A Tennessee deputy and woman he had arrested mysteriously went missing for 24 hours. They sadly recovered his squad car from the Tennessee River on Thursday. It was one of the first solo arrests he had ever made.
Rookie Deputy R.J. Leonard responded to an incident of a disturbance on a highway bridge around 9:48 p.m. on Wednesday night.
Dispatch had him en route to Meigs County jail 3 minutes later with a female suspect.
It was only moments later that dispatch received a strange message they didn't understand. It has since been determined by authorities Deputy Leonard was saying "water".
At the same time Deputy Leonard sent a one word message to his wife "arrest". His wife texted back, "that's great," however the message was not received by his phone.
After that, Deputy Leonard never showed up at the Meigs County jail or responded to status requests initiating a search for him and his unidentied suspect. Leonard had only been on the job for 2 months and since this was one of his first solo arrests, concerns were high.
Nearly 24 hours after last contact Deputy Leonard's cruiser was pulled from a landing on the Tennessee River near where the disturbance was called in.
Sadly the deceased suspect he had arrested was in the backseat. His cruiser was reportedly found upside down with the driver's window rolled down and filled with mud. They found the body of Deputy Leonard hours later.
Our thoughts are with the families of both Deputy Leonard and the unidentified female suspect as well as the entire Meigs County Sheriff's office.
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