Just a mile north from the Harvey/Sedgwick County line, and a quarter mile west, there's a small bridge across an over-grown creek on Southwest 96th Street. This remote area marks the spot of Harvey County's only cold case.
Investigator Jim Sauerwein has worked in the sheriff's office since 1989. The murder of Agnes Hayes is only the second homicide he has had to investigate.
"Maybe the fourth one I would even know about in the 20 some years I've been here,” Sauerwein said.
This mystery has haunted Sauerwein since Sunday, February 11th, 2001. Some joggers called 9-1-1 that morning after noticing a body, covered in snow, below a bridge. Since the scene was so close to Sedgwick County, investigators called-in Wichita detectives. Quickly, they identified the body as Agnes Hayes--a known prostitute.
"Irregardless of a person's way of life, this is a human being who didn't deserve to die, for which the pathologist said was by manual strangulation,” Sauerwein said.
What makes this case unique is the short amount of time for the murder to take place. A relative who worked at a Subway in the 46-hundred block of Hydraulic said Hayes was there with a man. It was Saturday, February 10th around 4:20 p.m. About an hour a half later, investigators say she ended-up more than 20 miles away.
"At 5:45 p.m. that same day the township road grader operator drove over the bridge and saw what he thought at that time was a pile of clothes,” Sauerwein said.
But it wasn't until the next day, after the road grader moved-away any evidence, when joggers realized there were more than just clothes under the bridge.
"According to the autopsy, she had some cuts and abrasions on the right side of her rib cage. Well, if she was in the same vehicle, and if that vehicle came here, one could reach across and open the door, and just push her out,” Sauerwein said.
Sauerwein opened-up the case file for Eyewitness News. Since 2001, investigators have worked several leads. But they're still looking for this man. It's a sketch of the guy Hayes was with in Subway.
"We can only assume that at this point in time, for whatever reason, she was with this gentleman, we believe she was trying to get some money, to possibly continue her drug activity, maybe she just wanted to eat,” Sauerwein said.
Her reason doesn't matter to Sauerwein.
"It's hard not to disassociate yourself from something like that. It's real hard,” Sauerwein said.
After a decade working the case, Sauerwein says he won't stop thinking about Hayes. He retired in November, without a suspect in her murder.
If you can help in this case, call the Harvey County Sheriff's Office at 316-284-6960.
