Investigators on Wednesday executed a third search warrant at a rural property in western Ozark County where they found burned human remains last Friday. Sheriff Darin Reed believes the remains belonged to 16-year-old girl whom no one has reported seeing since July 20.

The girl was Savannah Leckie. The remains were in a field about 400 yards from the home where Savannah lived for the last 11 months with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. She moved here from Minnesota, where more members of her family live. She also had relatives in the Hollister area. She was on the autism spectrum.

It's heartbreaking for those in this community who have been looking for Savannah for nearly three weeks. She was a junior volunteer firefighter, along with her mother and mother's boyfriend. The Theodosia fire chief has been handing out posters with her picture, and the entire department has been involved in the search.

"The whole community, we got posters and everything. Everyone's still looking. We spent 10 hours riding on 4-wheelers, running the woods, roads, everything for three days. Still nothing. It's like an unsolved mystery to me right now," said Theodosia Fire Chief Tim Jeffery before the sheriff announced the discovery of the remains.

Reed put out a missing person report for Savanna on July 25 after the girl’s mother reported her missing. Savannah reportedly disappeared in the middle of the night, taking her favorite blanket, pillow and a computer bag with her.

Since then, Reed says searchers have been using every available resource to find her, including a helicopter, a plane, ATVs, drones with cameras, and social media. Now we know that investigators, including the Highway Patrol and a team of anthropologists, have been searching a crime scene for several days on the family's property.

The family’s home is off County Road 905, just north of Ocie and U.S. 160 near the Taney County line. It has a mailing address of Longrun, which is several miles north on Missouri 95.

Searchers found the burned remains on Aug. 4. Reed says the remains appear to have been burned several times. The anthropologist participating in the searches will have to use dental records or DNA to positively identify the remains.

They found more remains on Wednesday while serving their third search warrant on the property, but believe it is the same person. The sheriff says they can't be sure it's Savannah. He says the remains were burned multiple times, even in a brush pile, and someone went to great lengths to dispose of the body.

"This is a crime scene that's like no other that I have worked in 33 years. I am the voice, and my deputies are the voice, for whoever those remains are," Reed said.

The remains were about 1,200 feet away from the house. Reed said people have been trying to hinder the investigation and Savannah’s mother has been uncooperative with investigators. He also says he has suspects.

Reed said investigators would be on the scene late into Wednesday night to gather evidence. He says they are working to positively identify the remains and will make arrests as soon as they have enough evidence.