Sexually Violent Predator Who Escaped from Larned State Hospital Captured in Yoder After Farmer Spots Him

WICHITA, Kan. – Kevin James Snyder, 59, a sexually violent predator who escaped from Larned State Hospital last week, was arrested today in Yoder, Kansas, the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Kansas, announced.

At about 5 p.m., a farmer driving a tractor spotted Snyder along a rail line near Yoder and reported it to law enforcement. Members of the U.S. Marshals Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force arrested Snyder, and he was booked into the Reno County Jail.

Snyder escaped from the Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital early on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. He was last seen on security cameras that morning in Larned, heading east on foot. Snyder has been designated a sexually violent predator since a 2005 conviction in Lyon County, according to the Kansas Offender Registry.

The U.S. Marshals Service helped the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office with the search. The Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force includes the Marshals Service, Kansas Department of Corrections, Wichita Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration and Kansas Highway Patrol.

The U.S. Marshals Service thanks the public, the media and the farmer who reported the sighting for their help in this case.