Kimberly Leach was a 12 year old student at Lake City Middle School. On February 9, 1978, she was called to the school's office to retrieve her purse that she had left in another classroom. After retrieving her purse and on her way back to her classroom, she was intercepted by serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy had previously attempted to kidnap another middle schooler that morning but when he was stopped by the child's older brother, he made his second attempt at Lake City Middle School where he found Kimberly Leach walking to the main office by herself.

Bundy quickly overpowered the young Kimberly and forced her into his car; she would never be seen alive again. Seven weeks after Kimberly's disappearance, her extremely decomposed and partially mummified body was recovered from a farm area that was used for birthing pigs, approximately 35 miles away from Lake City where she had last been seen. An autopsy was performed on the remains and it was determined that the 12 year old Kimberly had likely been raped prior to her death, then had her throat cut which ultimately caused her death.

On February 15, 1978, Ted Bundy was arrested after a run on his license plate showed him as a wanted person. In December of 1979, Bundy was tried for the kidnapping and murder of Kimberly Leach. He had already been found guilty of 2 counts of murder in the case of the Florida Chi Omega murders and received 2 death sentences. During the trial for the kidnapping and murder of Kimberly Leach, Bundy acted as his own council and in an unexpected twist, he asked a witness, former Washington State DES coworker Carole Ann Boone, to marry him and she accepted.

Despite his courtroom antics, Bundy was once again found guilty and sentenced to death in the kidnapping and murder of Kimberly Leach. This death sentence was the one that was ultimately carried out and led Bundy to his death in 1989.