A man who grew up in Lawrence was found shot to death on Wednesday at an athletic field in Kansas City, Mo.

A Kansas City police spokesman said a construction worker discovered the body of 37-year-old Derek A. Orchard about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday at Clark Ketterman Athletic Field near 107th Street and Skiles Avenue.

“It appears to be drug-related,” said Darin Snapp, a police spokesman. “Some people we’ve talked to that know the victim say he may have some drug problems and may have hooked up with the wrong crowd.”

Orchard’s car, a Honda Accord, had been recovered shortly after midnight Wednesday at 11th Street and Paseo Boulevard, but Snapp would not go into detail about how it was recovered. Asked whether police had a suspect, Snapp said, “We’re following some great leads.”

Orchard, who was married with children and lived in Overland Park, was reported missing early Wednesday by Overland Park Police.

He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1988, went to Grinnell College, and worked in marketing in recent years in the Kansas City area.

“He was an excellent student – a really top-notch kid,” said Marian Wilbur, who had Orchard as a student in her ninth-grade advanced English class at Lawrence High School.