A seven and a half hour manhunt in along the backroads of Sumner County ended Tuesday with the arrest of a Leavenworth, Kan., man.
    After an intense air and ground search in Belle Plaine Tuesday, local law enforcement apprehended 49 year-old Paul Timothy Shaffer in a wooded area behind Rausch Seed.
    Charged with car theft, the search for Shaffer started Sunday evening in Conway Springs, after Police Chief Ken Winter said a 1992 Geo four-door was reported missing at around 6:30 p.m.
    While Conway Springs officers were on the lookout for the missing car, it was a Belle Plaine police officer who spotted the vehicle and ran its registration — discovering it was stolen, according to Winter.
    Winter said after an initial stop by the officer, Shaffer bailed out on foot. That was at around 3 a.m., Tuesday morning, according to Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey.
    By between 10:30 and 11 a.m., Shaffer was back in custody charged with one count of auto theft.
    Sumner County Sheriff’s Deputies, local K-9 officers and air support from Sedgwick County were called in to assist Belle Plaine in their search. Gilkey said he gives credit to the citizens of Belle Plaine for their tips in the search.
    “We got good tips from the citizens with two hints being extremely helpful,” Gilkey said. “They did exactly what they were supposed to do and called it in and stayed in their homes while we did the work.”
    Shaffer is currently being held at the Sumner County Jail on $5,000 bond.