Crime & Safety
Missouri Remains ID'd As Teen, Biological Mom Charged With Murder
Savannah Leckie was living with her biological mother and the mother's boyfriend. The two married on Aug. 4, the day the remains were found.
LONGRUN, MO — Burned human remains found in rural Longrun are those of a missing 16-year-old girl who was raised by her adoptive mother in Minnesota but recently moved in with her biological mother in southwest Missouri before disappearing last month.
Investigators who searched the property for Savannah Leckie earlier this month recovered a meat grinder, bone fragments and 26 bottles of lye, which can be used to break down bodily tissue faster. Leckie's burned remains, identified Monday, were found at the home of her biological mother and the woman's husband. Investigators also recovered a box of girl's clothing, hair, a knife and notebooks and personal hygiene items, search warrants said.
In a statement Tuesday, Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed said the investigation has "intensified" and that arrests are expected. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
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During a search of the property Aug. 4, investigators found bone fragments on a burn pile on the property, including what appeared to be fragments from a human finger and a vertebrae. The mother, Rebecca May (Ruud) Peat, and her boyfriend married on Aug. 4, the same day the remains were found.
She was jailed on a 24-hour investigative hold Monday afternoon, authorities said.
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Reed said in a release that two suspects planned to leave the area so deputies went to Springfield with police officers and took Ruud, 39 of Longrun, into custody, who was waiting on a greyhound bus. She was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
A judge denied her bond citing a flight risk. Ruud was being held in the Ozark County jail. Reed said more charges are forthcoming for anyone else involved in the death.
The public defender's office in a nearby county was meeting with her. The office didn't immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Photo credit: Ozark County Sheriff's Department