Kansas City man went on two shooting sprees, but police fail to find him after his house burns down. Now, a call over a smell might have answers

On June 11th and June 16th, there were separate instances of shooting sprees across Kansas City, Missouri, that were tied back to 22-year-old Oscar Sanchez-Munoz. After the second instance, police tracked him to his house, where there was a standoff, and a few hours later, the house caught fire. After a “thorough” search of the site failed to result in any indication of Oscar, the police launched a week-long manhunt. Now, however, it is believed that his remains have been found.

According to PEOPLE, the investigation took a turn on Wednesday, June 24, when Oscar’s family returned to his home in Independence, Missouri. The family members were at the property to perform some rehab work following the fire that had gutted the residence. 

While sorting through massive piles of debris that had been flooded during the effort to extinguish the fire, the family reportedly noticed a distinct smell of decomposition. They moved several items aside and discovered what they believed to be a human body. Police later confirmed that the clothing on the remains seemed to match what the suspect was wearing on the night of the shootings.

The question on everyone’s mind is, how did the police miss this?

Per the Kansas City Star, the first shooting on June 11 in Kansas City struck a vehicle carrying an adult and a child. Investigators eventually identified Oscar as the person responsible, and by June 12, an arrest warrant had been issued for him. 

The outlet noted that the situation escalated significantly on June 16, when Oscar allegedly carried out a string of shootings along busy stretches of Interstate 670, Interstate 70, and near Truman Road. One victim was an Uber driver transporting passengers to a World Cup game at Arrowhead Stadium, and another woman was struck in the leg while heading to pick up a family member. 

Tragically, a man named Jeremy Keenan reportedly died after his vehicle crashed along Truman Road; he had been shot and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Kansas City, Missouri, Police Chief Stacey Graves noted in a press conference that while four people were injured, all but one of the victims were in stable condition.

Following the June 16 shootings, the Kansas City Star reported that the police tracked the suspect to his home in Independence. A standoff ensued, and hours later, the house caught fire. Authorities believed the fire was set from inside the residence. Despite an extensive search of the property after the fire was extinguished, officers were unable to locate Oscar at that time.

Now that the body has been found in a spot that the police already searched, authorities have faced questions regarding the thoroughness of their search. According to the Kansas City Star, Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department, addressed these concerns. He explained that federal law enforcement, fire officials, and search and rescue dogs had all been involved in the operation, stating, “This home was very thoroughly searched.” 

Becchina stated that when information about Oscar was released, “We were confident that all of the survivable places in this house had been searched, and he was not located. Some of that is what led us to kind of pivot to notifying the public, asking the public’s help.”

He reportedly noted that the basement of the home contained “several feet” of water on the night of the standoff and that investigators found the space to be “one of the most congested basements I’ve seen in my 23-plus-year police career.” Additionally, he told the outlet that parts of the structure had collapsed, creating a dangerous and complex environment. 

“The family had been coming, working on the recovery effort here trying to kind of go through the rubble and the damage, the water damage, the fire damage, the collapse damage,” Becchina said. “They’ve been in there several times. They’ve been in the basement several times.”

Now, the outlet reported that the police are waiting for official confirmation from the medical examiner’s office to verify the identity of the remains and to determine the cause and manner of death. The investigation is also still trying to identify his motive for the shooting. 

The Kansas City Star wrote that Oscar’s family members had previously indicated that he was struggling with mental health issues. Authorities further described him as a loner, which made tracking his movements particularly difficult during the manhunt.

Authorities across the nation recently completed two manhunts successfully. In Georgia, William Linn McCue was captured after months on the run and finally faced justice for the death of his daughter, after his son set the house on fire. Over in Spain, the US Marshals were finally able to capture a US soldier after 30 years, for crimes committed in 1996.