Butler County

Authorities release new information about an explosion that killed a propane worker and injured two others.  It happened last week at Global Propane in Butler County. Fire officials say 40 year-old Jeffrey Burnham was refueling a tank when the hose he was using broke away and started flailing around sprewing propane.  That hose made contact with something - possibly the ground or a wall - which caused a spark that ignited the gas. Two other employees tried to help Burnham and pull him to safety.  They suffered burns.  Burnham died from his injuries.  Eyewitness News will have additional information this afternoon.  Look for continuing updates on air and online.   

It's similiar to a story out of Kansas. Colorado and Texas authorities are looking for two boys. They just discovered they were missing, but no one has seen them for ten years. Austin Bryant may have disappeared in 2003. His brother Edward may have disappeared in 2001. The boys were living in Colorado with their adoptive parents. The parents now live in Texas, where they've been arrested. They have no been charged with the boy's disappearances, however, they're accused of receiving goverment checks to support the boys the past decade.

By Megan Strader (DERBY, Kan.) Valerie Herrman says her family is lying to the media about abuse that happened in her house. Herrman is the adopted mother of Adam Herrman, the Butler County boy who went missing in 1999, but who no one reported missing. Herrman, who didn't want to go on camera, said she spanked Adam with a belt and had him sleep in the bathtub after they found knives in his room. She says her family had very little contact with any of her kids and didn't even know them.

Former deputy district attorney Kevin O'Connor will announce Wednesday that he plans to run for Sedgwick County District Attorney.  He will run against Marc Bennett, who is the current deputy district attorney. O'Connor worked in the district attorney's office for 17 years before resigning in 2009.  He said he left because he no longer felt comfortable working for District Attorney Nola Foulston. Since leaving the office, O'Connor has worked as a special prosecutor for Butler County and the Attorney General's Office.

It's been 20 years, but Tracey Oakley could tell you about it like it was yesterday. "I came out of shelter and there it was, right there. I remember somebody grabbing me and we all went down into the shelter and it was just like 'oh my.'" She lost nearly everything when her mobile home was destroyed on April 26th, 1991. "That's the floor of it," she points out in pictures she brought to a reception at Andover City Hall, marking 20 years since an F5 tornado hit the town.

Update: Valley Center police said Wednesday that 20 year-old Brian E. Carr was arrested early Wednesday morning in Butler County for the bank robbery that occurred at Emprise Bank in Valley Center, Kansas on 9-12-2011.  He is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on a Federal Arrest Warrant Complaint. Valley Center Police are working with the FBI and with the assistance of officers from Sedgwick County, Butler County and the Andover Police department were able to quickly identify and arrest Mr. Carr without incident.

Butler county deputies arrest a burglary suspect after tracking him down in Andover. Lehman was caught Thursday afternoon after the owner of The Barn Guys found him hiding out in his shop. The suspect ran but police were able to make an arrest. Billy Page says he couldn't believe his eyes when he came to work at The Barn Guys Thursday morning. "I got close enough to see in the window, I seen the suspect dart out of the offices and run through the center part of the shop and out back," says Page.

Update: The man who died Saturday while bicycling was training for a charity bike ride scheduled to take place in Olathe. Larry L. Godfrey was an experienced bicyclist and knew the route he was riding well. He would ride from Arc City to Oxford, about 20 miles one way. On Saturday, Godfrey called his wife when he arrived in Oxford to tell her he was turning around. He was later found on the side of the road. Godfrey had water in his back-pack and doctors believe he had a heat stroke.

A rural Butler County couple heard the gunshots that likely struck a Sedgwick County deputy.  Sherry Babcock says she doesn't know how it started, but she heard gunshots Monday evening and then her husband ran into the house.  "We heard gunshots and then my husband came in the house," Babcock said.  "He was worried.  He says, 'Get the dogs in here and lock the… lock the doors.'" Then, through her kitchen window, she saw two people running....

The heat that's plagued Kansas for the latest few weeks has turned deadly. The NOAA - National Weather Service reports Monday that a 47-year-old man died of an apparent heat stroke Saturday while bicycling near Oxford in Sumner County. Eyewitness News is working to get more information on the death.  Expect the latest here at www.kwch.com. The National Weather Service has also compiled information on how the heat has affected water supplies, livestock and crops.