In the quiet, rural landscape near South Haven, Kansas, a tragic scene unfolded on July 7, 2018, forever altering the lives of two families. On that summer day, a passing motorist made a grim discovery: the bodies of Carrie Brianne Ensminger, a 27-year-old White/Caucasian female, and a man later identified as 36-year-old Toby Farley of Wellington. Both had suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head.
The Sumner County Sheriff's Department was called to the scene to begin the difficult task of piecing together the events that led to this devastating outcome.
Carrie, who was born on August 6, 1990, in Lubbock, Texas, was residing in Emporia at the time of her death. The investigation into the deaths of Ensminger and Farley quickly pointed towards a murder-suicide. Authorities from the Sumner County Sheriff's Department determined that Farley was the perpetrator in the tragic incident. Investigators concluded that Farley shot and killed Ensminger before turning the gun on himself.
In the wake of the discovery, an autopsy was ordered to officially confirm the causes of death for both individuals. The bodies were transported to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita for examination. With the determination that the case was a murder-suicide, with the suspect also deceased, no arrests were made in connection with Carrie Ensminger's death. The investigation concluded, leaving behind a painful void for the family and friends of a young woman whose life was cut tragically short.
