Missing in Mississippi: What Happened to Leigh Occhi?
A young girl vanished after being left home alone, leaving behind only blood and a mystery that’s now almost two decades old.
The remnants of Hurricane Andrew were headed for Tupelo, Mississippi on the morning of August 27, 1992, but the storm hadn’t hit yet when Vickie Yarborough left for work around 7:50 am. Her daughter, 13-year-old Leigh Occhi was awake when Vickie left for work but still in her nightgown. She promised her mother she would be dressed and ready to go when her grandmother came to pick her up later that morning; she was going to an open house at her middle school and didn’t want to be late.
Less than an hour after she arrived at work, Vickie called home to check up on Leigh. Whenever she called her daughter, she would let the phone ring twice, hang up, then immediately redial. This ensured Leigh knew it was her mother calling and would answer the phone. On that morning, however, Leigh failed to pick up. After trying a few more times, Vickie couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She left work and made the short drive home to make sure Leigh was okay. Her blood ran cold when she pulled up in front of her house and saw that the garage door was wide open, and the light on the automatic door opener was lit. Since the light would turn off about five minutes after the door opener was used, it appeared…