Post last updated at 10:04 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9:
Deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office have made an arrest in a hit-and-run that killed 20-year-old Elsa McGrain, a premed student at KU.
A driver fled the scene after striking McGrain, who was running in the 1700 block of East 1500 Road Thursday evening, according to the sheriff’s office.
She was found several hours later when a passerby called dispatch around 3:35 a.m. Friday saying they had found a person near the road.
“After an extensive investigation, which included examining evidence and responding to numerous tips from the public,” deputies located the suspected vehicle and driver, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office on Sunday.
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Deputies arrested William Ray Klingler, 36, of Lawrence, on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, according to the DGSO booking log.
Detectives are working with the Douglas County district attorney’s office, according to the release.
“The Sheriff’s Office thanks area law enforcement agencies for their assistance in this investigation, as well as members of the community who responded with possible tips and shared information,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.
Douglas County District Court records indicate Klingler was charged in July 2024 with driving under the influence in what would be his fourth or subsequent conviction if found guilty. The charging document lists two cases in 2019, one in 2018 and one in 2012.
He faces a few other charges in the same 2024 case, including circumventing an ignition interlock device, which is a device that requires people convicted of DUIs to take a breath test before their vehicle will start. That case is pending.
Klingler had been arrested in August for failing to appear in court for the DUI case. His bond was modified to $10,000 own recognizance, meaning he was able to sign himself out of the Douglas County jail if agreed to abide several pretrial monitoring conditions.
He was being held without bond in the involuntary manslaughter case as of Sunday evening.
McGrain, who would have graduated next year, was a Lawrence resident originally from Omaha, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The Sheriff’s Office continues to extend our deepest sympathies to Elsa McGrain’s family members and friends during this incredibly tragic time and would ask the community to continue to support them,” the release stated.
Arrestees and defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless they are convicted.
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