The body of a deputy who disappeared after making an arrest has been recovered, authorities said Thursday night.

The body of a deputy who disappeared after making an arrest has been recovered, authorities said Thursday night.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee confirmed in a Facebook post that following a search with the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, the body of Deputy Robert “R.J.” Leonard had been found hours after his vehicle was located in a river.

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Authorities had been searching for the deputy after he failed to respond to a status check after taking a woman into custody around 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday, officials previously said.

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Multiple agencies will investigate how the vehicle ended up in the water. However, Johnson noted that the deputy, a native of New York, appeared to be texting and radioing while driving in a poorly lit area he was unfamiliar with.

  • jonne
    40·
    9 months ago

    That’s what I’m inferring as well, and it’s really fucked that there’s no mention at all of the woman who presumably died as well, probably handcuffed in the backseat with even less of a hope to survive.

    Edit:

    Authorities are working to confirm the identity of a female recovered from the backseat, though they believe it to be the arrestee, according to Meigs County District Attorney Russell Johnson.

    That’s like 6 paragraphs in, no mention of her in the headline or introduction.