Does Bend hold answer to 35-year missing-person case?
Sunday marks 35 years since a 20-year-old Wisconsin man was last seen in Idaho while traveling to Bend, police said Friday as they renewed the public effort to solve the long-standing missing-person cold case.
Oregon State Police, with the assistance of the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho asked for the public’s help for any information on Randall Dean Leach, a missing man last seen in 1980.
Leach, was last seen the morning of November 7 , 1980 walking away from a dairy farm in Idaho Falls, Idaho. At the time of his disappearance, Leach was described as a white male, between 5’8″ to 5’9″ tall, about 140 to 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
The OSP was notified on February 2 , 1981 by family members that Leach was missing. He had left Wisconsin around Nov. 1 , 1980, hitchhiking towards a final destination of his sister’s residence in Bend.
The missing person case has been ongoing for 35 years. During this time frame, OSP has not received any information or confirmation that Leach reached his final destination of Bend — or if he had ever entered the state of Oregon.
The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office became involved in this investigation due to a friendship between Randy’s father, Richard Leach, and the deputy inspector of the detective division at the time Randy went missing.
That relationship between their agency and Randy’s family has continued, and investigators have worked with the family to obtain Randy’s dental records which have been uploaded to the National Dental Image Repository.
By doing this, it makes images available to law enforcement and medical examiners nationwide. Investigators have also obtained DNA samples from family members which were provided to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification.
UNT personnel have established a DNA profile suitable for comparison for Randy Leach and that profile has been added to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which allows nationwide comparison. Investigators also created an entry with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS) for Randy Leach (MP# 7429).
All tips or information in/from Wisconsin are requested to be forward to:
Corey Norlander, Detective
Sheboygan Co. Sheriff’s Office
525 N. 6th St.
Sheboygan, WI 53081
Office Phone: 920-459-3859
Crimestoppers at http://www.cufthem.com/ or text SCTIP to 274637 (CRIMES) or call 1-877-CUF-THEM
All tips or information in/from Oregon are requested to be forward to:
Northern Command Center (NCC) 503-375-3555 reference OSP case # SP15-348371
All tips or information in/from Idaho are requested to forward to:
Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office (208) 529-1200
Bonneville / Idaho Falls Crime Stoppers (208) 522-1983 or IFCRIME.org
