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

imstilla.grandma

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At Amore’s funeral in Norfolk Saturday, it was an emotional day for the family.

“Amore - if I could do it all over again, I would hold you so tight. Never in a million years did I think you wouldn’t be loved right,” Amore’s mother Sherry Wiggins said.

“To hear the horrors you faced nearly killed me. My Amore. My love. My special heartbeat,” Wiggins said at the funeral.

Wiggins noted this year, Amore would have been seventeen years old. She said although she’ll never get her daughter back, this funeral gives her a sense of closure.

“I’ve been happy, I’ve been sad, I’ve been frustrated. Most of all, now that I got to this point. Things are a little more easier,” she said. “She’s never going to be forgotten. Her name alone means something very powerful and it’s what everyone has continued to express.”
Amore’s burial will be held Sunday afternoon.
 

AgeofAquaruis

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It was all the way back in January of 2012 when the skull of Baby Jane Doe was discovered in the backyard of a trailer home in Opelika.

On scene police collected other human bones, a small bundle of hair, and a shirt likely belonging to a little girl between 4 and 7-years old.

An autopsy showed the child suffered blunt force trauma resulting in 15 individual fractures throughout the body.

Part of Venter's work included identifying the child's father, a 50-year-old member of the U.S. Navy named Lamar Vickerstaff Jr.

Last December detectives traveled to Vickerstaff's home base in Jacksonville, Florida to notify him of his daughter’s death.

During their meeting Vickerstaff provided investigators with no information on his daughter's identity. His current wife, Ruth, denied even knowing the child
The child support payments were rolling in all those years though.
 

AgeofAquaruis

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*eta: This case has drawn me in since the very first time I’ve heard it. I became a serial poster here and I apologize for hijacking it at times. I always go to the little ”it” quote


“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” ― Dave Pelzer
I hope their jail cells are as ice cold as they are. MOO
 

iulia

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[...]
Opelika Police detective Alfred White took the stand for prosecutors and testified Lamar Vickerstaff admitted to killing Amore, but claimed he did not abuse her before her death. Detective White said some of Vickerstaff’s statements were creditable, but detectives questioned other details he shared.


“He repeatedly said he did it, and he wanted his wife not to be charged, and that is what he was seeking in some sort of deal he wanted to make. He advised he traveled with her (Amore) from Virginia to Alabama, and he stated once he made it to Alabama, he drove around. He recalled placing her (Amore) where she was ultimately found. He did not give details as to how he did it, but he advised he did attempt to resuscitate her,” Detective White testified.
 

iamshadow21

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[...]
Opelika Police detective Alfred White took the stand for prosecutors and testified Lamar Vickerstaff admitted to killing Amore, but claimed he did not abuse her before her death. Detective White said some of Vickerstaff’s statements were creditable, but detectives questioned other details he shared.


“He repeatedly said he did it, and he wanted his wife not to be charged, and that is what he was seeking in some sort of deal he wanted to make. He advised he traveled with her (Amore) from Virginia to Alabama, and he stated once he made it to Alabama, he drove around. He recalled placing her (Amore) where she was ultimately found. He did not give details as to how he did it, but he advised he did attempt to resuscitate her,” Detective White testified.
Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

We know this wasn't a sudden murder out of nowhere. Her bones tell us that.

I think both of these two played a role in what happened to her. Who actually killed her, that I have no idea about. But Ruth can't keep claiming she never knew Amore existed. That's just a big steaming pile of doodoo. I don't know if Alfred thinks claiming total responsibility makes him into some kind of noble figure. Spoiler for you Alfred: murdering little girls then lying about it to their mothers and stealing that mother's money for over a decade doesn't make you any kind of hero. There are parasites who come off looking better than you - they only do it to survive.

MOO
 

iulia

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Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

We know this wasn't a sudden murder out of nowhere. Her bones tell us that.

I think both of these two played a role in what happened to her. Who actually killed her, that I have no idea about. But Ruth can't keep claiming she never knew Amore existed. That's just a big steaming pile of doodoo. I don't know if Alfred thinks claiming total responsibility makes him into some kind of noble figure. Spoiler for you Alfred: murdering little girls then lying about it to their mothers and stealing that mother's money for over a decade doesn't make you any kind of hero. There are parasites who come off looking better than you - they only do it to survive.

MOO
Well, apparently she changed her tune according to this article:

During Detective White’s testimony, we also learned Virginia Child Protective Services was called to investigate an anonymous report of abuse and injuries to Amore when she was in the care of Ruth. According to Detective White, Ruth admitted CPS had been called but she claims CPS said everything was fine.
[…]
Detective White testified although Ruth initially denied knowing Lamar had a daughter, she later admitted to knowing Amore existed. Detective White said Ruth claims the last time she saw Amore with her father was when he took her to his relatives in Alabama, and Ruth never thought about asking about Amore again.
 

iamshadow21

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Well, apparently she changed her tune according to this article:

During Detective White’s testimony, we also learned Virginia Child Protective Services was called to investigate an anonymous report of abuse and injuries to Amore when she was in the care of Ruth. According to Detective White, Ruth admitted CPS had been called but she claims CPS said everything was fine.
[…]
Detective White testified although Ruth initially denied knowing Lamar had a daughter, she later admitted to knowing Amore existed. Detective White said Ruth claims the last time she saw Amore with her father was when he took her to his relatives in Alabama, and Ruth never thought about asking about Amore again.
HAH. Found out nobody was going to believe that, I guess.

Still think she's 100% up in all this. Wouldn't surprise me if she killed her. Totally think she was involved in the abuse - a child doesn't get malnourished unless everybody in the picture isn't feeding her.

Hope she comes across just as suss to a jury.

MOO
 

cvaldez1975

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HAH. Found out nobody was going to believe that, I guess.

Still think she's 100% up in all this. Wouldn't surprise me if she killed her. Totally think she was involved in the abuse - a child doesn't get malnourished unless everybody in the picture isn't feeding her.

Hope she comes across just as suss to a jury.

MOO
in the article it said "he had to get rid of her" when he returned from deployment. so he had been away. so either she was abusing her while he was gone, and she died of abuse either before or after he returned, or he took the abused injured girl and "got rid of her" either way she is NOT innocent in this case.
 

hafom8840

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HAH. Found out nobody was going to believe that, I guess.

Still think she's 100% up in all this. Wouldn't surprise me if she killed her. Totally think she was involved in the abuse - a child doesn't get malnourished unless everybody in the picture isn't feeding her.

Hope she comes across just as suss to a jury.

MOO
The stepmom is just as bad as the dad and quite frankly should be facing the same time as him.
 

Springrain

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The fact that she lied repeatedly about both not knowing Amore existed and that she knew she existed, but didn't have any sort of relationship to her, makes me FURIOUS. She had custody of her! How can she even think to lie about that when SHE HAD CUSTODY OF HER? There is no way the court won't see through this IMO.
 

Alleykins

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The fact that she lied repeatedly about both not knowing Amore existed and that she knew she existed, but didn't have any sort of relationship to her, makes me FURIOUS. She had custody of her! How can she even think to lie about that when SHE HAD CUSTODY OF HER? There is no way the court won't see through this IMO.
Agreed.
 

imstilla.grandma

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While tears were shed, there was a sense of closure and unity as well as a determination to bring the culprit to justice.

Wiggins’ biological father Lamar Vickerstaff Jr. was arrested and charged with felony murder and his wife Ruth Vickerstaff was arrested and charged with failure to report a missing child. Both await further action by a Lee County Grand Jury.

The memorial began with speeches from members of the OPD followed by Wiggins’ mother and other relatives.

“(Amore) has been part of our family for so many years,” said Captain Johnathan Clifton. “It's hard to believe it's been 11 years. Throughout all these years, we’ve (sought) answers not only for us, but for this community. We wanted to know her name and know her story, but we had nothing but silence for so many years. Finally, we found her voice and we found her name and we will never forget Amore Wiggins.

“While I was preparing for this, I was thinking of something Jesus would say, and He said, ‘Let the little children come to me. Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to those such as these. That’s Matthew 19:14,” Clifton continued.
 
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