Two men wanted for questioning in the beating of a Mayetta man found unconscious Monday in Riverfront Park were captured Tuesday morning in southeast Kansas.

“I think they were cold and ready to come in,” said Greenwood County Undersheriff Kendel Bartholomew.

Bartholomew said officers picked up the men about 8 a.m. walking down the main street of Severy.

“We were tipped off by someone who saw two unknown subjects walking down a gravel road,” Sheriff Matt Samuel said.

The men eluded authorities overnight Monday. They originally were spotted that afternoon by a farmer in Greenwood County, who discovered them with a vehicle on his property.

“The farmer located them in his barn,” Samuel said. “He started chasing them, and they went into a ditch. In the process of trying to get out, they struck another vehicle.”

The car chase stretched into neighboring Elk County, where the men eventually crashed into a row of trees and fled on foot. Authorities from about a half-dozen agencies were on their heels.

“We chased them on foot,” Samuel said, “along with the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Elk County Sheriff’s Department, Kansas Wildlife and Parks, and Wilson County. El Dorado prison assisted. They brought over their canine tracking dogs.”

Lawrence Police had been looking for the two men, who were believed to be driving a stolen 1991 blue Geo Storm.

The car was discovered missing Monday morning from the parking lot of the Jayhawk Motel, 1004 N. Third St.

Police went to the motel while investigating an incident involving a man found about 6:40 a.m. Monday battered and stabbed on the outskirts of Riverfront Park below the Kansas River levee.

The victim was later identified as 21-year-old Josh Greemore of Mayetta.

Greemore was flown to a Kansas City-area hospital, where he was listed in serious condition Tuesday night. Police said Greemore was last seen at the Jayhawk Motel before he was discovered near the park.

Lawrence Police detectives were sent to interview the men, who were in the Greenwood County Jail.

“The investigation that sent Lawrence Police detectives south still continues and will continue into Tuesday night,” police spokesman Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.

He confirmed Tuesday that the two were suspects in the beating.

The men were expected to be brought back late Tuesday to Douglas County.

Meanwhile, the Greenwood County sheriff said the men could face additional charges in his jurisdiction.

“We are working with the Lawrence Police Department,” Samuel said. “They will most likely face additional charges of attempted burglary and possibly aggravated battery for striking a car with a person in it during the chase.”