Police say the body of a missing Overland Park, Kansas, woman was found in Arkansas, a day after her husband was killed in a shootout with officers Kansas City, Kansas.
Overland Park Police say Sylvia Ussery-Pearson’s body was found in Benton County, Arkansas, Tuesday evening, after a note detailing where to find her body was discovered in her estranged husband’s Lenexa home.
Ussery-Pearson was last seen Monday morning. According to the missing person’s report filed late Monday afternoon, a family member believed she left her home with her husband, Charles Pearson. The two had been separated since February, according to police.
On Tuesday morning, Charles Pearson was fatally shot by Kansas City, Kansas, police. Pearson, an army veteran, allegedly told an employee at Country Inn & Suites near the Legends shopping center that he had killed his wife, was heavily armed and heading toward the entertainment district. He was killed shortly after in a shootout with police.
That incident is being investigated by the Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka Police Departments.
Overland Park police Chief Frank Donchez said that early Tuesday morning, hours before the incident in Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park police had questioned Charles Pearson about the disappearance of his wife.
“It's our understanding that Mr. Pearson reached out to family and friends Tuesday morning and advised them that he was suicidal,” Donchez said at a press conference on Wednesday.
He was later shot by police in Kansas City, Kansas.
Authorities briefly searched for Ussery-Pearson on a rural property in Cass County, Missouri, until they were made aware of the note found at Pearson’s Lenexa home.
The Benton County, Arkansas, sheriff’s department located Ussery-Pearson’s body later Tuesday evening.
When asked whether he believes Pearson killed his wife, Donchez only said, “We’re not looking at other suspects at this time.”
A cause of death for Ussery-Pearson has not yet been identified.
Lisa Rodriguez is a reporter and the afternoon newscaster for KCUR 89.3. Follow her on Twitter @larodrig.
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