By WILL MANLY

Hays Daily News

OSBORNE -- As far as anyone can tell, the person or persons who killed Scott Noel could have come from anywhere.

Maybe a drifter. Maybe someone who lives in the area.

"We don't have anything that would put us one place or another," said Sgt. Jack Ennis with the Osborne County Sheriff's office. "Were not ruling anything out."

Three days after Noel, 55, was found dead in his home, authorities do say they have some sense of what they should be looking for.

But for now, they're keeping that direction -- and whatever evidence has pointed them toward it -- under their hats.

"We do have some viable information that is leading us in a direction that we feel we need to go," Ennis said. "But we're not prepared to release specific information on that at this point."

As investigators from the sheriff's office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation continue to sift through tips offered by the public, they are fielding phone calls from residents -- and they are asking for more help.

Authorities have said Noel's rural home near Portis, a community of about 100 people near the Smith-Osborne county line, was burglarized. It is believed Noel was killed between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday. Another rural home in the area also was burglarized around the same time, and officers think the incidents might be linked.

Ennis said Noel's home was swept for fingerprints, examined for items that might have been out of place and searched for anything that might point to some evidence. He would not say if other locations also had been searched for clues, but conceded the investigation still could lead them anywhere.

"Tomorrow, we might find out something else, and that might take us in a completely different direction," he said.

Authorities are asking for help identifying a possible suspect vehicle that was seen in the area at the time of the homicide. The vehicle has been described as a late 1980s or early 1990s General Motors four-door sedan, blue, light blue or gray in color, possibly with an off-colored bumper.

Two descriptions of possible suspects also have been released this week. On Wednesday, police said one possible suspect was described as a white male about 5 feet, 8 inches to 5-10 tall, of average build, with medium complexion and brown hair. On Thursday, a new description of a possible suspect was released: A white male with dark complexion, about 5 feet, 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, with medium build and dark, possibly curly or bushy hair.

Ennis said police think the second description is an update from previous information, but they have not ruled out the possibility it might have been of a different possible suspect.

Anyone with information about possible suspects is asked to call the sheriff's office at (785) 346-2001.

"We do have a direction that we think we need to be going in, but we're still not ruling out the possibility of other options." Ennis said.

An autopsy has been completed, but the report has not been made available yet, Ennis said.

Noel's funeral has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday in Osborne.