How a landlord found missing toddler, Evan Brewer, buried in cement after police missed the clues
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Days before missing Kansas boy, Evan Brewer, was found buried under cement, police searched the home and missed the clues.

Wichita Eagle reports that landlord Dwayne Haukap recalled he almost overlooked the clues himself. Then, while cleaning out the laundry room of his rental home on 2037 South Vine in Wichita on September 3, he noticed an area covered in concrete and tools. As he lifted the carpeted area to clean, he saw a fresh slab of concrete with a makeshift structure. Haukap, experienced in construction work, thought it was an odd place for someone to place the structure.

The landlord said the structure measured a little over two feet wide and stood around 20 inches tall. The poured concrete was made to look like a workbench turned upside down. Haukap guessed that around “1,000 to 1,200 pounds of concrete” had been poured.

“And that made no sense to me,” Haukap said, indicating that he thought it strange for someone to set up that type of structure in the laundry room.

Haukap said that despite rollers on the bottom of the structure, it was too heavy to move. Haukap had seen Evan in the home before and knew the boy was considered missing, and immediately became suspicious that someone buried the 3-year-old inside the cement structure.

He also knew that people suspected the child’s mother, Miranda Miller, of harming the boy. He indicated that he rented the property to Miller only, and that her boyfriend, Stephen Bodine, who lived with her in the home, wasn’t on the lease.

To confirm his suspicions, Haukap drove to a nearby hardware store and bought a sledgehammer. When he returned to the home, he started hammering away at the structure, breaking out chunks of concrete, when the smell of death seeped out of the structure and overpowered the laundry room.

Haukap said he started crying before he actually saw the child’s body. He said he knew right away he had just found the missing toddler.

The landlord, who indicated he saw the toddler during the spring and even held him, immediately called his lawyer and 911. DNA testing later confirmed the remains found inside the structure were indeed of Evan Brewer.

Bodine and Miller were arrested days before the little boy was found, but not for his disappearance. Authorities arrested Bodine on suspicion of of aggravated assault and aggravated interference with parental custody, after he allegedly threatened to physically harm Evan’s father and stepmother when they stopped the rental home looking for the boy. Miller was arrested on suspicion of aggravated interference with parental custody.

Both suspects remain in jail, but neither have been charged with murder yet.

Meanwhile, Evan’s father, Carlo Brewer, thanked Haukap for trusting his instincts and hammering away at the structure. Brewer said that without Haukap, his son may have never been found.

Additional Reading

Landlord finds toddler boy’s remains sealed into cement structure

DNA confirms remains found in cement structure are of toddler Evan Brewer; Man arrested says he’s innocent

Court docs reveal mother previously abused toddler boy found dead, sealed in concrete

Dad of deceased boy found buried in cement fought for months to protect his son, additional court docs reveal

[Feature Photo: Family Handout]