Alva Review-Courier -

A car reported stolen in Cherokee turned up in El Dorado, Kansas, the same day. According to police, the location was turned in by one of the men accused of taking it.

Court records show on July 21 at about 10:45 a.m. Cherokee Police Chief Ryan McNeil went to the home of Carla Sanborn who reported her 2012 Buick Lacrosse had been stolen. Sanborn said she parked the vehicle in her driveway about 10 p.m. the night before, leaving the key fob inside.

Sanborn suggested Caleb Smith was a possible suspect. When she parked the vehicle, he had been outside her residence and appeared to be intoxicated. Neither she nor her husband saw him enter the vehicle or take it, but he had been looking for a ride home.

The vehicle information was entered into NCIC as a stolen vehicle.

At 3:03 p.m. July 21, Chief McNeil spoke with El Dorado, Kansas, Police Officer Emmitt Lechner who advised he had contact with Demetries Highfill. Lechner said Highfill went to Walmart in El Dorado and requested they call law enforcement for him because he and a friend stole a vehicle from the City of Cherokee. Lechner said Highfill admitted that Smith had stolen the 2012 Buick Lacrosse from Cherokee but that he (Highfill) had driven the vehicle with Smith to El Dorado.

Lechner said Highfill provided an address of a residence where officers located Smith and the vehicle. Both Highfill and Smith were arrested for possession of stolen property and booked into the Butler County, Kansas, jail. The vehicle was towed and impounded with information provided to Sanborn that it had been recovered.