ICE COLD IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: THE CASE OF TAMMY LYNN LEPPERT

One of my all time favorite films Scarface was released on this day back in 1983. But did you know there’s a missing persons case connected to the film that’s still unsolved? 18-year-old Tammy Lynn Leppert seemed destined for stardom; a model since childhood, the aspiring actress and uncredited extra in movies like Spring Break, Little Darlings and Scarface, disappeared from Cocoa Beach, Florida on July 6th, 1983. If you’ve seen the film you probably remember her from the scene where she distracts the character Manny outside the hotel during the chainsaw scene. The circumstances around Tammy’s disappearance are pretty vague. According to Leppert’s family, Tammy changed in July 1982 while shooting the film Spring Break telling her mother she had ‘seen something awful, that [she] was not supposed to see and insisted ‘they’ would come after her if she told anyone what it was. Then in March of 1983, while filming Scarface Tammy allegedly had a complete breakdown on set during filming a scene. She returned home and her mother sent her for a complete physical and psychiatric evaluation. Doctors found no evidence of drug or alcohol use and released her. The next day Tammy was seen walking down A1A after being dropped off by Keith Roberts, a male friend with whom she had gotten into an argument with while he was giving her a ride to the beach. Even though he is the last person known to have seen Tammy, police cleared him as a suspect. Tammy’s case was featured on an original episode of the program Unsolved Mysteries. All manner of theories have floated around this case including drug cartels, money launderers, serial killers, and even other (well-known) actors. But 40 years on, this Florida missing persons case is still ice cold.