Andanh.com

Three law enforcement officers who played key roles in the investigation of the January 2005 shooting death of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels were honored last week in Kansas City, Kan.

All three received Guardian of Justice awards, which the U.S. Attorney's Office presents annually to recognize outstanding work in criminal investigations. Scott Cheever was sentenced to death for Samuels' murder.

The recipients were:

• Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Bill Halvorsen, who was in charge of the crime scene and managed the investigation during the following days.

Prosecutors said it was Halvorsen who refuted Cheever's claim that he was too intoxicated by drugs to know what he was doing when he killed Samuels. Halvorsen noted that Cheever was clearheaded when he answered medical questions in the back of an ambulance after his arrest.

Wichita police used a helicopter and dogs to search a west Wichita neighborhood for more than six hours Saturday before realizing that reports of a missing 89-year-old woman were false.

Police said a 48-year-old relative of the woman was arrested after the search and could be charged this week with abusing a dependent adult.

Police Lt. Sam Hanley said investigators think the relative dropped the elderly woman off at a home in south Wichita on Friday night and left her there alone.

"We're looking at a dependent-person abuse situation," Sgt. Steve Yarberry said. "She was basically left alone."

Police said the search began about 8:30 a.m. when someone called 911 to report that Virginia Judd, who has dementia, had disappeared from her home in the 6000 block of West School Circle. Judd's dog, Ruby, also was missing from the home, which is south of Sedgwick County Park, near 13th and Ridge Road.