wintersfootsteps
November 16th, 2009, 11:38 AM
I searched everywhere for this story on DD and didn't find it. I hope I am not double posting it!!
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/t1larg.leigh.occhi.courtesy.jpg
This morning, while reading CNN.com I came upon this article about Leigh Occhi. She was 13 years old and disappeared from Tupelo, Mississippi. Hurricane Andrew was just blowing in...
Leigh was staying home alone for the first time ever, and she was waiting for her grandmother to come pick her up so she could attend an open house at her school.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/index.html)
As Vicki Felton left for work shortly before 8 a.m., bands of rain from Hurricane Andrew moved over Tupelo, and the Gulf Coast was under a hurricane alert. Worried, Felton called home. Nobody answered, so she hurried home after spending just a few minutes at the office.
Felton said that when she returned home, she found the garage door open, the light turned on. "That was very strange because the light doesn't turn on unless someone triggers the door," she said.
"I came in the house and there was blood on the side of the wall," Felton said. "I started calling for Leigh and going through all the rooms," she said. "Then I went into her bedroom."
"Her favorite blanket was crumbled up on the floor and I was very scared," she said. She ran into the backyard, checking the pool and the shed. There was no sign of Leigh.
Felton called 911.
Leigh had been home less than one hour, and both her father (serving in the military and living in Virgina) and her ex-stepfather were cleared by police. Dogs were brought in but police quickly learned that the weather conditions would make finding a scent next to impossible. They focused on the evidence found in the home:
"Vicki took us to Leigh's bedroom," Aguirre said. "There, we found a laundry basket that contained Leigh's nightgown that had blood stains all over it."
Blood and hair were stuck to a door frame and a small blood trail led from the hallway to the living room to the back door.
"It's a pretty significant amount that would lead any parent to concern," Aguirre said.
Aguirre said he searched the master bedroom down the hall from the bathroom. "I noticed there was a real light pink haze on the countertop," he said. The countertop later tested positive for the presence of blood, he said.
"It's pretty obvious to us that someone tried to clean up the scene or the countertop," Aguirre said. "But we couldn't find the rag or towel that had been used. We couldn't find it anywhere."
According to Felton, articles of Leigh's clothing were missing from the house, including a pair of shorts, a pair of shoes and a sleeping bag.
No sign of forced entry.
Police started paying closer attention to Leigh's mother, asking her to agree to a polygraph. This test showed deception. The FBI administered another test and they found deception in this one as well. Leigh's mom says that her emotions and fear came into play during the polygraphs and she can't explain why she didn't pass.
Felton is not considered a suspect, and Aguirre said she has always been very cooperative.
About a month after Leigh's disappearance, the mystery deepened. A package arrived at Felton's doorstep, addressed to Yarborough.
"I called my husband and told him that he had gotten something in the mail," Felton said. "When he opened it, it was Leigh's glasses."
The package, which identified both the addressee and remitter as "B Yarborough," had been mailed from Booneville, Mississippi, approximately 30 miles north of Tupelo.
Tupelo officials sent the glasses and packaging to the FBI, which was already involved in Leigh's case. "We tried to get anything from the envelope, the packaging, and we didn't come up with anything," Aguirre said.
It was the last clue that investigators would get in Leigh's case.
Ultimately, Aguirre says, the lack of DNA evidence from a potential perpetrator in Leigh's home is what handicaps the investigation.
At the time she disappeared, Leigh had a slender build, bluish-green eyes and blond hair. She would be 30 years old.
An award up to $1,000 is offered by Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi for information leading to an arrest in Leigh's case. An undisclosed reward is also offered by Leigh's mother.
Okay, so here is my thinking...
Theory #1: Intruder enters the home in one way or another. Hurts Leigh in some way causing the blood to appear in the home and on the nightgown. Intruder then takes a sleeping bag either to take Leigh out in the middle of nowhere or to bury her in. Intruder probably knew the family in one way or another and that is why Leigh let the person into the home (no signs of forced entry). This person then sends Leigh's glasses to the family playing a sick and twisted mind game.
Theory #2: Leigh's mother is responsible. Either it was an accident or something done on purpose, she knew she had to lie to police to not go to prison for her daughter's murder. This is why she failed both polygraphs. She mailed the glasses to the home to throw off investigators and get them to focus one someone else.
The whole thing about Leigh only being home for less than one hour before the mother calls and then leaves work bugs me, too. It reminds me of Christopher Coleman, the man who murdered his whole family. He went to the gym, called home, and when no one answered the phone he called police. How many times did she call the house before deciding to return home? Maybe Leigh was just in the shower or her grandmother asked her to help with something outside? She immediately jumps to the conclusion that something is wrong?
This is an intriguing one. What do you guys think?
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/t1larg.leigh.occhi.courtesy.jpg
This morning, while reading CNN.com I came upon this article about Leigh Occhi. She was 13 years old and disappeared from Tupelo, Mississippi. Hurricane Andrew was just blowing in...
Leigh was staying home alone for the first time ever, and she was waiting for her grandmother to come pick her up so she could attend an open house at her school.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/index.html)
As Vicki Felton left for work shortly before 8 a.m., bands of rain from Hurricane Andrew moved over Tupelo, and the Gulf Coast was under a hurricane alert. Worried, Felton called home. Nobody answered, so she hurried home after spending just a few minutes at the office.
Felton said that when she returned home, she found the garage door open, the light turned on. "That was very strange because the light doesn't turn on unless someone triggers the door," she said.
"I came in the house and there was blood on the side of the wall," Felton said. "I started calling for Leigh and going through all the rooms," she said. "Then I went into her bedroom."
"Her favorite blanket was crumbled up on the floor and I was very scared," she said. She ran into the backyard, checking the pool and the shed. There was no sign of Leigh.
Felton called 911.
Leigh had been home less than one hour, and both her father (serving in the military and living in Virgina) and her ex-stepfather were cleared by police. Dogs were brought in but police quickly learned that the weather conditions would make finding a scent next to impossible. They focused on the evidence found in the home:
"Vicki took us to Leigh's bedroom," Aguirre said. "There, we found a laundry basket that contained Leigh's nightgown that had blood stains all over it."
Blood and hair were stuck to a door frame and a small blood trail led from the hallway to the living room to the back door.
"It's a pretty significant amount that would lead any parent to concern," Aguirre said.
Aguirre said he searched the master bedroom down the hall from the bathroom. "I noticed there was a real light pink haze on the countertop," he said. The countertop later tested positive for the presence of blood, he said.
"It's pretty obvious to us that someone tried to clean up the scene or the countertop," Aguirre said. "But we couldn't find the rag or towel that had been used. We couldn't find it anywhere."
According to Felton, articles of Leigh's clothing were missing from the house, including a pair of shorts, a pair of shoes and a sleeping bag.
No sign of forced entry.
Police started paying closer attention to Leigh's mother, asking her to agree to a polygraph. This test showed deception. The FBI administered another test and they found deception in this one as well. Leigh's mom says that her emotions and fear came into play during the polygraphs and she can't explain why she didn't pass.
Felton is not considered a suspect, and Aguirre said she has always been very cooperative.
About a month after Leigh's disappearance, the mystery deepened. A package arrived at Felton's doorstep, addressed to Yarborough.
"I called my husband and told him that he had gotten something in the mail," Felton said. "When he opened it, it was Leigh's glasses."
The package, which identified both the addressee and remitter as "B Yarborough," had been mailed from Booneville, Mississippi, approximately 30 miles north of Tupelo.
Tupelo officials sent the glasses and packaging to the FBI, which was already involved in Leigh's case. "We tried to get anything from the envelope, the packaging, and we didn't come up with anything," Aguirre said.
It was the last clue that investigators would get in Leigh's case.
Ultimately, Aguirre says, the lack of DNA evidence from a potential perpetrator in Leigh's home is what handicaps the investigation.
At the time she disappeared, Leigh had a slender build, bluish-green eyes and blond hair. She would be 30 years old.
An award up to $1,000 is offered by Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi for information leading to an arrest in Leigh's case. An undisclosed reward is also offered by Leigh's mother.
Okay, so here is my thinking...
Theory #1: Intruder enters the home in one way or another. Hurts Leigh in some way causing the blood to appear in the home and on the nightgown. Intruder then takes a sleeping bag either to take Leigh out in the middle of nowhere or to bury her in. Intruder probably knew the family in one way or another and that is why Leigh let the person into the home (no signs of forced entry). This person then sends Leigh's glasses to the family playing a sick and twisted mind game.
Theory #2: Leigh's mother is responsible. Either it was an accident or something done on purpose, she knew she had to lie to police to not go to prison for her daughter's murder. This is why she failed both polygraphs. She mailed the glasses to the home to throw off investigators and get them to focus one someone else.
The whole thing about Leigh only being home for less than one hour before the mother calls and then leaves work bugs me, too. It reminds me of Christopher Coleman, the man who murdered his whole family. He went to the gym, called home, and when no one answered the phone he called police. How many times did she call the house before deciding to return home? Maybe Leigh was just in the shower or her grandmother asked her to help with something outside? She immediately jumps to the conclusion that something is wrong?
This is an intriguing one. What do you guys think?