A McDonald County property owner's call to dispatchers at around 4 p.m. Sunday ended a six-week search for a missing Anderson, Missouri couple, leading deputies to a wooded area where Leo Lindeman, 73, and Katherine Lindeman, 74, were found dead not far from the home they vanished from in September.
The property owner reported finding a deceased individual near the 4500 block of East State Highway 76 in Anderson, according to Newstalk KZRG. When a deputy arrived to check the report, a second deceased person was located in the same area, and a live dog was found close to one of the bodies. McDonald County Sheriff Rob Evenson said the two were found on a neighbor's property about 400 to 500 yards from the Lindemans' home, according to NewsNation.
McDonald County detectives responded to process the scene, and the sheriff's department said it is still working to determine the couple's cause of death, per the seed report from KTUL. The bodies were found in a heavily wooded area adjacent to the Lindemans' property, and the sheriff's department said it would provide updates as they become available.
A Trail That Went Cold in September
The Lindemans were last heard from around September 15, according to the station's report. NewsNation reported that Katherine went to the couple's weekly dinner by herself while Leo stayed home waiting for an electrician, attributing those details to NBC. They weren't reported missing until September 24, nine days after anyone had last seen them. An early report from Newstalk KZRG said identification of the two bodies was expected later in the week, pending autopsy results and confirmation by authorities, while NewsNation's report named the deceased as Leo and Katherine Lindeman.
In the weeks since the couple disappeared, law enforcement teams had searched the Lindemans' property near Anderson several times, according to the same outlet. Investigators had also executed a search warrant for the residence itself, where they dusted for prints and conducted a grid search of the home and adjacent properties, per NewsNation.
Laptop Sent for Forensic Examination
Evenson told NewsNation that detectives were still waiting on information from several search warrants and subpoenas, and that the couple's laptop had been sent to a computer lab for examination. The couple's small white poodle had not yet been located as of that report, officials said. Deputies also found a live dog near one of the bodies Sunday.
The case has also been discussed online. A Facebook post from Doug Warner, a self-described journalist covering the case, claimed the couple had bought a gun days before vanishing and that belongings were left behind at the home — details that have circulated on social media but remain separate from the official findings released by McDonald County authorities.
