'It's unsettling and scary': Child's remains found buried in Rose Hill backyard, investigation underway

ROSE HILL, Kan. (KSNW) - On Wednesday, Rose Hill police uncovered a child's body buried in a backyard. Police say the remains have been buried for quite a while, if not years.

The Rose Hill Police Department said that on Tuesday, around 7:30 p.m., officers received a call about an adult occupant in distress near Rose Hill Road and Rosewood Street.

While on the scene, officers learned of a possible past homicide and started investigating. At about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police recovered a child's body in the backyard, whose decomposition suggests that they were buried for possibly a couple of years.

Rose Hill Police Chief Taylor Parlier said police are investigating it as a homicide and have a list of potential suspects. The body is not connected to a missing person case.

"Right now, we have individuals that we're looking at, but the investigation is so young we don't want to be myopic and just focus in on one person," he said.

Chief Parlier said he does not recall any child abuse calls at the residence. He also said he was unable to provide any information on whether there had been police calls to the home in the past.

"I haven't been able to put those numbers together yet. It was not what would be considered a problem house for us," he said.

Chief Parlier couldn't confirm whether the current owners were living in the home at the time of death or if the child was connected to the owners. The owners do live in the house currently; it is not being rented out, and police confirmed children are living in the home.

"We have suspicions, but until the autopsy comes back based on the state of decomposition, there was not an immediate identifiable way to identify the individual," said Chief Parlier.

That autopsy should help determine when the child died, but Chief Parlier said the body was there for some time, likely years.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office is assisting in the investigation.

No arrests have been made at this time.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to call the Rose Hill Police Department at (316) 776-0191 or email police@cityofrosehill.com.

Neighbors react

The discovery of the remains leaves neighbors with children of their own unsettled.

"Everyone knows each other, everyone helps each other out, we're the cup of sugar neighborhood. If you need a cup of sugar, it's easy to do that here. So it's very unnerving that something like that could happen so close to home," said Jenny Moore, who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years.

"You never think that it can just happen down the road, but evil is everywhere. It's unsettling and scary," said Aubree Ringwall, who also lives in the neighborhood.

Information requests

Kansas Open Records Act

KSN has submitted a Kansas Open Records Act request for all cases involving this address for the last several years. By law, the state has three days to respond to the request, but it could take longer to get any actual records.

Kansas Department for Children and Families

KSN reached out to the Kansas Department for Children and Families to ask if the agency is currently investigating this child death case and if DCF had any past involvement with people at the address or with the current owners of the home. KSN also asked about what would prompt DCF to investigate a child death case.

KSN has not received a response so far but the agency's Policy and Procedure Manual lists when a "critical incident protocol" review is started, it lists child deaths from abuse or neglect or any child that had an open case with the agency within the last three years. Along with near deaths, severe injuries, suicides or attempts of children in the agency custody. This policy manual also says the agency can start the review if a foster or adoptive parent has criminal proceedings related to abuse or neglect, or if the case has drawn public media attention or becomes a legislative concern.

To read more of the DCF's Policy and Procedure Manual, click here.

The Family Initiative

KSN also reached out to The Family Initiative (TFI), a child welfare agency that manages kids in DCF custody in Butler County. KSN asked if TFI has any information on this case and were told, "Limited details have been released at this time. As such, TFI is unable to comment on this specific investigation, but our thoughts are with the affected individuals."