Kidnapping suspect dies in custody at a Wichita hospital

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man charged with trying to kidnap a 10-year-old boy in 2020 has died in custody while awaiting trial. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office said 64-year-old Webb Wray Ketcherside died Thursday at a Wichita hospital where he was being treated for an undisclosed “serious chronic illness.” Ketcherside had been in custody since his arrest in July 2020. Prosecutors had said Ketcherside approached the boy, made sexually explicit comments and grabbed his arm, but the boy was able to break free and run to a QuikTrip for help. Ketcherside, who had a 1998 sex crime conviction out of Smith County, was arrested at his apartment later.