By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
ACCORDING to officials, the body of a missing Meigs County, Tennessee, sheriff’s deputy has been found hours after his patrol vehicle was pulled from the Tennessee River with the body of another person inside.
Stonix News gathered that Deputy Robert “R.J.” Leonard was last heard from Wednesday night shortly after he arrested someone and was on his way to the jail.
District Attorney General Russell Johnson, at a news conference Thursday afternoon, said Leonard’s patrol car was pulled Thursday from the water in the area of the Blythe Ferry boat ramp.
The vehicle, according to Johnson, was found upside down with the trunk blown open by the pressure.
A female body covered in a lot of mud was discovered in the back seat, while no one was found in the front seat.
Officials believe the body is that of a person whom Leonard had arrested and was taking to the jail when he was last heard from.
Leonard’s body was later found and his remains were taken to the Knoxville Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
Additional details about how and where his remains were found, as of the time of filing this report, had not been released.
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett extended his prayers and condolences Thursday to the families of the deputy and the person found in the vehicle.
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