Leigh McAlister left her home in Lexington, South Carolina, on February 13, 2026. She was traveling alone to Atlanta for a church conference. The 37-year-old mother said goodbye to her husband, Rob McAlister, and was on her way. She checked in with her husband that evening, but Leigh McAlister didn’t contact him again. When she didn’t return as planned on February 14, Rob McAlister began to worry. He contacted police and headed to Atlanta. Thankfully, he found his wife alive at a hospital, but so many questions remain.
Rob McAlister told WLTX that his wife appeared on surveillance video at Publix on Piedmont Road in Buckhead. The Cobb County Police Major Crimes Unit issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for Leigh McAlister. She was wearing a white sweater, blue jeans, and brown boots on February 14, the day she disappeared. Two days later, police found her SUV at The Battery, a mixed-use development near the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park. WLTX reported she had left her phone and wallet behind.
“It’s not like her,” Rob McAlister told the news outlet. The concerned husband and father said his wife would never just leave their 4-year-old son behind. He told WLTX he traveled to Atlanta to find her.
Kathleen Hall-Hayes shared the good news February 17 that police found Leigh McAlister alive at an Atlanta hospital. What happened to her remains mysterious.
“Leigh is found and safe and for that we are so very grateful. At this time, she remains hospitalized and we are still working to understand the circumstances leading to this event,” read her post on social media. “If you have any information on her whereabouts in the Atlanta area from Friday night through the weekend, please share with APD or Cobb County authorities, me personally, or the contact points on the flyer. Thank you so much again. May you all be blessed.”
Thankfully, it sounds like Leigh McAlister is OK, but we can’t help but wonder what the heck happened to her during those three days. Did she disappear on purpose, leaving her car, phone, and wallet behind? Or is it something more nefarious? This is a story to follow.
