Gymnast Dominique Dawes is mourning the death of her father-in-law, Leonard Thompson.
Taking to Instagram on Saturday, December 20, to alert fans of Thompson’s disappearance and put out a plea for help, the four-time Olympic medalist, 49, confirmed later that day that Thompson had died. He was 79 years old.
Dawes initially wrote alongside a video that addressed fans, “Please help my family. Find my father-in-law, Leonard Thompson. White male, 79 years old, white hair. He may have possibly suffered a help episode and is more than likely disoriented and confused. Last scene in Winchester, Virginia, left his car abandoned in Roanoke, Virginia. Law-enforcement believes he was picked up by a trucker and was traveling 81 south. Anything you can do to share this post and help us get national exposure so that my kids can see their grandfather again.”
Dawes and her husband, Jeff Thompson, share four children together: daughters Kateri and Quinn, and twin sons Dakota and Lincoln.
A subsequent Instagram post on Saturday announced Leonard’s death, with Dawes sharing a photo of her father-in-law beaming at one of her sons as a baby, and writing over the image, “Rest in Peace, Papa T. We are holding on to the memories. It is with a very heavy heart that I report my father-in-law has been found and not in the way that we had hoped for.”
Dawes captioned the post with an emotional reflection on the day and her final time with Leonard. “We take comfort in knowing that he is now with our Lord and Savior. Thank you all for the prayers and support during this very difficult time. Our last moment with him was accompanying him at mass and giving him a hug and my husband and I said, ‘Get home safely,’” she wrote.
According to USA Today, Leonard’s body was found in southwestern Virginia on Saturday. The outlet reported on Sunday, December 21, that his car had been “found on Interstate 81 near Roanoke on Tuesday [December 16] with a flat tire and missing keys.”
According to another report by Essentially Sports, published on Sunday, Leonard was found “deceased” by Herndon Police Department authorities who “have not released details about the cause of death.”
Prior to Dawes’ personal plea via her filmed video, the athlete had shared a missing persons notice via Instagram that detailed Leonard’s appearance and last known activity. The official notice stated that while Leonard was last seen on Monday, December 15 “at 1930 hours” in Herndon Virginia, he was “believed to be currently on foot” in the area at the time.
Dawes, who is famously nicknamed “Awesome Dawesome,” won her first Olympic medal when she took out gold with Team USA at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. That Olympics also saw Dawes taking out an individual bronze medal in the floor competition.
Subsequent medals came at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Dawes founded the Dominique Dawes Gymnastics and Ninja Academy in Clarksburg, Maryland, in 2020, with additional locations in Maryland’s Rockville, opened in April 2023, and Columbia, opened in 2024.
