Man to be extradited from Colombia for Overland Park murder

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A man is being extradited from the country of Colombia to face charges for an Overland Park, Kan., murder.

John Meredith Hodges has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Franchesca D. Brown. He has also been charged with eight counts of identity theft, two counts of credit card theft and one count of computer crime.

Brown, a pediatrician from Myrtle Beach, S.C., was last seen attending a conference at the Hawthorne Hotel in Overland Park on Sept. 3. She was reported missing Sept. 9 and was found dead in a wooded area outside the hotel Sept. 12.

Overland Park Police said Brown and Hodges were in an on-again, off-again relationship for the last year.

"There are some indications she invited him to Kansas City while she was here, and that he came from outside of the country to come and meet her," Police Chief John Douglass said.

Hodges eventually fled Kansas City to Colombia. He is being brought back to the United States and should arrive in Kansas City by Wednesday.

Leigh Ann Morales works in the office building just feet away from where Brown's body was found. She said the discovery is alarming.

"It happens all over the city, but whenever you walk by somewhere every single day it made it pretty real," Morales said. "It's just scary to know that there's a body so close."