Because he signed a confession only for the case of Amber.
CA CA - Amber Swartz-Garcia, 7, Pinole, 3 June 1988
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Because he signed a confession only for the case of Amber.
What does it implie when a case is closed? when a body is found, do the police check the closed cases too for identification?
Leprikawn
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These cases spend money that sadly the upper brass in the police departments think is wasted.
Sharon Murch said after the bone fragment thought to be Michaela's was found to not be hers, the hayward PD pulled the plug and moved detectives off the case. Now this is a case with an eye witness, and over 10,000 pieces of information. It is a solvable case. But now I fear it will never be solved and the person or person's that took her will continue doing what they do.
A body Identified as the victim, or a live victim found, or no closed case.
Sharon Murch said after the bone fragment thought to be Michaela's was found to not be hers, the hayward PD pulled the plug and moved detectives off the case. Now this is a case with an eye witness, and over 10,000 pieces of information. It is a solvable case. But now I fear it will never be solved and the person or person's that took her will continue doing what they do.
A body Identified as the victim, or a live victim found, or no closed case.
hoshizora
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I'm really happy to see that this case has been reopened! Hopefully it leads us closer to what happened to this beautiful little girl.
I agree with you Leprikawn. I don't think cases should be closed until there is a body, or at the very least strong evidence of murder (like finding an overwhelming amount of blood). Amber's case should never have been closed to begin with. The LE of all people should know by now that criminals get off on taking responsibility for a crime they didn't do. To me it seemed like they couldn't be bothered with Amber's case anymore, as usually when this happens (prisoners taking blame for a crime they didn't do) they move onto other suspects, not close the case naming them as the perpetrator if they can't find anything to contradict it.
I agree with you Leprikawn. I don't think cases should be closed until there is a body, or at the very least strong evidence of murder (like finding an overwhelming amount of blood). Amber's case should never have been closed to begin with. The LE of all people should know by now that criminals get off on taking responsibility for a crime they didn't do. To me it seemed like they couldn't be bothered with Amber's case anymore, as usually when this happens (prisoners taking blame for a crime they didn't do) they move onto other suspects, not close the case naming them as the perpetrator if they can't find anything to contradict it.
OkieGranny
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amber1
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This is great news! I had knowledge of the petition, but had doubts they would not reopen the case because they were set on Curtis Anderson as the murderer. I believe in a mother's instinct, and Kim felt they had the wrong person (as scummy as he is). Here's to finding out who really did it and to bring Amber home. 26 years is far too long!
thenotebook
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Bump for Amber. Has anything come of the re-opening of her case??
NL007
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BBM
I've been trying to identify this UID. I think she may be Nikki Campbell, but it's possible she could be Amber, too. The listing is pretty vague. Only Michaela Garecht and Jennifer Klein have been ruled out.
https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/10561
ETA - Here's another one https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/9597
and another https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/2391
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Amber Swartz-Garcia was 7 years old when she was abducted outside her Pinole home on June 3, 1988. Curtis Dean Anderson, a convicted child killer, confessed to kidnapping Amber as she jumped rope and driving her to Arizona, where he killed her and dumped her body, which has never been found.
Missing children: Nine infamous cases of Bay Area children who vanished
Missing children: Nine infamous cases of Bay Area children who vanished
Lavender Moon
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Bumping for Amber Swartz- Garcia
perfectingpink
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The headline is misleading. The article does not say what about DNA makes the mother hopeful.
Mom Hopes DNA Testing Can Unlock Answers About 7-Year-Old Daughter Abducted From Yard in 1988
Mom Hopes DNA Testing Can Unlock Answers About 7-Year-Old Daughter Abducted From Yard in 1988
Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia
Amber was last seen jumping rope at approximately 4:15 p.m. in the front yard of her family's residence on Savage Avenue in Pinole, California on June 3, 1988. She was not usually allowed to play in the yard alone but her mother, Kim Swartz, made an exception that day because their neighbors would be arriving home soon.
Kim checked outside approximately 15 minutes after Amber left the house and noticed she had disappeared. The child has never been heard from again. She may have been holding an adult-sized leather jump rope with wooden handles at the time of her disappearance. It disappeared along with her and was never found.
Authorities did discover a pair of pink socks near Amber's residence on June 4, the day after her disappearance. The socks were found on a baseball diamond by the creek that flows behind Amber's house.
Kim believes that the socks may have belonged to her daughter, but she is uncertain and additional clues were never located. The socks were located after the area had been searched once already; it is believed that they were left after the initial search.
A day after Amber disappeared, a witness reported having seen someone matching her description at Alvarado Park sometime between 4:45 and 5:00 p.m. on June 3. The girl was being roughly handled by an adult white man and was thrown into a car by him at the park entrance.
The witness described the girl's assailant was being about forty years old, 5'7, and 160 pounds. He was driving an older model four-door General Motors car, full-sized, and tan in color. Authorities have never been unable to identify the man and are not sure if the girl who was seen was in fact Amber.
For many years, Timothy Bindner was a suspect in Amber's disappearance, as well as the disappearances of Michaela Garecht, Ilene Misheloff, Tara Cossey and Amanda "Nikki" Campbell. A photo of Bindner is posted with this case summary. He maintains his innocence and successfully sued Amanda's 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 and gifts of money to young girls in the East Bay area. He approached many of the mothers of missing girls from the East Bay area offering his assistance, including Amber and Michaela's families. He introduced himself to Kim three days after Amber vanished. He bore a striking resemblance to the man who was seen throwing the girl into the tan car on the day of Amber's disappearance.
Investigators asked Kim 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.
James Daveggio has been considered as a possible suspect since the early 1990s. He and his former girlfriend, Michelle Lyn Michaud, were charged with the 1997 abduction, rape and murder of Vanessa Lei Samson. Photos of Daveggio and Michaud are posted with this case summary. They were also charged with additional counts of sexual assault in unrelated cases in the mid-1990s.
In 2002, Michaud and Daveggio were convicted of Swanson's murder and sentenced to death. They are awaiting execution. Daveggio is also considered a possible suspect in Michaela and Ilene's disappearances. Neither he nor Michaud has been charged in connection with any of the cases.
Kim received a phone call from a resident of the Pinole area in 1991. The man said that he was in a park near her home on the day of Amber's 1988 disappearance. He stated that he saw an unidentified bearded man force a young girl into a vehicle in the park and drive away. The witness said that he copied down the car's license plate and contacted authorities shortly afterwards. He believed that the child matched Amber's description.
Investigators stated that they did not believe the possible suspect was Bindner, as he did not have a beard at the time of the incident. The vehicle's license plate was traced to an impounded car in the Los Angeles area. Authorities have never confirmed if the child in the park was Amber.
Kim founded Amber Foundation For Missing Children after Amber's 1988 disappearance. She was married to Amber's father, police officer Floyd "Bernie" Swartz, when he was killed in the line of duty in May 1980. Photographs of Kim and Floyd are posted with this case summary. Amber was born three months after her father's death. Any connection between her and James Richard Odle, the man who murdered her father, was ruled out. He was on death row in in 1988.
In a surprise development in the summer of 2009, investigators announced they'd identified the man responsible for Amber's abduction and murder and were closing her case. Curtis Dean Anderson, a known pedophile and violent criminal, was already in prison for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old Vallejo, California girl and the kidnapping and molestation of an eight-year-old girl when he confessed to Amber's murder in 2007. He said he just happened to be driving in the neighborhood, saw Amber and kidnapped her "for company."
Anderson stated he sedated Amber with root beer schnapps and took her to a motel in the Tucson, Arizona area, where he suffocated her about a day and a half after her abduction. He then left the child's body in an isolated area beside Highway 10 in Benson, Arizona. It has never been found. A photograph of Anderson is posted below this case summary. He claimed Amber was his first victim.
Anderson made the confession a month before he died in prison in December 2007. He also confessed to other sexual assaults, kidnappings and abductions in the San Francisco Bay area, but he only signed a statement in Amber's case. Authorities spent eighteen months investigating his confession and couldn't find any evidence to refute it.
Many, including Kim, remain skeptical of Anderson's claims, however. Anderson enjoyed the notoriety he got for his crimes and enjoyed teasing and manipulating the police and the families of his victims, and some believe his statement about Amber was just another example of this.
Investigating Agency
- Missing Since 06/03/1988
- Missing From Pinole, California
- Classification Non-Family Abduction
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 08/19/1980 (39)
- Age 7 years old
- Height and Weight 4'0, 65 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A short-sleeved white shirt with teal bands around the bottom of the shirt, the neck, and the bottoms of both sleeves and images of multicolored sunglasses printed on it; purple corduroy pants, pink socks, brand-new white LA Gear sneakers with pink or white laces, and emerald earrings with gold posts.
- Medical Conditions Amber has a hearing impairment and uses a hearing aid and reads lips. She has a slight speech impediment due to her impaired hearing. She also suffers from migraine headaches due to a concussion she sustained in 1984. The headaches cause loss of balance and vomiting. She took the prescription medication Fiornal for them at the time she disappeared. Amber had neither her hearing aid nor her medicine with her when she vanished.
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Amber's teeth are crooked and her upper right front tooth was missing at the time of her 1988 disappearance. Her ears are pierced and she is right-handed. Amber has a scar on the inside of her right eyebrow and moles on her throat and below the right side of her lower lip. She sucked her thumb when she was tired or nervous at the time of her disappearance. Some agencies refer to her as Amber Swartz or Amber Garcia Swartz. Her nicknames are Am and A.J.
Amber was last seen jumping rope at approximately 4:15 p.m. in the front yard of her family's residence on Savage Avenue in Pinole, California on June 3, 1988. She was not usually allowed to play in the yard alone but her mother, Kim Swartz, made an exception that day because their neighbors would be arriving home soon.
Kim checked outside approximately 15 minutes after Amber left the house and noticed she had disappeared. The child has never been heard from again. She may have been holding an adult-sized leather jump rope with wooden handles at the time of her disappearance. It disappeared along with her and was never found.
Authorities did discover a pair of pink socks near Amber's residence on June 4, the day after her disappearance. The socks were found on a baseball diamond by the creek that flows behind Amber's house.
Kim believes that the socks may have belonged to her daughter, but she is uncertain and additional clues were never located. The socks were located after the area had been searched once already; it is believed that they were left after the initial search.
A day after Amber disappeared, a witness reported having seen someone matching her description at Alvarado Park sometime between 4:45 and 5:00 p.m. on June 3. The girl was being roughly handled by an adult white man and was thrown into a car by him at the park entrance.
The witness described the girl's assailant was being about forty years old, 5'7, and 160 pounds. He was driving an older model four-door General Motors car, full-sized, and tan in color. Authorities have never been unable to identify the man and are not sure if the girl who was seen was in fact Amber.
For many years, Timothy Bindner was a suspect in Amber's disappearance, as well as the disappearances of Michaela Garecht, Ilene Misheloff, Tara Cossey and Amanda "Nikki" Campbell. A photo of Bindner is posted with this case summary. He maintains his innocence and successfully sued Amanda's 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 and gifts of money to young girls in the East Bay area. He approached many of the mothers of missing girls from the East Bay area offering his assistance, including Amber and Michaela's families. He introduced himself to Kim three days after Amber vanished. He bore a striking resemblance to the man who was seen throwing the girl into the tan car on the day of Amber's disappearance.
Investigators asked Kim 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.
James Daveggio has been considered as a possible suspect since the early 1990s. He and his former girlfriend, Michelle Lyn Michaud, were charged with the 1997 abduction, rape and murder of Vanessa Lei Samson. Photos of Daveggio and Michaud are posted with this case summary. They were also charged with additional counts of sexual assault in unrelated cases in the mid-1990s.
In 2002, Michaud and Daveggio were convicted of Swanson's murder and sentenced to death. They are awaiting execution. Daveggio is also considered a possible suspect in Michaela and Ilene's disappearances. Neither he nor Michaud has been charged in connection with any of the cases.
Kim received a phone call from a resident of the Pinole area in 1991. The man said that he was in a park near her home on the day of Amber's 1988 disappearance. He stated that he saw an unidentified bearded man force a young girl into a vehicle in the park and drive away. The witness said that he copied down the car's license plate and contacted authorities shortly afterwards. He believed that the child matched Amber's description.
Investigators stated that they did not believe the possible suspect was Bindner, as he did not have a beard at the time of the incident. The vehicle's license plate was traced to an impounded car in the Los Angeles area. Authorities have never confirmed if the child in the park was Amber.
Kim founded Amber Foundation For Missing Children after Amber's 1988 disappearance. She was married to Amber's father, police officer Floyd "Bernie" Swartz, when he was killed in the line of duty in May 1980. Photographs of Kim and Floyd are posted with this case summary. Amber was born three months after her father's death. Any connection between her and James Richard Odle, the man who murdered her father, was ruled out. He was on death row in in 1988.
In a surprise development in the summer of 2009, investigators announced they'd identified the man responsible for Amber's abduction and murder and were closing her case. Curtis Dean Anderson, a known pedophile and violent criminal, was already in prison for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old Vallejo, California girl and the kidnapping and molestation of an eight-year-old girl when he confessed to Amber's murder in 2007. He said he just happened to be driving in the neighborhood, saw Amber and kidnapped her "for company."
Anderson stated he sedated Amber with root beer schnapps and took her to a motel in the Tucson, Arizona area, where he suffocated her about a day and a half after her abduction. He then left the child's body in an isolated area beside Highway 10 in Benson, Arizona. It has never been found. A photograph of Anderson is posted below this case summary. He claimed Amber was his first victim.
Anderson made the confession a month before he died in prison in December 2007. He also confessed to other sexual assaults, kidnappings and abductions in the San Francisco Bay area, but he only signed a statement in Amber's case. Authorities spent eighteen months investigating his confession and couldn't find any evidence to refute it.
Many, including Kim, remain skeptical of Anderson's claims, however. Anderson enjoyed the notoriety he got for his crimes and enjoyed teasing and manipulating the police and the families of his victims, and some believe his statement about Amber was just another example of this.
Investigating Agency
- Pinole Police Department 510-724-8950
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Child Protection Education of America
- NamUs
- The Lowell
- The North County Times
- The San Francisco Chronicle
- ABC News
- Unsolved Mysteries
- Johnny Miller #64
- News Making News
- Amber Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Stalemate: a Shocking True Story of Child Abduction and Murder
- Rope Burns
- Missing-Persons.org
- Child Quest International Inc.
- Operation Lookout
- The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes
- The San Jose Mercury News
- The Associated Press
- The Contra Costa Times
- The Vallejo Times Herald
- Facebook Page for Amber Swartz-Garcia
- Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia – The Charley Project
Maybe she's thinking the new DNA testing will be used to connect Amber's case with another case or identify some unknown remains as Amber.
CA - CA - Young women missing in California in the 80's (post #23) and (post #43)
Another link -
Mom Hopes DNA Testing Can Unlock Answers About 7-Year-Old Daughter Abducted From Yard in 1988
I saw a post on the Sabrina Aisenberg thread that her parents had registered their DNA in hopes that Sabrina may check one day.
If her mother believes Amber is still alive, she may be thinking the same thing.
FL - FL - Sabrina Aisenberg, 5 months, Valrico, 24 Nov 1997 (post #325)
Unsolved: What happened to Sabrina Aisenberg?
The Aisenbgers have also registered on a DNA data website in the hopes, that one day Sabrina may check one day.
If her mother believes Amber is still alive, she may be thinking the same thing.
FL - FL - Sabrina Aisenberg, 5 months, Valrico, 24 Nov 1997 (post #325)
Unsolved: What happened to Sabrina Aisenberg?
The Aisenbgers have also registered on a DNA data website in the hopes, that one day Sabrina may check one day.
Curtis Anderson
In 2007, convicted child rapist and killer Curtis Dean Anderson confessed to Amber's abduction and subsequent murder.
During his interview with investigators, Anderson claimed that he wanted "company" on a road trip to his aunt's house in Arizona. He was familiar with the Pinole area and spotted Amber in her front yard.
After pulling her into his car, he drugged her and took her to a motel where he suffocated her. After her death, he dumped her body somewhere near Benson, Arizona, off Highway 10.
Investigators confirmed that Anderson was in the Pinole area at the time of Amber's abduction. However, they could not find any physical evidence to corroborate the confession.
Anderson said that he purposely taunted cops with false information. He died in December of 2007, one month after his confession....
LINK:
Amber Swartz
Hgardner2147
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Does anyone know if there has been updates on this case? Did anything more come up from the DNA testing that was mentioned above?
Lavender Moon
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I've been Googling Amber and so far have found no updates. Praying that the new year brings new news.
imstilla.grandma
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Snip:
...
Amber Swartz-Garcia, 7, was jumping rope in the front yard of her Pinole home in June 1988 when she disappeared. Multiple witnesses over the years recalled seeing a young girl forced into a car by a man, but these tips ultimately amounted to nothing.
In 2009, police announced they were closing the case after a confession by Curtis Dean Anderson. Anderson, a cab driver, was arrested after 8-year-old Midsi Sanchez escaped his grasp several days after he kidnapped her. Anderson was convicted in Sanchez’s kidnapping and of the murder of 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild of Vallejo. Once in prison, he confessed to several more crimes, including the murder of Amber Swartz–Garcia.
Due to Anderson’s obsession with attention, many suspected he was adding additional murders to his tally in order to increase his notoriety. Due to outcry from Swartz-Garcia’s family, Pinole police reopened the case in 2013. Anderson died in prison in 2007.
...
These Bay Area residents vanished and have never been found
...
Amber Swartz-Garcia, 7, was jumping rope in the front yard of her Pinole home in June 1988 when she disappeared. Multiple witnesses over the years recalled seeing a young girl forced into a car by a man, but these tips ultimately amounted to nothing.
In 2009, police announced they were closing the case after a confession by Curtis Dean Anderson. Anderson, a cab driver, was arrested after 8-year-old Midsi Sanchez escaped his grasp several days after he kidnapped her. Anderson was convicted in Sanchez’s kidnapping and of the murder of 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild of Vallejo. Once in prison, he confessed to several more crimes, including the murder of Amber Swartz–Garcia.
Due to Anderson’s obsession with attention, many suspected he was adding additional murders to his tally in order to increase his notoriety. Due to outcry from Swartz-Garcia’s family, Pinole police reopened the case in 2013. Anderson died in prison in 2007.
...
These Bay Area residents vanished and have never been found
ChatteringBirds
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Amber deserves justice. I hope at least answers will come soon.
I wouldn't discount a POI due to the sighting of a man with a beard. It could have been a disguise.
May she be finally found, perhaps through DNA testing of the unidentified.
I wouldn't discount a POI due to the sighting of a man with a beard. It could have been a disguise.
May she be finally found, perhaps through DNA testing of the unidentified.
mlhenn
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Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia – The Charley Project
Last updated December 22, 2020; details of disappearance updated.
Last updated December 22, 2020; details of disappearance updated.