Body recovered at Verhaeghe Park believed to be missing Overland Park man: police
Overland Park police said a body found in a park is believed to be a man missing from Overland Park for over a year.
Volunteers cleaning Arthur & Betty Verhaeghe Park Saturday morning located a backpack belonging to the deceased, said Overland Park police public information officer John Lacy. Inside the backpack was an identification card belonging to a man who’d been missing for over a year.
Several officers returned to the park Monday morning and recovered the man’s skeleton, which had been exposed to the elements, Lacy said. The deceased was wearing the same clothes as when he went missing.
The Johnson County medical examiners’ office was able to identify the man, but declined to release his name until they can finish informing his family, Lacy said. Police informed the man’s mother, but she is still trying to get in contact with his father, Lacy said.
Verhaeghe Park, which opened in late 2020, includes an access point for the Coffee Creek Streamway Trail. The body was found on the top of embankment next to the creek.
The ongoing investigation does not pose any threat to the public, Lacy said.
“This is a family-friendly park,” he said. “This is the first incident that I can think of, first major incident, down here.”
As Overland Park and Johnson County Parks police examined the embankment Monday afternoon, Overland Park residents continued to use the park, jogging past the scene. However, the immediate area of the trail where the remains were discovered was blocked off as police and medical personnel continued to examine the scene.
