Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - Tammy Lynn Leppert: The Starlet Who Knew Too Much

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

On July 6, 1983 — 43 years to the day this episode drops — 18-year-old model and aspiring actress Tammy Lynn Leppert accepted a ride from a male acquaintance in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and was never seen again. In the weeks before she vanished, Tammy had become increasingly terrified, telling those close to her she had witnessed something she wasn't supposed to see and feared for her life. She had appeared in minor film roles and moved in circles connecting entertainment and crime. More than four decades later, no one has been charged — and the rumors have never stopped.For more, follow The Final Hours wherever you listen to podcasts: https://pod.link/1872821250If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money, & Murder to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Scams, Money, & Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosX: @crimehousemediaYouTube: @crimehousestudios

Hi, listeners, it's Vanessa. Before today's episode, I want to take a brief moment to tell you about a show from Crime House's sister studio, Rewind, that I know you'll love. It's called Government That Doesn't Suck, hosted by professors Lindsay Cormack and Greg Jackson from History That Doesn't Suck. Ever wonder how the weather forecast on your phone is so accurate? Or how your mail still gets across the country for less than a dollar? Or who actually built the highway you drove on this morning?

Each episode tells the surprising story of an American institution that you'll never look at the same way again. Listen to and follow Government That Doesn't Suck every other Monday on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or watch video episodes on YouTube. This is Crime House. You're looking at a movie poster of a woman lying in the sand. She's wearing a bikini with vertical blue and white stripes. The image is zoomed in to show only the middle section of her body. from her mid-thyes to her belly button.

Behind her is a bright blue sky and deep blue water. On her hip stand four miniature men. They're putting up a flag as if to claim their territory. If the camera pulled out, it would reveal 17-year-old Tammy Lynn Leepert with her blonde hair and hazel eyes. People say she was the model but was never credited. The flag those little men are holding reads Spring Break,

the title of the movie Tammy was cast in where she plays a small role. The tagline is, quote, Like it's really totally the most fun a couple of bodies can have, you know? End quote. But Tammy didn't agree. When the young model went to a cast and crew party for spring break, she came back absolutely devastated from what she experienced there.

She claimed to have seen something that could get her killed, and she never recovered from it. Afterwards, Tammy lived her life completely terrified, all the way up until the moment she disappeared. Every year, over half a million people go missing, and that's just in the United States alone. Most of those stories barely get a headline. Some don't even get a flyer or a tip line. And when cases do get media attention, we usually only get the broad strokes.

But for those of us who have lived these true crime cases, we know the devil's in the details. This is the final hours. A crime house original powered by Pave Studios. I'm Sarah Turney. And I'm Courtney Nicole. Every Monday, Sarah and I will be looking at the final hours of someone's disappearance, the small, seemingly mundane moments to see if there was anything hiding in plain sight. Looking back at those last conversations, connections, and choices is critical,

and it could be the key to unlocking it all. Each episode all offer insight on what those close to the victim might have been going through, and Courtney will use her expertise to give more context into the crime scene, the red flags, and the investigation itself. Crimehouse exists because of listeners like you. Want even more, join Crimehouse Plus and get every episode of the final hours and the rest of the crimehouse lineup, ad-free and early. Plus, at least two bonus episodes every month.

To join, go to CrimehousePlus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap Try Free at the top of the final hour show page. As always, this show is made and recorded by humans, not AI. This time, we're discussing the disappearance of Tammy Lynn, Leepard. On Wednesday, July 6th, 1983, a sunny day in coastal Florida. The 18-year-old rising movie star got picked up by an old friend. They were supposed to head to the beach, but they got into a heated argument along the drive. Tammy's friend pulled over and the beauty queen got out of his car, never to be seen again. Before Tammy Lynn Leepard's face appeared on missing person posters,

it had grace the pages of magazines. She spent most of her life in the spotlight, and she always did her best to smile for the audience. Until one day, something happened that darkened her world. She never explained exactly what it was, but after spending several months afraid for her life, Tammy vanished. To this day, we don't know if she went willingly, or if those events were connected. But before we talk about Tammy's unexpected plot twist, let's get to know who she was. It's 1983. 18-year-old Tammy Lynn Leapert has built a name for herself as a beauty queen and model. After all, it's in her blood. Tammy was born in 1965 in Rockledge, Florida, to a former beauty queen named Linda Curtis.

Her biological father was never in the picture. Around 1969, at the age of four, Tammy entered her first of many pageants. The precocious extroverted little girl charmed judges with her big and bright smile. And from that moment on, she was almost always center stage. When Tammy was seven, she started acting in commercials. Her mom Linda became an agent who helped shape Tammy's career. Linda enjoyed running her daughter around places. She admired how high Tammy aimed and how well she competed,

but Linda also had other clients. In fact, she managed a roster of about 20 people. And surprisingly, Tammy wasn't number one. That spot went to a boy named Wing Flanagan. He first walked into Linda's office when he was nine years old to ask about acting lessons. While Wing technically lived with his mom, he spent 90% of his time with Linda and Tammy. He was family.

In a show of sisterly love, Tammy would kiss wing on the cheek wearing lipstick he couldn't easily remove. At first, the mark she left embarrassed him, but then he realized they were a status symbol. He was loved by Tammy, which everybody wanted. In October 1978, when she was 13 years old, Tammy was featured nationally on the cover of Cover Girl. It was a dream very few girls would ever achieve,

but her real passion was acting. Her favorite character to play was Peter Pan. She was known for performing scenes from the play on her pageant circuit. Over time, she started to book commercials, TV shows, and plays. Eventually, she even made it onto the big screen. In 1980, around the age of 15, Tammy landed her first small movie role in the teen dromedy little darlings. It centers on two girls away at summer camp who bet each other on who will lose their virginity

first. It wasn't the casting of a lifetime, but, but it was a start for Tammy, and she was ready to move on from the pageant circuit. By this point, she had competed in more than 300 beauty pageants, and by the time she was 16 years old, she had taken home 280 crowns. Even though Tammy loved the spotlight,

living in it wasn't always easy. It complicated some things, like friendships. Tammy had been closed with a girl named Lisa Geiger since middle school. When they hung out just the two of them, it was wonderful. But when other people came around, Lisa said Tammy changed her behavior. Lisa thought Tammy was being fake, but not intentionally. She was actually worried that Tammy didn't know who she was.

Eventually, Lisa started to feel like everything was about Tammy and that she wasn't experiencing her own youth. So Lisa made the difficult decision to take some distance. Even though she still really liked Tammy, Lisa stopped asking her to hang out. It must have hurt Tammy, but she did have other friends, like Rick Adams. Tammy and Rick had one of those. undefinable relationships, not quite platonic, not quite romantic. He was two years older than her,

and took her to her junior and senior proms, but they drifted apart after he graduated. There were times, though, where Rick also struggled to be around Tammy. He felt like he had to compete for her attention. People always came around when they were together, trying to get a few moments with her. And Tammy felt pressure to show up a certain way for people. Her makeup had to be flawless, every single hair had to stay in the right place, and her outfits had to be stylish and fit perfectly. Sarah, as a woman, generally speaking, I feel like the pressure to be perfect

it just weighs so heavy. And that's coming from me. I've never been in the beauty pageant world, so I can't imagine Tammy growing up in that space. Like it must have been just 10 times worse for her. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I was just fixing my hair, you know, recording this with each other, and it's just us, right?

So I think that that pressure is huge. And when you add being a teenager and add being, you know, a semi-famous teenager, if you will, I can't even imagine what she was feeling. Yeah, the pressure must have been really, really high. And also, keep in mind, this is before social media days. I know some people might argue it's worse now, which, yes, I can kind of, like, agree with that. It's a lot for a teenager. Even if the spotlight had its drawbacks, Tammy wasn't shying away from it.

In July 1982, 16-year-old Tammy was cast in the comedy feature, Spring Break. It was about a few college nerds who learned how to do. to let loose on spring break with the help of some seasoned partiers. Tammy played a boxer, another small, uncredited role with no dialogue, but people were starting to notice her. After the film finished shooting, Tammy celebrated with the casting crew at a rap party. But when she came home, something was immediately different about Tammy. She started to seem a little paranoid. One day the phone rang and before a wing even answered, she told him to say that she wasn't there. The caller did ask for her, but she never did ask for her, but she never

said why she wouldn't take the call. Wing asked her what was on her mind, and she would change the subject or tell him nothing and laugh it off. She was a little more honest with her mother Linda, though. And one day after the party, Tammy admitted something scary to her. She thought somebody was trying to kill her. She didn't offer much more, which was probably why her loved ones couldn't tell whether her fears were based in reality or not. As a result, Tammy started isolating more and more. It got bad enough that Tammy, who loved attention, spent two weeks almost entirely secluded and didn't say why. But she tried hard not to let her career suffer because of it. Then in early 1983, something good happened, something career-making.

Tammy was offered a small but notable role in the Al Pacino Blockbuster Scarface. She played a bikini-clad girl who distracted a lookout driver while his friend was killed. The film began shooting in Miami, 200 miles south of Brooklyn. She stayed with a family friend who lived there, an attorney named Walter Liebowitz. Everything was going great until her fourth day on set, when Tammy had a complete breakdown. The crew was filming a scene in which one of the characters got shot, and fake blood sprayed out. As Tammy was watching, she broke down and started bawling. It got so intense that a crew member took her back to her trailer.

She was riddled with anxiety and seemed terrified, triggered even. but she didn't say why. When Walter came to get Tammy, she was sobbing and incoherent, talking about money laundering and not knowing where to hide. Walter called Linda and recommended she take Tammy to the doctor and the police.

They needed to find out if Tammy was struggling psychologically or if her fears were valid. Thankfully, Tammy finished filming her scene and it did make it into the movie. After that, she went back to Rockledge, and there she confessed something to Linda. The reason she thought someone was going to kill her,

was because she had witnessed something she shouldn't have. The government gets a bad reputation, but did you know that the roads under your feet, the forecast on your phone, the letter in your mailbox, that's all government too. I'm Professor Lindsay Cormack, and I'm hosting a new podcast called Government That Doesn't Suck, alongside Professor Greg Jackson,

who you may know from the hit podcast, History That Doesn't Suck. Each episode, we dig into the surprising story of an American institution, from the origins of the Internet to the National Park Service, to the GI Bill, and so much more. You'll hear the stories behind them,

plus a conversation with an expert who knows it inside and out. This is the real history of how we built the country under your feet, and you'll never look at any of it the same way again. Listen to and follow, government that doesn't suck, available now wherever you get your podcasts. It was March 1983. Tammy had just returned from shooting Scarface, and she admitted that she'd seen something terrible,

but she didn't say exactly what, or where. At one point, she also confessed to Linda that a friend had bragged to her about a drug money laundering operation. It involved cops, bankers, and other powerful people in the area. Tammy was terrified that she knew too much, but she never specified if what she saw and what her friend told her about the laundering were connected. Linda insisted that Tammy speak with an officer at the Rivard County Sheriff's Department. She went to pacify her mother. But unbeknownced to Linda, when Tammy was giving her report, she didn't actually tell them that she considered her life to be in danger. Instead, she made up a story that sounded less severe. Something had been stolen from her that she wanted back.

So after that, Tammy's fears continued to escalate. She even became worried that someone was going to poison her. She wouldn't drink from open containers, and she only ate food off other people's plates. There were some good days when her behavior seemed close to normal. Other days were much worse, and even though Tammy continued to isolate, she started reaching out to old friends, like Rick, her not quite romance from high school. She confided in him that someone was trying to kill her. He was sure she didn't use any mind-altering substances like drugs or alcohol,

and he was convinced that her fear was real. At the very end of June or the beginning of July, 1983, Tammy also reached out to her middle school friend Lisa and said she was scared for her life. Lisa was also genuinely concerned. She invited Tammy to come over to her house and talk about it, but Tammy never took Lisa up on the offer. I feel so bad for Tammy at this point. She is dead set on thinking that she saw something

that could really, you know, put herself in danger. And it just makes me sad because she's reaching out to the people that she used to be closest with. And she's still so young herself. Like that just really pulls up my heartstrings. Yeah, I mean, this is a hard one, right? I mean, obviously her friends are saying that the fear is real. Even if what she's talking about,

we don't know if it really happened, that fear is real to her, and that's important. It would be almost impossible to go back and verify if what she saw is real. Regardless of what we can prove or not, those feelings are 100% valid. Be real, right? She's a teenager on these sets and these pageants, and back in the 80s, bad things happened to teenagers on these sets. I mean, they still happen to kids, right? We see this all the time. Unfortunately, a lot of the times in entertainment, it's just not a safe space for kids. So, I mean, who knows what happened to Tammy?

It doesn't seem like people knew what to do about the threat against Tammy at the time, but Tammy tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy. She tried to stay focused on her acting career, but she was getting restless and wasn't moving along as quickly as she hoped. So she booked a three-month trip to California to pursue some acting leads. Except before Tammy could leave Rockledge for California, things took a turn for the worse. It was Friday, July 1st, 1983. Wing was reading on the couch and Tammy accused him of looking at her, but he denied it.

She stepped outside for some space, but became immediately overwhelmed. And to make matters worse, a gust of wind caught the door and slammed it behind her. She tried to get back inside, but the door was locked. And that's when Tammy went ballistic. She picked up a baseball bat and started smashing the windows. Then she stuck her hand through one and unlocked the front door. Tammy ran inside. Then she began screaming and hitting wing.

Linda rushed into the room. She pinned Tammy against the wall and just kept repeating, quote, I love you, Tammy, end quote, until her daughter went limp. Linda was able to handle the situation that time, but she didn't know how much more she could help. So the next day, Saturday, July 2nd, Linda checked Tammy into a mental health center.

They found no evidence of substance abuse and put her on a 72-hour hold to evaluate her. After three days, on Tuesday, July 5th, the doctors let Tammy go. That day when she got home, Tammy met up with her high school friend Rick. She told him the reason someone was trying to kill her was that she saw something she shouldn't have, but again, she didn't go into specifics. That afternoon, Rick took her to pray, and she cried more than he'd ever seen before.

Afterwards, Rick dropped Tammy off in front of her house around 11 p.m. They agreed to go back to church the following day. But then, Tammy said something that really stood out. She told Rick that she may have to go away for a while, but she loved him. They hugged each other and held on for a long time. Rick never got the chance to ask Tammy what she meant. He tried calling her the next day, but it was too late. Which brings us to Wednesday, July 6, 1983.

Tammy calls a friend, 20-year-old Keith Roberts. Tammy met Keith three years earlier in one of Linda's acting classes. He lives in Lakeland, about an hour and a half drive west of Tammy, where he works at a bank. Tammy asked Keith to pick her up and wants him to lend her some money. He knows she's been struggling with paranoia and heightened emotions, but he still agrees. Around 1 p.m., Keith pulls up in front of Tammy's house. Their plan is to go to the beach. Tammy walks out of the house in a light blue blouse with flowers at the shoulders,

a denim skirt, flip-flops, and a gray purse. Before she goes, she calls to her mom, saying, quote, "'bye, mommy, I'll see you in a little bit, okay?' End quote. But Tammy and her mother will never see each other again. Keith gives Tammy $300 in cash, which would be about $1,000 in 2026. Then while they're driving, she asked him to change course. Tammy wants Keith to drop her off with friends in Fort Lauderdale, a three-hour drive one way from where she lives. Keith doesn't have that kind of time, but he offers to take her home instead. That's when Tammy gets really upset, and they get into an argument.

insists that he stopped the car, so he does. There in Cocoa Beach, a 14-mile drive from where she lives in Rockledge, it's around 3 p.m. when Tammy gets out of Keith's car and he drives off. That is the last time anyone sees Tammy Lynn Leepard. I feel like the aspect of Tammy wanting Keith to give her the $300 in cash. That's probably one of the most discussed things about this case because it kind of like gives away to a couple different theories about what it could have happened to her. You know, one being that I see all the time is like maybe she wanted that money to help get away, maybe for protection to try and start a new life. And although that, you know, was a lot back then, like we already said, it was equivalent to $1,000. That's still not a life-changing amount of money.

Like at some point, and relatively soon that's going to run out and you won't be able to use that anymore. So I don't know if I believe that that's, you know, that was her intention of wanting that money. Yeah, I agree. I mean, $300, even $1,000 today, it isn't enough to really stay away for a long time. I mean, maybe enough to piece together expenses for a few months, but certainly not forever. You know, I don't really know why their plan was to go to the beach, and then all of a sudden, once they're in the car alone, like she wants him to change course and go to Fort Lauderdale three hours away. I don't know what the reasoning for that could be, do you? I mean, no, I wish that we had more insight into that. And it's hard, right? Because I do feel like, if you get into somebody's car and you think

that you're going to have a three-hour total commute, and then it turns into a six-hour total commute. mute. I get why someone would say, no thanks, maybe we should cancel these plans. Yeah, because even three hours, like, that's a long trip. I wouldn't want to just, like, drop everything on a whim for a six hour car drive. Like, that's a big commitment for one day. Yeah, and I mean, these are, you know, teenagers, right? These are young people here. And it reminds me of, like, being one of the first people my age to get a car. And I would have people get in my car and be like, oh, just keep driving. Just keep driving. You know what I mean? And it was like, no, tell me where we're going. Like, we need an end point, how long is this going to take? So, like, I think I can sympathize with the irritation of the

plans changing. But also, I mean, he did offer her a ride home, it seems. So given that he's telling the truth, if we assume that, I mean, I don't know. Why did she just get out? Why not just go home? We don't know where Tammy went after she got out of the car, but we know she makes four phone calls that same afternoon. Tammy leaves three urgent messages for her aunt, Ginger Colch, at her workplace, a costume shop she owns in Cocoa Beach. Tammy says she's calling from somewhere nearby, but Ginger is out of town at the time. Details of the phone call are never made public, but the store is only a couple of blocks away from where Tammy got out of the car, which makes us wonder if she was calling for help. Unable to reach her aunt,

Tammy makes the fourth call to a friend named Ron Abelis, who owns a video store. It's also relatively close, about two miles south on the same highway Tammy was dropped off on, but he isn't in at the time either. What's weird is Tammy doesn't call her mom Linda. But when Tammy doesn't come home by 7 p.m. that night, Linda does reach out to Keith. When he doesn't answer the phone, Linda contacts dozens of Tammy's friends and relatives. But nobody else has seen or heard from her. Finally, on Friday, July 8th, two days after Linda last saw Tammy, she gets a hold of Keith. We don't know why, but she still hasn't gone to the police. Keith admits that he and Tammy got into an argument after he picked her up, then he left her in Cocoa Beach, and that he never saw her

after that. But Linda thinks he knows more than he's letting on. On Monday, July 11th, Tammy has been missing for five days. At 12.30 a.m., Linda files a missing persons report. The Cocoa Beach Police Department puts out a bolo and tapes up flyers. They comb the beaches in the area, which there are a lot of. And the police say they are following all possible leads. But they do admit that their job will be harder because the missing person's report was delayed. And since Tammy turned 18, she's legally an adult, which means she's not automatically considered to be at high risk. They say her case may be given a lower priority. This frustrates me because I know once you're 18, you're an adult, you're free to do whatever you want. But in this specific case, it infuriates me

because Tammy is obviously going through something either mentally or, you know, what she saw is real and like she is actually in danger. And I think either way, those are both reasons for this to be high priority, in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, this is a young person who just got out of a mental health facility and went missing. I would say this is a high priority case. The whole argument of they're 18, they're an adult, they can leave on their own accord. I don't think that holds water here. I do kind of get their point when they, you know, tell Linda that since this missing person's report was delayed, it might be harder to find her, which I do get because at this point five days had gone by. It's just sad because all resources should be put into this case immediately. And it just

didn't seem like it was. Yeah, and you think with her, you know, semi-celebrity status, there should have been more priority in this case. I mean, usually that's what we see. I don't think that should automatically be the case. Somebody with this type of status usually gets more resources. And I almost wonder if that five-day delay was her mom almost like trying to protect her career? Maybe she didn't want this to make the papers or anything about her mental health issues. One thing that really stood out to me is that it took two days for Keith to get in contact with Tammy's mom. That kind of stands out to me. Like two days had gone by when somebody's actively trying to get hold of you about their missing daughter.

That's kind of weird to me. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I want to know more about that. Did she leave a message that said that she was missing or was it just like, I want to talk to you? I always forget about the days like before social media, right? When we had like this smaller amount of information where you couldn't just like instantly talk to all these people, You couldn't see a post from a mom saying that somebody's missing, right? I feel like information just moved a little bit slower. Of course, I don't know what the case is here, but I just wanted to keep that in consideration.

But it does seem like they get into things rather quickly. During their investigation, the police questioned some of Tammy's friends who offer up some interesting information. They say she was having problems at home and wanted to get away. One of those friends is Ron, the video store owner. He says he isn't surprised that Tammy disappeared. He thinks her mother was too aggressive with her regarding her career, and he always wondered if they had problems. Lisa, Tammy's friend from middle school, also thinks Tammy ran away.

She's seen Tammy and Linda get into a lot of arguments. In fact, one time Tammy told her she was, quote, out of here, end quote, as soon as she turned 18. But she figures Tammy will turn up sooner or later, and so does Ron. Keep in mind, we don't know whether Ron or Lisa actually knew what Tammy was going through. We know Tammy told Lisa she was scared for her life over the phone, but we don't know if she gave Lisa any indication why. Yeah, I mean, so consider how not knowing about Tammy's fears may have shaped someone's perspective. Not to mention for what it's worth, Tammy's Aunt Ginger doesn't buy the runaway theory. She knows some people think Linda was too

firm with Tammy, but she has three boys of her own, and she thinks Linda raised Tammy to be more independent than all three of them combined. Instead, Ginger's convinced that someone with bad intentions must have been controlling or threatening Tammy. And maybe she didn't survive to make that final call to her mom. While Sarah, Linda also has a theory. From the beginning of the investigation, she's been suspicious of Keith, the friend who picked up Tammy to go to the beach.

The Coco Beach police interview him twice over brief phone calls. They talk to him more about the broad strokes than in-depth details. But Keith says he perceived drastic changes in Tammy's character in the months before she disappeared. like her entire world was caving in on her all at once. He says she confessed to him that she was unhappy at home and wanted to leave, and that she was upset that Linda had put her in a hospital against her will. Tammy told him after that she started sleeping with a knife.

She was definitely going through something, all of which is definitely concerning. But the police don't find anything unusual on Keith's side of the story, and he doesn't have a criminal history. The biggest issue they have with Keith is that he canceled two appointments for a face-to-face interview at the station. Meanwhile, Keith claims they never scheduled one. The police also never questioned Rick, the friend Tammy went to church with, even though she had been confiding in him as well.

In fact, Linda thinks they did a poor job of interviewing everyone. But Linda keeps her finger pointed at Keith. It's not mentioned in the police report, but in some interviews, she claims Tammy was scared of him. Linda also mentions another person on the police report, who we don't think should be overlooked. Yeah, so this is important, Courtney. Tammy had recently been introduced to a man in his late 30s named Robert Valenti. He told Tammy he was a producer, but he also had a sketchy reputation when it came to teenage girls. While Linda mentions this in passing, it doesn't seem like she or the police ever gave it much thought.

The reality is, Tammy likely encountered a lot of men like this in her career, many of whom Tammy, Keith, and the police might not have known anything about. I think that's alone the hardest thing about this case is that Tammy had to have known so many people in this industry. So it's really scary to think that there could be many more men out there like Robert Valenti, who could have been like preying on Tammy's downfall or like plotting something sinister. Yeah, I think that's what's hard, right? She's such a young, beautiful girl in this industry meeting so many older men, really, a lot of the times on these sets. It's hard because I don't think that you can really track every person she in can. encountered in this industry. It's just impossible. I kind of always go back to Tammy saying that she

saw something at one of those crew parties, and I feel like in some way that has to be connected to her disappearance. Yeah, I think it's very possible that she did see something that she shouldn't have and that caused her to have this great fear that again was validated by her loved ones. Even though there seems to be a few shady men in Tammy's life, the police don't seriously consider foul play, at least not at the beginning of the investigation. But seven months into the case, the police develop a new lead, and now they think Tammy might have been the victim of a notorious serial killer. It's February 1984, seven months after Tammy's disappearance. A 38-year-old man named Christopher Wilder takes a six-week road trip across the continental United States. He starts in

Florida, where Tammy lived, drives west to California, travels up the state, then heads back east to New Hampshire. Along the way, he kidnaps, tortures, and commits sexual. assault against 12 girls and young women. He murders eight of them. This is not the first time he's committed these crimes. In fact, he's racked up offenses dating all the way back to 1963 when he was a teenager. Christopher has an ammo that he uses often. He poses as a fashion photographer and lures in young and aspiring models. He's known to the public as the beauty queen killer. On March 18, 1984, he lures 21-year-old aspiring model Terry Ferguson away from the Merit Square Mall in Merritt Island, Florida, under the same pretense. This is only seven miles from

Tammy's house and seven miles from where Keith dropped her off. In fact, it's right in between the two. Five days later, on March 23, 1984, Terry's body is found in nearby Canaveral Groves, 14 miles north of where Tammy lived. When Linda hears the news in early 1984, it gets her attention. She thinks the cases are connected. This is a one lead that Linda and the police are an agreement on. Tammy fits his M.O. perfectly. The timeline is realistic, and the place is literally too close to home. Plus, and this is huge. Linda says Tammy met Christopher in Fort Lauderdale on the set of Spring Break. It doesn't seem like he had an official role in the movie, but Linda says that after filming, Christopher traveled the 175 miles

to Rockledge and tried to convince Linda to let him photograph Tammy. but she refused. He also visited Linda's talent agency, Galaxy Model Workshop, several times in 1983, in search of models. Unfortunately, we don't know if he attended the rap party that kicked off Tammy's paranoia. The problem is, nobody can pin Christopher down, even though the authorities are looking. During the manhunt, Linda files a $1 million civil lawsuit against Christopher's estate, claiming emotional damages. She thinks that if he's brought in, it will ensure he answers questions about Tammy as well as his known victims. Then, in April 1984, nine months after Tammy's disappearance, Christopher lands on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitive list.

Finally, on April 13, 1984, two state troopers are driving in Colbrook, New Hampshire, a small town just 12 miles from the Canadian border. As they pass by a service station, they spot Christopher talking to the attendant. So they pull in and call out to him. Christopher dives into his car to grab his 357 magnum. One of the troopers jumps on his back to disarm him, and during the struggle, two shots are fired from Christopher's gun. One passes through Christopher and into the disarming trooper's liver. The other goes straight into the Beauty Queen killer's heart.

Thankfully, the trooper survived and eventually went back on duty. We can't say the same for Christopher. After his death, Linda drops the lawsuit against his estate. She says there's no longer a point since she won't be able to get him in for questioning. Then she admits she never really considered him a strong suspect anyway. The police eventually feel the same way. They're never able to link Christopher to Tammy. I think when it comes to cases where you don't have any definitive answer,

it's easy to like want to believe that unknown serial killer could be behind it just because it then offers some sort of like any explanation. Most people, you know, would prefer having an answer than not. knowing. Yeah, I totally get that. I do think, though, that we need to consider that this is like the heyday of serial killers, right? The 70s up to like the mid-80s is really like when we saw the most serial killers in the U.S. So I get it. I don't see the concrete evidence there to link them either, but I still consider it a possibility, I guess, just because of the timing. Yeah, that's a good point, yeah. But also, it kind of stuck out to me that Linda said that Tammy met this guy in Fort Lauderdale.

remember the day that she went missing, she was asking Keith to drive her to Fort Lauderdale. I don't know if there's any connection there, but like to me that stood out when researching this case. I don't think so because she, it seemed like given the information that we have, that she didn't quite like this guy. Like he seemed a little bit weird and maybe like too forceful. So I don't know why she would then want to go to Fort Lauderdale to meet him. Maybe there's a connection there. Well, yeah. I mean, let's look at the serial killer that you've met after your disappearance.

I would highly recommend that in an investigation, a thousand percent. But I mean, to your point, right, she didn't really seem to want to have anything to do with this guy. But also, if she's at the point in her career where she's getting a little desperate, she might go a little bit out of her comfort zone there. And yeah, I mean, just her being dropped off, maybe she was hitchhiking, looking for a ride. I don't know, Courtney.

That's a hard one. By 1985, two years after Tammy's disappearance, the police don't have much new information, other than two telephone calls received from a woman who claims that Tammy is still alive. The first time the woman says Tammy's well, and will contact the police when she's ready. The second time, she lets them know that Tammy is now following her dream of going to nursing school. This feeds investigator's suspicion that she ran away, but Linda says it's impossible. Linda claims that Tammy is deathly afraid of blood, so there's absolutely no way that she could be working as a nurse.

She even cites that incident while filming Scarface. After that, the police never tracked down the caller, and unfortunately, there aren't many other tips. That is until mid-September 1992, when Tammy's case is featured on Unsolved Mysteries. After the episode airs, 300 viewers call in. 90% of the tips are useless, and the other 10% aren't much better.

Still, a young investigator named Michael Angeline Sifts through them, But he's not a police officer. He's a private investigator working pro bono for Linda, and he also knew Tammy in high school. Like Linda, he's quickly disappointed by how little work the Cocoa Beach Police Department has done over the last nine years. But three years later, in 1995, the police come up with a new lead.

They're considering the possibility that Tammy might have been the victim of another serial offender, a man named John Brennan Crutchley, who's known as the vampire rapist, and is serving time in jail, but they have nothing concrete to connect Tammy to that case either. Michael thinks the police are just trying to lump her in with his victims to close her case for good. That summer of 1995,

54-year-old Linda falls terminally ill from kidney and liver failure. A few months later, on the weekend of Saturday, September 30th, she contracts a blood infection. By October 4, 1995, Linda passes away. She never found her daughter. and she's been over a decade feeling falsely accused of driving Tammy off with stage mother syndrome. This just breaks my heart. You know, passing away and never knowing what happened to your loved one,

I feel like that is anyone's greatest nightmare. Yeah, a thousand percent. And I mean, I feel like we see this in cases all the time. This is not the first time that we've talked about a loved one dying at an early age involved in one of these cases. And I'm not a medical professional, obviously. but I think we all know that stress impacts our physical body. I can't tell you how many cases I have researched where somebody involved, you know, in the case like their loved one has gone missing or has died in a tragic way,

they legit die of a broken heart. It's just awful. I'm not saying that's what happened here. Like she obviously had medical issues, but I'm sure the years of not knowing definitely did not help. Yeah. I mean, I can tell you firsthand, obviously, that like, you know, I'm assuming that Linda is the main contact on this case.

And being that person is extremely difficult, especially over so many years. And it's not just like dealing with police, right? It's in your own mind of like, what else can I do to find answers? I feel like that itch for a lot of people never goes away. I know, for me it doesn't. Like every day, it's like, what can I do new? What's innovative? But who can I talk to?

What can I do to help? For a lot of people, that never goes away. And it's this long-term stress that can absolutely impact your body. I can only hope that there is like someplace. after death where they can be reunited. And I don't want to talk about that topic too much because I feel like it sends me into a spiral, like not knowing what happens after you pass away.

I don't know. I just hope that she found peace, you know, in her final days. I mean, I think that that's just one of the effects that people don't talk about enough in true crime, right? These long-term missing cases where you don't have answers, you don't have a lot of action, it can really weigh on you. With the police coming up with this new lead

kind of seemingly, you know, out of nowhere, nine years later, that she could be a potential victim of like another serial offender. On one hand, I feel like it doesn't hurt because at this point there's still no answers, but it kind of feels like they're grasping at straws, you know, and the benefits of a police station closing an investigation, closing a case, they far outweigh, like having a case open and like unsolved, you know, like it looks better for them if they can close a case, say they solved it, and then move on to the next investigation. I hope that's not what they're trying to do here, but it just seems like kind of like

a far reach that they're trying to connect these two cases. Yeah, no, I get that. And for me, I think it's like both, right? Like, yes, do I think it's grasped me at straws? A hundred percent. But if that's my person, do I want them to still look into that? Yeah, 100%. I will say Tammy's case is still open today. Even if police do decide to close it, people won't stop looking for her. Tammy is someone who deserves the spotlight. At the age of four, she kicked off her remarkable career as a beauty queen and model. Then she began acting in commercials and plays, and by the time she was 18 years old, she was starting to get cast in feature films. That was her real dream, and she was well on her way. Even if roles weren't coming her way as quickly as she wanted,

everyone knew her movie stardom was inevitable, but Tammy went through an awful experience that she never shared, and it seemingly caused her to struggle. Even through it all, she still found a silver lining, and used it to reconnect with old friends. Like Keith, who picked her up on Wednesday, July 6, 1983. They were supposed to head to the beach. After Tammy walked out of the house, she made a point to stick her head back in to say goodbye to her mom and show her she cared. Tammy got into the car and borrowed $300 from a friend. Then she asked him to drive her three hours away to Fort Lauderdale. When he said no, they got into a fight. So she told him to let her out of the car, and he did. Tammy went missing after that. We don't know where she went or how she got there,

but we hope somehow, some way, she might still make a comeback. Tammy Lynn Lebert will be about 61 years old as of this recording. She's Caucasian with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her last known height and weight were 5 foot 3 and 103 pounds. If you have any information about Tammy Lynn Leopert, you can contact the Cocoa Beach Police Department at 321. 868. 3251. Thank you for listening to the final hours. If you have any other details

about Tammy Lynn Lebert's case, please share it with us on social media. We want to hear from you. Your thoughts, condolences, and feedback or what make this community so special. At Crimehouse, we value your support. Share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review,

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and is a Crimehouse original powered by Pape Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Final Hours team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Pritzofsky, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Dana Brazil Solovee, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.