Tami Lynn Leppert

[Huskerz85]

So the theory about Paul Land (the supposed ex-BF who may or may not have knocked her up) is pretty much nonsense then??

Link

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by Huskerz85

So the theory about Paul Land (the supposed ex-BF who may or may not have knocked her up) is pretty much nonsense then??

Link

I've always thought that it was.

[infinityluxe]

I never bought the "I let her out at the gas station" story. He knows more. A lot more.

[infinityluxe]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

The conventional wisdom would say that she hitchhiked with the wrong person and met with foul play. But I stumbled upon this reddit thread. At the time of her disappearance, Tammy lived on Merritt Island. It's about a 10 minute drive to Cocoa Beach. The friend who dropped her off near a gas station told the police that Tammy told him that she was unhappy about living at home, slept with a knife under her pillow, her mother had committed her to a mental institution, and that she wanted to run away.

Tammy asked the friend for some money and a ride to Ft. Lauderdale. He claims to have given her $300, but when he declined the ride she started to freak out and demanded to be left out. He leaves her at the gas station and she calls her aunt and a friend who had a video store near where she was. Neither one of them answered the calls and she was never seen again. I'm going to assume that she left some sort of voicemails on this calls, or else how would anyone know that it was Tammy calling from that particular payphone?

She's telling various people that she's scared, she wants to run away, etc. She's calling people shortly after being dropped off at the gas station. What if the third person she called picked up and agreed to give her a ride to Ft. Lauderdale? According to Wikipedia, a detective received two calls in February of 1985 stating that Tammy was a live and attending nursing school. It should also be noted that the friend did not abandon Tammy in the middle of nowhere. She was about 5 miles from her home and it was 2 days removed from the 4th of July on a Wednesday afternoon. Her mother did not report her missing for a week. Is it that much of a stretch to think she managed to hitch a ride to somewhere in Florida and met with foul play elsewhere? Could she still be alive?

I always felt like someone took advantage of Tammy's state of mind at the time she was not well.

I still have issues with the friend who just left her. He should have went back to her mom's place and told her something was wrong with her daughter and he let her out of his car.

Tammy was experiencing the beginning stages of schizophrenia in my opinion. She was having delusions, hallucinations and was extremely paranoid. She needed not only psychiatric care she needed medication.

Do I think something happened to Tammy to trigger her mental illness? Absolutely. She could have been raped or witnessed something she was suffering from PTSD of some kind.

These type of events can trigger mental illness that is dormant in the body. I had a friend in college who was beat and car jacked for his brand new Mustang his parents had bought him. It triggered mental illness and he was never the same again. It hurt me deep because he is such a good person and friend to me but he ended up having to live in a group home.

I feel bad for Tammy and that no one was able to help her in time. Back then mental illness was very taboo.

[rusty spike]

Like so many cases on UM, I think we're missing pieces of the puzzle. Perhaps the mom and the friend aren't forthcoming with certain details.

I have always wondered if the mom ran Tammy off. Perhaps, she couldn't deal with Tammy and her mood swings and or behavior.

[infinityluxe]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Like so many cases on UM, I think we're missing pieces of the puzzle. Perhaps the mom and the friend aren't forthcoming with certain details.

I have always wondered if the mom ran Tammy off. Perhaps, she couldn't deal with Tammy and her mood swings and or behavior.

Keep in mind mom was a stage mom. I think she was getting frustrated with Tammy because she was missing out on lucrative opportunities, but I don't think she ran her off. She seemed genuinely concerned for Tammy's mental health.

The mistake she made is allowing Tammy to go on all of these jobs without proper supervision. Something happened to Tammy that triggered her mental illness.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by infinityluxe

Keep in mind mom was a stage mom. I think she was getting frustrated with Tammy because she was missing out on lucrative opportunities, but I don't think she ran her off. She seemed genuinely concerned for Tammy's mental health.

The mistake she made is allowing Tammy to go on all of these jobs without proper supervision. Something happened to Tammy that triggered her mental illness.

It seems she DID have supervision the majority of the time, though. While filming 'Scarface,' she stayed with a family friend Walter Leibowitz, who was interviewed in the segment. This was in Miami, just a two-hour drive from Cocoa Beach. While filming 'Spring Break,' in Fort Lauderdale (also a two-hour drive from Coca Beach) I have to assume she was staying with someone as well.

The only instance we are told where she was unsupervised was the out-of-town weekend party she went to. It's frustrating that UM treats this as a throwaway line and never dissects it because they state she came back a different person and was essentially never the same, someone even her own mother didn't recognize.

If I'm one of her loved ones, I'm doing everything in my power to find out every single detail I can get about that weekend. Who she was with, who was at this party, etc. I want to know more.

[khanartist79]

Originally Posted by infinityluxe

Tammy was experiencing the beginning stages of schizophrenia in my opinion. She was having delusions, hallucinations and was extremely paranoid. She needed not only psychiatric care she needed medication.

Do I think something happened to Tammy to trigger her mental illness? Absolutely. She could have been raped or witnessed something she was suffering from PTSD of some kind.

I agree. I also wonder if she had experienced some sort of trauma during her years on the beauty pageant circuit. If she did, perhaps it contributed to her overall psychological state.

[Souldriver5440]

I'm not sure if anyone has seen this but I found it very interesting scroll up to 113
http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2017/DEC.html

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by infinityluxe

I always felt like someone took advantage of Tammy's state of mind at the time she was not well.

I still have issues with the friend who just left her. He should have went back to her mom's place and told her something was wrong with her daughter and he let her out of his car.

Tammy was experiencing the beginning stages of schizophrenia in my opinion. She was having delusions, hallucinations and was extremely paranoid. She needed not only psychiatric care she needed medication.

Do I think something happened to Tammy to trigger her mental illness? Absolutely. She could have been raped or witnessed something she was suffering from PTSD of some kind.

These type of events can trigger mental illness that is dormant in the body. I had a friend in college who was beat and car jacked for his brand new Mustang his parents had bought him. It triggered mental illness and he was never the same again. It hurt me deep because he is such a good person and friend to me but he ended up having to live in a group home.

I feel bad for Tammy and that no one was able to help her in time. Back then mental illness was very taboo.

But her behaviour wasn't "normal" for someone who had been raped or had mental illness, being raped doesn't make you think your own mother is poisioning you and you ask someone to try your food right?

Based on everything i've read on this case, tammy seems to have changed like flicking a switch, that party she went to is key, because her mother and friends say that she went from being 100% fine and well and then came home from it a completely different person, a total 180. mental illness doesn't appear within 24 hours.

Theres countless stories of famous and non famous people taking one hit off some crazy drug during the 70s and 80s, just one hit and it changing the chemicals in their brain. some fleetwood mac member, lead singers took one tab at a german woodstock like event, just one! and never was the same, left the group, gave all his things away and spent the rest of his life rife with mental illness.

it's the only realistic theory.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Like so many cases on UM, I think we're missing pieces of the puzzle. Perhaps the mom and the friend aren't forthcoming with certain details.

I have always wondered if the mom ran Tammy off. Perhaps, she couldn't deal with Tammy and her mood swings and or behavior.

I think it might have been the opposite, which was how I perceived it in the segment. Tammy might have been burned out with her mom due to the constant pressure of modeling and acting. it's not hard to imagine what happened on the movie sets if you think about it. At minimum she probably was objectified in some way or saw other women experience that. Worse, she could have had something violent happen to her or witnessed it with someone else.

Tammy was at the age where a lot of child performers reach that burn out phase and start to rebel against their parents. not saying that indeed happened, but it's a theory of mine and it certainly could have led to Tammy having mental illness IMO.

[TheCars1986]

I think both can be true: Tammy was burned out by the lifestyle of a young model and was also suffering from some form of mental illness. It's just a shame that there's no way to know who she called from that payphone after trying her aunt and her friend (if it was anyone at all). I suppose its possible that she attempted to hitchhike her way to Ft. Lauderdale and met with foul play that way, but she doesn't strike me as the person who would accept a ride from a stranger.

[Huskerz85]

Originally Posted by bigted12

But her behaviour wasn't "normal" for someone who had been raped or had mental illness, being raped doesn't make you think your own mother is poisioning you and you ask someone to try your food right?

Based on everything i've read on this case, tammy seems to have changed like flicking a switch, that party she went to is key, because her mother and friends say that she went from being 100% fine and well and then came home from it a completely different person, a total 180. mental illness doesn't appear within 24 hours.

Theres countless stories of famous and non famous people taking one hit off some crazy drug during the 70s and 80s, just one hit and it changing the chemicals in their brain. some fleetwood mac member, lead singers took one tab at a german woodstock like event, just one! and never was the same, left the group, gave all his things away and spent the rest of his life rife with mental illness.

it's the only realistic theory.

If she really did change that sudden/quickly, then yeah, drugs would be the simplest & most plausible explanation.

I think after that weekend party, she snapped & tried to get out of town. While in that altered/diminished/vulnerable state, someone took advantage of & later killed her (probably someone who offered her a ride and/or the promise of more drugs)

[James T]

Originally Posted by Souldriver5440

I'm not sure if anyone has seen this but I found it very interesting scroll up to 113
http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2017/DEC.html

That guy is a clown-even said himself that only some of what he posts has any truth to it. From memory he also claimed that the young girl in Poltergeist was raped/abused to death by pedo abusers on a kids show where all the children were abused & nobody on set in any capacity reported it(yeah sure)-problem is that show ended 10 months before she died & we know she died from a congenital disorder.

Why is PL's death suspicious as he claims? He died of a brain tumour-likely caused by his alcoholism. He was in the mob just because he had a construction business? Also why would this sex addict when she agreed to have sex with him on a beach shoot her before getting it? Makes zero sense.

[TheCars1986]

I wonder why Tami's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against serial killer Christopher Wilder for a million dollars, and that Tami's mother claims that a man resembling Wilder had come to their home in an effort to let him photograph Tami. He did the same ruse (modeling) with other victims and suspected victims.