Services planned for Kansas boy found dead in remote area. Mom expects more charges
Airen Andula wasn’t the kid on the playground who would “go first.”
His soft-spoken, gentle nature sometimes required encouragement from others, the 13-year-old’s mother, Anita Gunn said in a phone call Saturday.
Airen was reported missing Sunday night after he left for his friend’s house and did not return home in the Holiday Lakes community near Pleasanton, Kansas, about an hour south of Kansas City.
A large-scale search effort ensued, involving several law enforcement agencies in rural Linn County, Kansas, and Bates County, Missouri.
Monday night, Airen’s body was found by deputies down a ravine in a creek bed, across the state line in Missouri. Damon B. Leonard, 47, has been charged with abandoning Airen’s body in connection with Airen’s death.
More charges were expected and pending, Gunn said Saturday. No cause of death had been made public by officials in Airen’s death as of Sunday. Gunn said she was awaiting the results of an autopsy.
Friday, Gunn and her family went to a funeral home to plan Airen’s celebration of life. She said she decided to open services to the public because of how far Airen’s story has reached and how many people it has touched. She hopes those who attend will get to know Airen for who he was before the tragedy, she said.
Gunn said she remembers how easy it was for Airen to make new friends. The energetic, fun-loving boy is also remembered for his love of collecting Hot Wheels and Legos.
“He has an 8-year-old sister that he used to just argue with about everything under the sun every day,” Gunn said. “He was most loving and kind, though.”
“I kind of wish I’d have that back now,” Gunn said through a sniffle.
Her grief felt heavier when she couldn’t escape things left unsaid and undone over the holidays, she said.
Airen’s hand-written Christmas wish list was still fixed by a magnet on the family’s refrigerator.
Red ink penned the heart and wonder of her child gone too soon.
“Hot Wheels truck, Taquis…new boots, new cowboy hat…Pokemon cards, dirt bike, go cart… Legos,” all made his list this year.
“He didn’t have to put his name on it, we already knew who wrote that way,” Gunn said, smiling and thinking about Airen’s chicken-scratch handwriting.
Airen Andula
For the first several years of his life, Airen was in and out of hospitals as he struggled with RSV and asthma, Gunn said.
Despite early struggles, Airen was in many ways the “glue” of the family, Gunn said. Airen was one of eight children and always enjoyed family time, especially when grandma came over, Gunn said.
“When grandma was coming, I mean his eyes would just light up,” Gunn said. “He got super happy.”
One memory Gunn said kept playing over in her mind this week was from when Airen was maybe six or eight months old. Soon after he first learned to walk, Airen liked to climb into a small cabinet in the kitchen and hide, Gunn said.
The first time he did it, Gunn said, he popped out of the cabinet like a peek-a-boo game.
More recent memories were about how Airen was a good big brother, Gunn said.
When it would start to get dark, Airen would ride his bike to pick up his little sisters from a friend’s house so they wouldn’t have to walk alone.
He also helped his younger sister Addisyn with her school work.
“He was a couple grades ahead of her. If she had a question about something they were learning, then he was like, ‘Oh, we just did that,’” Gunn said.
“I think one of my daughters is kind of acting as if it’s not real and he’ll be back home,” Gunn said. “And then the baby, she just lost herself. She’s been crying, she’s been begging him to come back home.”
In a recent Facebook post, Airen’s older sister Makayla Gunn said she will always remember how attached he was to family.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you and I know you’re with our Lord now,” Makayla Gunn said. “You will absolutely be missed and never forgotten, my little brother!”
Memorial service planned
A memorial service will be held 4 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Schneider Funeral Home in Pleasanton.
A time for visiting and celebrating Airen’s life will follow the service until 6 p.m., according to his obituary.
This story was originally published December 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
