Leigh Occhi disappeared from her Tupelo, Mississippi home Thursday, August 27 1992 under suspicious circumstances never to be seen again.
As we approached the 20th anniversary of an unsolved murder/disappearance that has haunted many Tupelo natives, my editor at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal told me to start asking around and find what I could uncover.
I met with detectives, reviewed case files, tracked down people who were hired to privately investigate the case, interviewed the original detective and original reporter covering the event and contacted classmates and close friends. Shortly after my questioning, a new detective resubmitted old evidence to the crime lab.
The newspaper published a front-page story and accompanying interior page reviewing the investigation alongside timelines, evidence, and other stories.
Long after I’d left the paper, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal produced a podcast about the mystery and contracted me to write and record the musical theme.
