Kansas City police are investigating a death after a body was located near Brush Creek in the area of Ward Parkway and Brookside Boulevard. Officers responded to an ambulance call Thursday morning and found an unresponsive individual at the scene, and KCFD medics declared the person deceased shortly after.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department confirmed the death investigation is now underway, according to KSHB 41. Police said the preliminary investigation indicates there is no evidence of foul play, though the station's report does not identify the person found near the creek or specify a cause of death.
No Details Yet on Victim or Cause of Death
As of now, the circumstances surrounding Thursday's discovery remain limited to what KCPD and KCFD have confirmed: an ambulance call, an unresponsive person, and a declaration of death at the scene. The same report notes investigators have not released information establishing the individual's identity, and no timeline for further updates has been shared.
Brush Creek winds through several Kansas City neighborhoods, including the stretch near Ward Parkway and Brookside Boulevard where Thursday's body was found, and the waterway has been the site of other fatal incidents in recent months and years — though none of those cases has been linked to this one. In one earlier instance, a man died after Kansas City fire crews returning to their station spotted a body in the water and pulled him out, as reported by KMBC. That incident happened around 7:45 p.m. near Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Cleveland, far from Thursday's location, and crews performed CPR before rushing the man to St. Luke's, where he later died.
Other Brush Creek Incidents Underscore the Waterway's History
Separately, a woman died in June 2025 after bystanders pulled her from Brush Creek near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, following a report that she had rolled into the creek on a mower, according to KCTV5. And in a case with no connection to the creek's role as the site of discovery, 60-year-old Michael Duncan died after he was found with stab wounds near Brush Creek, with police telling the Kansas City Star that the stabbing likely occurred somewhere other than where he was found.
The Star's coverage of Duncan's death also noted it marked Kansas City's 105th homicide of 2026, compared with 120 homicides recorded at the same point the previous year. That figure applies specifically to the Duncan case and should not be read as a tally connected to Thursday's discovery near Ward Parkway, which police have so far characterized as showing no evidence of foul play.
Kansas City police have not released additional information about Thursday's investigation, including the identity of the person found or further detail on how the ambulance call came in. Hoodline will update this story as police release more information.
