Birth mother kills teen girl after reunion, burns her body in fire pit on remote farm, police say

A Missouri woman was arrested and jailed this week, accused in the gruesome murder of her teenage daughter on a remote farm in Ozark County.

Rebecca Ruud, 39, put Savannah Leckie up for adoption at birth 16 years ago.

The baby was adopted by a couple in Minnesota, but when they divorced, Savannah did not get along with her adopted mother's new boyfriend.

Teenager Savannah Leckie is seen here in an undated photo. Missouri authorities say the teen’s birth mother Rebecca Ruud killed her daughter last month and burned her body on a remote farm in Ozark County. The girl was raised by adoptive parents in Minnesota, but went to live with Ruud after her parents divorced.

Ruud, who had had casual contact with the girl over the years, agreed to take Savannah in and moved her to the isolated farm in Missouri.

What looked like a great family reunion on social media, turned into a life of misery for the teenager.

Authorities revealed some of the abuse Savannah endured before she was killed. Investigators said the girl was  "forced to crawl through hog pens and have salt rubbed in her wounds, and then finally killed last month and burned in a fire pit," according to a Washington Post article.

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