Savannah was diagnosed with ADHD, high-functioning autism and depression, Leckie-Montague said. As a teenager, the girl would sometimes attack her siblings without provocation and was hospitalized once for cutting and once for possibly suicidal behavior, she said.
Afraid the girl would try suicide again, Leckie-Montague, who by then was divorced from Savannah's adoptive father and living with her fiancé, Cary Steeves, began looking for help but couldn't find in-patient care for Savannah. Eventually, Ruud offered to take the girl to rural southwest Missouri and the change seemed to help, Leckie-Montague said.
"Somehow going and getting this fresh start, it just completely reset her," Leckie-Montague said. "She was doing so well."
Prosecutors have alleged Ruud subjected Savannah to horrific abuse but Leckie-Montague said she had no clue that was happening. Leckie-Montague sent money to Ruud to help with expenses but Ruud began complaining about finances last fall, she said.
The communication with the girl and Ruud stopped in mid-July, when several calls and text messages were not returned. On July 20, Ruud told Leckie-Montague that Savannah was missing. Authorities believe the girl was dead by the time Ruud made that report.
