KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department released new details Thursday on its role in the investigation of a home where the likely remains of suspected highway shooter Oscar Sanchez-Munoz were found Wednesday afternoon.
Following a string of shootings in Kansas City on Tuesday, June 16, investigators identified Sanchez-Munoz, 22, as a suspect and tracked him to a home in the 700 block of Brookside Avenue in Independence.
Tactical teams set up a perimeter around the home in the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 17. During the standoff, a fire broke out at the home, requiring fire personnel to respond to put out the blaze.
Following the blaze, police in Kansas City and Independence requested help from the KCFD's cadaver dog in the effort to find Sanchez-Munoz.
During the cadaver dog's search, the dog notified its handler of a "soft alert" of the possibility of remains in the basement of the home.
"Based on that indication, the KCFD Battalion chief conducted a thorough physical search of all the accessible areas of both the first floor, where the individual was believed to have been, and the basement where the dog alerted," KCFD explained in a news release Thursday.
The KCFD personnel completed the search in all of the areas that were physically accessible and based on that search, "did not believe there were human remains in the area that could be examined at that time."
On Wednesday, family members of Sanchez-Munoz were at the home trying to salvage items destroyed in the fire when they came across possible remains in the basement of the home.
After the family members alerted police on Wednesday, investigators returned to the basement and located what were believed to be the remains of Sanchez-Munoz.
“As additional information has since come to light, we believe it is important to clarify that the decisions made by the investigating agencies were based, in part, on the information and assessment provided by KCFD at the time. We believe it is appropriate to provide that context so that our law enforcement partners are not portrayed as having disregarded the assistance that was provided, according to the KCFD statement.
The Jackson County Medical Examiner's Office is conducting a death investigation on the remains to confirm the identity and the manner of death.
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