As the investigation into the death of an Ozark County teenager continues, local authorities are preparing for a trip out of state. According to the Ozark County Times, Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed and Chief Deputy Winston Collins will fly to Minnesota on Monday to speak with the adoptive family and friends of the late 16-year-old Savannah Leckie.
Former Ozark County rancher Chris Freeman offered to have his pilot fly the officers to Minnesota in his private jet, and he reportedly told Sheriff Reed he is ready to provide any other assistance necessary into the investigation. The sheriff says he’s coordinating the investigation with Minnesota law officers to see if evidence exists of crimes committed against Leckie before she moved to Ozark County.
Leckie’s biological mother, Rebecca Ruud, and her husband, Robert Peat, Jr., were indicted by an Ozark County grand jury Wednesday on several charges including first-degree murder, and both are scheduled to be arraigned Monday at the Ozark County Courthouse before Circuit Judge Craig Carter. Ruud currently remains in the Ozark County Jail, and Peat has been transferred to the Douglas County Jail in Ava.
Leckie was born in Minnesota in 2001 but was adopted a few months later by Tamile Leckie-Montague and her then-husband, David Leckie. After her adoptive parents divorced, Savannah continued to live with Leckie-Montague until August of last year when a conflict developed with the adoptive mother’s boyfriend. Leckie then moved to Ruud’s remote 81-acre farm near Theodosia.
It was just over two months ago when Ruud contacted the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department to report her daughter missing. After an extensive search, investigators found burned human remains on Ruud’s properter, and they were later identified as Leckie’s.
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