Kansas child welfare agency won’t release info about dead boy

WICHITA — Kansas’ child protection agency says it can’t release any information about a dead child because there’s no finding the boy died of abuse or neglect.

The Wichita Eagle filed a records request with the Department for Children and Families for information relating to 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez after a private investigator found the boy’s remains under a bridge and covered with debris.

A state law says the department must provide upon request a summary of its previous contact with a child who dies of abuse or neglect. But the agency says there’s currently no finding that Lucas died of abuse.

Emily Glass is the live-in girlfriend of Lucas’ father. She led an investigator to Lucas’ remains on May 24, months after reporting him missing. Glass had been suspected of abusing the Wichita boy.

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