The last time 13-year-old Airen Andula was seen, he was riding his bike through his Kansas neighborhood on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 21.
Two days later, authorities say he was found dead in a secluded creek bed in Bates County, Missouri — about 30 miles from his home — according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in Kansas.
Now, Damon Leonard, 47, of Pleasanton, has been charged in Missouri with abandonment of a corpse in Bates County, according to online court records. Authorities in Bates County said he is also expected to face additional charges in Kansas, according to a probable cause statement obtained by the publication.
Andula disappeared that Sunday after biking to a neighbor’s house to feed their pets while the neighbors were away, KSHB reported. He was reported missing that evening after he didn’t return home to his parents in Holiday Lakes, according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday, Dec. 23 — while Kansas authorities were still searching — the Bates County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri responded to Leonard’s home after he allegedly called to report that he knew where the missing boy was and that the child was dead, according to the probable cause statement.
During an interview at his home, Leonard allegedly told deputies he had taken the deceased child from Kansas to a location in Bates County, the statement says. After deputies obtained a search warrant, they accompanied him to a remote area of rural Bates County, where he allegedly directed them to a large ravine leading down to a creek bed — the location where he said he left the boy’s body.
“Leonard admitted that he transported the deceased child from Kansas to Missouri and left the body at the bottom of the creek bed before traveling back to Kansas where he resides,” the probable cause statement alleges.
Authorities have not said how Andula died.
Andula’s parents have spoken publicly about their grief. The boy was reportedly found “in a brush pile, covered up,” and discarded “like trash,” his father, Charles Andula, told KSHB. “I just can’t imagine him laying there like that,” he said.
Calling her son’s disappearance and death “a big nightmare,” his mother, Anita Gunn, said, “It’s unbelievable and we’re still not wanting to believe it’s real, but we know it is,” according to KSHB.
On Tuesday, Dec. 23, Leonard pleaded not guilty in Bates County Circuit Court. He is being held at the Bates County jail in Missouri on a $100,000 bond pending extradition to Kansas. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2026.
It is not clear whether he has retained an attorney who can comment on his behalf.
