Man pleads guilty to abandoning body of 13-year-old Linn County teen in Missouri
A Pleasanton, Kansas, man pleaded guilty to abandonment of a corpse in Bates County court Friday after leaving the body of a 13-year-old Linn County teen in a creek bed.
Airen Andula, 13, was riding his bike to a friend’s house around 8 a.m. on Dec. 21 when he was fatally attacked by at least one dog. Kansas City, Kansas, police previously seized multiple dogs from Damon Leonard’s Pleasanton property.
After a large-scale search effort for the teen, Airen was found dead in a rural Bates County creek bed after the Sheriff’s Office received a call from Leonard, 47, who advised deputies he knew where the teen’s body was located, according to a probable cause statement in support of Leonard’s arrest.
In an interview with investigators, Leonard said he transported Airen’s body from Kansas to Missouri, the probable cause statement said.
According to court records, Leonard is set to appear for a sentencing hearing in Bates County court Friday. He is being held in the Bates County Jail.
