The Case of Kimberly Leach

Kimberly Leach, 12, disappeared from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida, on 9 February 1978. Ted Bundy abducted and murdered her, and her body was discovered approximately two months later near the Suwannee River. Bundy was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.

Kimberly was a seventh-grade student at Lake City Junior High School. She lived with her father and siblings in Lake City and was described as a friendly and well-liked child. On 9 February 1978, Kimberly left her classroom to retrieve her purse but never returned. Her disappearance prompted an immediate search involving local police, school officials and volunteers. Ted Bundy was living in Florida at the time, having escaped custody in Colorado and subsequently committed the Chi Omega murders in Tallahassee.

Kimberly was abducted from the Lake City Junior High School grounds. Investigators later determined that Bundy had taken her to a secluded area outside Lake City. Her body was discovered on 7 April 1978 in a wooded area near the Suwannee River. An autopsy determined that Kimberly had suffered blunt-force injuries and strangulation.

Investigators quickly began searching for Kimberly after her disappearance. Witnesses reported seeing a man resembling Bundy near the school on the day she vanished. Bundy was arrested in Pensacola on 15 February 1978, six days after Kimberly disappeared. Investigators subsequently connected him to the abduction and murder. Evidence presented at trial included testimony placing Bundy's Volkswagen Beetle near the school and evidence recovered from his vehicle.

Ted Bundy was convicted of Kimberly Leach's murder in 1979 and sentenced to death. His conviction was upheld through multiple appeals. Kimberly's murder became the final homicide for which Bundy was formally convicted. Bundy was executed in Florida's electric chair on 24 January 1989.

Kimberly was 12 years old, making her the youngest identified victim in the established Bundy victim chronology.