According to CharleyProject.org, "Leppert left her family's home in Rockledge, Florida at 11:00 a.m. on July 6, 1983 with a 20-year-old male friend. She said she was going to the beach and would be "be back in a little while." She never returned home.

Her friend later told authorities that he and Leppert had an argument while driving and that he left her standing in a parking lot outside the Glass Bank near an Exxon gasoline station in the vicinity of State Road A1A between 2nd Street North and 3rd Street North in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Many reports erroneously state that Leppert was barefoot at the time of her disappearance. Her mother said she noticed she had not combed her hair before leaving the house that day, which is very uncharacteristic of her; she usually spent considerable time on her appearance before going anywhere. At the time of her disappearance, Leppert was planning to go to California to act in some movies. She apparently never arrived there, however.

Investigators looked into the possibility that Leppert was attacked by Christopher Wilder, a man linked to at least a dozen disappearances, rapes, murders and/or attacks of women in the early to mid-1980s.

Photos of Wilder are posted with this case summary. He frequented the Florida region at the time of Leppert's disappearance. He sometimes attempted to lure young female victims by offering non-existent "modeling sessions" or other tactics, which would have fit well into a scenario involving Leppert. She was a relatively known model who had won several titles and was an occasional actress, landing bit parts in the films Scarface and Spring Break, and she wanted to be an internationally famous star." If you have any information on the disappearance of Tammy Leppert, please contact the Cocoa Beach Police Department at (321) 868-3251.