UPDATE 4/26/08 – Katrina Dumas was found dead last night about 9:30, not long after I posted this article. She had been shot in the head and dumped along the side of a rural road. Further information is at the bottom of the article.
Clarksdale, TN - Police are still trying to figure out what Fred Leonard Jr. did on Wednesday. And as I write, they’re still looking for Katrina Dumas. Dumas, 27, is Leonard’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of their three-year-old son, Fred Dumas. Katrina and little Fred went missing on Wednesday. Thursday night, Fred Dumas was found alive, tied up face down behind a church ten miles from Clarksdale. The toddler suffered a snakebite and numerous insect bites, but is expected to recover. Katrina Dumas has not yet been found.
On Wednesday afternoon, Katrina’s parents were called by a granddaughter. Katrina hadn’t picked up little Fred from preschool on time. Just a short time later, a family member saw Katrina Dumas’ gold Cadillac driving down the street – but there was a man driving the car. No sign of Katrina. No sign of little Fred. Family called police for help. It was obvious by then that something was terribly wrong.
What happened on Wednesday? Did Fred Leonard pick up his son from daycare? Did Katrina manage to get Fred after all? Both Katrina and Fred Dumas were missing. And it appeared that Fred Leonard was driving Katrina’s car.
On Thursday evening, little Fred Dumas was found near the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church between the small towns of Farrell and Sherard, Mississippi. The toddler had been left for dead in the woods, tied face down on the ground. Snake-bitten and eaten alive by insects, the child was taken to the hospital where he was treated and may already have been released.
Investigators say that Katrina Dumas’ car was located abandoned. The car is being processed by the Mississippi Crime Lab after possible blood and hair evidence was discovered in the trunk. That doesn’t sound good at all.
Fred Leonard Jr. was brought in for questioning initially as a “person of interest”. But this evening, Leonard has been charged with child abuse in connection with his son’s injuries. As I write, he is still being questioned. And Katrina Dumas is still missing. Searchers continue to look near the area where little Fred was found.
UPDATE 4/26/08 – The body of Katrina Dumas was found at 9:30 Friday night. She had been shot in the head and dumped off a rural road in the Clarksdale-Sherard area. Katrina is survived by her parents, her nine-year-old daughter, and her son Fred, who continues to recover from his ordeal.
According to Katrina Dumas’ mother, Katrina and Fred Leonard Jr. had had an ongoing relationship spanning back ten years. He had been violent with Katrina in the past, Mrs. Dumas says, and Katrina had broken off the relationship when their son was born, after which Fred Leonard married someone else. At some point in the last year or so, Leonard and Katrina Dumas had an affair, which Katrina recently decided she could not continue.  I guess Fred Leonard doesn’t like the word “no” very much.
Tags: Child Abuse, Missing Person
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