Holiday Lakes man in custody following death of missing 13-year-old boy

Journal staff report

PLEASANTON – According to media reports, a 47-year-old rural Pleasanton resident has been taken into custody by the Bates County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office after he transported the body of a missing 13-year-old boy from the lake development across the state line.

Damon Leonard was charged with abandonment of a corpse, a felony, after he left the boy's body in a ravine in a creek bed, according to the reports. He is being held on $100,000 bond and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

Leonard is expected to face additional charges in Linn County, however, the case has been turned over to the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department for investigation because of possible conflicts of interest in the case.

The boy left his home in the lake development on Sunday morning, Dec. 21, to feed the dog of a neighbor. When he had not returned by 6 p.m. that evening, the family contacted the Linn County Sheriff's Office, which along with the county's Emergency Management and Fire departments began search for the missing child.

The search, which included coverage of wooded terrain and a number lakes and ponds, was temporarily halted at 2 a.m. for the safety of the searchers but began again early Monday.

According to reports, Leonard called the Bates County Sheriff's Office sometime on Monday to tell officials he knew where the body was located and later drove them to the location.

The release from the Linn County Sheriff indicated that at sometime after noon on Monday, the case changed from a search to a recovery effort. Linn County authorities notified the boy's family at about 3:20 p.m. on Monday that his body had been found.