Manhunt in K.C.K. homicide ends here

Police, FBI make arrest without incident at Lawrence motel

An intensive two-day manhunt for a suspect in a Wyandotte County homicide case came to an end early Saturday with an arrest outside a Lawrence motel.

Mark McGee, 31, Kansas City, Kan., was captured by Lawrence Police, members of an FBI fugitive task force and U.S. marshals as he was sitting in a car at the Virginia Inn, 2903 W. Sixth St., law enforcement officials said.

McGee is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Michelle Wallace, 33, of Gladstone, Mo., in Kansas City the day after Thanksgiving. She was found shot to death in her sport utility vehicle.

McGee reportedly had been seen Thursday in Wyandotte County, causing police and FBI agents to launch a manhunt that continued Friday in the Bonner Springs area. Schools in Bonner Springs were locked down during that search.

Early Saturday, Lawrence Police developed information that led them to McGee, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said.

“The best we can determine is he was hiding out there,” Lanza said. “I don’t think he’s been there the whole time he was a fugitive. I think he’s been moving around a lot.”

McGee was not armed and was arrested without incident, Lanza said.

The arrest came about 3 a.m., Police Lt. Ed Brunt said. McGee was not thought to be involved in any Douglas County cases, and Lanza said he didn’t know why McGee was in Lawrence.

Two other people already were being held in Wyandotte County in connection with Wallace’s slaying.