Ellis County authorities looking for man who used young boy to lure rape victim

HAYS, Kansas - Authorities are looking for a rapist who they say used a small child to lure his victim along a Western Kansas highway.

Ellis County Sheriff Ed Harbin says a woman was driving south on U.S. Highway 183 just south of the Saline River Bridge Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. when she saw a Native American child, about 3-years-old, standing next to a pickup truck.

The child appeared to be alone, so the woman stopped and got out of the car to help. That’s when the suspect appeared, grabbed her and raped her, Harbin said.

He and the boy then left in the truck, which is described as a late 1980s model dirty hunter green Ford Explorer. It was last spotted heading west off of 183 onto a county road.

The victim described the suspect as a 35 to 40-year-old Native American man, about 6-foot-2 and around 250 pounds. He had a scorpion tattoo on the left side of his neck.

If you see the man or the pickup truck, you’re urged to call the sheriff’s office at (785) 625-1040.