The investigation into the June 2016 murder of a Parsons man is advancing, Labette County Sheriff Darren Eichinger said.

David N. Ellis, 23, was found dead early on Friday morning, June 3, 2016, outside his apartment at 1722 24000 Road, Apt. D. He had been shot.

Labette County 911 dispatch received a call at 1:34 a.m. that day reporting that several people entered into Ellis apartment armed with guns. The group had left at the time the call was made.

Deputies responded and discovered Ellis lying on the ground a short distance from the apartment.He was dead and deputies observed that Ellis had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the abdomen. In June 2016, former Sheriff Robert Sims said Ellis had been shot multiple times by a semi-automatic weapon. Sims would not provide specifics about how many times or where Ellis was shot or the caliber or type of weapon used.

The crime is believed to be drug related because multiple kinds of drugs were found in the apartment. The suspects initially were described as a white male, a black male and a black female.

Sheriff Eichinger said Friday the case has been actively investigated since he took office in January.

We are making progress, Eichinger said.

Since March, the sheriffs department has had two detectives on staff and they are working on the homicide as well as other cases as they come up.

Eichinger said he could not release more details about the case for fear of tainting the investigation, but he did say detectives continue to work on it and interview potential witnesses.

If you have information on the case, call the sheriffs department at (620) 795-2565.

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Sheriff makes progress in murder probe - Parsons Sun