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Published on: 10/13/2001
Last Visited: 10/14/2001
Pilot Point rancher Bob Harold Leach , jailed since July on charges of cattle rustling and aggravated kidnapping , was one of three inmates still on the loose Friday night after five escaped early Friday from the Grayson County Jail.
Bob Harold Leach
More than 50 law enforcement officers tracked the men across Grayson and into Collin County near the Denton County line Friday.
They captured two of the men – Jerry Riley and Jeremy Reynolds – between Denton and McKinney Friday afternoon , but Mr. Leach escaped after he and two others took a woman hostage and left in two pickup trucks from the Jolabec Stables.
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The ranger has spent the time since the escape , believed to have been between 10 p.m. Thursday and 1 : 45 a.m. Friday , looking for Mr. Leach.
I'm not sure how they managed that.I've seen the end where they came out , just outside the wall , the ranger said.
He , along with cattle investigators H.D. Brittain and Troy McKinney , worked through Friday night's storms along with the others in the search.
The escapees were listed as Mr. Leach , 38 , of Pilot Point , charged with aggravated kidnapping and cattle rustling ; Mr. Reynolds , 21 , of Gordonville , in custody for attempted capital murder , evading arrest , assault on a public servant and theft under $20 , 000 ; Gerald Lynn Gant , 45 , of Sherman , in custody for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon , aggravated.
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From the Central Texas counties of Callahan and Coryell , to Denton County and finally to Grayson County and then Collin County , Mr. Leach has left a trail of crimes that form a pattern , law enforcement officers say.
And his first victim , who says he held her against her will for four days and sexually assaulted her , says she isn't surprised he escaped again but she is frustrated.
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Mrs. Leach surrendered and is free on bail.Mr. Leach fled.Days later , he is alleged to have kidnapped a woman in Pottsboro , bound her with duct tape and sexually assaulted her.
The woman escaped and notified police.A cross-county car chase ended east of Tioga.He fled on foot but was finally apprehended the next morning hiding in a barn.
Ms. Jacobs met Mr. Leach in 1989 , when he was working as a foreman on a cattle ranch near Marlin.She was a feed representative , she said , and he was a customer.He lost that job , and she later learned he was prosecuted for stealing cattle from the rancher.
She didn't know that , she said , when he contacted her later and they began dating.He asked her to loan him money and her horse.
When she insisted on taking back the horse , Mr. Leach and another man bound her with duct tape , repeatedly sexually assaulted her , and kept her for four days before she managed to talk the other man into letting her go.
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Mr. Leach escaped from the Comanche County Jail by cutting through metal window coverings , but he was apprehended a few days later.
Mr. Leach ultimately entered a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle because he took her pickup truck during the kidnapping.He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Coryell County Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Helms worked the kidnapping case against Mr. Leach.
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Mr. Leach was released on parole in 1995 , but Deputy Helms worked to get the parole revoked when he learned about a parole violation.He finished serving his sentence and was released in February 2000.
He and his wife bought a house on Peel Street in Pilot Point and leased ranchland on Lights Ranch Road.
The cattle inspectors began to investigate after a rancher asked for help.
The rancher paid the Leaches to care for his cattle , and he learned the cattle had been sold at auction , Inspector Brittain said.The investigation led to evidence of many similar instances , totaling about $1.8 million.
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