NOTGUILTY MO - Savannah Leckie, 16, found deceased, Theodosia, 18 July 2017 * mom arrested*

[Shelby1]

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/she...nd-mother-of-missing-theodosia-girl/787470193

A bit of the article:
Despite seizing a meat grinder, 26 bottles of lye, and the remains of a burned human corpse from her property, the Ozark County Sheriff says it’s just not the right time to call Rebecca Ruud for questioning.

Sheriff Darrin Reed told us he last contacted Ruud on Wednesday via text message and while he says she responded to that message, she was not present during the search of her property on Wednesday.

It was that search that led to the seizure of evidence including a meat grinder, the lye, a knife, a box of clothing, some amount of hair, and a collected 20 boxes of bone fragments and teeth.

 

[Raven_Belle]

So, this case prompted me to finally start a WS account. Long time reader (especially the 3MW case) from the Springfield, MO area. I have been following this case since it started coming across my FB timeline, as I have friends who are apparently mutual friends with RR and were commenting on some of her posts about how things were starting to look suspicious, etc. (I hope saying that is allowed?)

Anyway, I have a few thoughts. First, RR really doesn't have any way out of this. With the evidence that the body was burned multiple times on her property with the bones being smashed/ground in between burnings, they don't have any plausible defense for it not being them. They are either going to have to try for an insanity defense (which would be unlikely given the level of premeditation, more on that in a bit), or come up with some story that she had killed herself and they panicked because they were afraid they would be blamed. What is going to be tricky is that with only bone fragments left, there is going to be no way to determine CoD. If they can come up with a convincing story about her killing herself (or it being an accident) and a frantic-panicked body disposal, I would be surprised if a capital sentencing will happen. Think Casey Anthony.

So, about the premeditation. As many others have said, I am really curious when the last person OTHER than RR and boyfriend/now husband saw Savannah alive. It looks like RR went to great lengths to make this look like a legit runaway situation. Disposing of the pillow and blanket (so they would be "missing"), creating a "Savannah was wracked with guilt" story about the burns on RR's arms, and taking Savannah's laptop with the cleared history to the fire department were all clearly part of her plan. I am curious if maybe RR, herself, did some searches that would be related to a teenager's runaway plan on Savannah's computer, then deleted them, knowing that a LE tech would easily be able to recover a deleted browser history. Even if Savannah's murder, itself, wasn't planned in advance, you can tell that quite a bit of thought sure went into covering her tracks!

I'll be curious to see if any forensic evidence comes out of the house and trailer.

 

[momrids6]

I have yet to see or hear about a house. All articles state a camper, a dome, a shop, and outbuildings

 

[Raven_Belle]

I have yet to see or hear about a house. All articles state a camper, a dome, a shop, and outbuildings

Sorry, I said house, but I meant their main living area. I had read an article (I think it has already been discussed here) saying that savannah was staying in a little trailer house (like a pull behind trailer) and they were living in a converted metal building/shed type structure. Is that correct with how y'all have understood the living situation?

 

[Bravo]

:welcome: Raven_Belle

 

[momrids6]

No need to apologize at all- I was trying to figure out if all 3 were in that camper... smh

 

[Vox Nocturna]

Sorry, I said house, but I meant their main living area. I had read an article (I think it has already been discussed here) saying that savannah was staying in a little trailer house (like a pull behind trailer) and they were living in a converted metal building/shed type structure. Is that correct with how y'all have understood the living situation?

As I understand it there is a mobile home of some type (RR and RP living area) and the pull behind.

Now I wonder if you and I are FB friends or just have mutual friends. LOL

We take for granted how truly small the social media world is.. sadly, it is this type of thing that brings it home rather than the good stuff.

 

[Spellbound]

in my opinion, this certainly should be a death penalty case, except then they get never-ending appeals (I believe). almost would rather a life sentence of forever in a prison cell, away from everyone, and no way to ever, EVER get out.

Welcome, Raven_Belle, and thanks for adding your thoughts. Very good first post. Glad to have more "local" people join in.

 

[Spellbound]

They are now considering it a Capital case and building for a death penalty outcome.

https://www.facebook.com/ozarkcountytimes/photos/a.10151814488224381.1073741837.172460359380/10156110682339381/?type=3&theater

That is a very nicely written post by the Sheriff. He is correct in that we don't want anything to cause a problem when charges are brought. Get it right now ... even if we have to try to be patient a bit longer.

What a beautiful picture of Savannah with the goats .. just makes one want to cry. She seems to have had such mild autism. What a pretty young lady she had become

 

[SouthernCutie]

I just wanted to give a perspective about the adoption. I was adopted by paternal grandparents and as I hit puberty I really started having a hard time rebelling and etc. I really wanted to know where I came from who I was. So at 18 my adopted mother sent me to my bio mom in Miami it was a disaster but it was a chapter I had to deal with. I don't know why Savanna was sent to her bio mom's but she may have wanted to go. It's really hard when you have no grasp of where you come from to get grounded in life.
Moo

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[Henry2326]

So, this case prompted me to finally start a WS account. Long time reader (especially the 3MW case) from the Springfield, MO area. I have been following this case since it started coming across my FB timeline, as I have friends who are apparently mutual friends with RR and were commenting on some of her posts about how things were starting to look suspicious, etc. (I hope saying that is allowed?)

Anyway, I have a few thoughts. First, RR really doesn't have any way out of this.

WELCOME!!!! So glad to see you!
Good points....IMO, yeah, so many things can go wrong where she can get out of it. I'm not sure of the level of evidence available that ties someone to this horrible situation. Sounds like the sheriff is doing his due diligence. I hope sweet girls gets justice...

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[Jenjen37]

I am also from Missouri but live in Arkansas just across the border. I really think that sherieff Reed is doing everything he can so this will be a capital case. I have been following the Springfield 3 for years. I really hope one day the family will get the answers they deserve.

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[Henry2326]

I am also from Missouri but live in Arkansas just across the border. I really think that sherieff Reed is doing everything he can so this will be a capital case. I have been following the Springfield 3 for years. I really hope one day the family will get the answers they deserve.

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WELCOME!! Glad to see you!! [emoji2]

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[Jenjen37]

The "mom" lived in a metal building and Savannah lived in a travel trailer. No electricity except for a generator. No running water.

I have yet to see or hear about a house. All articles state a camper, a dome, a shop, and outbuildings

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[lawandorder]

Just read about this case. I have no words. So very sad...

I am the mother to a 14 year old daughter who is on the autism spectrum.

 

[Raven_Belle]

Sounds like the sheriff is doing his due diligence. I hope sweet girls gets justice...

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Yes, he seems do be doing a great job. I'm glad he is holding off to make sure he has all of his ducks in a row rather than making an arrest right away to satisfy the public.

I agree with others that this SHOULD be a capital case. I cannot even wrap my head around being able to do something like that to your dead child's body, even if the CoD had not been your fault (for the record, I do think RR or her new hubby is at fault-- I wouldn't buy any BS accident or suicide story for one second). But, given that sweet Savannah had been desperately miserable enough at one point in the not-too-far past that she had apparently engaged in self-harm, I'm afraid that they will be able to weasel their way out of it since forensics won't be able to definitely determine CoD and they have someone who has stated on record that there was a prior suicide attempt.

I'm not overly familiar with what RR's rights are as a named suspect but not yet arrested-- are there people watching the property to prevent them from running? I would just imagine that now that they have been publicly named as suspects, the sheriff has stated that he wants a capital case, and they basically know that they are screwed, the risk of them skipping out would be pretty high. Especially if they are familiar with off-grid living and being able to disappear!

 

[Vox Nocturna]

They aren't on the property at this point. On Thurs or Friday Sheriff Reed said he knew where they are but aside from asking them to voluntarily come in for a conversation they are waiting on confirmation.

 

[Jenjen37]

They have apparently went into "hiding"

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[1&2&3]

I have only read through half of the pages but wanted to say a few things. I would have suspected the mother with her actions after Savannah went missing. If Rebecca had been burned, why didn't the people searching look for burn piles? I don't see how this could have been missed. There were so many different things said about Savannah's father, he was dead, she was going to see him. This poor girl, I wish she had never gone to her bio moms. May she RIP

Thank you for confirming what I knew I'd read in the beginning of this case. First the fact that Savannah's father was dead. Then a few pages back reading she didn't get along with her Mother's boyfriend, made me stop and wonder how long father had been deceased. Something just did not sound right.

You are so right about bio mom's burns and why LE didn't check the burn pile much earlier. Guess they did not want to jump to the conclusion that something nefarious had occurred. However, the majority of us didn't buy bio mom's story on what had happened from the first day.

To me, it feels like we have been slowly spoon fed information on this case. It's obvious Savannah's life at the farm was pure he$$! IMO, she probably had been threatened to not mention a word to her adoptive parents about her treatment. Poor girl! RIP

 

[Gardener1850]

Thank you for confirming what I knew I'd read in the beginning of this case. First the fact that Savannah's father was dead. Then a few pages back reading she didn't get along with her Mother's boyfriend, made me stop and wonder how long father had been deceased. Something just did not sound right.

You are so right about bio mom's burns and why LE didn't check the burn pile much earlier. Guess they did not want to jump to the conclusion that something nefarious had occurred. However, the majority of us didn't buy bio mom's story on what had happened from the first day.

To me, it feels like we have been slowly spoon fed information on this case. It's obvious Savannah's life at the farm was pure he$$! IMO, she probably had been threatened to not mention a word to her adoptive parents about her treatment. Poor girl! RIP

BBM. The burn piles where they found the remains were covered with cedar tree branches and leaves to hide them. LE only found the burn piles because of dogs alerting there.