The Mysterious Disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi – Part IV

July 30, 2009

Part four of a four-part series - click here to read part III

Today I wrap up the four-part series that began earlier this week on the case of Leigh Marine Occhi, a 13-year-old girl from Tupelo, Miss., who mysteriously disappeared on Aug. 27, 1992. Part one of the series covered Leigh's disappearance and left off with authorities launching a large-scale search to find her. Part two provided information on who Leigh was and her relationship with her father. Part three delved into the police investigation and where it stands today. Now, in part four, we hear from Leigh's mother, boyfriend, and the diligent crime reporter who first covered the case.

According to Leigh's mother, Vickie Felton, formerly Yarborough, the most important thing is that people don't forget about her daughter.

"That is the biggest thing. That's all," she said. "Not to forget about her."

Despite the police department's belief that Leigh was murdered, Vickie said that she is unwilling to give up the hope that her daughter is still alive.

"I am not going to accept anything for sure. I am not going to do that … I have to keep focused on factual things, logical things, not emotional things, or I wouldn't be able to cope very well. I just don't want to do that again."

Vickie said she is well aware of the rumors and speculation regarding her possible involvement in the case; however, she does not let that bother her.

"That has never been a bother to me," she said. "It's never been about me. It's about finding Leigh, and I didn't care and I [still] don't care what anyone says about any of it … I have never not cooperated with anybody because I am not going to not cooperate with anyone because of what they might think. I don't care about that. I want to find my daughter. I am not fazed by what they say. I have thicker skin than that. I am more reasonable than that. If that bothered me, I would not have been able to cope, but that is not the focus and that is not a problem."

According to Vickie, she has her own idea of who is responsible for her daughter's disappearance.

"There is an individual that is currently incarcerated in prison, and he is linked to two missing people in Tupelo," Vickie said. "[It] is quite a coincidence that one person would be linked to two cases … I believe he is the one responsible. I don't have any proof; I just have my feelings."

Vickie said that both she and Leigh knew the individual and that after Leigh went missing, he began acting strange whenever he was around Vickie.

"Things that he did after the disappearance were strange to me, and when I looked him straight in the eye, his avoidance of eye contact was very awkward," she said. "He had never been over to my house [before that], but then he stopped over to bring me a picture of her. When he first did it, I didn't think anything of it. I thought he was just concerned, but then after that, when I found out some of the things that he did to another young girl … it all fit in place pretty much in my mind that he had to have been the one responsible. He has horses, and Leigh had commented that he had asked her when she would want to go riding. She would have jumped at the chance for that. She would never ever open my door to a stranger, and she had to have opened the door. I am 100 percent sure of that."

When asked for her opinion on the investigation into her daughter's disappearance, Vickie had this to say:

"I want to believe that they did everything the best they could. I want to think that. I want to have faith in them … I know they were very diligent. I am trying to believe that everything they did was in the best interest of finding Leigh."

As for the future, Vickie hopes that the person responsible will someday step forward and reveal what happened.

"Hopefully, people will perk up and maybe if <redacted> wasn't involved - if it was someone else - maybe they are older now and maybe they have a conscience now."

Vickie's hope for a resolution is shared by Leigh's former boyfriend, Jordan Morse.

Jordan and Leigh met roughly two years before her disappearance. The time they knew each other might be considered short by some standards; however, according to Jordan, the time they spent together was priceless. The last time Jordan saw Leigh was at her 13th birthday party, which was held at an arcade inside the Tupelo mall.

"She seemed happier at that birthday party than she had on any other day that I knew her," Jordan said. "She looked like she was having a good time; she looked like she was happy, and that is a good memory for me to have. I could tell you exactly what she was wearing – that is how vividly I remember it."

Jordan says that he and Leigh attended different schools. As a result, school started for him one week before her's would go into session. The timing hindered their ability to see each other, so he would call her when he got home to chat about the day's events. August 27, 1992 would prove to be the last time Jordan would call the Yarborough residence.

"I called her house, and her mom picked up the phone," Jordan said. "I asked to speak with Leigh, and she said, 'Sorry Hon. Leigh is missing.' I thought 'missing,' what is 'missing'? I mean, at that point in time, I didn't compute missing. I had never been exposed to anything like it before. Vickie started to cry, and then my mom took the phone. [She and Vickie] spoke for a few minutes, and then my mom tried to explain it, but I didn't quite get it until I saw the news that night, and they talked about blood in the house. That is when I understood something really bad had happened."

Despite the passing of nearly two decades, Jordan says that he still remembers the pain and heartache that he felt back then. Those are emotions that he says he continues to carry with him to this day.

"My world fell apart. My childhood ended," he said. "… a couple days [don't] go by that I don't pass something and it makes me think about her. And there is still no answer. That's the worst of it."

Rick Hammond, a former crime reporter for the Daily Journal, also continues to wonder what happened to Leigh.

"I lived only a few blocks from Leigh's house, and when it came across the scanner that there was a call for a missing person at her house, I beat some of the police there. Gosh, it seems like I wrote about it every day for months. I, frankly, always suspected 10 years later or something that a body would be found and they would figure out it was her. There were a couple of false alarms in the few years after that. They would find a body, and people would wonder if it was her, and it wasn't her. I think she is still out there in the country somewhere in some grave waiting to be found."

Leigh Occhi touched a lot of people in her short life and she continues to do so today. There are a number of possibilities in the case – plenty of maybes and what ifs – but the complete portrait of the crime remains blurred. A lot of blank canvas remains, but with it there is also the hope that the final brush strokes will someday appear so that Leigh Occhi can finally be put to rest.

Leigh Marine Occhi is described as a Caucasian female, 4'10" and 95 lbs. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. Click here to view an age progressed photo. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tupelo Police Department at 662-841-6491.

Photo Credits: Clippings: Daily Journal; Leigh Occhi (2): Contributed; Tupelo Mall Arcade: Carla Lohr; Daily Journal: Carla Lohr

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

David Lohr on Investigation Discovery Tonight

In January, M2Pictures - producers of the ID show Wicked Attraction - flew me to Hampton, Va., where they interviewed me on camera about the Theresa Cross case. That episode is set to debut tonight on Investigation Discovery. Click here to view the TV schedule.

Be sure to check back here again later today, as the forth and final installment of the Mysterious Disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi will be going up. In the mean time, be sure to read Gary C. King's new article on Otty Sanchez, a Texas woman who allegedly murdered her baby because the "devil made her do it."

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi – Part III

July 29, 2009

Part three of a four-part series - click here to read part II

Yesterday, I continued the four-part series on the case of Leigh Marine Occhi, a 13-year-old girl from Tupelo, Miss., who mysteriously disappeared on Aug. 27, 1992. Part one of the series covered Leigh's disappearance and left off with authorities launching a large-scale search to find her. Part two provided information on who Leigh was and her relationship with her father. Now, in part three, we go back to the time of her disappearance and learn what police think of the unsolved case.

One of the Tupelo police investigators who was originally a part of the Leigh Occhi case and who also continues to work it today is Captain Bart Aguirre. He remembers vividly the day Leigh went missing and has been an active participant in the investigation to find the person responsible.

"I remember we had Hurricane [Andrew] coming through and it was just a stormy day that day," Aguirre said. "I think we received a phone call from the mother [at about] 9 a.m. It was pretty early, and our detectives responded out there, and at the scene, we found blood splatter on the interior door facing the kitchen area and a pool of blood on the carpet in the hallway leading to her bedroom … [the blood] wasn't hard. It didn't have what I call a 'skin' over the top of it. It was fresh … When we started looking at the bathroom area, [we could] actually see where somebody had attempted to clean up the crime scene. The mother, she wasn't hysterical. She had her own mother and father at the scene when we arrived, and they tried to comfort her and to figure out what events took place in the house."

According to Aguirre, one of the first places Leigh's mother, Vickie Yarborough, took police was to Leigh's bedroom.

"There was a bloody nightgown [on] the floor in Leigh Occhi's room. That nightgown was collected for further use. If we are ever able to find a suspect, we could use that nightgown to trace hair fibers and determine [whether] the blood on it is actually Leigh Occhi's or the suspect's."

Based upon the evidence found at the scene, Aguirre said it is likely that Leigh was killed inside the house and then transported elsewhere. In addition, Aguirre said that elements of the crime scene were not typical of what his department would expect to find in this type of case.

"There [was] no sign of any kind of forced entry to the house or anything like that. The house was not torn up or in disarray. There was evidence there that would lead [one] to believe that Leigh Occhi's head struck that door frame, received an injury, and laid there on that carpet and bled. There was quite a bit of pooling of blood, not a huge pooling of blood, but it was probably about the size of my fist. An area about that big, and it was still wet, very wet … A [random] criminal would not take the time trying to clean up and wipe down the bathroom countertop and the sink to make sure all the blood was washed out of there. There was definitely blood on the countertop – a very light pink haze was on the sink countertop and down in the bowl, and there was a swab that was taken and tested and proved to be blood, so it makes me very suspicious. The child was awake and had eaten breakfast with her mother before [the latter] went to work. Now, if you look at that timeline, from the time she left and went to work and the time she started calling and getting no answer – probably an hour, hour and a half – our perpetrator, whoever it may be, is going to come in that house, assault Leigh Occhi, and clean up that crime scene in that hour, hour and a half time frame?"

When the case was first covered in the media, reports surfaced that a pair of scissors with a reddish stain on them had been found on top of a refrigerator inside the home. According to Aguirre, the substance was later found to be irrelevant to the case.

"We took a look at that [and] there [was] some rust on them," Aguirre said. "We did a presumptive test on them and it wasn't blood."

In addition to the Yarborough home, authorities also searched the family car.

"We took the liner out of [the] car - out of the trunk of her car," Aguirre said. "I don't know why we took that but I think that we felt like it may hold some evidence of some sort, and I know that was sent to the state crime lab and it was gone over, but nothing to my knowledge came of that. Even if they found blood or hair in the trunk - unless it was fresh blood or something like that - [we] wouldn't have been able to do a whole lot with it. Even if we found some traces of hair or fibers from some of her clothing, unless, I mean, why wouldn't her hair be there? She [could have] threw her clothes and her other gear in the trunk of the car, there could have been a transfer, and some of that stuff could have fallen off in there; and if it was in there, so what? That is quite normal for people, for hair to be in their car. So, unless [we] found big knots of hair with the roots pulled out, it wouldn't be too suspicious."

As the investigation continued, police conducted both ground and aerial searches in an attempt to locate Leigh. In addition, some 130 citizen volunteers searched large areas of undeveloped land in the surrounding area. Despite everyone's best efforts, no sign of Leigh was found during any of the searches. The case was coming to an abrupt standstill, but all that seemed to change on Sept. 9, 1992, when Leigh's mother contacted police and informed them that she had received a mysterious package in the mail that contained Leigh's missing eye glasses. Nothing else was included in the package. The glasses had arrived in an 8-inch envelope, addressed in block letters to "B Yarborough." The return address was listed as the same. The address contained one misspelling; instead of 105 Honey Locust, it read, "105 Hony Locust."

"Her glasses were mailed from a city about 30 miles north of here," Aguirre said. "[The package] had a postage stamp on it from Booneville, Miss."

The envelope was sent to the state crime lab in Jackson for handwriting analysis and DNA testing; however, Aguirre says, "nothing of evidentiary value" was found. Despite this, investigators began to shift the focus of the case.

"We polygraphed the mother. The mother was the last one to see her alive," Aguirre said. "She was polygraphed three different times, once by a local polygraph examiner and twice by the FBI. She failed it 3 times."

According to Aguirre, Vickie Yarborough's husband, Barney Yarborough, was also given a polygraph, but he passed the examination.

"He was very cooperative. He was not living with Leigh and her mother at the time," Aguirre said. "He lived in an apartment complex here in Tupelo and he was very forthcoming and tried to assist us in any way to try to help locate her. He would join us anytime we went out to search fields and woods or whatever. [He] was always willing to assist and to help, but he later died."

Despite the passage of time, Aguirre said that his department continues to receive tips from time to time.

"I believe the last tip we may have gotten was back last year sometime," he said. "We have departments that call and want us to check and make sure that our files are up to date, especially our NCIC (National Crime Information Center) files about our missing persons. We get people calling, wanting to know if Leigh Occhi is still missing, and the last tip we got is from a psychic … So we have been told to look under a storage shed at a certain address, but it's hard to go out there and convince a circuit court judge to give us a search warrant for a piece of property based on conjecture or a psychic's tip. The best thing we can do is go to that property, knock on the door, and say, 'We are investigating a cold case file. Would you give us permission to go over there and look under that shed?' Once they give us permission, we can go over there and look under dog houses, sheds, and everything else."

Today, the case is cold because investigators have been unable to obtain enough information to make an arrest or name an official suspect; however, Aguirre said his department has evidence it has not made public, as well as a person of interest in the case.

"There are still some things that we know that we are not releasing or talking about to the public, which could possibly tie a suspect to her death," Aguirre said. In regard to a possible person of interest, he said, "I don't think it would be wrong to call Vickie a person of interest, [but] we definitely don't want to call her a suspect at this time … Until Leigh's body is found, and until we know exactly the cause and manner of death, [the case] will always remain open."

To be continued...

Click here to read Part 4 of this in-depth four-part series on the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi

Check back tomorrow to read the fourth and final part of this in-depth series on the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi, and find out what Vickie Yarborough thinks about the case and what could have happened to her daughter.

Photo Credits: Clippings: Daily Journal; Bart Aguirre: Carla Lohr; Tupelo Police Department: Carla Lohr; Tupelo Police car: Carla Lohr

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi – Part II

July 28, 2009

Part 2 of a four-part series - click here to read part 1

Yesterday, I introduced you to the case of Leigh Marine Occhi, a 13-year-old girl from Tupelo, Miss., who mysteriously disappeared on Aug. 27, 1992. When Leigh first went missing, authorities launched a large-scale search that covered a lot of ground throughout the Tupelo area. Joining them in that search was Leigh's father, Donald Occhi. The story continues here today with Donald's memories of his daughter and the lengths to which he has gone to try to find her.

Donald Occhi and Vickie Felton met while serving in the Army together in California. According to Donald, the couple courted for about a year before marrying in 1977. Not long thereafter, they transferred to a military base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Roughly two years later, on Aug. 21, 1979, Donald and Vickie welcomed the birth of their first and only child, Leigh Marine Occhi.

"Her birth was difficult because Vickie was in labor for about 18 hours," Donald Occhi said. "Leigh was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I felt so much love that I did not know I was capable of feeling. When I first held her, I cried like a baby. I had been responsible for the lives of many soldiers, but this tiny baby was mine to care for until one of us died. There was no comparison for this increased degree of responsibility. She smelled so sweet; her skin was so soft. To me, each of her movements was a marvel. This tiny baby was actually mine, and that would never change."

While Leigh was still just a toddler, Donald was dispatched on a mission to rescue two soldiers who had gone missing in a Hawaii jungle. Donald was injured during the rescue; however, the incident led to one of his most treasured memories of his daughter.

"I had fallen off a cliff and landed in a stream," he said. "I seriously injured my eye and had to climb back up the muddy cliff to get to the medics. When I got home later in the afternoon, Vickie was getting Leigh up from her nap and dressed to take me to the emergency room. As I waited, Leigh came down the hallway with all of the confidence of any baby who just discovered that she can walk. She saw the bright white bandage on my muddy face - made a sort of gasping sound - and with an odd look on her face she came across the room making little noises. She looked at my good eye and very gently touched my bandage, then planted her first kiss on my nose."

Unfortunately, Donald and Vickie's relationship soured, and they divorced in April 1981. Not long thereafter, Donald was transferred to a military installation in Germany. Nevertheless, he continued to keep in contact with his daughter, and when Leigh was about 7 or 8, she stayed with her father for several months. During this time, the two spent countless hours together bonding as they participated in a variety of activities.

"The summer she came to Germany for a month or so I enjoyed taking her to the castles, teaching her to speak German, and taking long bike rides," Donald said. "I taught her a phrase, and a German man behind us almost fell over laughing hysterically. She said, 'What did I say?' I answered, 'You want to buy a lovely blouse made out of a cat?' She was both embarrassed and delighted. That was a beautiful time. We also had fun shooting. She was a good shot. She was not afraid to shoot my most powerful handguns. Another of our favorite things to do was to go out after a heavy rain and drive the muddy trails in my 4WD at a high rate of speed. The first time we hit a huge puddle and the mud got all over her, she had a shocked look on her precious face. It was unforgettable. We laughed like fools."

When the trip to Germany came to an end, Donald said he and Leigh were unable to spend as much time together as he would have liked. He was transferred several times to a variety of bases; however, he said he made sure to secure a brief leave to visit his daughter during the summer of 1991. Unfortunately, Donald was unable to remain in the states long, and he was soon called to duty in Iraq for Operation Desert Storm. Donald served one tour of duty in Iraq and was back in the United States for less than 6 months before he received word that his daughter was missing.

"It felt like someone punched me in the stomach," he said. "All day I did not know what I did at work. Initially I thought that she may have run away, so I did not go to Mississippi right away. For days I walked around in a daze and kept thinking about getting my .45 pistol and going to Tupelo and killing someone, but I did not know who to kill. I still don't."

After two weeks of waiting and wondering, Donald traveled to Tupelo to assist in the search effort for his daughter.

"I have gone to Tupelo on four occasions, the first time for a month; the other times I went for three or four days," Donald said. "Each time, I searched remote areas and followed leads that people would give me. Mostly, the time spent was dawn to dusk. The first and second time, some wonderful people from Tupelo accompanied me. On the other occasions, I went with psychics from the United States and Japan. Once, I went with Craig Rivera from the TV show Inside Edition, though they never aired the episode. Also, I was invited on the Geraldo Rivera show set for airing in February 1993, though I don't know if it aired, as I was at work at the time."

Unless you have been in a similar situation, it is difficult to grasp the emotions that come with the disappearance of a child. Next month will mark the 17th anniversary of Leigh's disappearance. She never got a chance to learn to drive, graduate high school, or to attend her prom. The lost time together has weighed on her family, and the emotional rollercoaster ride they have been on is one that no one should have to endure. According to Donald, anger, regret and sadness are all par for the course.

Even though Leigh's body has not been found, there is some evidence that suggests her fate. The clues stoke her father's rage.

Anger

"I wish that the murdering son of a [redacted] who killed her had killed me instead or tried," Donald said. "This coward must have really felt like a tough man or woman to beat a little girl to death. Often, I cannot help but think of how horrified Leigh must have been while this piece of garbage beat her to death and watched her bleed out in the hall."

Regret

"I wish that I had told her how much she meant to me and how much I loved her," he said. "I was not a very affectionate person then and did not care much for hugging and such, though she sure enjoyed it. I should have been more accessible for that because it was not about me, it was about her. It was for her, and now it's too late… I will regret this until the day I die. I don't avoid that anymore with the kids I have today. Though I can get mad at them when they misbehave, I try to demonstrate how much I love them and how much I value them."

Sadness

"I was supposed to care for her for her whole life. Next month she would have turned thirty," Donald said. "Maybe she would have had her own kids and lived near me. Maybe I could have helped her with problems and let her know that I was here for her. Maybe I could have comforted her in hard times.

"I still have a book [in which] I would write little tidbits of advice, things that I had read and felt they were important that she could learn from. It would have also shown her that I was always thinking of her. I wanted to give it to her at 16 or 21. Now it sits gathering dust in a curio cabinet. I can't bring myself to throw it away."

Donald said that the most difficult days have always been Leigh's birthday and the anniversary of her disappearance.

"I used to get drunk, but there was no future in that, so I bought a living memorial for her and placed it near my parent's grave in a local cemetery," Donald said. "I visit it several times a year. The first one I had made I had 'Leigh Occhi, Aug. 21, 1979-Aug. 26, 1992, MURDERED' put on it. I guess the superintendent saw it one day, and we had a big fight over the phone and then person to person. He felt that people would be offended by the word 'murdered,' so I told him that I was really offended by it. Eventually, we compromised, and I took the plaque and built a small memorial to Leigh in my back yard."

Despite the anguish and sorrow that comes with the loss of a child, Donald remains hopeful that he will someday know what happened to his daughter.

"I want to live to see her body located so that I can see that she is properly buried," Donald said. "Then I will smile when the [redacted] who did this dies in the Mississippi state death chamber."

For now, Donald has to take solace in the memories of his little girl who he says is never far from his mind.

"Leigh was a beautiful little girl with unlimited potential," he said. "All I have is the memories. God, I miss her."

To be continued…

Click here to read Part 3 of this in-depth four-part series on the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi

Check back tomorrow to read Part 3 of this in-depth, four-part series on the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi. Find out about the mysterious package her mother received in the mail and hear from a top investigator with the Tupelo Police Department who has been involved since the start of the case.

Photo Credits: Clippings: Daily Journal; Leigh Occhi: Contributed; Police car: Carla Lohr

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi

July 27, 2009

Part 1 of a four-part series

I recently spent a week in Tupelo, Mississippi, looking into the disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi. I had been vaguely aware of the case prior to my trip, having visited the area several times over the years. It was one of the cases – all writers have them – that I had filed into memory and intended to look into at one time or another. That time finally came this past week. Given the passage of nearly two decades since the disappearance, I was skeptical as to what I would be able to uncover; however to my surprise I could track down several key players in the case, including Leigh's parents, one of the original police investigators, Leigh's boyfriend, and the diligent investigative reporter who first covered the case for the Tupelo Daily Journal. Throughout this four-part series, you will hear many sides to this case, which will paint a picture of Leigh and her unexplained disappearance. In the end, you can decide for yourself what happened that fateful day in 1992.

On August 27, 1992, the residents of Tupelo were preoccupied with Hurricane Andrew; the storm was bearing down on them from the south like a freight train. The storm had cut a destructive swath through Florida, leaving some 180,000 people homeless and inflicting an equal amount of damage on Louisiana, as it made its way towards the Magnolia state.

"The destruction of this storm goes beyond anything we have known in recent years," President George H.W. Bush said.

Luckily, the storm had lost much of its force by the time it reached Tupelo and was downgraded to a tropical storm, but it still produced torrential rains and 15-25 mph winds. Power outages and downed trees proved to be the worst consequences of the storm; however, unbeknownst to many, it also brought with it a killer – not a natural one - but a human one that would prove to be equally destructive.

The radio alarm at the Yarbrough home went off at about 6:45 a.m. on August 27. According to Vickie Yarborough, she and her daughter, 13-year-old Leigh Marine Occhi, had slept in the same bed the previous night – perhaps because Leigh was afraid of lightning and thunderstorms. Vickie had recently separated from Leigh's stepfather, Barney, and it was just the two of them on that rainy Thursday morning.

Nearly a week earlier, on August 21, 1992, the blonde-haired, bright-eyed Leigh had celebrated her thirteenth birthday. Although Mississippi was a world away from the Hawaii military base where she had been born, it suited her well.

Leigh's father, Donald Occhi, was a Master Sergeant in the Army. He and Vickie had met and married while serving together in the military. Leigh was their only child. Unfortunately, the relationship soured and the couple divorced. Vickie left the service and made her way to Mississippi, while Donald transferred to Fort Myer, Virginia. Despite the distance, Leigh was always at the forefront of her father's mind and she knew that he would always be there for her.

With her birthday, Leigh, was excited about entering her teen years and was busy preparing for her first day at Tupelo Middle School. Having been a transplant to the south, her accent set her aside from the other students; however she had never had a problem making friends.

Unfortunately, fate had a different plan for Leigh.

At about 9:00 a.m., Vickie made a frantic 911 call to the Tupelo Police Department. She requested immediate assistance at her 105 Honey Locust Drive home - a cul-de-sac on the city's west side. Vickie told the dispatcher that her daughter was missing and traces of blood were inside the house.

When police entered the house, they discovered blood stains in the hallway and the bathroom. They also observed blood stains and strands of hair on a door frame. In Leigh's room, they found a bloody blue nightgown and bra. The only items missing were Leigh's shoes, reading glasses and underclothes.

Investigators knew immediately that they were not dealing with a runaway. Something far more sinister had taken place inside the Yarbrough home.

A team of officers was dispatched– some going door-to-door, others searching wooded areas around the neighborhood. With the search in high gear, detectives sat down with Vickie Yarbrough and questioned her about the events that had led up to Leigh's disappearance.

"If you don't mind, start this morning from the time when you got up and go all the way up until you made the 911 call to the police department," said Det. S. R. Green.

"The radio comes on for the alarm at quarter to 7 in the morning," Vickie said. "And the radio came on and I think I laid there for a couple of minutes. Leigh was sleeping with me in the bed. She was sleeping opposite. Her head was down by my feet and her feet up by my head. That was because I snore so much and she doesn't hear it so much if she lays like that. I got up; I looked over at her to see if she was sleeping and I brushed her hair by her ear here and said something about 'Are you awake?' I wasn't going to turn the light on because I didn't want her to wake … I went into take my shower. It took about 10 minutes. I don't know. And I came out and Leigh was still lying in bed but she was awake then and I was dressing and then she came out and I went and got the paper from the front yard."

According to Vickie, she read the paper and said goodbye to her daughter, before heading off to work at about 7:40 a.m.

"I don't remember if I put the garage door down. I do every day so I'm sure I did but I just don't remember that. Didn't stick out in my mind," Vickie said. "I went to work, got there probably about, I don't know, about 10 till … I went and got the radio out of my boss' office and put it on my desk so I could listen to the news for the weather 'cause Leigh is very afraid of thunderstorms … [The radio commentator] was talking about the weather and the tornado watches or warnings or whatever it was and the severe thunder storms and after that I decided I had better call home 'cause I knew Leigh was really scared of the weather. So I called and we have a special ring, all right, where I let it ring twice and I hang up and then I call right back and that's how she knows to answer. I did that. I let it ring for a long time that second time. Nobody answered."

Vickie said she became concerned when her daughter did not answer the phone, so she called her mother and asked her to go check on her. Despite this, she said her concern mounted, to the point that she left work to check on Leigh herself. When she arrived at her house, she said she was disturbed to find the garage door open and the light to the opener on –she said that the light would normally go off a few minutes after the door was activated.

"The door was unlocked and I opened the house and it was all dark, so I didn't see Leigh anywhere," Vickie said. "I said, 'Leigh', like that and nobody answered me and then I went in – you go like this and you go into the hallway and I saw blood right there splattered on the walls and then I screamed a, you know, more, and started running and ran in her – saw the blood on the floor in the hallway – and I ran in her bedroom first. And the brown blanket was on the floor and I thought maybe she was under it or something and I picked it up and I don't know if the blood was lying next to it or underneath it. I don't know but I saw that blood and I went running into my bedroom and pulled off the – shake – you know to shake the covers. I went on there to see if she was under the bed there or something. And then I went in there and looked in the spare bedroom and I looked in the closets. I don't remember what order exactly that I looked but I looked in all the rooms in the house and then I ran outside and I ran to the shed and opened the - the shed door was already unlocked – and opened up the door and looked in there and yelled and looked in the pool. And then I came back in and dialed 911."

Vickie went on to say that her husband – Leigh's stepfather - Barney Yarbrough, her mother, and the police all arrived at the scene separately, shortly after her call to police. When questioned as to how long it had taken her to drive to her house from work, Yarbrough said it was about a 10- to 15-minute drive. When asked how far away her mother lived, she said 5 minutes.

On August 28, 1992, the leading headline in the Daily Journal read, "Federal Troops Ordered to Fla." A much smaller headline, within a subsection of the paper, read, "13-year-old Tupelo Girl Reported Missing."

"We need bad to find the girl – dead or alive," Capt. Johnny Finney told the Daily Journal.

To be continued…

Click here to read Part 2 of this in-depth four-part series on the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi

Photo Credits: Clippings: Daily Journal; Tupelo: Carla Lohr; Leigh Occhi: Contributed; House: Carla Lohr; Police Documents: Carla Lohr

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

What Happened to Leigh Marine Occhi?

July 16, 2009

I will be in Mississippi this coming week to research the mysterious disappearance of Leigh Marine Occhi, a 13-year-old girl who went missing from her Tupelo home in August 1992.

According to police, foul play is suspected. Please contact me if you have any information on the case. Otherwise, be sure to check back here late next week to read about it.

Click here to view Leigh's missing child flyer

Casey Anthony: Caylee Anthony: One Year Later

July 15, 2009

One year ago today a call by Caylee Anthony's grandmother, Cindy Anthony, launched an investigation into Caylee's disappearance -- an investigation which quickly focused on Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony. Since that time, Caylee's remains have been found and her mother has been charged with her murder. All of these and other events can be found in Investigation Discovery's updated timeline of events.

In addition to the timeline, we are also working on updating other sections of the full coverage page, including the article index and the document dump. Please continue to check back for updates to those pages.

Discuss The Caylee Anthony Case

Full Coverage : Casey Anthony Case

Photo Credit: Caylee Anthony: Associated Press

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Update on Pennsylvania man who allegedly beat toddler to death with videogame controller

July 14, 2009

The district attorney's office in York County, Pennsylvania, is seeking additional charges against 29-year-old Harve Lamar Johnson, a local man who stands accused of beating a toddler to death with a video game controller.

The case in question dates back to April 6, 2008. On that date, Johnson and his live-in girlfriend, 19-year-old Neida E. Baez, were hanging out inside their West Philadelphia Street home with Baez's 2-year-old daughter, Darisabel Baez. It remains unclear why, but at some point Johnson allegedly snapped, and went after Darisabel.

Roughly 45 minutes later, Darisabel was sprawled out limp and motionless on the floor. Bruises and lacerations covered much of her tiny body.  Lying next to her was the alleged instrument of her pain, a videogame controller, an item meant for fun that had perversely been turned into a tool for inflicting pain and death.

According to police statements, Johnson scooped up Darisabel and carried her into the bathroom, where he placed her in the tub and ran cold water over her in an attempt to wake her, but she did not react. Uncertain about what to do next, Johnson allegedly picked up Darisabel again and carried her into the next room, where he dropped her limp body into her mother's lap.

Baez called 911, and both the police and ambulance personnel responded and rushed Darisabel to Hershey Medical Center, where she was admitted into the critical care unit.

During police questioning, Johnson allegedly admitted to beating Darisabel with the game controller, but offered no motive for the crime. Neida allegedly admitted to hearing her daughter's cries for help, but, like Johnson, offered no reason for the brutal attack and failed to explain why she did not intervene.  As a result of the investigation, Johnson was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. For her part, or lack thereof, Neida was also arrested, and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

The following day, Darisabel died at the hospital.

During an interview with WGAL-TV, Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick described Darisabel's injuries as the worst case of child abuse he had ever seen. As a result of Darisabel's death, Johnson's charges were upgraded to include homicide.

Assistant district attorneys Timothy Barker and Christopher Moore have since filed an 89-page memorandum, requesting that new evidence be admitted – specifically, new testimony from Dr. Wayne Ross, the pathologist who performed Darisabel's autopsy.

Continue reading >

Oklahoma couple buried, excavated, and kept hiding dead daughter's remains

July 13, 2009

While perusing police and media reports last week, I came across the bizarre case of an Oklahoma couple who allegedly covered up the death of their child for some 15 months. During that time, they buried, exhumed the child, and transported her body across six states nearly a-half-dozen times.

So what drove Abel Travis Wolf, 35, and Denise Ann Wolf, 40, to hide the death of 11-year-old Cheyenne and transport her body a total of 1,900 miles? That's the key question personnel at several law enforcement agencies are trying to answer this week as they continue to sift through the evidence.

According to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Jessica Brown, authorities became aware of the case on May 9 when relatives of the family contacted Ardmore Police and expressed concerns about Cheyenne's well being, saying that they had not seen her since April 2008. Thus began homicide detective Ruben Garcia's search for answers that led him to six states the family was known to have moved and or travelled to during the 15-month time span. That search eventually led police to a storage facility in Oregon.

On the morning of July 4, detectives with the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon State Police served a search warrant on the Milton-Freewater storage facility, at which time they observed two plastic containers with snap-on lids. Upon removing the lids from the containers, authorities determined the contents were consistent with human decomposition.

"The weight of the containers and the odor that was emitted from them led us to believe there was some type of decaying flesh in them," Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo told newsok.com.

Investigators then resealed the containers and transported them 210 miles to the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office. While awaiting autopsy results, investigators back in Oklahoma tried to determine how the young child, who used leg braces and crutches to walk, may have ended up in the two plastic containers. In an effort to assemble the facts, authorities in Montana – a state the Wolfs recently moved to – picked the couple up and brought them in for police questioning.

According to police affidavits, Abel Wolf said that his family got into an argument one evening in April 2008, when Cheyenne refused to eat her dinner. During the course of the argument, Wolf said that he and another daughter went outside to have a cigarette. Wolf said that roughly 15 minutes later he heard a "thump" and went back inside to investigate, at which time he observed that Cheyenne appeared to be in a daze. Wolf said he examined her pupils and, seeing nothing abnormal, put her to bed.

Continue reading >

Maliciously Missing Persons?

My friend and fellow writer Diane Dimond has written a very interesting article entitled The Maliciously Missing, about a man from Las Vegas, Nevada, who deliberately disappears in an effort to escape the obligations of his life. The article details the case and the anguish the man's wife suffered in not knowing what happened to him.

Be sure to check out this great read and also be sure to check out the rest of Diane's personal Website at dianedimond.net!

New details released in Florida kitty serial killer case

July 09, 2009

A Florida judge has ordered Miami-Dade County prosecutors to make public the arrest affidavit for Tyler Hayes Weinman, an 18-year-old man from Palmetto Bay, Fla., who was arrested last month for his alleged involvement in a series of cat mutilations and killings that occurred in two South Florida communities. The arrest affidavit details 19 of the cat killings and also explains the events and circumstances that ultimately led to Weinman's arrest.

According to the affidavit, investigators had their first contact with Weinman in the early morning hours of May 14. Weinman was walking in the area of Whispering Pines Road in Cutler Bay, when an officer stopped and questioned him. During the brief interview, Weinman was informed of the cat killings, to which he allegedly responded by laughing.

An anonymous source later contacted police and informed them that they saw Weinman walking in the same neighborhood at about 3:00 a.m. Three hours later, a mutilated cat was reportedly found "several feet" from where Weinman had been observed.

The following day, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Weinman was again spotted in the area, this time skateboarding in the direction of Palmetto Bay. He was approached by police a second time and warned about the cat killings, to which he again allegedly responded by laughing. Later that day, police conducted a traffic stop on Weinman when he failed to stop his 2000 Honda Civic at a red light. During the course of the stop, officers found a discarded cutting instrument on the ground near the driver's door. Officers also found a bag containing 1 gram of marijuana. As a result, officers transported Weinman to the Cutler Bay police station, where they booked him on a drug charge and questioned him about the cat killings.

During questioning, investigators noticed Weinman had a "red-colored scratch" on his neck. When questioned about the scratch, Weinman stated that he got it from a stray cat at his mom's house. When asked about other scratches he might have, Weinman said that he had one on his back that he received when a cat climbed on him.

"Weinman was eager to show your affiant these scratches, at which time he removed his shirt and allowed photographs to be taken," the affidavit reads.

During further questioning, Weinman allegedly admitted knowledge of the cat killings and offered information about a biology class he had taken at Palmetto Senior High School, in which students are required to dissect a dead cat.

"Weinman further stated that cats can no longer be obtained for purposes of dissection from a source within the United States," the affidavit reads. "Weinman stated that Mexico is the only source for cats used for the purpose of dissection. Weinman described the size of the felines obtained from Mexico and specified that he had researched the issue and that he learned of the source on the Internet. Your affiant noted that Weinman became excited and animated as he described the cats supplied from Mexico."

Upon sharing his knowledge about the source of feline specimen's, Weinman allegedly demonstrated various methods of dissecting cats and described a "tearing sound" that is made when a cat's skin is torn from its body.

"He elaborated when describing the dissection techniques beyond that which was taught at Palmetto Senior High School that seemed to be consistent with personal experience," the affidavit reads.

When asked what tools the cat killer might be using, Weinman allegedly said he did not know, but suggested they would be "very well hidden." When asked how the cats were being captured, Weinman reportedly said, "They have to be either tranquilized or poisoned."

Continue reading >

Criminal Report Daily FYI

July 08, 2009

Hello Readers,

This is a quick post to let you know that I am not missing in action today. I have been busy working on updating the Caylee Anthony timeline. I expect to have the updates finished and pushed live either tomorrow or Friday. Either way, regular postings will resume tomorrow.

Meanwhile, please visit Gary C. King's ID blog, Bizarre Crime of the Week. He has an interesting new article up about Crystal Keith, a 25-year-old woman who was just sentenced in the beating death of 13-month-old Christopher Thomas. Check out the article, comment and vote in the poll!

Regards,

David Lohr

Alleged SC Spree Killer, Patrick Burris, Shot Dead by Police

July 07, 2009

Police in North Carolina shot and killed 41-year-old career criminal Patrick Tracy Burris, a man whom they believe is the spree killer responsible for at least five murders in South Carolina in the past week.

According to authorities in Gaston County, N.C., the case began to unfold Monday morning, when police received a report about a suspicious vehicle parked at an abandoned house on Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road. When a patrol unit arrived on the scene, the officer approached the vehicle —a beige Ford Explorer — and asked the occupants to identify themselves. Inside the vehicle were Patrick Burris and Mark and Sharon Stamey, a brother and sister who explained that they grew up in the house that was still owned by their family. Satisfied with their explanation, the officer drove off, and the trio went inside the home.

Roughly ten minutes later, police knocked on the door and announced that they had an open warrant for Burris's arrest. At that point, Burris allegedly brandished a firearm and shot Officer J.K. Shaw. Burris was then shot and killed by return fire from officers on the scene.

"I just heard gunshots. I think maybe two or three gunshots went off in the house," Sharon Stamey said, according to a story on charlotteobserver.com.

As authorities secured the area, evidence found at the crime scene led them to suspect that Burris might have been involved in the South Carolina spree killings. While they attempted to connect the two cases, the Stameys were taken back to police headquarters for questioning. It was there that they allegedly told police they had been hanging out and partying with Burris since Thursday. They claimed they did not know him very well, and both denied any knowledge of the spree killings. The Stameys were eventually released, and police have not indicated whether they are facing charges.

A background check on Burris shows he had a rap sheet totaling 25 pages, including arrests for armed robbery, larceny, forgery and breaking and entering. He served nearly eight years behind bars in a North Carolina prison before earning parole in April.

The case unraveled further during a press conference yesterday evening when Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton announced at a press conference that Burris's gun was the same weapon that had been used to kill five residents in Gaffney, some 30 miles from the scene of the shootout.

"Through forensics, we were able to prove today that the weapon he shot the officer with was the same weapon all five of our victims were shot with," Blanton said.

Blanton also said that items found in Burris's possession place him at three of the spree killing crime scenes.

Investigators will now concentrate on tracking Burris's movements since the time of his release in an attempt to see whether he could be responsible for other unsolved murders.

"Now we have someone we can focus on," Blanton said. "We want to know where he's been."

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd also spoke at yesterday's press conference, specifically about Burris's lengthy criminal history.

"At some point the criminal justice system is going to need to explain why this suspect was out on the street," Lloyd said.

It is interesting to note that Maurice Godwin, a criminal profiler who was interviewed by Investigation Discovery prior to yesterday's events, correctly predicted the final outcome of the case.

"Watch out for the murders to continue in another state," Godwin said. "It is likely that this killer will barricade himself in and have a stand-off with law enforcement."

So while we now know who, what, when and where, we still don't know the answer to the key question, and that is why? Unfortunately, because of Burris's death, that is one question we may never know the answer to.

History

The South Carolina spree killings began on June 27 with the murder of 63-year-old peach farmer Kline Cash and continued on July 1 with the shooting deaths of 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her daughter, 50-year-old Gena Parker. The last known murders occurred the following day when 48-year-old Stephen Tyler and his daughter, 15-year-old Abby Tyler, were gunned down inside the Tyler Home Center near downtown Gaffney. Stephen died almost instantly; however, Abby managed to survive until July 4 when she finally succumbed to her injuries.

The five killings all occurred within 10 miles of one another and, according to Sheriff Bill Blanton, each victim was killed with the same gun. Multiple agencies were involved in the hunt, including profilers and agents from the FBI. Authorities had also implemented a special tip line and offered a reward of $20,000.

Some media outlets erroneously reported that a "serial killer" was responsible, but by definition the murders were spree killings.

Related Links:
Spree Killer Terrorizes Cherokee County, South Carolina

Photo Credits: Cherokee County Sheriff's Department

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Spree Killer Terrorizes Cherokee County, South Carolina

July 06, 2009

Investigators in Spartanburg, S.C., are desperately hunting for a spree killer who has murdered at least five people in the last ten days. A common thread linking the killings could be the key to finding the murderer; however, to date, authorities have yet to uncover what that thread is.

The killings began on June 27 with the murder of 63-year-old peach farmer Kline Cash. According to Kline's wife, he was alive at about 3 p.m. when she left their house to run some errands, but when she returned at 6:45 p.m., she found his lifeless body on the floor. A coroner's autopsy revealed Kline Cash had been shot and killed.

"Regardless of this tragedy that we have experienced, we still firmly believe that God placed the finest and most loving people on earth here in Upstate South Carolina," reads a statement from the Cash family issued by the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

As unexpected and mysterious as Kline's murder was, authorities had no reason to suspect that his would be the first of five. That realization came on July 1 when relatives of 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her daughter, 50-year-old Gena Parker, discovered their bodies inside their house on Buck Shoals Road in Cherokee County. Like Cash, both victims had been shot.

An eyewitness reported seeing a dark blue van parked in the driveway of Hazel and Gena's house at about 3 p.m. – roughly 30 minutes before their bodies were discovered.

The following day, 48-year-old Stephen Tyler and his daughter, 15-year-old Abby Tyler, were shot inside the Tyler Home Center near downtown Gaffney. Stephen died almost instantly; however, Abby managed to hang on until July 4, when she finally succumbed to her injuries.

The five killings all occurred within 10 miles of one another, and according to Sheriff Bill Blanton, each of the victims was killed with the same gun, indicating a single killer is responsible for the murders.

Some media outlets are erroneously reporting that the suspect is a "serial killer," but by definition he does not qualify. According to the FBI, a serial killer is an individual who commits at least three murders in at least three separate locations, with a "cooling-off" period (roughly 30 days) between each murder. The killer could, however, be called a "spree killer," an individual who murders two or more people, at separate locations, in a short period of time. The lack of a cooling-off period marks the difference between the two categories.

"An example of a spree killer is the murders carried out in 1974 by Paul John Knowles," criminal profiler Maurice Godwin said in an interview with Investigation Discovery. "After he was rejected by a woman, Knowles went on a murderous spree across northern Florida and was eventually caught in Georgia."

Godwin believes that, like Knowles's, the South Carolina spree killer's rampage was triggered by an emotional setback. Godwin also warns that the killer could cross state lines and most likely won't give up without a fight.

"Watch out for the murders to continue in another state," Godwin said. "It is likely that this killer will barricade himself in and have a stand-off with law enforcement."

Authorities are hoping to prevent any more violence, and in the past week they have involved multiple agencies in the hunt, including profilers and agents from the FBI. Unfortunately, they have yet to determine what the common denominator is that connects the victims. Were they selected for a specific reason, or were they all random, murders of opportunity?

"Right now we don't have any motive or connection between the murders," Sheriff Bill Blanton said, speaking live on CNN. "With a community this small, I knew all the victims, and it's possible that all the victims knew each other, but other than that, there is no connection," he said.

Investigators have established a special tip line, hoping that the public may be able to help them identify the killer. Since its inception last week, they have received over 1,000 leads. It is not yet known whether any of them have provided valuable information.

A witness account has helped authorities create a sketch of a person of interest in the case. The individual is described as 6-feet-2 inches tall with salt-and-pepper hair. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 864-489-4722, ext. 113. Authorities are offering a reward of $20,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

Photo Credits: Cherokee County Sheriff's Department

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Stupid is as stupid does when it comes to crime

July 01, 2009

While perusing police reports and court documents this month, I noticed that there were an exorbitant number of cases that involved – for lack of a better word - stupid criminals. Perhaps the economy or maybe even the summer sun is responsible for the uptick? Whatever the case may be, I have gone through the files and picked a few of the best "alleged" stupid criminals of the summer (thus far anyway).

Hartford, Conn. – Mayor Eddie Perez has taken a strong stance on the value of education (we won't mention his recent arrest warrant for bribery and fabricating evidence) and providing opportunities to Hartford's young people. He is, after all, chairman of the board of education. While Mayor Perez seems to have a unique insight into the problems surrounding the city's education system, I am not quite sure he envisioned that a local school administrator would take it upon herself to head up an undercover drug sting.

According to police, a middle-school principal and a school security officer recently suspected that a student was dealing drugs on campus. Rather than allow police to handle the case, the two "adults" came up with their own plan. They allegedly approached another student, who was facing detention for an unrelated offense, and told him that he could get out of it if he bought drugs from the suspected dope pusher. The principal even provided the kid with the cash he would need to seal the deal.

The sting blew up in the teacher's face when the boy bought the drugs on his own. The amateur sting was subsequently uncovered, and both adults were charged with risk of injury to a minor and lying to police about the plot.

Looks like users aren't the only losers at that middle school.

Sugar Township, Ohio – On June 9, police arrested a man for allegedly harassing people along Little Miami River.

According to eyewitnesses, the man exposed himself on several occasions and chased several people. When police took the man into custody, he was wearing a green one-piece bathing suit. Officers said he had stuffed several other bathing suits into his bra.

As a result of his bizarre antics, the suspect was charged with five counts of public indecency and three counts of menacing. He was then placed in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. He has since plead not guilty to the crimes.

Given the nature of the suspect's alleged crimes, one must wonder whether jail is the right facility for him.

Gardiner, Maine – On June 13, investigators went to the scene of a reported robbery that occurred on Highland Avenue. According to the 58-year-old female victim, she was walking down the street about 10:30 a.m. when a man ran up to her and grabbed her purse, pushing her to the ground as he fled the scene.

These types of crimes can often prove difficult to solve; however, in this particular case, no Dick Tracy wannabe was required, as the suspect left behind two telltale signs.

Apparently, in his attempt to grab some gone, one of the perp's sandals flew off his foot and his wallet fell out of his pocket.  Police were able to identify the alleged goon, who was arrested and locked up less than an hour later.

"We were able to recover, if not all, than most of her money and her purse," Gardiner police chief James Toman told the Kennebec Journal, adding, "Stupid criminals make our jobs easier."

Perhaps the suspect should find a new line of work that does not combine robbery and running.

Kansas City, Mo. – On the same day that Maine police were busy searching for their stumbling/fumbling robber, police in Kansas City police were opening their own investigation into a stolen ambulance.

The incident occurred outside the local research medical center, where a crew was dropping off a patient they had just transported. The transition from the ambulance to the emergency department went off without a hitch; however, when the crew went outside to leave, their ride was nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, the tech-savvy drivers had a trick up their sleeve that the crook had probably not thought of – GPS tracking.

As is the norm today, most emergency vehicles are equipped with tracking devices so that dispatchers can quickly determine the crew's location at any given time. The technology was intended to help save lives -- the fringe benefits of which can also include the quick capture of would-be thieves.

"We were tracking the vehicle. So, that's a nice added feature being able to find addresses to emergency calls, but we can also find our ambulance when it's inadvertently stolen," Aaron Howell, deputy chief of operations for Metropolitan Ambulance Services Trust, said in an interview with Fox News.

It did not take long for cops to locate the vehicle, and a hot pursuit soon ensued. Unfortunately for the driver, the bulky vehicle proved to make for a lousy getaway vehicle and he ended up crashing near Winner Road. The ambulance suffered about $125,000 in damages, so a second ambulance had to be dispatched to the scene to transport the 41-year-old suspect to the hospital. Go figure. He has since been charged with tampering with a motor vehicle.

Melbourne, Fla. – On June 19, police dispatchers received a surprising 911 call from a man who reported that a drug dealer had ripped him off.  

According to the caller, he had approached a dealer and requested 2 ounces of marijuana; however when he took out his money, roughly $550 in cash, the dealer brandished a .380-caliber handgun. The dealer then took the loot and drove off in his car with the drugs and the cash.

"It does happen," Cmdr. Marc Claycomb, spokesman for the Melbourne Police Department, was quoted by UPI News Service. "More often than not, [the victims] don't [call]."

The suspected robber was pulled over shortly after the 911 call and taken into custody. He reportedly told the officers he "didn't think a guy buying drugs would call the cops."

The alleged robber was charged with robbery with a firearm and possession of more than 20 grams of cannabis. Investigators have not yet determined if they will charge the victim; however they did seize the money he gave to the drug dealer. Looks like it was a lose-lose all the way around.

I've saved perhaps the best for last.

Tacoma, Wash. – According to police in Tacoma, they recently arrested a 23-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman for malicious mischief and second-degree assault, all resulting from a very bizarre game they were playing.

The couple, who were arrested on top of a railroad trestle above a highway interstate, allegedly took turns throwing rocks onto vehicles traveling in the southbound lane. Per the rules of their "game," each of them had to shed a layer of clothing for every headlight they managed to break.

All totaled, some 14 vehicles were damaged and at least one person received minor injuries. When police arrived on the scene, the female suspect was reportedly down to her underwear. Both suspects were taken into custody and jailed for investigation of malicious mischief and second-degree assault.

As the saying goes, "You don't have to be smart to be a criminal." Let's just hope that each of these suspects will take that lesson to heart and devote their efforts to more legal ventures. If not, they may very well find themselves the subject of another stupid criminal crime blog.

Photo Credits: Hulton Archive/Getty Images; General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.