Ricky Beard and Mary Leonard were two well-liked teenagers from Akron, Ohio who were dating each other during the summer of 1979. Whether or not it was just a summer romance was yet to be determined, but on the night of Friday August 24, all seemed to still be going great as the two of them went out on a date to the drive-in to see the big hit movie of the summer "The Amityville Horror". However by the next morning when it was discovered by both of the families that neither one of them had come home the night before, they began to worry. A short time later that morning, a call from the police revealed that Ricky's car had been found abandoned in a field a few miles away, but no other sign of the couple could be found. An immediate effort was made by family, friends and law enforcement to locate the missing teens, but despite all the effort, it would take 6 years until the fate Ricky and Mary would be known. On May 29, 1985, their remains were found by a utility crew working on a gravel road near a national park. They had been shot and stabbed and were still wearing the same clothes they had on the night they disappeared. While they had finally been found, there was now the added mystery of who was responsible for their murders and what exactly happened that night that led them to being murdered. There would be different theories that would emerge, including a potential link to a serial killer. However, 40 years later, the person or persons responsible for the murders of Ricky Beard and Mary Leonard are still unknown.

Akron Beacon Journal articles:

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190824/40-years-ago-today-akron-teens-on-date-vanished

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190825/teens-disappearance-morphs-from-missing-to-murdered-with-gruesome-discovery

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190826/akron-detectives-teens-family-members-disagree-on-whodunit

Podcast links:

The Clearing - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clearing/id1471432747?i=1000447508886

Ohio Mysteries: Elusive Justice series - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ohio-mysteries/id1434851254?i=1000447688906

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ohio-mysteries/id1434851254?i=1000447740231

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ohio-mysteries/id1434851254?i=1000447813996