In the summer of 1986, twenty-year-old Rochelle 'Rocky' Ihm, a resident of San Diego, California, made a spontaneous trip to her former hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, to visit friends. A former family gardener, Robert Yama, paid for her airplane ticket and picked her up from the airport. The weekend was filled with socializing, and on the evening of July 12, Rochelle attended a party with her friends. She was last seen on the morning of July 13, 1986.
At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being between 5'3' and 5'4' tall and weighing between 98 and 108 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a round brown birthmark on her leg and her ears are pierced. She was reportedly wearing a white shirt over a pink bikini and an oval-shaped sapphire ring surrounded by eight small diamonds.
According to friends, Robert Yama was displeased that Rochelle had spent her time with them instead of with him. Rochelle's family also believed that Yama was attracted to her. Yama told investigators that he dropped Rochelle off at a Greyhound bus station near 6th Street and Washington Street for her to return to California. However, authorities investigated this claim and determined that she never boarded the bus. The day after she was last seen, Rochelle was scheduled to start a new job as a paralegal, a position she never arrived for. She has not been seen or heard from since.
The investigation into Rochelle's disappearance quickly focused on Robert Yama, who was uncooperative with the police and is considered a person of interest in her case. Despite the suspicion surrounding him, he was never charged in connection with her disappearance and passed away in 2005. Foul play is suspected in Rochelle Ihm's case, which remains an unsolved and painful mystery for her loved ones. The circumstances surrounding her vanishing, including the unsettling behavior of the man who facilitated her trip and was the last to report seeing her, continue to point toward a deeply troubling conclusion. The lack of answers has left a void in the lives of her family and friends, who still seek justice and closure decades later.Last Seen: Jul 13, 1986
