Burned bones found in rural Missouri identified as teen’s

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The burned human bones found on a rural southwest Missouri property have been identified as those of a 16-year-old girl whose biological mother is jailed on a 24-hour investigative hold, authorities said Tuesday.

Savannah Leckie, who was raised by her adoptive mother in Minnesota, was reported missing in late July from her home in Longrun, where she lived with her biological mother and the woman’s then-boyfriend. A forensic analysis was used to identify her remains, according to Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed.

Items taken during a search of the home and surrounding area included a meat grinder, a knife and 26 bottles of lye, which can be used to accelerate the breakdown of bodily tissue, according to a search warrant. Her remains were found in a field about 400 yards from the home on Aug. 4, the same day the woman and her boyfriend wed, according to investigators.

Reed said Tuesday that the investigation had “intensified” and that arrests were expected. The jail administrator in Ozark County said the biological mother was taken into custody Monday but not arrested. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning against the woman or her husband.

The public defender’s office in a nearby county was meeting with the woman. The office didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Savannah, who was described in affidavits for search warrants as having high-functioning autism, grew up with her adoptive mother, Tamile Leckie-Montague, in the Twin Cities.

According to the affidavit, Savannah’s biological mother told investigators she relinquished the girl for adoption when she was born and Savannah spent most of her life in Minnesota.

In November 2016, the adoptive mother asked the birth mother to take Savannah because the girl couldn’t get along with the woman’s new boyfriend. The birth mother agreed and was given power of attorney. After the girl moved back to Missouri, she was home schooled and had “almost no social contacts,” according to the affidavit.

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Associated Press writer Amy Forliti in Minneapolis contributed to this report from Minneapolis.