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On the night of January 27, 2003, Danny Holmes and Shawn Hamre stood outside a prostitute's door at an apartment building at 16 West 37th Street. The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department officers were searching for a missing person, a 25-year-old tourist named Guy Coombs. The last trace of the missing man was his ATM withdrawal at a gas station around the corner. The neighborhood was their beat, and the cops relied on addicts and hookers as their informants.

When the prostitute answered the door, she glanced at the picture of Coombs that the officers had brought with them. "Even if he is still alive, the person you need to talk to is across the hall," she whispered, motioning with her head in the direction of apartment No. 3. "That's the person that he buys his crack from."

Holmes and Hamre headed down the whitewashed, fluorescent-lighted hall. They could hear voices coming from apartment No. 3.

"This is Officer Holmes," Holmes said after knocking. "I need to ask you some questions about a missing person. Don't be alarmed. I'm not here for your drugs and your drug-dealing enterprise."

An older black man opened the door. Holmes walked inside, followed by Hamre. A young black guy sat in front of a television. The room had no furniture. A blanket and a pillow lay at one corner of the room. Strewn about were DVDs, car stereos, CD cases and a plastic bag of green leaves. A black .357-caliber revolver sat on the floor in front of the younger man.

Holmes pulled out his own .40-caliber and told Hamre to secure the two men. Holmes lunged forward to retrieve the .357 from the floor. He took it to the kitchen and placed it in the freezer, so it would be out of reach of the residents in the small studio apartment. Holmes ran background checks on the two men. The younger one had no record, but the older man, Edward Z. Henderson, who went by "Butch," had served time in Kansas on a drug charge, making him a felon illegally in possession of a firearm.

Holmes and Hamre handcuffed the two men. They weren't sure what to do next. They were patrol cops, not detectives, and they didn't have a warrant to be in Henderson's apartment. Holmes stepped out of the apartment and used his cell phone to call Mike Hutcheson, the detective who had ordered the two cops on this search. The missing tourist's family had been in town for three days, complaining to local TV news that Kansas City cops were neglecting the case. Holmes knew the area and its criminals well. So, as a favor, Hutcheson had asked Holmes earlier that evening to look for Coombs around the area of 37th Street and Main.

"I got the missing tourist's drug dealer," Holmes told Hutcheson. "He's got a gun inside the apartment." Holmes claims that Hutcheson told him to leave the two men and the gun in the apartment and come back to the station.

Holmes went back to Henderson's apartment and uncuffed the men. Hamre felt strange about leaving the scene as it was, but if those were the orders Hutcheson gave, the patrolmen had to follow them. As they turned to go, Holmes noticed a box of bullets on top of the TV. Holmes asked himself, Why leave a box of shells in the hands of a felon when the only thing they're going to do with them is something wrong? He took the bullets and put them in his pocket. Later, he moved them to the duffel bag he kept in his patrol car.

According to Holmes, Hutcheson insisted that Holmes' report include everything that Hamre and Holmes had done that evening until they got to the drug dealer's door. The search of the apartment should be left out.

Holmes wrote neatly, in all capital letters, about a Hispanic man at the Lost Sock Laundromat at 35th Street and Main who told him that Coombs had been asking about cocaine and meth, just before he was reported missing. He wrote about two street people who told him that they'd met Coombs at a gas station at 37th and Main; they said they'd put Coombs in contact with a Raytown meth dealer. He wrote about a male prostitute who had heard that Coombs was smoking crack and spending money with other male prostitutes at Buddy's, a bar on the 3700 block of Main. He wrote about the hooker who had said if Coombs wasn't dead, perhaps Henderson, the dealer, knew where he was. He wrote that Sgt. Kenneth Frederick of the Homicide Unit knew of this investigation, as did Holmes' patrol sergeant, John Bryant.

Holmes had a rapport with the small-time drug users and petty thieves who came to know him on midtown's streets, but he didn't have a lot of friends within the police department. As he wrote his faulty report, Holmes didn't think that it could cost him his job. It could also cost Jackson County prosecutors a murder case.

By all accounts, Guy Coombs liked to party.

He grew up in the small coastal town of Wells, Maine. He was tall, handsome and athletic, a star on his high school football, basketball and baseball teams. He earned good grades and got a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 2001, the Cerner Corporation hired Coombs as a salesman, and he spent six months in training sessions in Kansas City. The Kansas City-based medical software company allowed him to work as a sales associate from home in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He lived with his fiancée, Isa Simmons.

On Friday, January 17, 2003, Coombs traveled to Kansas City to attend a sales meeting at Cerner's headquarters. The night he arrived, Coombs and his Cerner friends went out drinking on the Plaza and in Westport. Coombs downed Red Bull and vodkas.

Write Your Comment show comments (13)

  1. horrible

    Comment by dick hurts — March 22, 2007 @ 04:09PM

  2. I think that it is shame how officer Holmes is being portrayed by the kcpd. He was one of the good officers of the city, that I've had the opportunity to meet at the Landing Mall. He might have not followed proper protocol during this investigation, but, truly I've never seen him do anything in an unprofessional manner. Officer Holmes, my prayers go out to you and your family. This might just be God's blessing in disguise for you. He might have something better for you. As far as serving the city, you were overworked, under paid and unappreciated. In other words EVERYONE IS EXPENDABLE no matter who you are or what you do. Holmes was one of the FEW good cops. And I know many officers. You still have support hear.

    Comment by Bunny — March 22, 2007 @ 08:37PM

  3. Bunny? You seem VERY close to Officer holmes to make a statement that he was overworked and underpaid. The fact is he screwed up a murder case. Are you one of the MANY groupies that flocked to see him at the Landing Mall? Or perhaps you are his wife?

    Comment by MissHarris — March 22, 2007 @ 09:19PM

  4. What about the family of the deceased? Closure is not apparent in the article. Another statistic?? Did Holmes kill him, if the department wanted him gone was it for this reason or others???? So many questions yet no answers?? Also, this story seems very one sided on behalf of Holmes, does the reporter have special interest?? Many of her facts are jumbled with times and events. Like every reporter knows, you have to have your facts as well as story line straight neither one has occured. Its a sad day when the key element in this article is that Holmes was railroaded and if he was he was. It sounds like the entire department as well as the Cerner Corp. should be held accountable. They flew this kid out there for training a dozen hours later he is shot dead?? Yet his body was "found" 8 days later, come on that's shady. The morale of this story is an old wise tale from the ghetto," CRACK KILLS "

    Comment by donny — March 23, 2007 @ 10:01AM

  5. Two more comments Nadia can't write, "tourist" is how the refer to the victim, yet wasn't he in KC on business??Wouldn't it be businessman?? Also, Bunny the only expendable person was the victim. He was 25 and holmes will maybe grow old? One more comment who dunnit????????????Who has the most to lose and the most to gain from this senseless crime?? Everyone pass's the buck yet no one is on trial or from the sounds ever be. What if the person who actually committed the crime is on your street Bunny? Or does he lay his head next to yours when your fall asleep?? The only one to know what where and when is dead and gravestones don't talk back.

    Comment by daryl — March 23, 2007 @ 10:14AM

  6. Bunny...aka Carmen Harris? Come on...you have a child with the guy so obviously you are gonna be on his side. The facts remain he fucked up the investigation the moment he went into that apartment and left it out of the report. He knew better but yet he did it.

    Holmes was employed at the Landing sure nuff, but the only "work" he ever did was between the legs of women (usually with his mouth). Being professional? He had a mall employee arrested for doing her job...he's a real asshole and is getting everything he deserves.

    "Good Police" my ass...

    Comment by nunya bidness — March 24, 2007 @ 02:44PM

  7. It's easy to second guess what someone would or could have done in a situation. It appears that Holmes has been hung out to dry by the detective who actually messed up and refused to take responsibility for it. Holmes personal life has nothing to do with this situation. The KCPD is a cesspool and everyone knows it. Look at the recent headlines - they let a woman in premature labor sit in a cell until she lost her baby. And this wasn't just a male officer - it was a female officer too. Compared to them, Holmes is a hero! Everyone else involved in this mess got off with minor reprimands. Holmes may lose his job and that isn't fair. You may not like him personally, you may not care for his style, but he was dedicated to a department who are trying to throw him away to save their own butts. The KCPD should be ashamed of themselves. Holmes should be reinstated and allowed to keep his job, and if anyone should be fired, it should be the detective who told him what to do and then lied about it.

    Comment by Trisha — March 28, 2007 @ 09:49AM

  8. It seems that almost none of the posters had the courage to put their names on their posts. Those anonymous slayers of dragons besmirched Officer Holmes, his wife, his girlfriend(s) and anyone else who may have known, talked to, dated, married or been otherwise related to , worked with or had a passing acquaintance with Danny Holmes. Did it ever occur to any of you that there are folks, both on and off the department, who feel that Danny got a bad rap in this situation. He's not perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. But in this case, his actions were directed by other officers (detectives) who then lacked the sack to take responsibility for what they did. They were willing to let a man lose his job, possibly lose his home, have his family face financial ruin, and all because they made a mistake and couldn't admit it. That doesn't take much of a man. Danny Holmes may not have a lot of friends on the department, but he does have some and they are outraged that this is happening.

    the bible said...let him who is without sin cast the first stone. There's plenty of blame to go around here, and not all of it, and not even the worst of it, rests with Danny Holmes. If they are going to fire him, they need to fire everyone - the detective, the sergeant, the chief - who made mistakes in this case.

    Comment by Mark Edwards — March 28, 2007 @ 12:00PM

  9. Detectives willing to let an Officer lose his job ????--- Isn't that the KCPD way?

    Comment by Mike Johnson — May 21, 2007 @ 09:01PM

  10. This is not KCPD first embarrassing moment. There was the GANG of EIGHT now this.
    The State of Missouri needs to investigate KCPD and it’s practices.

    Comment by Richard Johnson — May 28, 2007 @ 05:32PM

  11. "The KCPD is a cesspool and everyone knows it." Truest statement in the whole article. There's so much back-stabbing on that department you can trust anyone.

    Comment by Douglas R. — May 29, 2007 @ 02:17PM

  12. I can't express how disgusted I am with the obvious and deliberate attempts by certain people to further destroy the remaining reputation of Officer Holmes in these comments. It's bad enough that the KCPD would exhaust its public relations machine to spin the public attention away from bureaucratic incompetence and investigative errors, but now we have the same personnel throwing mud from the anonymous confines of cyberspace. In the coming months, Hutcheson's arrogance will be the shining light on his perjured testimony in this case. We can all read about the hundreds of cases being appealed based on his "Brady Issues" Until then, we will all get to watch him at the controls of this misguided endeavour by the department.

    And no, I am not the wife, girlfriend nor am I his baby's mama...I am simply a person who is extremely appalled by the incompetence of an organization whose integrity is supposed to be above question. I wonder how many of you police officers who have made comments here really understand why you NEED legal representation to protect you from your own employer!

    Comment by disappointed — June 1, 2007 @ 10:54PM

  13. Bad times yo....

    Comment by HeavyD — September 20, 2007 @ 03:46PM

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