Kansas

Private detective to probe mystery deaths of Kansas City fans

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2024

Private detective to probe mystery deaths of Kansas City fans

The family of one of the three football fans found dead at the back of their friend’s house has hired a private detective to try and uncover the truth.

On January 9, the bodies of David Harrington, Ricky Johnson and Clayton McGeeney were found in the backyard of their friend, Jordan Willis, an HIV scientist who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. They had been there since January 7, when the three men visited Willis to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ricky Johnson’s family has now hired a private detective amid a stalled police investigation and an intense public debate about what happened to the men.

Willis said that he hadn’t been at the back of his house for two days and didn’t know the men were there until he was alerted by McGeeney’s fiancee.

Ricky Johnson and family in an undated photo. His family hired a private detective to uncover the mystery of his death.

GoFundMe

Stephanie Walling, a niece of Johnson, announced on Facebook on Monday that his family had hired the detective. She wrote that his father, Ricky Johnson Snr., had set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to pay for the investigator, a lawyer and other expenses while the family searches for the truth.

“That [GoFundMe] was created by Ricky’s father. Linda was Ricky’s step mother. They have hired a PI and a lawyer and need help paying for that,” she said in response to a query from a supporter.

Walling added that there is now a separate GoFundMe page for each of the three deceased friends.

Police have said they are not treating the deaths as homicides.

Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, said his client “had absolutely nothing to do with the deaths of his three friends,” two of whom he’s known since high school.

“He’s grieving, he’s had to move out of his home, he’s had to shut down his social media, he’s taking leave of absence from his job, so it’s really affected him,” Picerno told KCTV in Kansas City.

Clayton McGeeney [R], who was found dead with his two friends at the back of a house in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 9. His fiancee discovered the bodies.

GoFundMe

Picerno said that after the friends went to his house following the Chiefs game, Willis decided to sleep on his couch and said goodnight to his friends at around 2 a.m.

“He thought that they left out the front door,” Picerno told KCTV.

Asked why Willis didn’t check for them in the backyard, Picerno said he had no reason to go out into the backyard, and he didn’t know anyone was there.

The medical examiner’s office has yet to determine a cause of death.

April Mahoney, McGeeney’s fiancée went to the house on January 9 and found the first body. She then called police. A neighbor’s video showed the police arriving and questioning Willis at his front door.

On January 9, Captain Jake Becchina of the Kansas City Police Department said in a statement: “First and foremost, this case is 100% NOT being investigated as a homicide. There have not been any arrests [or] charges, and no one is in custody.

“There are no specific threats or concerns for the surrounding community at this time.

“The resident at the house was cooperative with detectives the day the deceased were discovered.”

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Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Saturday after Wednesday sub-state wins

Published

3 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

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)

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Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

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)

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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