INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The body of 22-year-old Oscar Sanchez-Munoz is believed to have been found Wednesday afternoon in the basement of his home in Independence, ending more than week-long search that left neighbors frustrated and questioning how investigators missed finding him.
Sanchez-Munoz's family located his body and reported it to police. Authorities say the family found his body while making routine recovery checks in the home after a fire.
Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department Capt. Jake Becchina described the basement as one of the most cluttered spaces he had encountered in his career.
"It's one of the most congested basements I've seen in my 23-plus year police career," Becchina said. "Between water damage, just items, furniture, other construction items, plus some of the area had collapsed, the stairwell is basically partially there."
Investigators from several law enforcement agencies, including K-9 units and fire department resources, searched the home over the course of more than a week. Police say the basement was inaccessible for a period of time during the search.
Police say Independence officers reported seeing Sanchez-Munoz barricading himself in the basement during a standoff at the home. A separate standoff at another location is not believed to be connected to the case.
Becchina says law officers are trained to follow what the investigation presents them.
When investigators issued a public bulletin asking for help locating Sanchez-Munoz, Becchina said they believed all survivable areas of the home had already been checked. It's believed the body had been in the home since the standoff.
Neighbors, who did not want to be named, described the past week as deeply unsettling.
"Nerve-wracking, nervous, scared, sleepless," one woman said.
Another neighbor said the family should not have had to find Sanchez-Munoz themselves, and questioned why multiple responding agencies failed to locate him first.
"I feel really bad for the family," the neighbor said. "I feel it's unacceptable that their family had to locate their loved one like that. There was six agencies out here."
"He was in front of their faces the entire time," he said. "I feel like they're using that to cover their own. And I feel like it's unacceptable. Yeah, there may have been water down there, there may have been lots of stuff down there, but you have the tools to look in that basement. It's unacceptable. That should've been the number one place they searched."
KCPD said their officers take public safety seriously and acknowledged the community's concern — especially with thousands of FIFA World Cup 26 travelers in the area.
"We've been worried about it, too," Becchina said. "Absolutely, we want to ensure the public safety. We appreciate the people that called in tips."
He added that notifying the public, even when the outcome is uncertain, is the right approach.
"There's a saying, 'better safe than sorry,"' Becchina said. "We would much rather have the public keeping an eye out for this subject from the very beginning."
Police say Sanchez-Munoz likely struggled with his mental health, called the case unusual and said the department's investigators will learn from the case.
"Police and police investigators are trained to respond to what's in front of them, at the time, and where the investigation takes them," Becchina said. "I think our detectives did that over the past several days. They will obviously learn from that to some extent."
Despite the frustration, neighbors said they are ready to move forward and support the family.
"We will get back on our feet," one woman added.
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