Authorities took 11 suspected illegal immigrants into custody Wednesday night during a routine traffic stop on the Kansas Turnpike near Lawrence, but three remain unaccounted for after fleeing from a trooper.

A Kansas Highway Patrol officer stopped a 1999 Chevrolet extended cab pickup truck at 9:16 p.m. Wednesday near the east Lawrence toll plaza along the Kansas Turnpike.

The officer spotted the car, which had an Arizona license plate, driving off the road.

When the trooper approached the vehicle, there were 14 individuals inside who were suspected of being illegal immigrants, according to Lt. John Eickhorn, spokesman with the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The trooper contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which responded to the traffic stop.

But before immigration officials arrived, three of the 14 individuals in the truck ran from the scene.

Authorities, including those from Lawrence Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, searched for the three people in North Lawrence.

Lawrence police Sgt. Paul Fellers and Lt. Kari Wempe, of the sheriff’s office, said their units helped at the scene but as of Thursday afternoon, no further arrests had been made.

The remaining 11 individuals in the pickup truck – 10 adults and one juvenile – were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Eickhorn said there was no incident in taking the remaining individuals in custody.

By Thursday afternoon, there was no word from immigration officials on where the suspected immigrants had been taken.