by Billy Cox
Florida Today
Oct 5, 1995
Modeling Agent, Linda Curtis, died early Wednesday morning without resolving her greatest sorrow -- the fate of her daughter.
Curtis, 54, passed away at Florida Hospital in Orlando, following a blood infection she contracted over the weekend. She had been diagnosed as terminally ill months ago from kidney and liver failure.
"We kept her going through artificial means for as long as we could. Those were her wishes," said photographer Wing Flanagan, her longtime partner, "Her heart just gave out."
A Cocoa native, Curtis attained nationsl prominence in the 1980s for coaching so many girls to victory in beauty pageants. In 1983, however, her life turned upside down with the disappearance of her 18-year0old daughter, Tami Lynn Leppert.
Leppert, a model and aspiring actress, vanished without a trace from Cocoa Beach, where she was last seen near the Glass Bank. Curtis moved to Orlando shortly thereafter.
"Unsolved Mysteries" solicited leads nationwide in 1992, but repeated showings of the Leppert episode produced dead ends. Curtis made a final public appeal for help in Florida Today three weeks ago.
Funeral arrangements were not available Wednesday.
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