February 26, 2018 - 2:54 PM
WICHITA, Kan. - The stepmother of a missing 5-year-old Kansas boy was criminally charged Monday with endangering a child while the search for the boy stretched into its second week.
Emily Glass, 26, stepmother of Lucas Hernandez, made a brief appearance via video conference to hear the charge against her. She will continue to be held on $50,000 bond. She said she planned to hire her own attorney before her next court appearance March 13.
Glass was originally booked into jail Feb. 21 on two counts of child endangerment, with police saying the counts related to Lucas and a 1-year-old child. It wasn't immediately clear Monday if the child endangerment charge was related to Lucas or the other child.
The boy has been missing since Feb. 17, when Glass reported he disappeared while she showered and took a nap in their Wichita home.
Extensive searches involving more than 100 officers, along with dogs and helicopters, have been conducted in Wichita parks, nearby streams and the neighbourhood where Glass lived. Citizens groups joined the search on Monday but have found no sign of the boy. Police have not said why they focused on the parks.
Investigators have said they found no evidence the boy was abducted.
Police reports show officers have been called to the family's home in the past when the boy's father and stepmother fought. Relatives have alleged that Lucas was abused but no other charges have been filed in the boy's disappearance.
Lucas has brown hair and brown eyes, is about 4-feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds. He was last seen wearing black sweats, white socks and a grey shirt with a bear on it.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018