Teen vanished during Hurricane Andrew

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/13/grace.coldcase.occhi/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Leigh Occhi was 13 years old when she dissappeared from her home the morning of Hurricane Andrew. (August 27, 1992) She and her mom had a breakfast together that morning and talked about her plans to attend her school's orientation later that day. The plan was her mother was going to leave for work at about 8am and Leigh's grandmother would come pick her up to bring her to her orientation later that day. Leigh's mom was not at work very long before the weather from the hurricane began to get pretty bad, so she left the office and went home to check on her daughter. It was the first time Leigh had ever been left alone. Leigh's mom returned to the house a few minutes before 8:30am and discovered every mother's worst nightmare. Blood and blood trails all over the house, Leigh's clothes out of place and some missing, and most of all Leigh was missing. Leigh's mom checked everywhere for her but could not find her. She called 911 at 8:30am and the police responded immediately. They had blood hounds trying to track her scent but with the bad weather they could not hold the scent long enough. So once the weather let up they started a helicopter search. But they never were able to find Leigh. Today, Leigh would be 30 years.

In my opinion I don't think Leigh's mom should have any guilt or her grandmother. It was not their fault. And it was the first time that Leigh had ever been left alone. Leigh was 13 years old and plenty old enough to be left alone just like every other kid, it was just bad luck that she was left alone and something bad happened. However, I would question Leigh's mother leaving her home by herself, for the first time, during a hurricane...? That is questionable in my opinion. But, I feel that Leigh was of age to take care of herself and be left alone for a short period of time. However, it is impossible to gaurantee anyone's safety these days which is too bad. I think if the weather wouldn't have been like it was, the blood hounds probably would have been able to track her scent and follow her path, unless her capturer took her away in a vehicle. I don't understand why the police never moved the investigation to Booneville where the package that was addressed to Leigh's home, to her father who no longer lived there, was mailed from. I think it is possible that whoever took Leigh probably knew her father. And I think it would have been helpful if police focused more on him rather than her mother because obviously whoever took Leigh probably knew her father and her father probably knew him. They polygraphed Leigh's mother less than a week after the incident and again a few weeks later. I don't either of those polygraphs were accurate because a mother who just lost her daughter is going to react very oddly when questioned about her involvement in her own daughter's dissappearance which she had nothing to do with. I don't think either of her parents were involved in her dissappearance, but I do think her father could have possibly known who did take Leigh. I think chances are very slim of Leigh ever being recovered knowing that she would now be 30 years old. However, there is always a chance.