Identified! AL - Opelika, 'Juvenile Jane Doe', BlkFem, UP9834, 4-7, in woods, abused, Jan'12 *reward* - Amore Joveah Wiggins

Not sure if these are the pictures you're referring to, but the girl in these pictures do indeed look like Amore (at least to me).
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I don’t think this is Amore. The church club child has a very receding chin and full lips, whereas Amore had a strong chin and smaller lips.

Lips get thinner from toddlerhood to childhood, not bigger, so I don’t think it is her.
 
Rest in peace little Amore. I'm so sad you did not get to grow up but I'm also glad you've got your name back and the people responsible for your death were arrested. My thoughts are with you and your mum. I can't imagine how heartbroken she must be right now.
 
I’m so happy that Amore has her name back now. Hers is a case that I’ve often thought about, because my heart absolutely broke for her. I feel terrible for her mother, to have been paying child support for all of these years, only to find out Amore’s been gone for so long. Thank you @othram for everything you did to help bring this case to a close.
 
After everything we'd known about her life and all the years that have gone by, I truly did not expect her to have a mother who loved her. I'm heartbroken for little Amore that the parent apparently considered more fit to care for her seems to be the one who abused and murdered her. I just feel so incredibly sorrowful for her mother, who had apparently been asking for visitation for years and continuing to provide financial support, and who had clearly loved her and bestowed upon her a name meaning as much. Just awful.
There may have been some very good reasons, at least at the time, why she lost not only custody, but also visitation rights. I suspect her "father" and "stepmother" have been in trouble in other ways over the years.

RIP, Amore.
 
Finally got caught up now, what a day I've had. I'm so glad Amore is home now.
I was wondering if there is any way that Amore's biological mom would be able to sue for child support paid to Amore's "father" after she had died? On top of everything else she must be struggling with at the moment, she doesn't need that financial burden too.
I was also wondering about Amore's eye injury like some other posters. Her eyes are healthy and normal, or at least appear to be, in the photos we've seen of her so we can probably assume IMO it was caused by injury from abuse and neglect. I would imagine bio mom was unaware of this, but am curious to know for sure.

I don’t think this is Amore. The church club child has a very receding chin and full lips, whereas Amore had a strong chin and smaller lips.

Lips get thinner from toddlerhood to childhood, not bigger, so I don’t think it is her.
I agree. Looking at the photos of the two little girls I don't believe they are the same. JMO.
 
Finally got caught up now, what a day I've had. I'm so glad Amore is home now.
I was wondering if there is any way that Amore's biological mom would be able to sue for child support paid to Amore's "father" after she had died? On top of everything else she must be struggling with at the moment, she doesn't need that financial burden too.
I was also wondering about Amore's eye injury like some other posters. Her eyes are healthy and normal, or at least appear to be, in the photos we've seen of her so we can probably assume IMO it was caused by injury from abuse and neglect. I would imagine bio mom was unaware of this, but am curious to know for sure.


I agree. Looking at the photos of the two little girls I don't believe they are the same. JMO.

Re: child support.

Years ago I worked for the Child Support Enforcement agency in my state. It will take time and likely a court order, but she is indeed legally entitled to those funds.

Funds that he stole. :mad:

imho she should have school pictures and art work and spelling tests and....
 
I was sitting at home just now, sipping a La Croix and suddenly, a feeling of peace and warmth washed over me. I instantly knew that it was a sign that Amore is now at peace. With her name and face restored back to her, and her killers now locked up, away from society, away from her, and are now facing justice for their sickening revolting crime of murdering this poor child, I feel she can now fully rest, and be at peace. Baby girl, we are going to get you justice and your "father" and "stepmother" - who were supposed to take care of you, love you, help you grow up and become an adult - are now going to have no choice but to wake up and smell the coffee. And I am so happy for you, and for your mom, in the midst of all the sadness and anger.
 
Re: child support.

Years ago I worked for the Child Support Enforcement agency in my state. It will take time and likely a court order, but she is indeed legally entitled to those funds.

Funds that he stole. :mad:

imho she should have school pictures and art work and spelling tests and....
She needs to get every penny paid back to her as soon as humanly possible IMO. I know it will definitely not be an overnight process, but I'm relieved to hear she is legally entitled to those funds. I am sure she will pursue it and will hopefully have access to resources to help with that process.

I agree - everything remaining from/that belonged to Amore, needs to be sent to mom IMO. The Vickerstaffs were the ones who took her life (IMO) and I believe that her mom was led to believe she was making the right choice for both of them in having Amore live with the Vickerstaffs, while her child was being abused, neglected, and killed while she was essentially being scammed into paying a decade plus of child support for her murdered child. It literally makes me so furious and sad that I can't see straight.
 
I’m so glad advances in DNA have not only given us the opportunity to identify children like Amore, who otherwise might have forever remained a Jane Doe, but also the the opportunity to hold their rancid abusers accountable for their unforgivable actions. I’m sure so-called “parents” like Amore’s father believed they could torture their children and throw them out like garbage without consequences — that they’d never be identified or connected to them. Not anymore.

Rest in peace, Amore. You are loved, and that love is infinitely more powerful than the hatred and indifference of those who harmed you and took you from this world.
 
I agree. The bridges of their noses and their eyebrows are very similar. I wonder if her mother knew about the damage to her eye. JMO IMO
One heartbreaking detail I noticed was that Amore has perfectly normal, symmetrical eyes in her toddler photos. I believe her eye injury was the result of her father's abuse, and her mother likely had no idea.
 
I’m so glad advances in DNA have not only given us the opportunity to identify children like Amore, who otherwise might have forever remained a Jane Doe, but also the the opportunity to hold their rancid abusers accountable for their unforgivable actions. I’m sure so-called “parents” like Amore’s father believed they could torture their children and throw them out like garbage without consequences — that they’d never be identified or connected to them. Not anymore.

Rest in peace, Amore. You are loved, and that love is infinitely more powerful than the hatred and indifference of those who harmed you and took you from this world.
Our technology is really robust and we can process even the most challenging crime scenes so I do believe in the next few years we will see profiles developed for most unsolved cases that have DNA evidence.
 
If the child at the church school isn't Amore, there was another seemingly abused child :( she was described as unkempt and quiet etc. I hope wherever she is, she is leading a healthy, full life.
 
Amore. What a wonderful name for this precious little girl. If only her bio-father and stepmother had truly known the meaning of this word and acted upon it, instead of robbing this tiny beauty from life.

I'm grateful for all parties making the identification happen.

Amore, may you fly with the angels in eternal love. You are safe now.
 
Press conference: "The Medical Examiner suggested that Jane Doe may have been malnourished and blind in her left eye due to a fracture in her eye socket."

NCMEC, quoting Sgt. Alfred White: "Based on feedback from experts, we believe that she could not see out her of injured eye and that the injury could have occurred months to a year before her death. This information is vital because we know that the injury was visible to anyone who interacted with the girl and may play a crucial role in identifying her."

Once Amore was identified, police could find no evidence that she had any medical attention while in her father's care. This, with the condition of her skull, suggests both that she was injured through abuse or accident after leaving her mother and that her disabling injury was left untreated.
 
“Amore suffered a tremendous, horrible death,” Capt. Johnathan Clifton said.
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Police asked people who knew the family in one of the places they may have lived, including in Alabama, Jacksonville, Florida,. and Norfolk, Virginia, to contact them if they have any information about the family or child. Police said Lamar Vickerstaff grew up in Opelika and is in the process of retiring from the U.S. Navy.
 
Police said Lamar Vickerstaff grew up in Opelika and is in the process of retiring from the U.S. Navy.

BBM for focus.

Not anymore. According to veterans' affairs, if he's dishonorably discharged, which he should be with a murder charge against him, he shouldn't get his military retirement. If anyone knows for sure how the military might handle this, please feel free to chime in.
 
Our technology is really robust and we can process even the most challenging crime scenes so I do believe in the next few years we will see profiles developed for most unsolved cases that have DNA evidence.
I agree. I remember when they performed isotope testing on the four Allenstown, NH victims back in 2013. The NH AG said they'd run the gamut technology wise, using the latest forensic tools available to them at that time, and if this didn't help solve the case, they were at the end of the line. Thank goodness forensic genetic genealogy came along, and the last remaining Bear Brook victim is in the pipeline. (the other 3 were identified by other means, though).
 
I just found this thread and read it all the way through. My heart broke reading it! Poor little munchkin. i hope little Amore can feel the goodness of everyone who looked for her. I think it is so amazing that LE looked for her for so long.
 
And what a heartbreaking story it is.
I’m sickened about many aspects of it, but I was so sorry to see that the birth mother has been paying child support to these monsters all this time that her baby has been dead by their wicked hands. Vile!

Thanks for sharing Amore’s story, @othram, & for the important role that you played in giving her name back. What a blessing your work is to so many!!!

Now may justice be served mightily.

Maybe, but those payments are very damning evidence that they are responsible for the child's death. They've been collecting those benefits every year for over 15 years without any evidence of Amore being registered for school, going for doctor's visits, all the accoutrements you would pay for while having a child, etc. They'll be pouring over their living arrangements while he was stationed in military housing. They are toast. And good riddance.
 

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