Emporia Police say the investigation into Sunday’s death of Jose Montes is ongoing — and it may take some time to finish.
Police Capt. Dave DeVries, the Division Commander for Criminal Investigations, says an autopsy has been completed but toxicology reports are pending. Those typically take weeks to finalize and be returned.
Detectives, meanwhile, are conducting interviews with people who saw, talked with or dealt with Montes on Sunday and Sunday night as they try to reconstruct Montes’ last few hours.
DeVries says Montes was not dead or incapacitated when he was hit by a semi on Interstate 35 near the Burlingame Road exit around 2 am Sunday, and in fact he may have been standing when he was hit. Montes was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi driver had said he could not avoid Montes on the highway. Authorities are not releasing further details about his statement at this time.
DeVries acknowledges there are “rampant” rumors about Montes’ death and those will not be addressed until investigators can say what happened, what didn’t happen and what the autopsy results indicate.
Lyon County Crime Stoppers has offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information solving this crime. If you have information about the circumstances leading up to Montes’ death, you can submit anonymous tips by calling Crime Stoppers at 342-2273. You can also go online to www.p3tips.com or send tips through the P3Tips mobile app.
