The search for a missing elderly couple has come to a tragic conclusion with the discovery of two bodies 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 a day later, according to the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office.
The couple lived with a small white dog named Itty Bitty in a rural home near Anderson, a small city in southwestern Missouri‘s Ozark foothills.
The dog vanished along with its owners. The Lindemans were formally reported missing on September 24, though authorities did not say who submitted the report.
Authorities spent more than a month scouring the area for any signs of the couple, with police returning multiple times to the couple’s home.
Their bodies were finally found on Sunday on a neighbor’s property ‘about 400 to 500 yards from the Lindeman’s home,’ McDonald County Sheriff Rob Evenson told KNWA, though he said their poodle has yet to be located.
Numerous deputies and detectives were then seen swarming a private property on Beehive Lane, according to KOAM.
It now remains unclear how the couple may have died.
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
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, Evenson previously told KNWA.
‘We’ve got a bit of a mystery,’ he added.
The sheriff said his office obtained a search warrant for the Lindemans’ home a few days after they were reported missing.
Police have dusted for prints in the residence and collected electronics and trace evidence that may be helpful for the investigation down the line, Evenson told KNWA.
Authorities also searched the area around the home and nearby properties, he said.
Leo’s niece, LaShawnda Lindeman, also posted on Facebook back in September that police and family members had been searching the area around the house for days.
She said family members went to the residence with a private drone operator who flew over the area before a search and rescue team with a dog came to assist for several more hours.
More family members then returned to the property the following day, when they worked with the sheriff’s office and another company that brought two additional drones, three more search dogs and a large team of people, to continue the search.
Authorities have since spent more than a month scouring the area for any signs of the couple, with police returning multiple times to the couple’s home (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.
