LINWOOD, Kan. — Renewed hope and cautious optimism are putting the mysterious disappearance of a Linwood, Kansas, teenager back in the spotlight.
KSHB 41 I-Team reporter Sarah Plake learned two retired detectives with decades of experience are now in the search for Randy Leach. He was 17 when he disappeared in 1988.
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The I-Team also learned the law enforcement agencies involved in the case have put up a wall and will not let the detectives in.
36 years of hope
Alberta Leach, Randy's mother, invited the I-Team to her home in Linwood where not much has changed since the 80s.
Her close friends, Betty and Larry, and the two retired detectives, Joe Langer and Mark Rokusek, gathered for a meal.
In Alberta's kitchen, heads bow for a prayer before anyone eats.
"We ask that maybe, at Your will, that will get somebody to talk," Larry said.
It's a prayer that has been repeated for 36 years.
"Help us find Randy. In Jesus' name, Amen," Larry continued.
Randy hasn't been at the kitchen table since April 15, 1988, but the hope that he'll someday return remains a constant conversation.
"I hope and pray. Got to," Alberta said. "Got a place for him."
Where the case stands today
Langer and Rokusek didn't go to Alberta's home for just the home-cooked meal, they showed up to talk about how they can help.
Randy’s case is cold. Alberta and her late husband, Harold, have been critical of the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office's investigation from day one.
"I begged them for the cold case [squad]," Alberta said.
Alberta said she asked Sheriff Andy Dedeke to set up a cold case squad where other agencies would convene and work on the case together.
"He said, 'We'll get somebody around here,'" Alberta said. "I said, 'You've had it for 35 years. We need to put new eyes on it.'"
Alberta is now getting those new eyes to review Randy's case but not from the sheriff's office.
Rokusek is retired from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and Langer is retired from the Leawood Police Department. Both have more than 30 years of experience in investigations and solving cold cases.
"They're our shining star," Alberta said. "We're very thankful for their help. I can't tell you how much."
Langer was part of a group of retired and current law enforcement officers who recently helped solve the Westwood Apple Market grocery store homicide that had gone unsolved since 2003.
"When I was working cases in Leawood, if we had a long case, we always asked people to come in and look through the case file and see if there's something we might have missed," Langer said. "Most police departments or sheriff's offices are open to other law enforcement agencies coming in and helping."
That’s not how Randy’s case is going.
The wall around his case is as impenetrable as it was back then.
"I don't feel like I know any more today than I did in ‘88 when he disappeared," Alberta said.
Alberta has some records from 1988 to 1993, but the rest is a mystery.
Randy’s case is still “open,” which means the sheriff’s office will not give Alberta the file.
In 2017, the Leach family sued Leavenworth County to have Randy’s case file released. A judge denied their request the following year.
The sheriff's office won't give the file to the I-Team or the two retired detectives, either.
Langer and Rokusek met with Dedeke in early 2024 and he denied them access.
"About a month later, the sheriff contacted us and said basically they were not going to provide us with their case file, and they did not want us to come in and look at the case file," Langer said. "And we were free to investigate what we could."
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation won’t share any files with the detectives, telling KSHB it’s not their practice to give investigative records to people who aren’t in law enforcement.
"Now, again, we're not representing any law enforcement agencies; we've both retired," Langer said. "But we did make it clear that all we want to do is help."
Undersheriff James Sherley declined an interview with KSHB 41 News but said in an email in the spring that while they have not engaged in a cold case squad, they have an investigator assigned to Randy’s case.
Sherley said, “The case has new leads or information coming into our office occasionally. Each of these leads is followed up on and reporting is ongoing."
His statement went on to say:
"The Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office is in contact with Mrs. Leach on a regular basis sharing updates as information comes available. Our office has met with both Langer and Rokusek [to] reference the case over the last year and we have discussed some of their concerns regarding the case.
"Resolving this case continues to be a goal of this office, and we remain dedicated to investigating it. Our office met with the KBI just last week and part of that discussion was to assure their continued efforts in regards to the Randy Leach case and a combined effort on follow-up."
Alberta said a detective promised to check in with her every month but that stopped after a few months. She said she has to call for updates and hardly ever gets a call back.
"I know they're busy, but it's just like, 'Oh well, it's been 35 years,'" Alberta said. "That's just how I feel."
Starting from scratch
Langer and Rokusek came to KSHB 41 News and pored over the available records.
"Cold case work to me is not glamorous at all. It's document review," Rokusek said. "I refer to it a lot of times as an audit because that's really what investigators are doing, auditing."
They want to see what jumps out at them, read witness statements and see if they can find those same people today. They've already conducted some interviews.
"People's alliances change after 30, 36 years," Langer said.
The retired detectives are going over decades worth of information in a case where wild rumors swirled for years.
"Obviously, this case is unusual," Rokusek said. "We have a missing young man and his parents' automobile to this day is still missing as well."
Rokusek was a rookie when Randy went missing. Over the years, he supplied leads on Randy's disappearance to the Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office.
"That was my investment in this case, and then after retirement, it kind of prompted me to volunteer and help Alberta and the family any way I could," he said.
Rokusek is confident this case can be solved.
"In my heart, yes," Rokusek said.
Randy's timeline
To retrace Randy’s final steps, the detectives need to go back to April 15, 1988, at around 6:45 p.m.
"Linwood's a small town, and Stouts' [Corner] convenience store is also kind of a hub of activity and information for a small town," Rokusek said.
Stouts' was a popular hangout back in the late 80s. It's where Randy started his night.
He bought two candy bars, some pop and some gas before he swung by his cousin's house, who wasn't home.
Then, he met up with an older friend named Steve Daugherty around 7-8 p.m.
Together, they went to a body shop in DeSoto to check on the red Mustang he was restoring.
In a police interview in early May 1988, Daugherty said he had a beer while at the body shop. When they left, he bought a 12-pack at Stouts'.
Daugherty said Randy did not drink any alcohol.
Randy parted ways with Daugherty and eventually headed out to what would be the last known place he was seen alive.
Erwin bonfire
According to the police reports, one of Randy’s classmates, Kim Erwin, hosted a pre-graduation bonfire that night at her parents’ property on 166th Street in rural Linwood.
Randy got there around 10 p.m. driving his mom’s car, a grey 1985 Dodge 600 sedan.
Although no one saw him drinking, Randy seemed to be “messed up” and had a hard time walking, according to people at the party.
A few people said Randy mentioned smoking weed before he got there.
Police reports claimed a couple people said Randy was lying in the back of someone else's car at some point late in the night.
Some people said they didn't feel like Randy was capable of driving.
Around 2 a.m., one of Randy’s classmates told police he left to drive a girl home and planned to come back to take Randy home. But when he returned, he said Randy and his mom’s car were gone.
There could have been upwards of 100-200 people at the party, and not a single person will say they saw Randy or his car leaving the party that night.
Langer's and Rokusek's message to anyone who was at the party and hasn't said anything is simple — now is the time.
Theories, rumors and Satanic panic
"I mean, there's five to 10 different theories on what could have happened," Langer said.
One of the theories leads to Golden Road, which runs south of the former Erwin property. It’s a possible route Randy could have taken if he’d driven home that night.
"If he was going to go home, to avoid law enforcement, and he was under the influence, he would possibly come a back way," Rokusek said.
Another theory is Randy and the car ended up in Stranger Creek. Police searched the creek and parts of the Kansas River and didn’t find anything.
Alberta and Harold were skeptical of the many stories they heard over the years, ranging from a drug overdose to Satanic rituals.
They've heard maybe he was killed over witnessing some drug deal. Or, maybe, someone put something in his drink.
Some of the police reports note which of Randy's classmates who were at the party were into Dungeons and Dragons. Back then, the game was thought to encourage "Satanism."
Langer and Rokusek said Randy's disappearance happened during the "Satanic panic" of the 80s when there was a fixation on conspiracy theories of Satanic cults and rituals infiltrating communities.
It led investigators down a rabbit hole after a rumor went around that Randy was "sacrificed" in a cave in rural Linwood.
Police reports note someone had a hallucination about seeing what they thought was a body hanging inside one of those caves. However, that person said he was high on drugs at the time.
Ultimately, that theory hasn't gone anywhere.
In the first couple of years following his disappearance, several tips came in about Randy sightings around the Linwood area.
Some tips came in that Randy was seen in Nebraska and Oklahoma from someone saying Randy might be with a traveling carnival company.
Investigators checked with police in Colorado Springs since Randy loved going there, but nothing came up.
Detectives checked military records to see if anyone with his name enrolled, but they couldn't find any evidence that anyone did.
Psychics started calling, insisting they had information about Randy's location. None of that ever panned out.
Over the years, the Leach family had teams search waterways by boat and underwater. People they knew took up airplanes for aerial views, too.
Each time, they came up empty.
But Alberta's search continues.
"We keep hoping and praying that somebody will come forward," she said.
She's probably said that sentence hundreds of times.
Maybe this new search by detectives with a fresh set of eyes and years of experience will finally solve this mystery.
"We’d like to have the family get some solace after 36 years," Langer said.
To the sheriff's office, Alberta says a day is just a day, but to her, a day is an eternity.
"I just want to bring Randy home," she said.
Bringing Randy home
Again, Randy Leach was 17 years old when he disappeared in April 1988.
He was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 220 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and a mole on his left ear lobe. He was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.
Click here for the KBI's missing person poster.
This is an age-progressed picture of what Randy might look like today.
Randy would be 54 years old.
The car he was driving, which is also still missing, was a grey 1985 Dodge 600 four-door sedan with Kansas license plate number LVJ8721.
Anyone who has a tip that will solve the case should call the Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office or the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME.
A $5,000 reward is available.
If you have information you’d like to share with I-Team reporter Sarah Plake or the retired detectives, contact her at sarah@kshb.com.
You can also stay updated with Randy's family and friends on his Facebook page, In Search of Randy Leach.
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