Sarah Kiefer Phillips, 36, was found dead in her Wichita home on the morning of Sunday, May 10, 2020. Police were dispatched to a house in the 4900 block of East Murdock after an unknown call for assistance and discovered Phillips unresponsive with severe head trauma; emergency services pronounced her dead at the scene.

Investigators quickly treated the death as a criminal homicide. Detectives say 27-year-old Isaac Julius Pankratz was with Phillips at the Murdock residence when he fired a sawed-off shotgun, inflicting the fatal wound; he fled the scene and was later found that same day at an apartment in the 2500 block of West Wildwood in possession of the weapon. Pankratz was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and related firearms charges. He had prior felony convictions and had been released on parole about a month earlier.

The motive was not made public and authorities described the incident as not random; Phillips and Pankratz were acquaintances. Does anyone have information about Sarah’s life or who might be able to help with this case?