Man charged in connection to double homicide in Saline County

UPDATE: A suspect in a Saline County double homicide is now charged.

Donald Bruce Owens, 58, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one county of burglary.

Owens was found Friday June 10 in the rural Slater area. The Saline County Sheriff’s Department said Owens was taken into custody without incident.

Earlier Friday, the Saline County Sheriff’s Department identified the person in this week’s double killings as Donald Bruce Owens, 58. He was believed to be driving a white 2007 Dodge Caravan with Missouri plates, number U-D-6-J-3-T.

Authorities asked the public not to try to stop or apprehend Owens, but to call law enforcement if they saw him or his vehicle.

On Thursday, authorities responded to a shots fired call around 1:40 a.m. in the 800 block of Park Place. Officers found Ryan Sanders, 33, dead with 3 gunshot wounds to the chest and another to the wrist.

Saline County Sheriff Cindi Mullins said their department first got a call around 2 a.m. from Slater Police. Their deputies later found a second victim at a home on Nickel Road just north of Slater around 8 a.m. That victim has been identified as Bonnie Hupp, 83, who also appears to have died from a gunshot wound.

Authorities believe the shootings are be connected. The two victims are related by marriage.

Sheriff Mullins tells ABC 17 News that Owens is the father-in-law of Sanders, and the ex-son-in-law of Hupp.

The person of interest is described as a white man, 6’1″, weighing 220 lbs.

Chief Wright said this is the first homicide he has seen in Slater in at least 25 years.

He and Sheriff Mullins said Slater residents should not be worried as police believe it’s an isolated incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Saline County Sheriff’s Department at 660-886-5511.