Authorities say the 13-year-old’s body was left in a remote creek bed after an overnight search.
PLEASANTON, KS — A Kansas man has been charged after investigators say he moved the body of a missing 13-year-old boy from a lakeside neighborhood in eastern Kansas to a remote ravine in western Missouri, where the child was found dead.
The charge filed so far is abandonment of a corpse in Bates County, Missouri, but investigators in Kansas said additional charges are expected as they work to determine how the boy died. The case has drawn heavy attention because the child’s family has said he was killed in a dog attack, while law enforcement has not publicly confirmed the cause of death.
Airen Andula, 13, was last seen the morning of Sunday, Dec. 21, in the Holiday Lakes community in Linn County, Kansas, authorities said. Deputies received a missing-person report at about 6:20 p.m. after Airen did not come home. Search teams from multiple agencies worked into the night through wooded areas, near water, around homes and outbuildings, then paused at about 2 a.m. before resuming the next morning, officials said. By Monday, the search turned into a recovery effort after authorities received information from another agency that led them across the state line.
Investigators say the key break came when Damon Leonard, 47, of Pleasanton, Kansas, contacted the Bates County Sheriff’s Office and told deputies he knew the child was dead and knew where the body was. In court documents summarized by investigators and news reports, deputies said Leonard described taking the boy’s body from Kansas into Missouri and leaving it in a rural part of Bates County in a creek bed at the bottom of a large ravine. Deputies later recovered the body, the documents said. Leonard was arrested and charged with felony abandonment of a corpse, and a judge set a $100,000 cash-only bond, authorities said.
Officials have released few details about what happened before the body was moved, and they have not publicly described the child’s injuries or identified a cause of death. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies involved in the search said the death investigation is ongoing and that further charges are anticipated in Kansas. The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department has been asked to lead the investigation, with help from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s crime scene response team, after authorities cited a conflict of interest for local agencies. A medical examination by a coroner’s office is expected to play a central role in determining the cause and manner of death.
The boy’s family and some local reports have described a possible dog attack, adding another layer of scrutiny as investigators sort out what is confirmed and what remains unverified. Airen’s parents have said he disappeared after riding his bike to help with a neighbor’s pets while the neighbor was away. In interviews with local media, relatives said investigators told them the child had been attacked by animals, and the family has said the boy was killed by dogs. Law enforcement, however, has not confirmed those statements publicly, and investigators have said only that the child was found dead and that the suspect is accused of moving the body.
In Kansas, Airen’s disappearance set off a fast-moving response in a small community as volunteers and first responders searched rough terrain in winter conditions. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said agencies that assisted included Pleasanton police, rural fire crews, the Kansas Highway Patrol, and sheriff’s offices and responders from neighboring counties in Kansas and Missouri. The search spanned woods and waterways and continued into early Monday before crews resumed later that morning. By the time authorities confirmed the body had been found, the case had shifted from a missing-child search to a multijurisdictional death investigation.
At the center of the case is the allegation that the boy’s body was transported after his death. In the court account described by investigators, deputies said Leonard led them to the location in Missouri after contacting authorities himself. Reports based on those court documents said the body was recovered in a creek bed down a steep ravine, about a half-hour drive from the child’s home. Investigators have not said why the body was moved, whether anyone else was involved, or whether there were delays in reporting the child’s condition to emergency responders. Those unanswered questions are expected to shape any additional charges prosecutors may pursue in Kansas or Missouri.
Airen’s parents, Charles Andula and Anita Gunn, have described their son as kind and eager to help. In interviews, they said they are struggling to understand how he ended up across state lines and what happened in the hours after he left home on his bike. They also praised the community members and law enforcement officers who searched, saying the support has been overwhelming at a time of shock and grief. A superintendent in the Pleasanton school district confirmed Airen was a student and said the district arranged counseling and support services for students and staff.
Leonard’s next scheduled court appearance in Bates County is Jan. 15, 2026, according to court information cited in news reports. Investigators have said they expect more charges in Kansas as evidence is reviewed and medical findings are completed. For now, the public record reflects one felony count tied to the handling of the body, while the central question—how the 13-year-old died—remains under investigation.
Author note: Last updated Dec. 24, 2025.