Kansas authorities have confirmed the cause of death for a 13-year-old boy who was found dead days after he went missing.
Airen Andula, of Pleasonton, Kan., died from “multiple dog bite injuries,” according to an autopsy conducted by the Wyandotte County Coroner’s Office. The findings were announced Monday, Jan. 5, in a press release from the Kansas City Police Department.
Andula was last seen in his neighborhood on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 21. Two days later, his body was discovered in a remote creek bed in Bates County, Mo., roughly 30 miles from his home, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in Kansas previously said.
At the time of his disappearance, the boy had been riding his bike to a neighbor’s home to feed their pets while the family was away, KSHB reported. When he failed to return home that evening, he was reported missing, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities have since charged Damon Leonard, 47, of Pleasanton, in connection with Andula’s death in both Kansas and Missouri.
In Linn County, Kan., Leonard faces charges of interference with law enforcement, criminal desecration, and having a vicious dog at large. He is also being held in Bates County, Mo., on a $100,000 cash-only bond on a charge of abandonment of a corpse related to the case. Leonard pleaded not guilty to the Missouri charge on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
It is unclear whether he has entered a plea to the Kansas charges or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Leonard allegedly contacted the Bates County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri on Tuesday, Dec. 23, claiming he knew the whereabouts of the missing boy and stating that the child was dead.
Authorities allege that Leonard admitted to transporting the boy’s body from Kansas to Missouri and leaving it at the bottom of the creek bed before returning to Kansas.
Andula’s mother, Anita Gunn, described the loss as overwhelming.
“It’s unbelievable and we’re still not wanting to believe it’s real, but we know it is,” she said, according to KSHB.
