Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos

Randy Wayne Leach





Randy, date, approximate 1988; Age-progression to age 51 (date, approximate 2021)
Date Missing 04/15/1988
Missing From
Linwood, Kansas
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/25/1970 (52)
Age 17 years old
Height and Weight 6'3, 220 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue pocket t-shirt, blue Levi's jeans, white low-cut sneakers and white socks.
Associated Vehicle(s) Gray four-door 1985 Dodge sedan with the Kansas plate number LVJ8721
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Randy has a mole on his left ear.
Details of Disappearance Randy was a senior at Linwood High School in 1988. He left his home at 6:30 p.m. to attend a friend's pre-graduation party in a rural area five miles east of her residence on April 15, 1988.
Before arriving at the party, he stopped at Stout's Convenience Store and purchased some candy, soda pop, and gasoline. Then he talked to some friends, then went to De Soto to check on the car he was restoring.
As a result of these errands, Randy did not arrive at the party until between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. He was driving his mother's gray four-door 1985 Dodge sedan with the Kansas plate number LVJ8721, and carried about $50 or $60 in cash.
There were between 70 and 150 guests at the party and there was considerable drug and alcohol use by the mostly teenaged guests. Witnesses reported Randy was acting drunk, but it's unclear whether he actually consumed any alcohol and he told a friend he didn't know what was wrong.
He may have left the party between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m., but some witnesses reported seeing him there as late as 2:15, and no one actually saw him leave. Randy never returned home and has not been heard from again.
Randy was reported missing by his parents on April 16. He had a 12:30 a.m. curfew at the time he vanished, and usually honored it.
His parents slept undisturbed through the night and did not realize their son hadn't come home until they woke up at 6:00 a.m. They first thought he had been in a car accident and called one of his friends, who said she hadn't heard from him.
Randy's parents then contacted police. Investigators went to the site of the party Randy had attended, but it had already been cleaned up and there was no evidence to be found.
Authorities do not believe Randy left of his own accord, since he left behind the 1966 Dodge Mustang he was restoring and his friends and family say he had no plans to leave home. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do after graduating high school, but he was thinking of enrolling in trade school.
His father describes him as an entrepreneur and a hard worker. He was an excellent student and enjoyed outdoor pursuits, particularly fishing, in 1988. Randy's parents still live in his old house and are hopeful that they will someday get the answers as to his fate.
The house where the party was held was destroyed by a fire shortly after Randy's disappearance. Rumors circulated that Randy was abducted and killed by a Satanic cult that was supposedly active in the Linwood area.
Later in 1988, a man told police that he had been kidnapped by the cult and held in a cave for two weeks, and had seen a corpse there that might have been Randy's. Police searched the cave and found no indications that a crime had been committed there; they decided that the man had hallucinated the experience while under the influence of drugs.
Three men were arrested in the early 1993 on suspicion of Randy's kidnapping and murder, but they were released without charge several days later and investigators admitted they'd been mistaken about the men's involvement in Randy's .
An adult acquaintance of Randy's, one of the last people to see him, found a severed foot on the banks of the Kansas River in March 1989. The foot was not Randy's. Randy's parents say the man drove past their house, going only about 10 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone, on the morning they discovered Randy's disappearance.
The individual has since died and it is not known if he had anything to do with Randy's disappearance. A few other people who attended the party that night are now also deceased.
Some reports state that Randy left the party at 6:30 p.m.; in fact, that was when he left home to go to the party. He was declared ly dead in 2001.
In 2006, his disappearance received additional publicity when a University of Kansas graduate student wrote a play about his , entitled Leaves of Words. It was performed in Lawrence, Kansas. Randy's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office
800-572-7463
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
NamUs
Bonner Springs Chieftain
The Doe Network
The Lawrence Journal-World
Rewards TV
Facebook Page for Randy Leach

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos