Man pleads guilty to 2025 death of 13-year-old Missouri boy
By KSHB News Staff
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KSHB) — A Linn County, Kansas, man pleaded guilty on Friday, May 22, to abandoning the body of a 13-year-old boy who died from multiple dog bite injuries in December 2025.
Damon Leonard is charged in Bates County with abandonment of a corpse.
Linn County Sheriff’s Office deputies asked for the public’s help in locating Airen Andula, who disappeared on Sunday, Dec. 21, from his home in Pleasanton, Kansas.
A day later, police recovered the boy’s body in a ravine just across the state line in Bates County, Missouri.
Authorities were led to Andula’s body after receiving a call from Leonard, who told them he knew where Andula was located and that the child was deceased.
Exactly one week after Andula’s body was found, Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department detectives filed new charges against Leonard, including interference of law enforcement, criminal desecration and having a vicious dog at large.
A KCKPD spokesperson said several dogs were seized from Leonard’s property in Linn County.
KCKPD was asked to lead the investigation by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
Leonard is set to be sentenced on May 29 in Bates County District Court at 3 p.m.
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