Kansas
Kansas City Chiefs fans deaths: 'Hard to see scenario where something unusual didn't happen,' lawyer says
An attorney representing the family of Clayton McGeeney, one of three Kansas City men found dead in freezing conditions after an NFL watch party, said his clients need to know whether there was any “intention or malice” in party host Jordan Willis’ behavior in the two days he didn’t report the bodies in his yard.
Tony Kagay told Fox News Digital he would “feel nothing but sympathy” if Willis was “blameless” in the deaths of McGeeney, Ricky Johnson and David Harrington, but Kagay said it would be “very hard to explain” how he could “not realize what happened to his friends” when they were “frozen in his backyard for two days.”
The friends were last seen alive inside Willis’ Northwest 83rd Terrace home after the Kansas City Chiefs’ win against the Los Angeles Chargers on Jan. 7. Although Kagay confirmed that drugs were detected in the men’s systems, according to preliminary toxicology results shared with their loved ones by police, he could not confirm which were found.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS FOUND DEAD IN FRIEND’S BACKYARD: WHAT TO KNOW
David Harrington, Clayton McGeeney and Ricky Johnson were found dead outside their friend’s Kansas City home on Jan. 9, 2024. (Ricky Johnson/Facebook)
“I think that … if Monday morning [Willis] had realized that his friends had expired overnight and he called 911, I don’t know that this would be a story,” Kagay said on Wednesday. “I don’t know if we’d be talking about it today; it would get a few days in the Kansas City market, and then it would fade away.”
Kagay said McGeeney’s mother, Nancy Bossert, and his fiancée, April Mahoney, attempted to reach McGeeney and then Willis over the two-day period when the men were missing. “Multiple people” in their “close-knit” group of friends that lived within a mile radius made calls and house calls in attempts to find them, Kagay said.
But their deaths weren’t reported until the evening of Jan. 9, when Kagay said Mahoney broke onto Willis’ property out of desperation and discovered one of the men’s bodies. The Kansas City Police Department would find two more bodies behind the home; video recorded by a neighbor shows Willis handcuffed in boxer shorts as police conducted their search.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS DEATHS: DRUGS IN MEN’S SYSTEMS SHOW ‘THERE’S MORE TO THE STORY,’ FAMILY SAYS
The family of Clayton McGeeney, pictured, is anxiously awaiting the results of the Kansas City Police Department’s investigation into his death, says his family’s attorney, Tony Kagay. (Facebook)
It is unclear exactly when or how they died. Kagay said “multiple personal items” belonging to the men that remained in Willis’ home after they died raise further questions.
“How does [Willis] not realize what has happened to his friends? That’s a big part of what the family wants to know,” Kagay said. “We may never have an answer to that, we just might not.”
“It’s very hard to see a scenario where something unusual didn’t happen,” he continued.
Kagay said there has been “disappointment” over the way the KCPD communicated with the press about the men’s deaths; the agency previously told Fox News Digital the deaths were “100 percent not being investigated as… homicides.”
PRELIMINARY TOXICOLOGY RESULTS BACK FOR KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS FOUND FROZEN TO DEATH
HIV scientist Jordan Willis, 38, checked himself into a rehab facility after his three friends were found dead in his backyard on Jan. 9, 2024. (GitHub)
“I don’t think they were in a position to say that. Clearly there is an ongoing investigation,” Kagay said. “I just don’t know how they made that determination and I don’t know that was helpful to say … when you say there was no sign of foul play, there was no gunshot, no stab wound, but it doesn’t mean that there wasn’t something that occurred was illegal. … I don’t know that was handled in the ideal manner.”
“I’m not saying that anybody did anything intentional,” Kagay said. “[But] I don’t think that it would be required for there to be criminal liability.”
“Regardless of who was responsible, the fact is that three young men who were in good health were celebrating with a friend, each other. They ended up dead,” Kagay said. “One of Nancy’s main concerns is that this not happen to anyone else in the future.”
The media attention that this case has received, Kagay said, has been a “double-edged sword” for his clients. On one hand, they want to “grieve in peace.” On the other, Kagay believes the attention can be used to “apply some gentle but effective pressure” on the KCPD and compel a more thorough investigation.
PARENTS OF KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FANS FOUND DEAD THINK VICTIMS ‘SAW SOMETHING THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE SEEN’
Family and friends of Clayton McGeeney, left, David Harrington, center, and Ricky Johnson are clamoring for answers after the three men inexplicably died in freezing temperatures outside their friend’s Kansas City home. (Facebook)
When full autopsy and toxicology reports are available and police complete their forensic investigation of electronic devices – at least two of the men’s families have been asked for their son’s phone passwords – the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office will decide whether criminal charges should be pressed against Willis or Alex Weamer-Lee, a fifth party guest who left the house alive on Jan. 7.
Last week, representatives from the families of Harrington, Johnson and McGeeney met with the prosecutor’s office. Kagay said “prosecutors wanted the family to know this situation was being investigated thoroughly” and that they would “cooperate with the families in the future.”
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions and understandable skepticism as far as an explanation for how this happened,” Kagay said. “There are attempts being made to resolve those questions.”
Kagay also said “some of the family have publicly expressed skepticism” about Willis’ announcement that he checked himself into an inpatient rehabilitation facility after his friends’ deaths.
“The timing could appear to a cynical person to be a bit suspect,” Kagay said. “On the other hand, he may have a substance abuse problem and [needed] to check into rehab.”
This view shows the backyard and porch of Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City on Jan. 26, 2024. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
But although he said that only the results of the investigation can prove any culpability or lack thereof in the men’s deaths, Kagay’s criminal defense background compels him to wonder about the case in the interim.
“I really want to know where exactly their bodies were discovered. What were they wearing? What was in the house?” Kagay asked. “If there was drug use, was there a cleanup that occurred in those two days [before the bodies were discovered]? Was there paraphernalia in plain view when law enforcement arrived?”
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“A lot of these questions may never be answered in a way that makes people satisfied,” Kagay said.
But McGeeney’s family is patiently awaiting police findings until more information is released and “their position is that we don’t know if [an investigation was] done appropriately or inappropriately because we don’t know how it was done.”
Kansas
Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A former Kansas wrestling coach was charged with creating child sexual abuse materials by secretly recording minors showering during an athletic competition.
According to court documents, 37-year-old Ryan Brungardt of Salina is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.
Brungardt is a former employee at Lakewood Middle School and former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School.
Brungardt is accused of using a cellphone to record three minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament was held at Newton High in January 2024.
Brungardt made his initial court appearance for the criminal complaint on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooks G. Severson.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday
Investigators are in the process of reviewing additional seized cellphone videos in this case that are suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets in Newton, Hays, Garden City and Salina during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.
Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or any suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.
Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
Kansas
RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Saturday after Wednesday sub-state wins
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Wednesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.
WIBW Scoreboard
BOYS
6A Boys West Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Topeka High 57, Washburn Rural 50 (will play Maize Saturday)
- Junction City 70, Dodge City 56 (will play Derby Saturday)
- Manhattan 58, Wichita-Northwest 56 (will play Wichita-East Saturday)
4A Boys East Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rock Creek 62, Louisberg 57 (will play Bishop Miege Saturday)
- Atchison 74, Wamego 43
- Hayden 72, Independence 56 (will play Atchison Saturday)
- Eudora 76, Santa Fe Trail 68
GIRLS
5A West Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Hays 80, Topeka West 18
- Eisenhower 55, Seaman 41
- Kapaun Mt. Carmel 71, Emporia 41
5A East Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Shawnee Heights 89, Sumner 15 (will play Pittsburg Saturday)
- Basehor-Linwood 74, Highland Park 28 (will play Piper Saturday)
3A Pomona-West Franklin Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Osage City 75, Columbus 31 (will play Frontenac Saturday)
3A Sabetha Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Silver Lake 48, Nemaha Central 26 (will play Riley County Saturday)
- Riley County 51, Jeff West 40 (will play Silver Lake)
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
Kansas
RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.
WIBW Scoreboard
BOYS
5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
- Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)
5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
- Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
- Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)
3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)
3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
- Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)
GIRLS
6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
- Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
- Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)
4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
- Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
- Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)
2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
- Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
- Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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