A second arrest has been made in the death of a 16-year-old Ozark County teen. Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed confirmed late Wednesday 31-year-old Robert Peat Jr. was arrested Wednesday afternoon and is being held in the Ozark County Jail, along with his wife, Rebecca Ruud.The arrest follows an Ozark County grand jury indicting the pair Wednesday on charges relating to the murder of Ruud’s 16-year-old biological daughter, Savannah Leckie.
The Ozark County Times reports having grand jury indictments means both cases will skip the preliminary hearing phase of the court process and will go straight to Ozark County Circuit Court. Ruud and Peat are scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Craig Carter Monday.
Ruud gave birth to Leckie in 2001 in Minnesota, but the little girl was adopted a few months later by Tamile Leckie-Montague and her then-husband, David Leckie. Savannah Leckie grew up in Minnesota. After her adoptive parents divorce, she continued to live with her adoptive mother until August 2016, when a conflict developed with her mothers boyfriend, and she moved to Ozark County to live with Ruud on her remote, 81-acre farm near Theodosia.
Ruud called the Ozark County Sheriffs office July 20 to report her daughter missing. An extensive search began, and on August 4, investigators found what turned out to be burned human remains on Ruuds property. Later, the remains were identified as Leckies.
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