photo by: Rochelle Valverde

Alberta Leach is pictured at her home in Linwood on April 21, 2022. A photo of her son Randy, who has been missing since 1988, and two envelopes containing petition signatures are in the foreground. Leach is asking that a cold case task force be established to investigate the case.

After digging up supposed hidden graves, searching country ponds with cadaver dogs, and even attempts at scouring the Kansas River, family and friends still haven’t found Randy Leach.

Randy’s mother, Alberta Leach, says for more than 30 years she and her husband looked into any leads or stories that came their way, even following the tips of psychics. Still there was no trace of Randy or the car he was driving the night he disappeared from a party at the age of 17. Alberta laments that her husband, Harold, who died last year, never learned what happened to their only son.

“Over half of our life we were searching,” Alberta said.

Alberta, 79, is renewing pleas for a cold case task force to complete an investigation into Randy’s disappearance. On April 28, Alberta and other supporters will hold a rally at the Statehouse in Topeka before delivering petitions with more than 24,000 signatures total — gathered in person and online over the years — and asking Gov. Laura Kelly to meet with Alberta to discuss the establishment of a cold case task force.

Randy was last seen in the early morning hours of April 16, 1988, at a party in Leavenworth County only about 5 miles from his family’s home in the small town of Linwood. His mother still lives in the house, and past its white rail fence, friendly lettering on the garage declares it the home of Harold, Alberta and Randy. In the living room, Randy’s senior photo is displayed in a frame, as is one of the age-progressed portraits created of Randy after he disappeared.

photo by: contributed

Randy Leach is pictured with his mother, Alberta Leach, in this family photo.

No one reported seeing Randy or the car he was driving that night, his mother’s 1985 gray Dodge 600, leave the party. The Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation have investigated the case. Weeks, years, and then decades went by, and still his parents hoped, urged investigators to do more, and later, fought for access to investigation records. They hired their own private detectives, continued to follow tips, and ultimately searched for his remains.

This month marks the 34-year anniversary of Randy’s disappearance, and Alberta said she just wants to know where her son is. As recently as two weeks ago, Alberta said that she and family friends who have been supporting her in the search had people with cadaver dogs spend five days checking ponds in the area where Randy disappeared. Other recent efforts have included using radar or divers to search ponds, creeks and the Kansas River for the missing car. She said in the past her husband would even take a shovel and go out and dig if there was a story of a grave.

“We just want to know where he is,” Alberta said. “Of course that would probably lead to a lot of other things, but our main concern is finding Randy.”

…

Initially, theories in the case abounded — including rumors of satanic cults, death by hanging in a cave, and ties to criminal drug activity — but no one was ever arrested in connection with Randy’s disappearance, as the Journal-World has reported. For years the KBI held the position that Randy had been the victim of foul play. Court records obtained by the Journal-World in 2014 indicated a man suspected of killing two people not far from Randy’s home in 1990 — and reportedly stuffing their bodies in metal barrels that were thrown into the Missouri River and never found — was once a suspect in Randy’s case. However, in 2018, a retired KBI special agent told The Kansas City Star he suspected Randy had driven off a bridge into a creek on his way home.

To this day, a notice on the KBI’s website about Randy’s case states “the investigation to date has produced sufficient information to believe that Leach has been the victim of foul play.” However, when asked about that statement this past week, KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood said that the reward flyer that statement came from was years old, and that the KBI would be making a new flyer that didn’t include that statement.

“When the Governor’s reward was announced foul play was one of several working theories to explain Leach’s disappearance,” Underwood said in an email to the Journal-World. “The case has evolved a great deal since then but we still don’t have definitive answers.”

The Journal-World asked whether there was any active investigation at this time, and Underwood said that the case remains open at the KBI. She said the KBI has partnered with the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office on the case, but over the years the sheriff’s office has maintained control of its investigation. She said “extensive investigative work” has been completed, and new agents have been assigned periodically to review the case.

“This has resulted in certain interviews being repeated, and alternative theories being explored,” Underwood said. “Even in the last several years new locations have been searched with the hope of providing answers to Randy’s family.”

Underwood said that no new, credible information currently exists that has not been fully investigated. She said if new information comes in, the KBI or the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office will follow those leads until they are exhausted. When asked about the status of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said the agency continues to consider the investigation open and active and asked anyone with information regarding the case to contact the office at (913) 682-5724.

…

For her part, Alberta said she still believes her son was the victim of foul play. She said she feels like something happened at the party, and that potentially drug activity was involved. For years, Alberta and her husband contended that law enforcement failed to adequately investigate the case and share information with them, and they took legal action to try to get the investigation records released. A judge ultimately ruled in 2018 that the records should remain sealed.

Harold Leach died in January 2021, a month after he and Alberta celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Alberta said the death was sudden, the result of a heart attack, so her husband didn’t have a chance to share any last message with her about the search for their son before he died. But as he got older, Alberta said her husband’s main concern had been that he would die before they found out what happened to Randy, and he didn’t want to leave it on her.

“I just hope he’s at rest,” Alberta said. She said both she and her husband were frustrated with how Leavenworth County initially handled the case, and they only got more frustrated as it went along.

But Alberta said that following Harold’s death, family and friends, including Betty Wilson and others in her family, have continued to support her. Wilson has helped manage the family’s online organizing efforts, respond to those who reach out to help, and coordinate recent search efforts. Wilson noted that an online petition asking for the establishment of a cold case task force that has been circulating in recent years now has close to 13,000 signatures, and new people sign every day. Those names are in addition to 12,000 signatures previously collected in person to increase efforts in the case.

photo by: contributed

Betty Wilson is pictured with Alberta Leach.

The printed-off pages of signatures fill two thick envelopes that rest on Alberta’s kitchen table along with a flyer for the upcoming rally. Alberta plans to deliver the petitions to the Statehouse and request a meeting with Kelly.

Alberta said everyone ought to be concerned as to whether those paid to investigate have done their jobs adequately, and she thinks a separate investigation with fresh eyes might finally help determine what happened to her son.

“I don’t know any more today than I knew 34 years ago, other than a lot of stories,” Alberta said.

The Journal-World reached out to the governor’s office on Friday morning asking whether Kelly was open to meeting with Alberta about the issue, but did not immediately receive a response.

The rally, “Help Find Randy,” will take place at noon April 28 on the south side of the Statehouse in Topeka. More information is available on the Facebook page “In Search of Randy Leach.”