Timothy S. Rice, 57, of Excelsior Springs, was found dead inside a shelter at Minor Park in Kansas City on the morning of April 4, 2017. Police responded to the area of Red Bridge and Blue River roads after an ambulance call; Rice was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators treated the death as a homicide and later revealed he had been shot multiple times, including a fatal wound to the head. Several 9mm shell casings were recovered at the scene.

Rice’s daughter said he had been an electrician for most of his life and had remained on friendly terms with his ex-wife; he had shared a meal with her the day he died. Rice was one of five middle-aged white men killed in and around walking trails of South Kansas City, a series that prompted a large police response. Surveillance and DNA evidence from an iced tea bottle and a cigarette butt tied 22-year-old Fredrick Demond Scott to several of the trail killings; Scott was arrested and charged in connection with Rice’s death, and a grand jury later returned additional indictments linking him to the trail murders.

If anyone knew Timothy Rice or saw suspicious activity near Minor Park or the trail areas that spring, please share what was seen.