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

[othram]

I can't hear anything but buzzy static.

We have the entire story here: After a decade, Opelika Jane Doe (2012) is Identified

 

[iamshadow21]

So was Amore the baby girl in the Vacation Bible School photo?

I think a reporter asked, they haven't been able to confirm it. So, they're not sure either way, but it's still possible.

 

[iamshadow21]

We have the entire story here: After a decade, Opelika Jane Doe (2012) is Identified

Thank you, @othram ! <3

 

[EllaMinnowP]

We have the entire story here: After a decade, Opelika Jane Doe (2012) is Identified

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.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

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.

 

[othram]

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.

It really is a shock. It's why we have to work these cases to completion and get all the facts. You just never know until all the facts come out. The investigators in this case were relentless and you can see their pain over this case as they struggle to recount what happened at the press conference. Heartbreaking for everyone.

 

[CelticSummer]

Just so heartbreaking!

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Opelika Jane Doe identified after 11 years: Father and his wife arrested

Amore Joveh Wiggins would be 17. Lamar Vickerstaff Jr. is charged with murder. His wife is charged with failure to report a missing child.

www.al.com

 

[auburnmomof2]

This case is local for me. I want to know how she ended up in Opelika where she was if the father was in the navy and stationed elsewhere. Was she indeed the little girl in the bible school pictures? His family had to have known she was no longer alive! I have always felt like the family, grandparents or someone, knew who she was

 

[Alleykins]

Shouldn't there be fraud charges, or something associated with the paternal family collecting child support, and possibly other monies for benefits through the military and maybe state agencies, for this angel for over a decade?

RIP Amore

 

[iamshadow21]

Sleep well, Amore. I'm so honoured to finally know your name. So many folks have worked so hard to bring you home to the mama who loved you. I'm sorry things didn't go differently. I wish you'd had a life with her, rather than a case file. You were always perfect, and you were always precious. I'm just heartbroken that those you relied on for care chose to harm you instead. You never deserved it, not ever. Their actions are on them, not you. Everyone is going to work hard to get you justice, now. You just rest.

 

[Hochman]

'Opelika Baby Jane Doe' identified, father and stepmother charged

The Opelika Police Department announced Thursday it identified the remains of a child known as 'Opelika Baby Jane Doe'.

abc3340.com

Picture of Amore from link.

 

[iamshadow21]

'Opelika Baby Jane Doe' identified, father and stepmother charged

The Opelika Police Department announced Thursday it identified the remains of a child known as 'Opelika Baby Jane Doe'.

abc3340.com

Picture of Amore from link.
View attachment 396357

I know it's not confirmed, possibly impossible to confirm, but I think there's a strong resemblance between the confirmed toddler pics of Amore and the older child from the Bible school. What do you think, @Hochman ? You know faces better than I do.

EDIT: It's the eyebrows, the shape and the space between them, that I keep going back to.

 

[Hochman]

I know it's not confirmed, possibly impossible to confirm, but I think there's a strong resemblance between the confirmed toddler pics of Amore and the older child from the Bible school. What do you think, @Hochman ? You know faces better than I do.

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).

 

[TheHighestPriestess]

R.I.P. Amore ♡ If you were alive today you would probably be finishing up high school and thinking about your next steps in life. I'm so sorry you were robbed of the life you deserve.
I'm sending your biological mother lots of healing and love, I can't imagine what these past few weeks have been like for her.

 

[Puzzleworth]

Rest easy, little Amore.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

IMO it's impossible for the Vacation Bible School pictures to be of anyone else.

She was so little. How anyone could have looked at her and not wanted to protect her is beyond me. Her father must be a very weak man to (allegedly) relish his physical dominance over such a tiny little girl. IMO cases like this in which the child has clearly sustained abuse to the point of permanent injury for a significant period of time go beyond corporal punishment for misbehavior or whatever old, tired excuses their caregivers use -- someone must truly enjoy hurting these children. It makes me nauseous.

 

[TheHighestPriestess]

This case is local for me. I want to know how she ended up in Opelika where she was if the father was in the navy and stationed elsewhere. Was she indeed the little girl in the bible school pictures? His family had to have known she was no longer alive! I have always felt like the family, grandparents or someone, knew who she was

I believe that in the press conference they said that he was originally from Opelika, born and raised there. Possibly still had family and was likely still familiar with the area...

 

[iamshadow21]

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).
View attachment 396361

Yeah, those are the ones. With babies, the lower part of the face changes a bunch, but the brow line sort of stays fairly consistent. At least, to my amateur eye. The general shape of the end of her nose, too. Because the Bible school girl is face on, in that middle picture, you can sort of compare it to the baby picture of Amore in the stripy jacket you posted a couple posts upthread.

I know it's hard with babies, because everything changes so much, but I'm not seeing anything that makes me think for sure it's NOT her, if you know what I mean.

 

[Puzzleworth]

This case is local for me. I want to know how she ended up in Opelika where she was if the father was in the navy and stationed elsewhere. Was she indeed the little girl in the bible school pictures? His family had to have known she was no longer alive! I have always felt like the family, grandparents or someone, knew who she was

Her bio-father, Lamar Vickerstaff (who was arrested for her murder) was raised in Opelika. The investigators are still looking for information on the time Amore and the Vickerstaffs spent there.

(edited to add) Amore's mother, Sherry, was from Virginia. I think she probably met Lamar while he was stationed in her hometown of Norfolk and had Amore. Lamar and his wife, Ruth (married a few months after Amore's birth) got custody when the child was three and simply dropped all contact with Sherry. She's been paying them child support ever since. Sherry tried several times to get in contact with the Vickerstaffs or get a court date but wasn't able to track them down.