The disappearance of two people from the Great Bend Expo grounds during the Barton County Fair is being investigated by law enforcement agencies in two states, Barton County Attorney Amy Mellor said Wednesday.

Authorities in Arkansas are investigating a suspected homicide.

Mellor announced that officers in Arkansas have initiated an investigation regarding the disappearance of two people from the fairgrounds west of Great Bend.
“When Arkansas officers began their investigation they alerted the Great Bend Police Department, which launched its own investigation,” Mellor stated in a news release.
The county attorney declined to release further details at this time, but the Fort Smith (Ark.) “Times Record” reports three people were arrested Wednesday after investigators found the bodies of two slain people buried in Crawford County, Arkansas. The two deceased people are a man and a woman, believed to be elderly, from Wichita.
KWCH television and CBS-affiliate 5 News in Fort Smith quotes the Barton County attorney’s news release and also says Great Bend Police Chief David Bailey told reporters investigators believe the couple was a vendor at the Barton County Fair.

Mellor said she cannot comment further at this time.
“We ask for patience on everyone’s part,” Mellor stated in the news release. “The Great Bend Police Department has begun their investigation, and since we’re talking about a possible crime scene in two states, this won’t be easy to resolve.”
Kansas agencies involved in the investigation are the Great Bend Police Department, Barton County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.