Missing Wichita man's body found near Hesston

BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle

Harvey County authorities on Thursday found the body of a Wichita man who disappeared more than five days earlier under mysterious circumstances.

Wichita police were told shortly after 5 p.m. that the body of Marcus Booker, 30, had been found in his car on a county road northwest of Hesston.

Police spokesman Gordon Bassham said homicide detectives who went to the scene reported that foul play was not suspected.
The cause of death was not disclosed.

Booker's family said he was being treated for lupus, and in recent days had been experiencing significant pain in his hands and feet.
Lupus is a disease that causes a body's immune system to attack its tissues.

Before he disappeared Saturday, Booker sent his wife, Jessica Booker, a text message that said his pain was growing unbearable, and that he loved her and their two children.

He had attended his son's Biddy Basketball game a few hours before sending the text message.
Concerns over the disappearance prompted police on Wednesday to issue a plea for the public's help in finding Booker and the car he was driving.

Police first became concerned Saturday when they found blood on Booker's grandmother's grave in Kechi. Relatives said he was a frequent visitor to the gravesite at 6501 N. Hillside.

There was also blood on Booker's cell phone when it was found Monday in a Harvey County field north of Newton.

Wichita police and the Harvey County Sheriff's Office are continuing their investigation, and police said they planned to release more information on the case today.

Among Booker's survivors are a 5-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

Police seek help finding missing Wichita dad

BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle

Marcus Booker went to his son's Biddy Basketball game Saturday morning, and he stopped at a McDonald's restaurant around 10:30 a.m.

The 30-year-old Cargill utility operator talked to his wife about 11 a.m., and the couple were planning to see the movie "Not Easily Broken" that night.

After the brief telephone conversation with his wife, no one is sure what happened to Booker or the silver Mitsubishi he was driving. Neither has been seen since.

Booker was being treated for lupus, and Wichita police said Wednesday that they feared the pain he was feeling from the disease might prompt him to try to harm himself. They issued a public plea for help in finding him.

Police said blood was found at a Kechi cemetery where Booker's grandmother is buried -- a grave site that Booker often visited. And there was blood on Booker's cell phone when a Harvey County farmer found it Monday in a field more than 20 miles north of the cemetery.

Police said their biggest fears were based on a text message Booker sent to his wife, Jessica Booker, at 1:06 p.m. Saturday. "The message said that the pain was getting too bad, and that he loved me and he loved the kids," Jessica Booker said.

"I didn't know what to think. As his wife, knowing him, I could never imagine him hurting himself -- or him giving up on his children.... He's never been suicidal."

Lupus causes a body's tissues to be attacked by its own immune system. Jessica Booker said her husband had recently switched to a new medication that had yet to bring the pain in his hands and feet under control.

"Lately, it's been really bad," she said. "He would rate the pain as a 10 on a 1-to-10 scale. It's been progressively getting worse."

Police said a man matching Booker's description was seen at the cemetery at 6501 N. Hillside between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Jessica Booker said she has no idea how her husband's cell phone ended up in a field in Harvey County.

"That's what none of us can figure out, is what would he be doing driving that way?" she said.
The family is also baffled by the blood. "I have no idea where the blood would have come from," she said. "We don't have a gun in the house."

Aside from the lupus, Jessica Booker said, her husband led the typical lifestyle of a father of a 5-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

"He's a very family-oriented person -- really active in the kids' sports," she said.
"Right now I really am confused. Nothing is adding up for me. My husband has never done anything like this before."

Police are asking anyone with information about Booker's whereabouts to call detectives at 316-268-4181, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.