A woman in Missouri has been charged with murder in the death of her 16-year-old biological, autistic daughter after the teenager’s remains were found near their home.
The New York Daily News reports Rebecca Ruud, 39, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of her daughter, Savannah Leckie, who was reported missing in July.
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Authorities state Ruud had given Savannah up for adoption as a baby, with the girl spending most of her life with her adopted parents. However, the couple kept in touch with Ruud over the years, with Tamile Montague asking the biological mother last November to take the high-functioning autistic teenager as she couldn’t get along with her fiancรฉ, Cary Steeves.
An affidavit states that Ruud agreed and was granted power of attorney in 2016. But after the girl moved to Missouri, she was home-schooled and had “almost no social contacts.”
According to a probable cause statement, Ruud reported on July 18 that there had been a fire at her home. When authorities arrived, Ruud said she and her 16-year-old daughter, Savannah, had been injured, showing authorities to a fire on a hilltop near her property.
But while she showed them the burns on her arm, she would not let them see Savannah or near the home. At one point, reports allege she told officers the teenager was “fine” and “taking a shower.”
According to court documents, authorities never saw Savannah on the day the fire was reported. Two days later, Ruud called police again, this time informing them that her daughter had run away, telling police that the teenager was “blaming herself for the fire.”
In an extensive search on the grounds of Ruud’s property, investigators found burned human remains in a pit. Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed said a forensic analysis identified the remains, including bone fragments, intact human finger bones, teeth and vertebrae as Savannah’s.
Further reports stated investigators found a meat grinder, knife and 26 bottles of lye, a chemical that easily breaks down bodily tissue in Ruud’s possession. Savannah’s adoptive mother, Montague tells investigators that the biological mother often “complained about Savannah” and how much “time and money it took” to care for the autistic teenager.
Investigations into the teenager’s disappearance state Savannah was subjected to “repeated abuse from her biological mother,” along with Ruud’s ex-boyfriend, Buddy Smart, telling authorities she had forced Savannah to crawl through a hog pen and bathe in a pond, in addition to abuse of self-inflicted cuts on the teen’s arm that were subsequently rubbed with alcohol and salt as a form of discipline.
Ruud is being held at the Ozark County Jail without bond. Sheriff Reed said that charges would be filed against “any individual that was involved in aiding or tampering” with the investigation.
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