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UPDATE: Coroner Confirms Body Found Is Lucas Hernandez

Tex Texin, flickr Creative Commons
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flickr Creative Commons
Police said the body found in southeast Harvey County is of missing 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez.

This story was updated at 3:19 p.m: 

The Sedgwick County Coroner’s Office has identified the body of 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez.

His identity was confirmed through an autopsy and dental records.

Lucas has been missing since Feb. 17. His disappearance led to numerous searches by police and community volunteers.

“No one likes to see a child disappear,” Ramsay said during a news briefing Friday. “As [Lucas’ disappearance] captured the community’s concerns and tugged at their heartstrings, it has tugged at ours and our staff’s as well.”

Ramsay said Lucas’ stepmother, Emily Glass, led a private investigator to a culvert under a bridge near Southeast 96th Street and Woodlawn on Thursday evening. The private investigator, from North Carolina, had been hired by Lucas’ family.

The investigator called Wichita police, who arrived along with Harvey County Sheriff deputies. The body was located just across the Sedgwick County line and in Harvey County.

Glass, 27, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of felony obstruction of justice. She remains in the Sedgwick County Jail.

Lucas was reported missing from his home on South Edgemoor on Feb. 17. He lived there with Glass; his father, Jonathan Hernandez, and Glass’ 1-year-old daughter.

Glass reported him missing about 6 p.m., telling police she last saw him in his bedroom earlier that afternoon. Hernandez was out of town at the time.

Ramsay said the case remains active. He said anyone with information related to the case should call police homicide detectives at 316-268-4181.

Tom Shine is director of news and public affairs at KMUW. Follow him on Twitter @thomaspshine.

Tom joined KMUW in 2017 after spending 37 years with The Wichita Eagle where he held a variety of reporting and editing roles. He also is host of The Range, KMUW’s weekly show about where we live and the people who live here. Tom is an adjunct instructor in the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University.