13-Year-Old Disappeared Under Mysterious Circumstances During Hurricane Andrew

Leigh Marine Occhi disappeared under mysterious circumstances from her home on Honey Locust Drive in Tupelo, Mississippi, on August 27, 1992, as Hurricane Andrew ravished the state. Leigh, 13 at the time, lived with her mother, Vickie Felton. Her father, Donald Occhi, relocated to Germany after splitting with Vickie in 1981, although he later moved back to the States and called Virginia home.

Vickie Warned Leigh About Hurricane

On the morning of her disappearance, Leigh was home alone while her mother worked. She planned to attend an open house with her grandmother later that day.

At around 9:00 a.m. Vickie called her daughter to warn her that Hurricane Andrew was headed for Tupelo, but she did not answer the phone. Felton left her office job and drove home to check on her daughter.

Vickie claimed the garage door of her house was wide open when she arrived, and noticed blood smeared on the side of the wall when she walked inside. She called for Leigh as she searched for her in the house when she saw her favorite blanket missing from her bedroom. Leigh was nowhere in sight. Vickie called 9–1–1.

Police Find Blood in Home

Police found pools of blood in several spots in Leigh's bedroom, blood smeared on her bedroom door, and in the hallway and bathroom. Police found a bloodied nightgown belonging to Leigh inside a clothes hamper. Police said it appeared that someone tried to clean the scene. Vickie told them several pieces of her daughter's clothing were gone.

Extensive searches in the area and throughout Tupelo were fruitless.

On September 9, 1992, a package arrived at Vickie's home addressed to her ex-stepfather. The package contained Leigh's eyeglasses. In November 1993, a human skull located in a soybean field was linked to Leigh, although further testing showed the skull belonged to an adult woman missing from a nearby town named Pollyanna Sue Keith.

What Happened to Leigh?

Vickie told authorities she believed a man named Oscar McKinley Kearns, aka Mike, facilitated Leigh's kidnapping. Kearns kidnapped a raped a coupe in 1999, and a few months after Leigh disappeared, kidnapped and raped a ninth-grade high school student he met at church.

Rumors swirled through town that either Vickie or her ex-husband, Barney Yarborough, with whom her mother had just separated, were involved in Leigh's disappearance. Leigh's dad said he believes Leigh was beaten to death in the home "by some bastard." Yarborough provided an alibi and passed a polygraph test, ruling him out as a suspect in Leigh's disappearance.

Vickie failed three seperate polygraph tests, showing heavy deception in each test. This led police to suspect Vickie knew more about Leigh's disappearance than she told.

Where is Leigh?

More than 30 years have passed since Leigh disappeared and the case remains unsolved. If you have information that can help Leigh get the closure and justice she deserves, please call the telephone numbers listed on the poster above. A reward for information about the case is available.

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More Information/Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47014028/leigh-marine-occhi

https://www.pollyklaas.org/missing-children/leigh-marine-occhi/