The case of a Valley Center woman who died in 2003, is now open again. Patricia Hughes' death was ruled "accidental" after she drowned in a pool. But now, more than eight years later, investigators are calling her case a "homicide" and a man faces charges in her death.
It was June 26th, 2003 in the 95-hundred block of North Oliver. Investigators said 26-year-old Patricia Hughes slipped and hit her head, while trying to save her two-year-old daughter from drowning in a pool. An 11-year-old neighbor ended-up saving the little girl. The coroner's report said Jennifer Hughes' drowning was an accident.
Unfortunate events continued to follow the little girl. In March 2006, her father, Brian Hughes, died in another accident. According to the Ark Valley News, a car fell on Brian while he was changing its oil. Brian was visiting his family in South Dakota at the time.
The Hughes' daughter was left without both of her parents. Court documents show the then-five-year-old was put in her neighbor's custody, Jennifer Hutson. In September 2008, Hutson died after she hit a gravel truck head-on near Andover.
The string of accidents appears to end there. But a year or two later, a Sedgwick County sheriff's detective investigating a separate case, found evidence showing Patricia Hughes' death might not have been an accident after all. The case was re-classified as a homicide in September 2011. The Sheriff's Office now says a man has been charged in connection with Patricia's death.
This is a sealed case. Investigators can't tell us if these deaths are connected. We do know the suspect in Patricia Hughes' death is in federal custody, in another state. He's expected to be transported back to Kansas sometime this week.
