Investigators searching for a missing 16-year-old girl who disappeared three weeks ago have discovered human bones on her mother’s property.
KMSP reports that human bones and additional incriminating evidence were found on the Ozark County, Missouri, property of Savannah Leckie’s biological mother Rebecca Ruud, who reported her missing last month, saying the teen was last seen on July 19. Leckie, 16, had lived most of her life with her adoptive mother in Minnesota, but periodically stayed in touch with Ruud and came to live with her about 11 months ago after she was unable to get along with her adoptive mother’s boyfriend.
On August 3, detectives searching for Leckie reportedly found bone fragments, hair, and teeth fragments in a “burn pile” on the 81-acre property. They also found three knives, a meat grinder, and over two dozen bottles of lye, a compound sometimes used to dissolve human corpses.
The search warrants for Ruud’s property were made public on Thursday, and authorities have not yet identified the human remains.
OzarksFirst (KOLR): Burned Human Remains Found 400 Yards From Missing 16-Year-Old Savannah Leckie's Home https://t.co/lf8m2ShTeh pic.twitter.com/4X6GMtISoh
— SGF News (@sgfnews) August 9, 2017
KMSP reports that an investigation found allegations that Savannah was abused in Ruud’s home. Savannah’s ex-boyfriend reportedly told authorities that Ruud would force her daughter to crawl through a pig trough and bathe in a pond as a disciplinary measure.
Police records obtained by local news station KY3 indicate that Ruud and her boyfriend, Robert Peat Jr., have become increasingly uncooperative with investigators since Savannah’s disappearance. They were married on August 4, the day after evidence of remains were found on the property. A sheriff’s source told the news station that while in some cases being married means that a person does not have to testify against their spouse in criminal proceedings, that legal privilege does not always apply if the victim of a crime is a minor.
Human remains, feared to be those of missing 16 year old Savannah Leckie, found in Ozark County. The latest at 6:00 pic.twitter.com/WDjzfmMSMw
— KY3 News (@kytv) August 9, 2017
After Savannah went missing, Ruud reportedly provided investigators with several of her daughter’s personal belongings but did not give them Savannah’s computer: Instead, she sent it to a computer repair shop.
No charges have been filed, and no suspects yet named in the investigation.
Feature photo: Police handout