KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Emily Sander Case: Latest Coverage
Member Center:
Updated Israel Mireles photograph
Bed sheet like this one was missing.
by Chris Durden
Investigators have positively identified a body found Thursday near Toronto as that of 18-year-old Emily Sander.
Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield has sealed details of Sander's autopsy, including the cause of death. El Dorado police say the medical examiner has released Sander's body to her family for burial.
El Dorado Police Chief Tom Boren says investigators used dental records to make a positive ID.
There's no word yet on funeral arrangements for Sander, but Butler Community College will hold two vigils for Sander next week. The first is Monday evening at 6:30 at the Andover campus. The second is Tuesday also at 6:30 at the El Dorado campus.
by Megan Strader & Chris Durden
Friends of Emily Sander say they wanted to come and see the spot themselves.
"My youngest daughter was her best friend and she's taking it extremely hard so she wanted to drive out and see since they said they found a body out here," says Robin Eastham.
Eastham says Sander was like another daughter to her. Seeing the ditch near Toronto in Woodson County, where her body may have been found, wasn't easy.
On Thursday, searchers found a body matching Sander's description along U.S. 54 about 50 miles east of El Dorado.
Map of location where the body was found
"I have three girls and a boy and if something like this would ever happen I don't know how I could do it."
El Dorado Police Chief Tom Boren says a positive ID will likely take several days. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
Meantime, authorities are leaving no stone unturned as they search for evidence. Search teams have been narrowed from dozens of people, to just El Dorado Deputy Chief Rick Kennedy and another officer.
"We're not covering as wide of an area. Where before we were covering the roadway, both sides, plus a mile north and south of the road on every turnoff, and now we're just concetrating on a one or two mile area," says Kennedy.
Sander was last seen Friday night leaving The Retreat bar. Police say she was with 24-year-old Israel Mireles. Police now say he is a suspect in the homicide investigation.
Earlier this week, a car rented by Mireles turned up in Vernon, Texas. Investigators believe Mireles is with his 16-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Martens. Martens is pregnant. Authorities say it's possible the two are heading to or are already in Mexico.
Martens' mother, Sandy, says her daughter sent her a text message sometime after the pair left Baxter Springs. That's where Martens was staying with her grandmother when Mireles picked her up.
What Martens' grandmother says police found outside her home
Sandy Martens says her 16-year-old daughter's message was that she had a lot to say but she didn't send any more details.
Police say they have talked with the operators of an adult website that Sander posed for and believe it did not play a role in her disappearance.
Investigators also collected evidence from a motel room a short distance from the bar where Sander disappeared. Police say there was a lot of blood in the room and a floral print bed sheet (pictured) is missing.
As for those left behind, "I just want her family to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them and that we're thinking about them every minute," says Eastham.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the El Dorado Police Department at (316) 321-9120 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-KS-CRIME.
Count on Eyewitness News and kwch.com for updates.
