MS MS - Leigh Occhi, 13, Tupelo, 27 Aug 1992

[David_Lohr]

Part III:
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/07/leigh-marine-occhi-3.html

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Another most interesting installment. Of course the mother is a POI; she is clearly and evidently lying based on the story she told David Lohr. Now we see that "The child was awake and had eaten breakfast with her mother before [the latter] went to work." There is never a mention of anything Leigh says or does in the mother's story. That suggests that whatever Leigh said or did is something that the mother doesn't want to recount or remember. What people leave out of stories is just as important as what they say.

I'd be interested to know if at ANY point the mother talked about what Leigh said or did. What went on between not wanting to wake her up and saying goodbye?

 

[gaia227]

I like your angle PBG. I would have never thought about what Vicki hadn't said but you are right. Once you pointed it out and went back and re-read the articles and she doesn't mention anything that Leigh said or did.

It certainly does not bode well either that she failed the polygraph 3 times......

 

[pittsburghgirl]

This reminds me of that case this spring where the husband/father pretended to leave for his morning workout and his and then called LE to "check" on his wife and two sons. ( I don't remember the dirtbag's name; either there are more of this cases now or the media makes us more aware of them. I just know my head is stuffed full with the deeds of evil dirtbags.) My guess would be that the swiftness of her return to the house is meant to show that she was the concerned mother. If Leigh was afraid of storms, she could have called her mother to pick her up or dropped her off there on the way to work. It's not like that bad weather had not been predicted.

Anyway, her story is ludicrous from every angle. If an intruder wanted to molest/kill her, he would have taken her out of the house, or just done the deed and left the blood behind.

 

[David_Lohr]

Part IV:
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/07/leigh-marine-occhi-4.html

 

[gaia227]

If that is really what Vicki said in response to his inquiry then this statement seems really bizarre too me.

"I called her house, and her mom picked up the phone," Jordan said. "I asked to speak with Leigh, and she said, 'Sorry Hon. Leigh is missing.' I thought 'missing,' what is 'missing'? I mean, at that point in time, I didn't compute missing. I had never been exposed to anything like it before. Vickie started to cry, and then my mom took the phone. [She and Vickie] spoke for a few minutes, and then my mom tried to explain it, but I didn't quite get it until I saw the news that night, and they talked about blood in the house. That is when I understood something really bad had happened."
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/07/leigh-marine-occhi-4.html

 

[gaia227]

David - do you know who this man is that Vicki refers too? I did a few searches on children being murdered in Tupelo and a man being arrested but didn't really come up with much.

 

[David_Lohr]

David - do you know who this man is that Vicki refers too? I did a few searches on children being murdered in Tupelo and a man being arrested but didn't really come up with much.

I would prefer not mentioning his name myself. I was told someone has sent you a private message regarding that.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

If that is really what Vicki said in response to his inquiry then this statement seems really bizarre too me.

"I called her house, and her mom picked up the phone," Jordan said. "I asked to speak with Leigh, and she said, 'Sorry Hon. Leigh is missing.' I thought 'missing,' what is 'missing'? I mean, at that point in time, I didn't compute missing. I had never been exposed to anything like it before. Vickie started to cry, and then my mom took the phone. [She and Vickie] spoke for a few minutes, and then my mom tried to explain it, but I didn't quite get it until I saw the news that night, and they talked about blood in the house. That is when I understood something really bad had happened."
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/07/leigh-marine-occhi-4.html

Gaia, this passage jumped out to me, also. She says, "I am not going to accept anything for sure. I am not going to do that … I have to keep focused on factual things, logical things, not emotional things, or I wouldn't be able to cope very well. I just don't want to do that again," but I don't see any sign of emotional in her at all. Certainly there is a strong contrast to the emotional content of her statements vs. what the young boyfriend had to say. I can imagine someone not wanting to break the news to a boy that age over the phone, and then talking to his mother, but the first thing that would occur to me is to ask if the boyfriend had seen her or talked to her or knew of any plans she had that might have led to opening the door to someone she shouldn't have. I would like to know more about your thinking about the passge.

She also says "in her mind" the incarcerated man is responsible, and I believe that can mean not just that she suspects him but that "in her mind" she has settled on a plausible person whose history makes him a plausible person to blame. It is also possible that she didn't kill Leigh but knows who did and is covering for that person. But she is lying about things and constructing an alternate and more palatable mental reality. But all JMHO.

Great series. I would love to see you do 5 or 6 parts on the Springfield MO three missing women from 1992, crimewriter.

 

[gaia227]

PBG - Following up on your suggestion I sent David a PM with some info about the 3 missing women. As you know from their forum I am interested in their abduction too and I would also love to see him do a series regarding their case.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

We have a lot of documents, etc. on the thread for him to look at. I am very impressed with his work on Leigh's case. I have always thought there was a book in the Springfield case.

 

[gaia227]

We have a lot of documents, etc. on the thread for him to look at. I am very impressed with his work on Leigh's case. I have always thought there was a book in the Springfield case.

I sent him the link to their forum here and links to their Charley Project pages as those provide a nice overview. It would be nice to see it get some new media attention.

 

[Kimster]

I just learned about this case today when I was adding Adrianna Wix to our missing children's forum. Wow! This is just sooo sad! Reading her dad's story made me sick to my stomach...bless that man's poor heart!!!

It does appear that the mom is involved. I wonder if they weren't fighting, as moms and teenage girls will do, and Leigh fell and hit her head on the door frame. Mom panicked and disposed of her body. The thing is, there was no trace evidence in the car? So did Mom bury her? Was the property ever searched with sonar? What kind of property was it...any land? With such a storm, I wonder how Mom could have buried her? I can see why neighbors may not have seen anything, they were probably all shut up inside. Were the landfills checked? That is the most curious part of this...how did she hide her body?

 

[Kimster]

This reminds me of that case this spring where the husband/father pretended to leave for his morning workout and his and then called LE to "check" on his wife and two sons. ( I don't remember the dirtbag's name; either there are more of this cases now or the media makes us more aware of them. I just know my head is stuffed full with the deeds of evil dirtbags.) My guess would be that the swiftness of her return to the house is meant to show that she was the concerned mother. If Leigh was afraid of storms, she could have called her mother to pick her up or dropped her off there on the way to work. It's not like that bad weather had not been predicted.

Anyway, her story is ludicrous from every angle. If an intruder wanted to molest/kill her, he would have taken her out of the house, or just done the deed and left the blood behind.

His name is Chris Coleman and yes, this case reminded me of that one also! Thankfully, CC left a trail of evidence and was arrested within a week of his evil crime spree against his precious family.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

CC was the first one I thought of as well when I saw this case.

I check on Investigation Discovery's site often and love Davids Blogs. That's how I found out about this case.

He has great info on the Caylee case as well. Very organized and very factual. No rumor crap to sift thru.

 

[David_Lohr]

Thanks for the comments and the links. I know of the case you guys are suggesting and will add it to my list.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

CC was the first one I thought of as well when I saw this case.

I check on Investigation Discovery's site often and love Davids Blogs. That's how I found out about this case.

He has great info on the Caylee case as well. Very organized and very factual. No rumor crap to sift thru.

Yeah, I have it bookmarked, too. Next to a trained LE detective, the best source of information is a very good reporter who knows how to interview people AND how to construct a narrative that doesn't oversimplify the case. David does a great job. And I'm glad he has a "list" of cases to report on. It's important to get these old, cold cases back into the public consciousness.

 

[dbuck]

From Crimewriter's discussion with Det. Aguirre:

"...a pool of blood on the carpet in the hallway leading to her bedroom … [the blood] wasn't hard. It didn't have what I call a 'skin' over the top of it. It was fresh "

How long would it take at say 70-72 degF for a pool that size to "skim over"?

 

[Leprikawn]

With the advances in DNA, being able to get it from a single cell.........I would hope they would re test the glasses and envelope it came in.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

You're welcome Hope4lost. I only wish I knew more. Leigh went missing a few years before I moved here. So, I didn't know her (she was younger anyway), don't know anyone in her family, nothing. Every few years the newspaper will do an article on her, but it's never anything more than has already been reported. Leigh's house is probably less than 2 miles from where I live now. When I pass her street, I can't help but think of her.

When I spoke to Lt. Aguirre, he only told me that one piece of info. He didn't seem to want to get into more, which is totally understandable. Also, for many years, there was always an ad in the classifieds w/ a picture of Leigh, requesting any info on her whereabouts. I think there was mention of a reward. I always wondered if her family put that ad in or if it was the police.

Part III:
http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/07/leigh-marine-occhi-3.html

Great series, David!

One question. Did anything ever come of the psychic's tip; did the police get permission to search the location the pyschic mentioned?