Body found in well, possibly missing teen
KANSAS, Okla. — A man’s body, believed to be that of missing teen Trey Glass, was found in a well on the property where he was reportedly last seen.
Trey Glass, 19, of Kansas, Oklahoma left home on December 15 and was last seen on December 17 at Wilkerson’s Ranch in southern Delaware County.
Missing Oklahoma teen’s family holds out hope three months after his disappearance
Telephone calls to the family were not returned.
Glass was finishing his senior year at Kansas Public Schools when he disappeared.
Wilkerson’s Ranch is owned by former Kansas Police Chief Mike Wilkerson.
“I wish it had been a better outcome for the family,” Wilkerson said.
The Glass family, the Kansas police department and Cherokee Nation Marshals searched a spring, pond and a hand-dug well on Wilkerson’s property in the weeks following the teen’s disappearance. During one of the searches on December 23, Glass’s cell phone was recovered on the side of Road 550 near Wilkerson’s Ranch.
The Cherokee Nation Dive Team recovered the man’s body late Friday night. It was sent to the state’s Medical Examiner’s office for identification, said Delaware County Sheriff James Beck.
“This was personal for me. I have a son the same age as Trey – this is very hard on everyone – but especially the family and friends.”
Delaware County Sheriff James Beck
The hand-dug well was approximately 40 feet deep and contained around eight feet of water and was located 40 feet beyond Wilkerson’s back yard fence.
“The well used to have a cement cap on it until a horse broke it,” Wilkerson said.
Now heavy cattle guard panels form a square around the well preventing anyone from gaining access, he said.
Wilkerson said his wife noticed calves inside the cattle guards surrounding the well on Friday afternoon.
“One cattle panel was undone and pushed back,” Wilkerson said. “The calves were walking around the rim of the well.”
Wilkerson said he got the calves out and as he was closing the panel he looked down inside the well to see if a calf had fallen in.
“I saw a body floating,” Wilkerson said. “He was wearing a Kansas High School football shirt and his shoes were floating upside down (in the well).”
Wilkerson said he immediately called the Kansas Police Department and the Cherokee Nation Marshals.
Throughout Friday evening and into early Saturday morning, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department, the Colcord Police Department, the Kansas Police Department, Tahlequah Fire Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,, the FBI, EagleMed, Delaware County Emergency Management, Cherokee Nation Emergency Management, All Star Towing, of West Siloam and the Cherokee Nation Marshals were on Wilkerson’s property.
“If those calves hadn’t been inside the cattle panels, we would have never found him.”
Mike Wilkerson
Wilkerson said he believes the frigid water temperature from the spring-fed well held the man’s body submerged.
In an earlier interview, Wilkerson said he was watching TV and the dog started barking so he went outside to see what the disturbance was about. Wilkerson said he saw an intoxicated Glass standing between his house and the shop.
The former police chief offered the teen a ride home, but Glass declined – instead asking Wilkerson if he could cut through his field.
Law enforcement confirmed Trey was last seen with two friends – a juvenile – and a 23-year-old man. Emma Sanders, Glass’s cousin said in an earlier interview Glass and the two friends had gotten into an argument in the days preceding his disappearance.
Persons with information on what might have happened to Glass are encouraged to call the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 253-4531 or Cherokee Nation Marshal Service investigator Bronson McNiel at (918) 207-3800.
