ShawneeDispatch.com

Shawnee Police and Fire department officials Wednesday searched the Kansas River for a Shawnee man who may have jumped off the Kansas Highway 7 bridge.

Capt. Ron Copeland said Bonner Springs police alerted Shawnee police to an abandoned Nissan Pathfinder on the bridge at 12:36 a.m. Wednesday. The car was found on the side of the northbound bridge with the driver's door open and the keys in the seat.

Records show the owner of the vehicle was a man involved in a case of domestic violence and aggravated battery over the weekend and was reported as making suicidal comments. Copeland confirmed Thursday that Bryan Dean Rundell, 45, listed on the Johnson County Sheriff's booking and release report as the arrestee in the domestic violence case, is the same man believed to have jumped off the bridge.

Shawnee police had responded to the Rundell's home in the 22400 block of 73rd Terrace Sunday evening after getting reports that he had beat his wife with a lamp and also struck himself in the head with a lamp. Copeland said after police arrived, Rundell asked the police to shoot and kill him. Officers used a taser to detain Rundell, and he was arrested and taken to jail. Records show Rundell posted $35,000 bond and was released Monday.

The Kansas Highway Patrol's helicopter twice flew over the river in search of any evidence of Rundell, and John Mattox, Shawnee fire marshall, said the Shawnee Fire Department's water rescue crew also searched the river for three hours before calling off the search. No evidence has been located.