A Kansas teenager reported missing Sunday was found dead two days later in a wooded area across the state line, and a neighbor is charged in Missouri with abandoning a corpse, officials said. Investigators identified the boy as 13-year-old Airen Andula, last seen Dec. 21 riding his bicycle in the Holiday Lakes neighborhood of Linn County. On Dec. 23, a 47-year-old Pleasanton man phoned deputies and said he knew the location of the child’s body; he then directed authorities to a secluded creek bed in Bates County, Mo., where the remains were recovered.
Investigators on both sides of the line say the case is now a joint homicide investigation with immediate legal and forensic steps underway. The man, identified by court records as Damon Leonard, faces a Missouri charge of abandonment of a corpse and is being held on a $100,000 bond while additional counts are considered. Agencies including the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Bates County Sheriff’s Office are reconstructing the boy’s final hours, tracing movements between Pleasanton and rural Bates County, and awaiting preliminary autopsy findings. The discovery capped a two-day search that began when Airen failed to return home from what relatives described as a routine favor for neighbors.
Authorities said Airen was reported missing Sunday evening after he was last seen riding away from home in Holiday Lakes, a lakeside subdivision south of Pleasanton. Deputies and volunteers searched through the night, combing wooded tracts, ponds and culverts. Early Monday, the search widened as additional crews worked shorelines and drainage paths. By Tuesday, detectives were canvassing the neighborhood when a man contacted the Bates County Sheriff’s Office and allegedly admitted he knew the child was dead and where to find him. Deputies met with the caller, identified him as Leonard and traveled to a remote spot where they located a body under a brush pile near a creek bed. The remains were recovered and taken for examination. “We moved from rescue to recovery in a moment,” a Kansas official said. “The priority became preserving the scene and securing the person who made the call.”
Charging documents in Missouri allege Leonard transported the boy’s body from Kansas into Bates County and left it in a sparsely traveled area. Investigators have not publicly released a cause or manner of death; those determinations fall to the medical examiner after autopsy and lab testing. The Missouri complaint lists abandonment of a corpse as the initial count while detectives sort out events in Linn County that could bring additional charges in Kansas. Officials said Leonard is held at the Bates County jail pending extradition-related decisions and a first court appearance in mid-January. Records did not immediately list an attorney for him. Authorities have not announced any other arrests.
Airen’s disappearance jolted a quiet corner of Linn County where families know each other and teens ride bikes between homes. Neighbors described Holiday Lakes as a patchwork of gravel streets, small houses and heavy tree cover that complicates searches after dark. During the first hours of the response, deputies used ATVs and thermal cameras in low-lying areas, residents said. By Monday afternoon, volunteers had begun placing ribbons and notes near the subdivision entrance. After the recovery, relatives shared photos of the seventh grader and described him as helpful and easygoing. “He was doing something kind and never made it back,” a family friend said outside a convenience store where neighbors gathered for updates.
Cross-border investigations in the Kansas–Missouri region often require careful sequencing of evidence and overlapping jurisdictional authority. Detectives will align 911 call logs, body-worn camera video and timestamps from both sheriff’s offices, then map travel paths using license-plate readers, business cameras and cell-site data where available. If investigators determine crimes occurred in both states, prosecutors can coordinate on which venue proceeds first and whether a grand jury is convened. Forensic priorities include cause and manner of death, time-of-death estimates, and any trace or digital evidence that ties movements to known routes between Pleasanton and the rural area of Bates County where the body was found.
Officials emphasized what they do not yet know. They have not said how Airen died, whether a weapon was used, or what prompted the alleged transport across the line. Investigators have not disclosed whether the boy and Leonard were together after the last verified sighting on Dec. 21, or if any cameras captured them in the same location. Detectives are reviewing whether the teen’s bicycle was recovered and, if so, where. They are also checking prior calls for service involving either household and interviewing anyone who saw Airen on Sunday. The community has asked about a potential motive; authorities say that remains under investigation.
Holiday week timing has shaped the immediate court schedule. Leonard’s Missouri charge carries a $100,000 bond set in Bates County, with a first court date expected Jan. 15. Kansas authorities said their part of the investigation includes potential filings tied to any conduct that occurred in Linn County before the body was taken to Missouri. If additional counts are brought, prosecutors will coordinate appearances so witnesses and evidence can be presented without duplication. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s role includes laboratory testing, digital forensics and database checks for ballistic or trace matches if relevant items are recovered.
Scenes at both locations contrasted sharply Tuesday: a taped-off gravel pullout near a creek in rural Bates County where evidence markers dotted the brush line, and a cluster of patrol vehicles in Holiday Lakes where deputies went door to door. In Pleasanton, neighbors left flowers near a neighborhood sign. “It’s unimaginable,” said a man who joined the Sunday night search and later learned of the discovery in Missouri. “People were out with flashlights and ATVs. We were hoping for a different ending.” A family representative thanked volunteers and asked for privacy as relatives met with investigators and made arrangements.
The joint investigation will continue through the holiday week. Detectives plan additional interviews, evidence searches along travel corridors and follow-up requests to businesses for camera footage that might fill gaps in the Sunday-to-Tuesday timeline. Authorities said they will release updates when the preliminary autopsy is complete and when any new charges are filed in either jurisdiction. Until then, the official file will expand with lab reports, transcripts of interviews and the full 911 call that shifted the search from Kansas to a secluded spot in Missouri.
As of Wednesday, Leonard remained jailed in Bates County on the abandonment charge. Airen’s cause and manner of death had not been released. The next expected milestone is a preliminary court appearance in mid-January and the medical examiner’s early findings, which investigators said will guide the charging path going forward.
Author note: Last updated December 25, 2025.