Randy Wayne Leach

By Harold and Alberta Leach

Randy had always been a very happy go lucky, all-American, clean-cut and normal boy—always willing to go along with the times.

Randy was 11-years old when he started helping his mother with a cleaning job—cleaning Lacy Steel Company in Lawrence, Kansas. They were cleaning ten offices, the employee lunchroom and restrooms every Wednesday and one time on the weekend at our convenience. He only missed helping if he had basketball or track practice, or was sick with a cold. He was very helpful and cooperative in all phases of this operation.

Randy, being an only child, wasn’t selfish or self-centered—always willing to help others and do what he could. He did a lot of odd jobs for neighbors, friends and family—mowed grass with his us. He helped until 1987 when he mowed on his own, and kept the yard looking nice and trimmed.

Randy never acted like he cared for school, but his grades didn’t show it. He was always an honor student, or honorable mention as a B-student. He never had to study much to keep up.

His senior year could have been finished with an early out in January, but we talked to him and he decided to enjoy his last semester of the senior year.

He had plans to mow grass the next summer and help around the home doing odd jobs and possibly going to a trade school of some kind. He made no long-ranged plans, just wanting to enjoy the summer.

He was looking forward to getting his dream, a ’66 Mustang that was a graduation gift from us. The car was at the body shop being painted when Randy disappeared. It was then going to a Mustang shop where all of the interior would be restored. Randy and his dad had spent a couple of weeks checking and calling all body and Mustang shops for where and when to get the best jobs.

The day before Randy disappeared, Randy and his dad had purchased a brand new John Deere lawn tractor to do Randy’s summer jobs. Randy took the new mower and mowed four and a half hours on a contracted job in the afternoon. He came home then and mowed the family’s front lawn. He brought the tractor to the garage and cleaned it all up, making it look just like new. He then came into the house, showered, and got ready for the evening.

Randy had a girlfriend until February of 1988. They dated steadily for about a year. They were both seniors. They usually went out on a Friday or Saturday evening to see a movie or go bowling. She had babysitting jobs. Sometimes Randy would go there during the evening. She showed horses. He would help her get her horses ready and loaded, and would sometimes go with her and her parents to the horse shows.

She was adopted and had problems from her childhood that bothered her. It caused stress in her relationship with Randy. He came home on December 1, 1987 very upset. He had hit the windshield of the family car with his fist and broke it. He told us about his girlfriend's problems. He wanted her to go to counseling. We agreed to go with them and help in any way that we could. After finals, she told him that she could work on her problems on her own and would not go for counseling. Randy told her that they should go their own separate ways and start seeing others.

We knew that Randy cared for het, but he went about his way going out on weekends with a cousin, going to movies, bowling, or just cruising and girl-watching. We went down to our small town and sat on the main street with a bunch of kids listening to music and talking.

There was a time when Randy told a younger cousin about being downtown while the group passed a joint around. He told his cousin he stomped it out on the ground. There were a couple of times when Randy came home and he had been drinking. We talked to him about drinking, driving and insurance.

Randy went out for basketball and track. He wasn’t on the first team in basketball. He didn’t get to play very much, but was at all practice sessions. He got discouraged as his coach usually played his seven main players. Randy quit the team with only three games remaining in the season. He didn’t feel like he had contributed very much. We went to all of the games and felt pretty much the same as Randy did. The coach wasn’t out for the team effort, only to win.

Randy went out for track and had the same coach as he had in basketball, but was determined to break the school record for the shot put, that had been held since 1958. On his first track meet of the 1988 season, he got a gold medal on April 5th for the shot put. He needed one foot and one inch to break the old record. It was a standing record because 1988 was the last year for Linwood High School. The next school year, Linwood students would be bussed to Basehor High School, and it would then be called Basehor/Linwood High School. Randy disappeared and didn’t attend any more meets.

Randy was always a family-oriented kid who always went to family gatherings, including weddings and reunions. He would go out with us to do grocery shopping or out to eat. He always blended within any age group. He was always joking and laughing with aunts, uncles and friends. He seldom missed kissing us good night. If the grandmothers were here, they were given a hug and kiss goodbye. If a lot of people were here, Dad always got a touch or a hug. If Randy came into a room full of people, he made sure that he greeted them, rather than just blending into the woodwork.

Randy got ready to go out on April 15, 1988. Dad asked him if he had enough money. He said that he had enough, but if he dropped by Wal-Mart or K-Mart, he would like to get a bottle of water glass wax to put on his new tractor to hold the paint. The cost was around $15. Dad gave him a twenty. That gave Randy approximately $50 to $60. He left in our family car, a gray 1985 Dodge 600, four-door sedan with license plate number LVJ 8721. The time was approximately 6:45 p.m. He eventually went to Linwood and rode around town with Steve Daughtery. Steve bought a six-pack of beer and later said that Randy wouldn’t have any. They drove to DeSoto at about 8:30 p.m. They went to the body shop where Randy’s Mustang was being restored. Randy took Steve to show off his car. The man at the body shop said that they were drinking beer and offered some to Randy, but Randy turned it down again.

By 9:30, they were back in Linwood, where Randy dropped off Steve. Randy went to Stout’s Corner, a convenience store. Four or five people reported having talked to Randy there. They all said he was joking and acting his normal way. He bought two candy bars, two Pepsis, and $3 worth of gas. He had a habit of putting back into the vehicle the gas that he thought he would use in an evening. We didn’t think he had any plans of going far. The car had three-quarters of a tank when he left home.

Randy went to the party between 9:45 and 10:00. A cousin and others said he could hardly walk. His cousin couldn’t smell alcohol and didn’t think Randy was drunk. There was a story going around that someone put a drug called Thorazine in Randy’s drink at the party. He guy presumed to do this wasn’t at the party. We think he was given something before he got to the party and maybe the Pepsi and candy bars affected him faster.

A friend arrived at the party at midnight. He was around Randy off and on, and didn’t see him drink anything. At one point, he said, “Randy, what’s wrong?” Randy said, “No man, I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Only three or four people actually stated that they saw Randy’s car at the party.

Rumors were of two guys with Randy. One of these guys was driving our car earlier in the evening.

A friend helped Randy to his car at 1:30 a.m. He couldn’t find the keys. Randy laid down in the front seat. This friend went with his brother to take a girl home who had too much to drink. They got back between 2:00 and 2:10 a.m. Randy and his car were gone.

Two other people said they saw Randy around 2:15 at the house waiting in line to go to the bathroom.

Someone could have taken his car. There had been a massive search of air, river and ground.

We believe some drug pushers have done something or there were older guys at the party from Kansas City’s rough areas who may have been involved.

We were married ten years before we had Randy, our only child, and we will always believe that if he were capable, he would contact us.