US Officer Arrests Suspect for the First Time in Career; Suspect Is Found Dead the Next Day

One day after making his first-ever arrest, a 35-year-old US police officer was discovered dead at the bottom of a river on Thursday. The police cruiser was found in the river, as was the body of Robert John Leonard, a recently hired Tennessee deputy sheriff, and the lady he had detained.

Around 10 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, the policeman answered a 911 call regarding a man and a woman arguing on a bridge. Leonard then drove the lady back to the police station and placed her under arrest.

The cop informed his wife via text shortly after the arrest that it was his first, but she never replied to him. Before the two vanished, Leonard had specified “water” in his last communication to his police station.

After unsuccessful efforts to get in touch with Leonard, a search was started later that evening. The automobile was recovered from the bottom of the Tennessee River on Thursday after police used satellite tracking to find it. Inside the vehicle lay the corpse of Tabitha Smith, the woman Leonard had detained.

The policeman’s corpse was discovered next to the automobile on the riverbank, with the driver’s seat window pulled down. Police suspect Leonard was texting and chatting on the radio while driving down an unfamiliar route, however it is unknown how the vehicle fell into the river.

In December, Leonard became a member of the police force. According to his obituary, he had been a construction worker for a long time and had lately relocated to Tennessee with his wife and five children to pursue his lifelong ambition of becoming a police officer.

“Today is a difficult day for us here. Something we in Meigs County never have to deal with. Chief Brian Malone of the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office told local reporters, “We’re a small, rural county, we’re not used to it.”