Amanda Nicole Eileen Campbell Top Row and Bottom Left: Amanda, circa 1991; Bottom Right: Age-progression to age 24 (circa 2011) Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: December 27, 1991 from Fairfield, California Classification: Non-Family Abduction Date Of Birth: May 7, 1987 Age: 4 years old Height and Weight: 35, 59 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Amanda has facial dimple and light brown moles on her forehead and near her nose. Her ears are pierced. Amandas nickname is Nikki. She occasionally develops a rash around her mouth. Clothing/Jewelry Description: A pink nylon jacket with the sleeves too short, purple corduroy pants, a dark purple short-sleeved shirt, white sneakers with pink trim, and Santa Claus earrings. Details of Disappearance Amanda was last seen near her familys residence in Fairfield, California on December 27, 1991. She had been at a friends house four doors down from her home when left her brother and a friend between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. to ride her bicycle to another friends house around the corner, eight doors from home. Amanda never arrived and has not been seen again. Her bicycle was found abandoned a few blocks from her home later that evening. A photo of it is posted below this case summary. An extensive search of the area failed to locate Amanda. A pair of child-sized blue socks were located in the street, however; it is unknown if they belonged to Amanda. A photograph of the street corner where Amanda disappeared is posted below this case summary. Dogs tracked her scent from Larchmont Drive to Oliver Road, to the drive-through at a nearby McDonalds restaurant, then east on Travis Boulevard to the westbound Interstate 80 on-ramp. Authorities believe she was pulled into a vehicle, probably at Larchmont Drive and Salisbury Drive. Authorities searched the crawl space of a residence on Salisbury Drive for evidence in Amandas case in June 2001. The home was located only a block away from where Amanda was last seen riding her bicycle the day she disappeared. Investigators received a tip that she was buried underneath the house in late 2000. According to the informant, Amanda had been lured to the residence and then murdered. Amanda had visited the home on December 26, 1991, one day prior to her disappearance. She had been friends with the three boys who lived in the house with their family at the time. The family in question was rambunctious, according to other neighbors claims. Authorities do not believe anyone in the family is connected in any way to Amandas case. The search did not produce any new evidence. Two men have been named as possible suspects in Amandas case. Authorities announced that Timothy Bindner had a possible connection to her disappearance, as well as the disappearances of Ilene Misheloff, Tara Cossey and Michaela Garecht. A photo of Bindner is posted below this case summary. He maintains his innocence and successfully sued Amandas hometown of Fairfield, California in 1997 for defamation of character. Bindner, a married sewage treatment plant worker, came to authorities attention after he began sending birthday greetings to young girls in the East Bay area. One childs parents contacted authorities and handed over a letter Bindner had written to their daughter. The note was printed backwards and could only be deciphered by holding it up to a mirror. Bindner claimed he sent the cards as a kind gesture because the girls were lonely. Bindner also visited the Oakmont Cemetery gravesite of Angela Bugay, a five-year-old girl girl who was abducted and murdered in Antioch, California in 1983. A photograph of Bugay is posted below this case summary. Bindner was never considered a suspect in her murder and another man has since been arrested in that case. For many years Bindner was also considered a suspect in the June 1988 disappearance of Amber Swartz-Garcia from Pinole, California. Bindner approached many of the mothers of missing girls from the East Bay area offering his assistance, including Amber and Michaelas families. Investigators asked Ambers mother to maintain a quasi-friendship with Bindner in hope of learning if he was connected to any of the girls cases. She and authorities agreed that Bindner appeared to playing mind games with victims loved ones and law enforcement. Many people theorize that he enjoyed taunting families into thinking that he may have been involved in the presumed abductions. He was once arrested for annoying two little girls whom he was trying to lure into his van, but the charges were later dropped. Bindner often drove around in a light blue Dodge van with a license plate that said Lov You. Inside the van was wallpapered with many pictures of children. A photograph of the van is posted below this case summary. Bindner refers to himself as a good Samaritan. He asked Linda Golston, a reporter for The San Jose Mercury News, to interview him at Oakmont Cemetery at 4:30 a.m. He played his favorite song on her car stereo, Jesus, Heres Another Child To Hold. Bindner told Goldston that he thought of the missing girls as his children. She asked him how he believed the abductions occurred and he said one child was submissive, but another fought back against her assailant. Bindner added that he was guessing about the girls reactions. Bindner wrote a letter to a law enforcement agency in the late 1980s, stating that he believed the next girl who would be abducted from the area would be about nine years old. Michaela disappeared shortly thereafter; she was nine at the time of her abduction. Bindner also sent a holiday card to a profiler for the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) in 1990. The card depicted an image of a young girl holding up four fingers. Amanda vanished in 1991 at the age of four. Search dogs traced Amanda and Ambers scent to Bugays grave. Authorities never had enough evidence to prove Bindner was connected to their cases, although he was known for visiting the cemetery on occasion. Bindner was given a heroism award by the California State Patrol after assisting victims in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. He has never been charged in any of the cases. Curtis Dean Anderson, who was convicted of the 2000 kidnapping and molestation of a young California girl, was also mentioned as a possible suspect in Amandas case. Investigators searched Andersons mothers residence in June 2001 for evidence linking him to other missing girls cases, but nothing was located. In 2009, however, they announced that Anderson had confessed to Ambers murder a month before he died in prison in 2007, and they were closing her case and ending the search for her. Police spent eighteen months investigating his statement and couldnt find any evidence to refute it. He is also considered a suspect in the 1999 disappearance of Karla Rodriguez. Amanda has never been located. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved. Left: Bindner, circa 2001; Center: Angela Bugay Right: Street where Amanda vanished Left: Bindners van; Right: Amanda Campbells bicycle Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Fairfield Police Department 707-428-7355 Source Information The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 20:44:25 +0000
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