The search for a missing elderly Missouri couple has ended in tragedy after two bodies were discovered on a nearby property.
Leo Lindeman, 73, and his wife, Katherine Lindeman, 74, were last seen on September 15 and are believed to have disappeared the following day, according to the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office.
The couple lived with their small white dog, Itty Bitty, at a rural home near Anderson, a small city in the foothills of southwestern Missouri’s Ozarks.
Itty Bitty disappeared at the same time as the Lindemans. The couple was officially reported missing on September 24, although authorities have not disclosed who filed the report.
For more than a month, authorities searched the surrounding area for clues and returned to the Lindemans’ home several times.
The couple’s bodies were discovered Sunday on a neighbor’s property, roughly 400 to 500 yards from their home, McDonald County Sheriff Rob Evenson told KNWA. He said the couple’s poodle has still not been found.
Numerous deputies and detectives were later seen gathering at a private property on Beehive Lane, according to KOAM.
Authorities have not said how the couple died, and the circumstances remain under investigation.
Bodies were found on Sunday in the search for Missouri couple Leo Lindeman, 73, and Katherine Lindeman, 74, who were last seen on September 15. Image source: Facebook/@Katherine Lindeman
The husband and wife were known as ‘private people,’ so it was not strange that their neighbors hadn’t heard from them for a while, the sheriff previously said. Images source: Facebook/@Katherine Lindeman
The couple’s little white dog, Itty Bitty, remains missing. Image source: Facebook/@Katherine Lindeman
Evenson previously told KNWA that the Lindemans were known as ‘private people,’ making it less unusual that neighbors had not heard from them for some time.
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‘We’ve got a bit of a mystery,’ he added.
The sheriff said his office secured a search warrant for the Lindemans’ home several days after they were reported missing.
Investigators dusted the residence for fingerprints and collected electronics along with trace evidence that could aid the case as the investigation progresses, Evenson told KNWA.
Authorities also searched the area surrounding the home and nearby properties, he said.
Leo’s niece, LaShawnda Lindeman, said in a Facebook post in September that police and relatives had spent days searching the area around the house.
She said relatives first visited the property with a private drone operator, who surveyed the area from above. A search-and-rescue team with a dog then joined the effort and continued searching for several hours.
Additional family members returned the next day and worked alongside the sheriff’s office and another company. The expanded search involved two more drones, three additional search dogs and a large team of people.
Authorities spent more than a month searching the area for signs of the couple and returned to their home several times (pictured). Image source: Facebook/@Katherine Lindeman
‘Together, approximately 15 acres of property were extensively searched. Unfortunately, we did not find Leo, Katherine, or anything that gave us answers as to where they may be,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Evenson told KODE12 that the investigation was ongoing, as he lamented a ‘frustrating’ lack of evidence or leads thus far.
‘We’d like to have some leads, some solid leads, that will get us moving in the right direction, and I’m hopeful that will happen,’ he said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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