WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Amanda Tusing 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:15.965 School of Humans. On June fourteenth, two thousand, there was 0:00:16.005 --> 0:00:19.325 a huge storm brewing in northeast Arkansas. It had been 0:00:19.405 --> 0:00:22.605 raining heavily all day, and according to local weather data, 0:00:22.805 --> 0:00:27.165 tornadoes had hit. Over one hundred trees were downed, power 0:00:27.245 --> 0:00:31.085 lines were down, and homes were destroyed. Twenty year old 0:00:31.165 --> 0:00:34.125 Amanda Tussing, who went by Mandy, was hanging out with 0:00:34.165 --> 0:00:38.325 her fiance, Matt Irvin, at his apartment in Jonesboro. Amanda 0:00:38.405 --> 0:00:41.125 lived forty miles away in Dell, Arkansas, which is in 0:00:41.165 --> 0:00:45.285 Mississippi County. She lived with her father, ed, her mother, Susan, 0:00:45.445 --> 0:00:48.325 and her twin brother Andy. She also had an older 0:00:48.325 --> 0:00:51.885 brother who worked out of state. Matt did not want 0:00:51.885 --> 0:00:54.005 her to go home that night. It was about a 0:00:54.045 --> 0:00:56.445 forty five minute drive on a good day and the 0:00:56.445 --> 0:00:59.645 weather was bad, but Amanda wanted to get home, so 0:00:59.685 --> 0:01:04.205 she left Jonesboro at around eleven thirty PM, so even 0:01:04.245 --> 0:01:07.645 if she drove very slowly, she should have gotten home 0:01:07.765 --> 0:01:11.885 around twelve thirty am at the latest. Amanda told Matt 0:01:11.925 --> 0:01:13.965 she would call him from her parents' landline as soon 0:01:14.005 --> 0:01:16.725 as she got home. She did have a cell phone, 0:01:16.765 --> 0:01:20.205 by the way, but her family said she never kept 0:01:20.205 --> 0:01:24.045 it charged, and it was always dying. Matt never got 0:01:24.045 --> 0:01:28.725 that call. By one thirty am, he was concerned. Matt 0:01:28.765 --> 0:01:34.725 called Amanda's mother, Susan tussing and woke her up. Susan 0:01:34.845 --> 0:01:36.805 told Matt to hang on a second. She said she 0:01:36.845 --> 0:01:39.365 would check to see if Amanda was in bed, but 0:01:39.445 --> 0:01:43.085 when she went into Amanda's bedroom, she saw that Amanda 0:01:43.165 --> 0:01:47.805 was not home. This was totally unlike Amanda. Her family 0:01:47.885 --> 0:01:51.405 knew something must have happened on that road, so her dad, 0:01:51.685 --> 0:01:53.925 Ed and her brother Andy got in the car together 0:01:54.045 --> 0:01:57.845 and drove toward Dell. Meanwhile, Matt left his house in 0:01:57.925 --> 0:02:01.725 Jonesboro and started driving down Highway eighteen in the opposite direction. 0:02:02.645 --> 0:02:05.325 Their plan was they would meet in the middle and 0:02:05.525 --> 0:02:10.405 hopefully see Amanda. Somewhere along the way, Matt saw Amanda's 0:02:10.485 --> 0:02:13.845 nineteen ninety two Pontiac grand am parked under a street light. 0:02:14.445 --> 0:02:17.805 It was on the shoulder of Arkansas Highway eighteen, about 0:02:17.805 --> 0:02:21.765 a mile west of the small town of Monette. Amanda's 0:02:21.765 --> 0:02:24.165 car was on the side of the road. It looked 0:02:24.205 --> 0:02:27.405 like it had been parked there intentionally, in other words, 0:02:27.525 --> 0:02:30.925 not like she randomly swerved over. Matt got out of 0:02:30.965 --> 0:02:35.245 his car, stepped out into the darkness, walked over and 0:02:35.285 --> 0:02:40.725 looked inside. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past five years 0:02:40.765 --> 0:02:43.845 of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I have 0:02:43.965 --> 0:02:46.485 learned that there is no such thing as a small 0:02:46.525 --> 0:02:50.405 town where murder never happens. I have received hundreds of 0:02:50.445 --> 0:02:54.085 messages from people all around the country asking for help 0:02:54.125 --> 0:02:57.365 with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and 0:02:57.405 --> 0:03:00.525 their communities. If you have a case you'd like me 0:03:00.605 --> 0:03:02.885 and my team to look into, you can reach out 0:03:02.925 --> 0:03:05.125 to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six 0:03:05.205 --> 0:03:09.045 seven eight seven four four six one four five. That 0:03:09.245 --> 0:03:13.005 six seven eight seven four four six one four five. 0:03:13.845 --> 0:04:06.645 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Matt called the police. 0:04:07.445 --> 0:04:11.045 They met him and Amanda's father out on Highway eighteen 0:04:11.405 --> 0:04:14.965 by the car. Law enforcement showed up shortly after two 0:04:15.005 --> 0:04:19.245 thirty am. At first, police were thinking maybe her car 0:04:19.285 --> 0:04:22.685 broke down. The keys were still in the ignition. When 0:04:22.725 --> 0:04:25.685 they started it up, the car ran perfectly. There was 0:04:25.725 --> 0:04:29.645 also gas in the tank. They noticed some other things too. 0:04:30.285 --> 0:04:32.565 There was a coke can in the drinkholder that was 0:04:32.605 --> 0:04:35.565 half to three quarters full and it was still chilled 0:04:35.925 --> 0:04:40.525 with condensation on the side, which police believed indicated to 0:04:40.605 --> 0:04:42.925 them that someone had taken a drink out of that 0:04:43.005 --> 0:04:47.325 can pretty recently. They also noticed the radio was turned 0:04:47.325 --> 0:04:50.805 to Amanda's favorite station with the volume turned down, and 0:04:50.885 --> 0:04:55.525 the windshield wipers had stopped midwipe on the windshield. The 0:04:55.565 --> 0:04:57.565 interior of the car did not show any signs of 0:04:57.565 --> 0:05:01.365 foul play. Amanda's stuff was inside, her cell phone and 0:05:01.365 --> 0:05:04.525 her billfold were on the passenger seat. Her cell phone 0:05:04.605 --> 0:05:07.165 was dead, but again and her parents said that that 0:05:07.325 --> 0:05:10.245 wasn't necessarily a red flag because it was very often dead. 0:05:10.805 --> 0:05:12.845 She had a habit of letting her phone run down. 0:05:13.405 --> 0:05:16.045 And this, by the way, was back way before smartphones. 0:05:16.445 --> 0:05:20.085 Back in two thousand, cell phone reception was very spotty 0:05:20.125 --> 0:05:22.845 in those areas. In some of those areas it still is. 0:05:24.925 --> 0:05:28.565 I talked to Amanda's cousin, Jonathan, about the case. Her 0:05:28.605 --> 0:05:32.885 cousin was born after Amanda disappeared, but Amanda's family has 0:05:33.005 --> 0:05:35.245 never stopped trying to figure out what happened to her. 0:05:35.965 --> 0:05:40.485 The weird thing about the case is that like her 0:05:40.525 --> 0:05:45.245 car wasn't it didn't look like somebody had like pulled 0:05:45.245 --> 0:05:47.325 her over and dragged her out of the car or 0:05:47.365 --> 0:05:50.085 anything like that. Everything was like in place, but she 0:05:50.125 --> 0:05:55.165 had left all her stuff there. So people like to 0:05:55.165 --> 0:05:58.565 say that like Amanda would never have pulled over for 0:05:58.685 --> 0:05:59.685 no reason, you know. 0:06:00.805 --> 0:06:04.445 Investigators and her family believed that she may have pulled 0:06:04.485 --> 0:06:07.885 over to stop for some reason or been pulled over 0:06:08.005 --> 0:06:12.645 by someone. Amanda's family and friends and volunteers came out 0:06:12.685 --> 0:06:15.645 to search, but they saw no sign of Amanda for days. 0:06:16.565 --> 0:06:20.845 Then three days later, on June eighteenth, two thousand, Father's Day, 0:06:21.485 --> 0:06:24.725 a couple, Trent and Fonda Davis, were coming back home 0:06:24.765 --> 0:06:27.605 after a trip to Jonesboro. They drove over the twin 0:06:27.645 --> 0:06:31.325 bridges on Arkansas Highway one thirty five that ran over 0:06:31.405 --> 0:06:34.845 a body of water called Big Bay Ditch. The couple 0:06:34.965 --> 0:06:37.725 saw what they thought were some clothes floating in that water. 0:06:38.645 --> 0:06:42.205 Then they realized that they were looking at a body. 0:06:42.245 --> 0:06:52.805 It was Amanda Tussing. Amanda Tussing's body had been found. 0:06:53.445 --> 0:06:56.845 This was twelve miles in the opposite direction of where 0:06:56.885 --> 0:07:00.125 she was driving. She was driving east. Her body was 0:07:00.125 --> 0:07:03.605 found to the west. An autopsy revealed that Amanda had 0:07:03.645 --> 0:07:07.605 water in her nasal passages, but not her lungs. Law 0:07:07.645 --> 0:07:11.845 enforcement have said publicly that they believe Amanda was dead 0:07:11.925 --> 0:07:15.445 before her body was thrown into the water, but they 0:07:15.485 --> 0:07:18.325 reportedly could not decide on a definite cause of death 0:07:18.925 --> 0:07:21.805 because it could have been a dry drowning where the 0:07:21.885 --> 0:07:24.885 victim dies of choking on the water but water never 0:07:24.925 --> 0:07:28.645 actually gets into the lungs. Amanda had no visible injuries 0:07:29.045 --> 0:07:31.365 except a small bruise on the back of her head. 0:07:31.845 --> 0:07:35.725 There were no obvious signs of sexual assault, but because 0:07:35.725 --> 0:07:38.405 she had been in the water for days, it must 0:07:38.445 --> 0:07:41.645 have been very hard to know for sure. The police 0:07:41.765 --> 0:07:45.725 also had more bad luck. The heavy torrential rains had 0:07:45.845 --> 0:07:52.765 washed away a lot of potential clues. Gary Etter, the 0:07:52.765 --> 0:07:57.525 original detective on the case, told kait Regionate News quote 0:07:57.765 --> 0:08:00.765 the medical Examiner's office checked and said that she had 0:08:00.805 --> 0:08:03.565 no physical injuries other than being in the water and 0:08:03.605 --> 0:08:06.845 the impact of the elements. I think whoever did this 0:08:07.325 --> 0:08:10.765 probably did it before. That's what I'm thinking, due to 0:08:10.845 --> 0:08:14.965 no evidence end quote Detective Etter. By the way, in 0:08:15.005 --> 0:08:18.045 my opinion, from what he said in public, it really 0:08:18.045 --> 0:08:22.725 does seem like he deeply cared about this case. Last year, 0:08:22.805 --> 0:08:27.005 in twenty twenty three, the Craighead County Sheriff's Office assigned 0:08:27.045 --> 0:08:30.605 a new detective named David Bailey to this case, and 0:08:30.685 --> 0:08:34.365 he has said that he's reviewing everything with a fresh eye. 0:08:34.525 --> 0:08:39.565 So who left Amanda there floating in that ditch while 0:08:39.605 --> 0:08:42.205 they were figuring this out? By the way, law enforcement 0:08:42.285 --> 0:08:45.085 did not say there's no immediate danger to the public, 0:08:45.685 --> 0:08:48.245 which is what they say a lot during these cases. 0:08:48.685 --> 0:08:52.965 In fact, they said kind of the opposite in Mississippi County. 0:08:53.005 --> 0:08:56.365 In Craighead County, they told women traveling alone to be 0:08:56.445 --> 0:09:01.165 careful and to take extra precautions. Mississippi County Sheriff Leroy 0:09:01.205 --> 0:09:04.885 Meadows told a local paper, quote, I would urge people 0:09:04.885 --> 0:09:07.525 traveling alone to be careful. It would be wise to 0:09:07.565 --> 0:09:09.885 make sure you know who is trying to stop you, 0:09:10.325 --> 0:09:15.245 or drive to a lighted area before stopping. End quote. 0:09:15.365 --> 0:09:17.965 This is very good advice. I just want to point 0:09:17.965 --> 0:09:22.765 out that Amanda did stop under a street light, and 0:09:23.085 --> 0:09:25.685 her parents said she was very safety conscious and they 0:09:25.725 --> 0:09:27.565 had told her they had drilled it into her she 0:09:27.565 --> 0:09:30.405 should only park in well lit areas late at night. 0:09:31.085 --> 0:09:33.845 So even if she had followed that advice, I'm not 0:09:33.885 --> 0:09:37.925 sure that it would have helped her. Amanda's car had 0:09:37.925 --> 0:09:42.005 some partial fingerprints inside, but according to police, nothing usable. 0:09:42.645 --> 0:09:46.285 According to law enforcement, her car did not look like 0:09:46.325 --> 0:09:49.845 it had been wiped clean. This led investigators to believe 0:09:50.005 --> 0:09:53.405 that the perpetrator probably did not get inside the car. 0:09:55.845 --> 0:09:58.325 Detective Etter said something else in that interview with the 0:09:58.365 --> 0:10:01.765 news channel. He told them, quote, the first thing that 0:10:01.805 --> 0:10:03.925 comes to your mind, and I'm not saying it was 0:10:03.965 --> 0:10:07.045 a law enforcement officer, first thing that comes to your 0:10:07.085 --> 0:10:10.245 mind is that a law enforcement officer would know how 0:10:10.285 --> 0:10:11.245 to conceal the evidence. 0:10:12.085 --> 0:10:12.525 End quote. 0:10:17.445 --> 0:10:20.765 Amanda's family laid her to rest, and the funeral procession 0:10:20.885 --> 0:10:24.925 was three miles long. Everyone loved this young woman who 0:10:24.925 --> 0:10:29.085 had dreams of being a veterinarian, and her father told 0:10:29.205 --> 0:10:32.765 Channel eight news that because Amanda loved the song tie 0:10:32.845 --> 0:10:36.485 yellow ribbon around the old oak tree, the town actually 0:10:36.605 --> 0:10:39.325 ran out of yellow ribbons because there were so many 0:10:39.325 --> 0:10:41.525 of them that had been tied to trees in her honor. 0:10:42.365 --> 0:10:46.805 This murder brought the town together but also terrified locals 0:10:46.805 --> 0:10:50.125 all at the same time. Police did take a close 0:10:50.165 --> 0:10:54.565 look at Matt Amanda's fiancee, which is completely normal. According 0:10:54.605 --> 0:10:58.245 to Amanda's family, they got along very well. They had 0:10:58.245 --> 0:11:01.085 occasional minor arguments about things like where he was going 0:11:01.125 --> 0:11:04.605 to go to school, but they apparently had a very good, 0:11:04.685 --> 0:11:08.245 loving relationship and were very happy. They were supposed to 0:11:08.245 --> 0:11:13.645 get married the next year. In June. Amanda's cousin said 0:11:13.845 --> 0:11:16.245 that Matt did not appear to be a person of 0:11:16.245 --> 0:11:17.085 interest for long. 0:11:18.045 --> 0:11:23.205 I know that at the time, they obviously first suspect, 0:11:23.285 --> 0:11:28.005 you know, is always going to be the spouse, and 0:11:28.085 --> 0:11:30.925 so they questioned him and he was really I'm pretty 0:11:30.925 --> 0:11:35.245 sure he was very cooperative, and then I think they 0:11:35.325 --> 0:11:36.085 ruled him out. 0:11:37.365 --> 0:11:41.285 Also, Matt was the person who reported Amanda missing. Matt 0:11:41.285 --> 0:11:44.085 told investigators he and Amanda had dinner at Dixie Cafe 0:11:44.205 --> 0:11:47.125 that night the night she went missing, and later stopped 0:11:47.125 --> 0:11:49.525 at a grocery store before going back to his apartment. 0:11:50.245 --> 0:11:52.965 One of Amanda's school teachers was able to confirm that 0:11:53.005 --> 0:11:55.765 they had seen the couple at the Dixie Cafe that night, 0:11:56.485 --> 0:12:01.925 so police were able to confirm her activities. Then they 0:12:01.965 --> 0:12:04.565 went back to Matt's apartment. It was getting late and 0:12:04.605 --> 0:12:06.925 the weather was bad, and Matt did not want Amanda 0:12:07.005 --> 0:12:10.365 to get on that road. Amanda still lived at home 0:12:10.365 --> 0:12:13.405 with her parents, and she had a curfew, so if 0:12:13.445 --> 0:12:17.045 Amanda normally called her parents before heading home. Why did 0:12:17.085 --> 0:12:19.725 she head out so late that night? Could she and 0:12:19.725 --> 0:12:24.285 Matt have been arguing? They grilled Matt hard. They questioned 0:12:24.365 --> 0:12:27.445 him several times, but police said he was totally cooperative, 0:12:27.885 --> 0:12:32.805 that he had passed polygraphs three separate times. Police also 0:12:32.885 --> 0:12:36.845 considered another possibility very early on, that Amanda could have 0:12:36.885 --> 0:12:39.605 been pulled over by a member of law enforcement. 0:12:40.165 --> 0:12:43.525 So they think it was There's been a theory that 0:12:43.725 --> 0:12:47.005 it was someone in law enforcement that pulled her over 0:12:47.405 --> 0:12:50.005 and then got her out of the car and then 0:12:50.045 --> 0:12:53.605 took her or people think that it might have been 0:12:53.645 --> 0:12:57.365 someone impersonating law enforcement and got her out. 0:12:58.725 --> 0:13:01.445 Detectives were processing Amanda's body in the clothes that she 0:13:01.485 --> 0:13:04.565 was found in when her body was recovered from that ditch. 0:13:04.885 --> 0:13:07.325 She was still wearing the same jeans and white gap 0:13:07.405 --> 0:13:09.325 T shirt she had been wearing when she went missing. 0:13:10.045 --> 0:13:12.685 Her driver's license was in the front pocket of her genes. 0:13:13.645 --> 0:13:15.965 Now I wondered at first if that had some kind 0:13:16.005 --> 0:13:20.245 of significance. Could that be evidence that Amanda got pulled over? 0:13:21.285 --> 0:13:25.725 But her mother said not necessarily. She told police that 0:13:25.845 --> 0:13:29.045 Amanda normally kept her driver's license like that in her 0:13:29.045 --> 0:13:32.445 front pocket. Apparently she never kept it in a purse 0:13:32.525 --> 0:13:36.205 or a billfold. Amanda was wearing her diamond engagement ring 0:13:36.205 --> 0:13:39.045 when she was found, so between that and the wallet 0:13:39.085 --> 0:13:41.205 that had been left on her seat, detectives took this 0:13:41.245 --> 0:13:45.125 as even more evidence. The motive was obviously not robbery. 0:13:46.045 --> 0:13:49.645 Investigators believed Amanda was killed somewhere else and then thrown 0:13:49.685 --> 0:13:52.925 into the water, but the question is where and why, 0:13:53.645 --> 0:13:56.445 because the only injury they found was a bruise on 0:13:56.485 --> 0:14:00.285 the back of her head. A few years after Amanda disappeared, 0:14:00.765 --> 0:14:04.925 law enforcement gave photos to the TV station Regionate News, 0:14:05.725 --> 0:14:10.005 and they are haunting. You could see one of the 0:14:10.005 --> 0:14:12.685 clues that can of coke in the drink holder that 0:14:12.765 --> 0:14:16.245 was partly empty. It was chilled with condensation on the 0:14:16.325 --> 0:14:19.845 night she disappeared. Now a lot of people have wondered 0:14:20.485 --> 0:14:22.805 if the coke can was a clue that maybe she 0:14:22.845 --> 0:14:27.325 had stopped somewhere on the road during her drive. It 0:14:27.365 --> 0:14:29.925 was late at night, and that is a pretty remote 0:14:29.965 --> 0:14:32.125 strip of highway. There are only a couple of gas 0:14:32.205 --> 0:14:36.525 stations along it. Police did apparently check surveillance footage from 0:14:36.685 --> 0:14:39.565 one of these convenience stores and said they did not 0:14:39.765 --> 0:14:42.965 see Amanda on it, but that's not proof that she 0:14:43.085 --> 0:14:47.165 wasn't there. And someone else also brought up another interesting possibility. 0:14:47.165 --> 0:14:49.765 I was reading a lot of online comments and they 0:14:49.845 --> 0:14:53.085 mentioned the were vending machines at a couple of these places, 0:14:53.525 --> 0:14:56.765 So even if she didn't go in, maybe she stopped 0:14:56.805 --> 0:15:00.965 at a vending machine. Now, Matt apparently told investigators he 0:15:01.165 --> 0:15:03.405 wasn't sure if she had taken the drink from his 0:15:03.485 --> 0:15:06.845 house or not, so that's another part possibility she might 0:15:06.925 --> 0:15:10.125 have taken it from her fiance's home because she was 0:15:10.205 --> 0:15:13.525 not in the car that long before something stopped her 0:15:13.565 --> 0:15:18.205 on that dark stretch of road. There was a witness 0:15:18.445 --> 0:15:21.245 who reportedly said that he saw her at a gas station, 0:15:22.045 --> 0:15:25.965 but police couldn't confirm this, and again they reportedly pulled 0:15:25.965 --> 0:15:28.685 surveillance footage and didn't see her in it. I don't 0:15:28.725 --> 0:15:31.325 know times or details, because remember this is still an 0:15:31.325 --> 0:15:33.765 open investigation, so we don't have access to any of 0:15:33.765 --> 0:15:37.485 the case files. In the photos that were released to 0:15:37.565 --> 0:15:40.605 the media, you can see a basketball on the foreboard. 0:15:41.445 --> 0:15:47.685 Amanda played sports in high school. She was an accomplished athlete. 0:15:47.885 --> 0:15:51.365 There's also a Bridle magazine in the car. She was 0:15:51.485 --> 0:15:55.165 clearly excited about her upcoming wedding and probably looking at dresses. 0:15:56.285 --> 0:15:59.205 Both Amanda's parents say they believe she may have been 0:15:59.205 --> 0:16:03.645 stopped by someone, maybe someone impersonating a police officer, or 0:16:03.805 --> 0:16:05.365 that she had some kind of car trouble. 0:16:06.845 --> 0:16:10.925 The law enforcement theory is a good one, but then 0:16:10.965 --> 0:16:14.165 there's been other people who have said, maybe it was 0:16:14.205 --> 0:16:17.525 a serial killer that was just you know, passing through 0:16:18.205 --> 0:16:23.125 that came and did it, because just the evidence at 0:16:23.125 --> 0:16:26.565 the car, there was basically no evidence to go off of. 0:16:27.645 --> 0:16:32.285 Over the years, law enforcement have debated and investigated a 0:16:32.285 --> 0:16:36.205 lot of these theories. Like so many cases, this one 0:16:36.245 --> 0:16:39.325 has been the subject of several rumors over the years. 0:16:39.525 --> 0:16:41.645 There's a ton of people in the community, I mean 0:16:41.725 --> 0:16:45.525 a ton of people that want this case to be solved. 0:16:45.525 --> 0:16:47.365 And there's a ton of people who think that it's 0:16:47.445 --> 0:16:52.565 like literally like we're right there and they're they're close. 0:16:52.845 --> 0:16:56.325 But that's just all hearsay. I mean, it doesn't mean anything. 0:16:56.485 --> 0:17:00.845 But there's people who say who swear up and down 0:17:00.885 --> 0:17:03.085 they know who did it. They just don't have evidence, 0:17:03.525 --> 0:17:05.005 enough evidence to book the guy. 0:17:06.645 --> 0:17:10.005 The strip of road between Jonesborough and Dell is pretty remote, 0:17:10.085 --> 0:17:13.205 especially back then. It passes through a couple of small 0:17:13.245 --> 0:17:16.045 towns like Manila and Black Oak, and there are only 0:17:16.125 --> 0:17:18.245 a couple of gas stations that would have been opened 0:17:18.285 --> 0:17:21.645 during that time. Over the years, a lot of people 0:17:21.685 --> 0:17:24.045 came forward with tips, but most of them led to nothing. 0:17:24.845 --> 0:17:27.965 In two thousand and three, the sheriff in a neighboring county, 0:17:28.085 --> 0:17:31.125 Jack McCann of Craighead County, said that they had gotten 0:17:31.125 --> 0:17:35.045 a major tip that someone had told them there was 0:17:35.085 --> 0:17:38.205 some sort of note in Amanda's coffin. I don't know 0:17:38.205 --> 0:17:40.925 if it was a confession or information, but it was 0:17:40.965 --> 0:17:44.125 apparently something that could have helped lead to the killer's identity. 0:17:45.045 --> 0:17:49.605 Amanda's body was exhumed, there was no note or anything 0:17:49.605 --> 0:17:54.525 else inside that casket besides her remains. To me, this 0:17:54.565 --> 0:17:57.005 really does show how police were willing to act on 0:17:57.125 --> 0:18:00.325 any tip. I'm sure that after going through the trauma 0:18:00.485 --> 0:18:03.605 of unearthing their daughter's body, the fact that the coffin 0:18:03.645 --> 0:18:07.165 had no evidence must have been another devastating blow for 0:18:07.245 --> 0:18:11.765 Amanda's parents. Around that same time, a psychic detective rolled 0:18:11.765 --> 0:18:15.245 into town with a court TV show called Haunting Evidence. 0:18:15.765 --> 0:18:18.085 I'm sure many of you know how I feel about psychics. 0:18:18.085 --> 0:18:22.285 On this podcast, Apparently their paranormal investigation did not provide 0:18:22.285 --> 0:18:26.045 any credible leads. Then, in two thousand and seven, an 0:18:26.045 --> 0:18:29.245 anonymous person told the Sheriff's department that they had heard 0:18:29.285 --> 0:18:33.925 people allegedly discussing Amanda's murder, but nothing came to that either. 0:18:34.965 --> 0:18:37.125 In so many of these cases, we see this over 0:18:37.165 --> 0:18:40.285 and over. People over the years will claim either that 0:18:40.325 --> 0:18:42.285 they did it or they know someone who did it. 0:18:42.965 --> 0:18:46.005 They'll do it sometimes for their own reasons. Sometimes if 0:18:46.045 --> 0:18:49.285 they're incarcerated, they may want to impress other inmates, and 0:18:49.325 --> 0:18:52.685 the more publicity a case has, the more rumors start flying. 0:18:53.605 --> 0:18:56.405 But police were willing to listen because there was a 0:18:56.445 --> 0:18:59.045 real lack of physical evidence. In this case. There were 0:18:59.165 --> 0:19:03.205 zero suspects and no clear motive. There was one single 0:19:03.285 --> 0:19:07.205 hair found on Amanda's body. They did DNA testing, but 0:19:07.285 --> 0:19:11.445 it turned out that it was Amanda's own hair. The 0:19:11.485 --> 0:19:15.285 Sheriff's department admitted that law enforcement was up a creek, 0:19:15.805 --> 0:19:17.605 and what I take from that is that they were 0:19:17.645 --> 0:19:21.805 just stuck no forward movement on the case. Amanda's father 0:19:21.845 --> 0:19:25.365 did an interview with kt Channel eight, and it was heartbreaking. 0:19:26.205 --> 0:19:29.045 He talked about the fact that Amanda was found on 0:19:29.165 --> 0:19:32.525 Father's Day. The reporter asked him if he was affected 0:19:32.645 --> 0:19:37.725 every single Father's Day. He got tearful and said, yeah, 0:19:37.765 --> 0:19:41.205 but it's no different from other days. He's affected every 0:19:41.285 --> 0:19:47.525 single day by his daughter's murder. So police are left 0:19:47.565 --> 0:19:52.325 with a few different possibilities. Was Amanda killed by someone random, 0:19:52.405 --> 0:19:55.645 maybe someone who was just passing through the area. Detectives 0:19:55.725 --> 0:19:59.085 don't think so. They think the location of the body 0:19:59.285 --> 0:20:02.165 is a big clue. They point out that it's near 0:20:02.205 --> 0:20:05.885 an access point that they believe only someone local would 0:20:05.885 --> 0:20:18.285 know about. But what about a local serial killer. Several 0:20:18.285 --> 0:20:21.445 people have suggested that Amanda might have been killed by 0:20:21.485 --> 0:20:25.725 someone impersonating a police officer. Now, there was one very 0:20:25.765 --> 0:20:28.805 high profile case a serial rapist who was preying on 0:20:28.885 --> 0:20:31.805 women in Arkansas in the late nineties. The papers gave 0:20:31.885 --> 0:20:35.085 him the name the blue Light Rapist. His real name 0:20:35.125 --> 0:20:38.765 was Robert Todd Birmingham. He was convicted of raping two 0:20:38.805 --> 0:20:42.805 women in eastern Arkansas in nineteen ninety seven. The reason 0:20:42.845 --> 0:20:45.325 he was given that nickname was because he had blue 0:20:45.405 --> 0:20:48.565 lights on top of his car. He pulled women over 0:20:48.685 --> 0:20:52.525 and impersonated a police officer. One of Robert's victims, a 0:20:52.565 --> 0:20:55.925 seventeen year old whose first name was Shannon, told detectives 0:20:56.005 --> 0:20:58.725 he pulled her over while she was traveling alone on 0:20:58.765 --> 0:21:02.405 a state highway. She said at first she thought she 0:21:02.445 --> 0:21:05.445 was going to get a speeding ticket. After he signed 0:21:05.645 --> 0:21:08.245 for her to pull over and she did, Robert came 0:21:08.325 --> 0:21:10.725 up to the window of her car carrying a gun. 0:21:11.605 --> 0:21:13.965 He told her to cover her face with a shirt 0:21:14.325 --> 0:21:17.245 and to get out of her car, then he forced 0:21:17.245 --> 0:21:21.285 her into his vehicle. Once he got Shannon into his vehicle, 0:21:21.645 --> 0:21:23.765 he claimed that his buddy was going to take her 0:21:23.805 --> 0:21:26.965 to Little Rock to pick someone up, but instead he 0:21:27.045 --> 0:21:30.725 drove her to a remote location and raped her. He 0:21:30.805 --> 0:21:32.645 told her that if she would kiss him back, he 0:21:32.685 --> 0:21:36.445 wouldn't hurt her. After the assault, he forced her to 0:21:36.485 --> 0:21:39.605 redress and took her to a field. He made her 0:21:39.685 --> 0:21:44.005 lie down and wait until he was gone. Robert was 0:21:44.045 --> 0:21:46.805 convicted of those two rapes, but he was suspected of 0:21:46.845 --> 0:21:52.525 committing more. There were other attacks women who were pulled 0:21:52.525 --> 0:21:55.245 over in the same area with blue Mars lights and 0:21:55.285 --> 0:21:59.645 then sexually assaulted, but Robert was never convicted of those attacks. 0:22:00.445 --> 0:22:04.965 Side note. In twenty seventeen, lawmakers passed Shannon's law name 0:22:05.085 --> 0:22:09.285 for Shannon. This law increased the penalty for anyone caught 0:22:09.325 --> 0:22:15.165 illegally possessing blue emergency lights. Robert was sentenced to life 0:22:15.165 --> 0:22:19.365 in prison. He died in prison of COVID related complications 0:22:19.685 --> 0:22:24.405 in May twenty twenty. But Robert was convicted in nineteen 0:22:24.445 --> 0:22:28.165 ninety seven, which of course, was three years before Amanda's death. 0:22:28.845 --> 0:22:32.165 But there were still lingering questions about these other alleged 0:22:32.205 --> 0:22:36.805 blue light assaults. Were these copycat rapes or could there 0:22:36.845 --> 0:22:40.005 have been another blue light rapist out there one who 0:22:40.125 --> 0:22:46.445 wasn't caught. There was another young woman, eighteen year old 0:22:46.525 --> 0:22:49.965 Dana Stidham, who went missing from Bella Vista, Arkansas, on 0:22:50.045 --> 0:22:53.485 July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty nine. On that day, Dana 0:22:53.765 --> 0:22:56.925 was on her way home. She had gone out to 0:22:57.005 --> 0:22:59.685 run some errands for her dad, who wasn't feeling well. 0:23:00.645 --> 0:23:02.885 He asked her to pick some stuff up for him, 0:23:03.445 --> 0:23:06.725 so she went to Phillip's food store Bella Vista. She 0:23:06.805 --> 0:23:09.645 bought some Alka seltzer and some dishwashing soap and sugar. 0:23:10.165 --> 0:23:12.845 This is all according to receipts. She left at three 0:23:12.965 --> 0:23:17.325 seventeen PM. Now there was another grocery store closer to 0:23:17.365 --> 0:23:20.365 her house. But later one of the detectives on the 0:23:20.405 --> 0:23:23.325 case talked to reporters and said that Dana avoided that 0:23:23.405 --> 0:23:25.925 store because a guy whose parents owned the store back 0:23:25.965 --> 0:23:28.845 then hung out there a lot. Now, apparently this guy 0:23:28.965 --> 0:23:33.605 had a crush on Dana, but the feelings were not reciprocated. 0:23:33.965 --> 0:23:36.125 The last time that Dana was seen alive was when 0:23:36.165 --> 0:23:38.685 she left that food store after running her errand for 0:23:38.725 --> 0:23:41.965 her dad. She used to work at Phillip's Food store, 0:23:42.165 --> 0:23:44.005 so she knew a lot of people there and they 0:23:44.045 --> 0:23:46.925 all remembered talking to her. She talked to people she 0:23:47.005 --> 0:23:50.005 knew in the store and in the parking lot. Police 0:23:50.045 --> 0:23:52.805 said they also talked to another witness, someone who was 0:23:52.845 --> 0:23:56.645 apparently doing some landscaping near the store. Now, this person 0:23:56.685 --> 0:23:59.765 apparently told police that they saw Dana lee, but they 0:23:59.885 --> 0:24:02.525 weren't sure which way she turned when she drove out. 0:24:03.485 --> 0:24:08.525 After that, Dana never came home home. On July twenty sixth, 0:24:08.605 --> 0:24:11.605 at around six thirty am, a police officer was driving 0:24:11.685 --> 0:24:15.485 southbound down US Highway seventy one when they saw Dana's 0:24:15.565 --> 0:24:19.565 nineteen eighty four Dodge Omni abandoned on the shoulder near 0:24:19.605 --> 0:24:23.365 Wellington Road. The keys were still in the ignition, the 0:24:23.445 --> 0:24:26.005 driver's side window was halfway down and the rear tire 0:24:26.125 --> 0:24:30.645 was slightly deflated but not totally flat. Again, there was 0:24:30.765 --> 0:24:33.685 no obvious sign of anything being wrong with the car, 0:24:34.125 --> 0:24:37.965 and no sign of foul play. But this time Dana's 0:24:37.965 --> 0:24:41.245 purse was missing and the driver's seat was way back, 0:24:41.565 --> 0:24:43.965 as if a taller person had been the last one driving. 0:24:45.365 --> 0:24:48.285 Dana had been doing laundry that day, and her laundry 0:24:48.365 --> 0:24:51.805 was found scattered several feet away from the car. The 0:24:51.845 --> 0:24:55.005 search for Dana went on for months, then in September 0:24:55.045 --> 0:24:57.965 of nineteen eighty nine, a hundred found Dana's remains in 0:24:58.005 --> 0:25:01.605 a creek bed near the Arkansas Missouri border. Her clothes 0:25:01.645 --> 0:25:05.005 were buried in a shallow grave nearby. She had a 0:25:05.045 --> 0:25:08.405 cut on the her left shoulder blade. It's been reported 0:25:08.405 --> 0:25:10.925 that detectives were not sure of the actual cause of death, 0:25:11.045 --> 0:25:13.965