Police Find Missing Kansas Teen's Body, Suspect Arrested

Sources: KCTV, MSN & SalemNews.com
Picture of Ed Hall from his MySpace page (corrected link)
A suspect was arrested [as I predicted] Wednesday evening in the slaying of a teenage Kansas girl believed abducted from the parking lot of an Overland Park Target store. Edwin R. Hall, 26, of Olathe, Kansas, is expected to be charged this morning with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said. Johnson County prosecutor Phill Kline said his office would file formal charges early Thursday or, at the latest, Friday morning. "Tomorrow morning [Thursday] the Johnson County district attorney's office will file premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping* charges against Edwin Hall, 26 years of age, with the disappearance and death of Kelsey Smith," Kline said Wednesday. "This community has lost a vibrant and promising life and a family has suffered unimaginable tragedy." Kline said it was premeditated murder and is requesting a $5 million bond for Hall.

Kelsey Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to a Target store to buy a gift for her boyfriend. Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car, and the car drove off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later. Douglass said Hall matched the description of a man seen on surveillance video walking into the store soon after Smith entered. Police also found a vehicle that matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car, he said. The truck was in Edwin Hall's possession.

A man who lives near the area where Smith's body was found told KMBC that he saw a vehicle in the park at about 9 p.m. Saturday, which matches the police time line. The man, who didn't want his name used, said he doesn't know what type of vehicle it was, but he remembers seeing headlights behind a locked gate on the road.

Douglass said Hall was interviewed mid-afternoon Wednesday after police acted on a tip that matched Hall and a vehicle to surveillance video from the Target store parking lot in suburban Kansas City where Smith was abducted Saturday evening. He said he had no information why Smith was targeted, or if Hall was believed to have acted alone. Police said Hall's vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car. Police found Smith's body in a wooded area near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the Target store. Authorities did not say how she died.

According to Chief Douglass, "Mr. Hall faces 25 years to life minimum sentence on the premeditated murder charge, 147 months minimum sentence on the aggravated kidnapping charge. There is a distinct possibility of an amendment for more severe charges in the future."

* = Aggravated kidnapping charge is defined as kidnapping with "great bodily harm". As I commented on yesterday, Kelsey was likely rendered unconscious or even dead at the time of her was kidnapping (in the Target parking lot or car as they left the store) -- not later on. If that is the case, it would account for the surprise that Kelsey did not fight back (as her father and sister said she would have done).
The aggravated kidnapping charge likely came from the visible effects of damage to Kelsey's body -- which may have accounted for the delay in identifying her body when she found yesterday around 1:30pm.

Kelsey Smith's Body has Been Found

INITIAL POST: 3:15pm EDT
LAST UPDATE: 4:57pm (Updating every few minutes, so refresh the page often...)

Kelsey Smith's body has been found. It's 3:12pm and the body was found south of Longview Lake, in SE Grandview, MO. The body was found in a shallow creek. A tarp covers the area as I type...

Kelsey Smith was apparently kidnapped from the Target store parking lot in Overland Park (suburb of Kansas City) at 7:07pm Saturday night. A 20-ish looking white male is seen running up behind Kelsey and forcing her into her 1987 Buick Regal. The car is seen backing out of the parking space and leaving the lot.
A little over two hours later, Kelsey's car was found in the Macy's parking -- across the street at the Overland Mall. Police have been searching for the 18 year old high school graduate since that time.

Just a few minutes ago, the story broke on FOX4 in KC --
"Police have located the body of a young girl, police and the independent search company on the scene told a FOX News Channel producer for 'On the Record' with Greta that it was the body of Kelsey."

A half-mile radius was being deeply searched after Kelsey's cell phone pinged a local tower in the southeast Jackson County area. Tire tracks were found -- leaving the road and going into the woods. A search team went into the area -- and found Kelsey Smith's body within a few minutes by the Equi-Search team.

Update: 4:07pm -- The search has been called off. The medical examiner has arrived on the scene. Although not officially confirmed, these are definitive inferences that the body is Kelsey Smith. The local enforcement will have a live press conference at 5:00pm EDT.

Also, the person of interest whom police were trying to locate, lives near the area, according to Steph Watts, a FOXNews On The Record producer.

FWIW, and it may be worth NOTHING -- I am hearing the names Timothy Beach (or Beech) or... Jerimiah John Beach (or Beech) as a potential suspect. Someone also says that the suspected perp (the "person of interest") lives within two miles of where Kelsey's body was found. Police are trying to track him down -- with even more interest now. A rather slumy apartment complex is located near 71 highway and 155th St. -- not far from Longview Lake Park. I've heard someone with the last name of Beach / Beech lives near there... and MAY be a suspect.

As for the truck, I am hearing "live" that a mid-1970s Chevy pickup truck has been found -- and police think it is the one seen in the Target parking lot Saturday just before Kelsey was abducted.

Photos from FOX4 and Kelsey's MySpace page

A press conference is scheduled for 3 minutes from now. I'll post more during and after the press conference.