. The couple was not married. 

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