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: David Lohr; Leigh Occhi: Contributed; House: David Lohr; Police Documents: David Lohr

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications.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

Comments

[RJ the Writer]

My heart goes out to this mother. I hope she finds the answers she deserves.

[Nikki]

Just to let you know there is a mistake with the date in your article towards the end:

"On August 28, 2009, 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."

This story is very sad, it's shocking that with so much blood and hair, no one has found out what happened to her.

[j.stephen.h]

i imagine the expression Fate is used loosely to describe social-Chaos, or "the randomness by which all circumstances are loosed upon the world by our will". I hope something is mentioned about the: crime rate in the neighborhood, presence of homeless, presence of drug activity/robbery activity. Since nothing was missing but her shoes/underclothes/and oddly enough glasses, it seems more personal or pleasure motivated though...and she was relatively new to the area so that means someone might have known her schedule/routines, when her mother would be gone, and that she would be there alone. SO its likely specific and not opportunistic...the victim knew her abductor and probably trusted them enough to let them in the house. (the mother swears the garage door was shut, but that dosen't mean anything.) something else..the Shed door was mentioned to be "already unlocked" was it normally locked? and if so who all had the keys to it? Did the stepfather still have a garage door opener? this reads like a Mixed crime that was forethought, but spontaneous in nature during the actual commission.(sometimes that points to a more youthful offender, but im eager to read the rest of this case for assessment) The birthday party makes me curious too, being new to the neighborhood was it mostly family who attended? Or did they have pre-existing ties to the community? (its mentioned the womans family lived right down the road so was the mother native, or accustomed to the area?

[Lauren]

"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." --"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."

Red flag.

[Newbie]

Hi Lauren,

Why is that segment a red flag?

[Jan]

This is so very sad and happens way to often. Why is it the public can see the red flags and the investigators at the crime scene ignore very obvious clues and the scene becomes contaminated from not following proper protocol. I hope this case will be solved soon.
One would think that when a person goes missing under suspicious cirumstances it should be publized on the front page so all could view. Someone may know something. This is a pet peeves of mine.

[Lynne C.]

Hinky meter up with this case.

[DARYL]

I JUST DONT GET THIS STORY. I DO ALOT OF READING OF THESE TYPE OF STORIES AND I MYSELF DO NOT TRUST ANYONE. IM SORRY FOR THINKING THIS WAY BUT THERE ARE CRAZY PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD. WHAT SAYS THE CRIME DIDNT HAPPEN THE NITE BE4 AND THEY HAD TIME TO CLEAN UP- THEN PLANNED THE MURDER.... THE KID NEEDS JUSTICE.. MAY THE PERSON OR PERSONS WHO DID THIS ROT IN HELL AND SUFFER A PAINFULL DEALTH... MAY YOUR DAYS ON THIS EARTH STARTING 11-17-09 BE DOOMED...........