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Evidence, eyewitnesses helping narrow down possible location in Randy Leach cold case

Friend investigating case believes Leach was met with foul play

Those close to the Randy Leach cold case are cautiously optimistic they may finally get the answers about what happened to the teenager the night he disappeared in April 1988.

Evidence, eyewitnesses helping narrow down possible location in Randy Leach cold case

By: Sarah Plake

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LINWOOD, Kan. — KSHB 41 News anchor/I-Team reporter Sarah Plake is looking for story ideas in Kansas City. Send Sarah an email.

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A Linwood family is cautiously optimistic they may finally have the answers that will solve the 38-year mystery of what happened to Randy Leach.

That is because a friend investigating the case believes he is narrowing in on the right people and the right location.

Blake McMahan is a law enforcement officer in the Kansas City area, but he is investigating the Randy Leach case entirely on his own time, without using any of his department's resources.

Blake McMahan Randy Leach case — Blake McMahan, a law enforcement officer investigating the Randy Leach case on his own time, says he eyewitnesses and evidence is helping narrow down a possible location where Leach could be.

McMahan said after interviewing dozens of witnesses and multiple people telling him the same story, he believes Randy was met with foul play while at a bonfire party in rural Linwood on April 15, 1988.

"We were able to narrow down to one positive spot that we've had eyewitnesses tell us about, and a person that showed us a spot that knows about the case," McMahan told KSHB 41.

McMahan believes Randy never left the party. According to the case file and witnesses he has interviewed, people at the party mentioned Randy might have been slipped something in his drink.

Evidence, eyewitnesses helping narrow down possible location in Randy Leach cold case

According to the case records, Randy was seen stumbling around the party that night, and when someone asked what was wrong, he replied that he didn't know.

McMahan said he is looking into tips that include homicide and drug trafficking near the house that hosted the bonfire party.

Now McMahan is working with trained canine teams and an expert with specialized search equipment, and he hopes to get an answer soon.

He will not disclose the location until they know more.

"I'm not saying this is the location, but I'm saying this is where evidence is pointing us," McMahan said. "So, if not, this case has never had a pinpoint location like this. We definitely need to cross this off the list, if not, be able to bring Randy home."

Randy's mother, Alberta Leach, has never stopped pushing for answers over the last 38 years. Her husband and Randy's father, Harold Leach, left the fight in her hands after he passed in 2021.

"I'm doing better now than I ever have, really, actually, in the case because we feel like we've got somebody behind us, which we never had before," Alberta said.