Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Leigh Marine Occhi
Leigh, date, approximate 1992; Age-progression to age 41 (date, approximate 2021)
Date Missing 08/27/1992
Missing From
Tupelo, Mississippi
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/21/1979 (43)
Age 13 years old
Height and Weight 4'10, 95 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A nightshirt and green/yellow silk boxer shorts.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, hazel eyes. Leigh has a strawberry birthmark at the base of her skull, small scratch scars on her right leg and bumps on the skin of both of her knees. Her ears are pierced. She has a lazy left eye and wears eyeglasses. Her blood type is either A or O.
Details of Disappearance Leigh was last seen at her family's residence in the 100 block of Honey Locust Drive in Tupelo, Mississippi on August 27, 1992. Her mother, Vickie Felton, saw her before leaving for work at 7:35 a.m. Leigh planned to attend an open house at her school that day, and was waiting for her grandmother to come pick her up. It was the first time her mother had left her at home alone.
There were heavy storms that day as Hurricane Andrew moved over the area, and Leigh's mother was concerned for her as a result. Her mother tried to call her at 8:30 a.m., but got no answer. She tried to call once more before returning home, but there was still no answer.
Felton became worried and returned home to check on Leigh, and discovered that the garage door was open and the light was on, meaning the door had been activated in the past several minutes. Another door to the house was left unlocked. There was no sign of Leigh at the scene and she has not been seen again. Felton called the police at 9:00 a.m. to report her daughter's disappearance.
There were no signs of forced entry into the home, but there were some indications that a struggle had taken place. Fresh, still-wet stains of Type O blood were inside the house on the walls, the carpet, and the bathroom countertop. There was a blood trail leading from the hallway to the living room to the back door, and blood and hair stuck to a door frame, suggesting Leigh hit her head on the door frame.
One of Leigh's nightgowns and her brassiere, both items bloodstained, were in her bedroom. She had been wearing that nightgown when Felton left the house that morning. It looked like someone had made efforts to clean up the blood in the bathroom, but police couldn't find a used rag or towel anywhere.
Leigh's reading glasses, shoes, some of her underclothes and a sleeping bag were missing. Police searched the area with bloodhounds, but due to the weather conditions the dogs weren't able to get a scent.
About one month after Leigh's disappearance, her glasses arrived at her residence in the mail. They were addressed to "B. Yarbrough"; Leigh's stepfather was named Barney Yarborough.He and Leigh's mother had separated a short time before her disappearance. The street name in the address on the envelope was misspelled "Hony Locust" and the envelope had six stamps, twice as many as was needed. It was postmarked Booneville, Mississippi, a town about thirty miles north of Tupelo.
There was nothing else in the envelope. Handwriting and forensic tests on the envelope yielded no results; the stamps had been wet with water and there was no DNA on the envelope. The person who mailed the glasses has never been identified, but police think the glasses were mailed to mislead the investigation.
Fourteen months after Leigh's disappearance, a skull was found in a soybean field and identified as Leigh's. It turned out the state medical examiner's office was not using Leigh's most recent dental records, and the skull wasn't hers after all. It was later identified as a missing 27-year-old woman.
Authorities stated they had very little evidence to determine who was responsible for Leigh's disappearance. Several persons of interest have been interviewed, but no one has been charged in connection with her .
Felton was given three polygraphs and failed all of them, but she hasn't been identified as a suspect. She stated she believes Oscar "Mike" Kearns, a local man who knew Leigh through church, was responsible for her disappearance. Nine months after Leigh's disappearance, Kearns abducted a fifteen-year-old girl from her home in Memphis, Tennessee, sexually assaulted her and released her. He had also known the victim through church.
Kearns pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released after less than four. After his release, he kidnapped a married couple and raped the wife, and was sent back to prison. He is scheduled for release in 2019. He has refused to be interviewed or polygraphed about Leigh's disappearance.
Leigh resided alone with her mother at the time of her disappearance. She was about to begin the eighth grade at Tupelo Middle School. Her father, who divorced from her mother in 1981, was in the United States Army and was stationed out of state. Felton is also a veteran of the armed forces.
Leigh's father got emergency leave from the military after her disappearance and moved to Tupelo with his family so he could assist in the search for his daughter. He stated although he wasn't able to see Leigh often due to his military obligations, they had a close relationship. He believes someone within the family was involved in Leigh's disappearance.
Both Leigh's father and her stepfather passed polygraph tests and were ruled out as suspects in her . Her stepfather is now deceased, and her mother lives in Michigan. Leigh's boyfriend, who was eleven years old at the time of Leigh's disappearance, was never questioned by police.
Foul play is strongly suspected in Leigh's disappearance, which remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Tupelo Police Department
662-841-6491
Federal Bureau of Investigation
202-324-3000
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
NamUs
Operation Lookout
Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi
NewsLibrary
The Daily Journal
The Commercial Appeal
The Criminal Report Daily
CNN
Vanished: Leigh Occhi | DARK MATTERS #29
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
