HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. – The bodies of a Tennessee deputy and a woman he arrested, who both disappeared Wednesday night, have been recovered after his patrol unit was discovered underwater in a river, according to reports.
The body of Deputy Robert “R.J.” Leonard, 35, has been found hours after his vehicle was located in the Hiwassee River, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee confirmed in a Facebook post following a search with the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, ABC News reported.
“His remains are currently being escorted to the Knoxville Regional Medical Examiner’s Office by motor units with the HCSO, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and the Chattanooga Police Department,” HCSO said in the news release.
First responders had been searching for the deputy after he failed to respond to a status check shortly after taking a woman into custody about 10 p.m. Wednesday evening, officials previously said.
Leonard’s patrol unit was discovered upside down in the river early Thursday. Law enforcement authorities found the body of the woman in the backseat. Sheriff’s officials believe it is the arrestee. Officials are still working to confirm her identity.
On Wednesday about 10 p.m., Leonard responded to a report of a man and woman fighting on a bridge. He took the woman into custody, according to Meigs County District Attorney Russell Johnson. The charges were not specified.
However, the deputy failed to respond to a status check, and other deputies quickly began searching for their missing partner.
One of Leonard’s last communications was a text to his wife that said, “Arrest,” Johnson said during a press briefing on Thursday.
“His wife texted back and said, ‘That’s good’ or ‘That’s great,'” Johnson noted. “We know that his phone did not, evidently, receive that text.”
Meigs County District Attorney Russell Johnson at a press conference on Thursday. (HCSO)
During Thursday’s press conference, Johnson said they believe the car unintentionally ended up in the river, and multiple agencies are involved in the investigation to determine how it occurred, Fox News reported.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Leonard appeared to be texting and radioing while driving in an area that did not offer good lighting and he apparently missed a turn in the roadway, according to Johnson.
“We’re operating under the theory that it was an accident — he missed his turn, he wasn’t familiar, and he was doing other things that may have caused him to go into the water,” Johnson said at the press briefing.
Officials said the deputy was in his first year on the job, and lived nearby with his wife and three children.
“Deputy Leonard had been on the force about two months,” Meigs County Sheriff Jackie Melton said. “He was doing a pretty good job. A really good job. It’s just hard when the department is like a family.”
