SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of missing Kansas woman and have two suspects in custody.
Just after 2p.m. on Christmas Eve, a co-worker of 41-year -old Melinda Sprague contacted police about her not showing up for work, according to Wichita Police Captain Brett Allred. Police made a missing person report.
During the investigation, police located Sprague's missing 2017 Ford Focus behind a business in the 1500 Block of East Harry in Wichita, according to Allred. They also located her body inside the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police developed information that led to the arrest of 39-year-old Ahmad Bey on a requested charge of first-degree murder and a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant and 34-year-old Vanessa Waner on a requested charge of first-degree murder, according to Allred.
Police investigators learned that Sprague and Bey were in a dating relationship, according to Allred. Bey and Waner lived together.
Police found Bey at a residence in Neodesha, Kansas and brought him back to Wichita. Both suspects were booked into the Sedgwick County jail early Friday, according to online jail records. He was released from prison in July after a conviction for second-degree murder in 1999, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Police will present the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. They are waiting for results of an autopsy to learn Sprague's cause of death, according to Allred.