FL FL - Amy Billig, 17, Coconut Grove, 5 March 1974

[Markybug]

If it’s the bikers , we will never know alas. It’s hard to think that people would lie about something like that , but obviously it does happen.

“Hank” seems worth more investigation? What can be read into the camera tho ? and the hairbrush mentioned is new to me ??

 

[dotr]

Amy Billig – The Charley Project
Amy, circa 1974; Age-progression to age 56 (circa 2013); Henry Johnson Blair, circa 1996; Susan Billig, circa 1974; Susan, circa 2005

Missing Since 03/05/1974

• Missing From Coconut Grove, Florida
• Classification Non-Family Abduction
• Date of Birth 01/09/1957 (62)
• Age 17 years old
• Height and Weight 5'5, 110 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A denim miniskirt and cork platform sandals.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Amy has a two-inch appendectomy scar on her abdomen. She may have a tattoo. She has a high-stepping gait.

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[dotr]

Not quite sure why, but never believed the biker story, thinking there likely was a female that was indeed murdered, but that person was not Amy.
Complete speculation, imo.
March 22 2019 rbbm.
Teen Goes Missing While Hitchhiking - Cat Leigh - Medium
"In 1995, Johnson used a cell phone to call the family and police were finally able to track him. Hal Johnson’s real name was Henry Johnson Blair, a 47-year-old husband and father of two. Blair was a decorated 24-year veteran of the United States Customs Service and was at the time a special agent overseeing drug interdiction at the Port of Miami and on the Miami River.

Blair claimed that his alcoholism and obsessive-compulsive disorder made him harass the grieving family. He also alleges to have never known Amy. He was sentenced to two years in prison for harassment.

According to authorities, he is still viewed as a person of interest in Amy’s disappearance. Interestingly, in one of the photos from Amy’s camera, there is a white van in the background — in 1974, Blair owned a white van identical in color and model.

Furthermore, Amy wrote in her journal that she was pondering running away to South America with a man named Hank. Blair’s nickname was also Hank and during the same time period she wrote about it, Blair was going to Argentina due to his job."

 

[sportstergirl]

In 1979 I remember seeing an ad asking for information on a disappearance in Coconut Grove in Easyriders magazine. Very sad case was she the victim of an opportunistic killer? The Outlaws MC now have a large presence in the UK though I've found them to be friendly I watch my step around them being a supporter of a rival club.
The phone caller warrants further investigation.

 

[Golden_Age]

This photo that looks like Amy Billig was found by police in convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala's storage unit.

4 Alcala photos linked to missing women – Orange County Register

Wow. She looks identical to Amy. I've been sitting here for about 10 minutes comparing known pictures of Amy to the woman in the photo you shared. I got chills. Strangely, when I went through the slideshow of women's pictures at the oc register link you provided, the photo you shared in your post is not in that slideshow.

 

[Bit of hope]

Wow. She looks identical to Amy. I've been sitting here for about 10 minutes comparing known pictures of Amy to the woman in the photo you shared. I got chills. Strangely, when I went through the slideshow of women's pictures at the oc register link you provided, the photo you shared in your post is not in that slideshow.

OT Tried to find out if more women on the Alcala pictures where already identified, there have been a few. Would like to know after 19 years.....(the pictures are from 2010) I don't think the girl in the picture is Amy.

 

[JSolt1210]

Not quite sure why, but never believed the biker story, thinking there likely was a female that was indeed murdered, but that person was not Amy.
Complete speculation, imo.
March 22 2019 rbbm.
Teen Goes Missing While Hitchhiking - Cat Leigh - Medium
"In 1995, Johnson used a cell phone to call the family and police were finally able to track him. Hal Johnson’s real name was Henry Johnson Blair, a 47-year-old husband and father of two. Blair was a decorated 24-year veteran of the United States Customs Service and was at the time a special agent overseeing drug interdiction at the Port of Miami and on the Miami River.

Blair claimed that his alcoholism and obsessive-compulsive disorder made him harass the grieving family. He also alleges to have never known Amy. He was sentenced to two years in prison for harassment.

According to authorities, he is still viewed as a person of interest in Amy’s disappearance. Interestingly, in one of the photos from Amy’s camera, there is a white van in the background — in 1974, Blair owned a white van identical in color and model.

Furthermore, Amy wrote in her journal that she was pondering running away to South America with a man named Hank. Blair’s nickname was also Hank and during the same time period she wrote about it, Blair was going to Argentina due to his job."

I'm with you! This to me sounds like a much more plausible theory than the biker story. That story just got crazier, more farfetched with time. At one point, wasn't the mom so "close" to recovering Amy at some bar when a random fight broke out, and somehow a taxi appears and whisks her away to safety? Wasn't it also claimed that Amy might've made it to the UK, but once again her captors were one step ahead? Plus, the reality is that, generally speaking, long-term captivity of an abductee is the exception not the rule.

The "Hank" angle sounds simpler and more believable to me. What she wrote about in her diary matches details of Hank's life at the time. If in 1995, Hank was 47, then in 1974 he was 26, nine years older than Amy. Maybe she was young and naive and didn't realize he was leading her on, and that made him want to get rid of her? His claim that alcoholism and OCD made him harass the family sounds weak to me. If he was calling them drunk, maybe it was his conscience.

 

[bykerladi]

I agree, the "Hank" angle is much more believable, and actually has some evidence to support it. The statistical likelihood of Amy knowing another guy nicknamed Hank, going to South America, and having a white van is highly unlikely.

 

[sportstergirl]

He seems more likely than the bikers or UK angle.Pagans MC never had any overseas chapters as far as I know & Outlaws MC didn't have British chapters & support clubs til late 90s/2000ish

 

[Fede]

Here is a recent article on Amy´s dissapearance:
What Happened to Amy Billig? Miami 's Unsolved Mystery

 

[JSolt1210]

Here is a recent article on Amy´s dissapearance:
What Happened to Amy Billig? Miami 's Unsolved Mystery

"Five months after Amy went missing her mother started to endure a 21-year persecution of the worse kind a parent could imagine. Henry Johnson Blair, not identified until 1995, would call Susan Billig and torment her by telling her that her daughter was part of a captive of a sex ring organization. He would then change his story and claim that he had Amy. The calls stopped when FBI agents were able to trace the calls to his cellular phone." (BBM)

Wow! He called the mom for 21 years? And he wasn't involved? Even though Amy referenced someone very much like him in her journal? Yeah I'm not buying it. He sounds much more suspicious to me now.

 

[Murkywaters]

"Five months after Amy went missing her mother started to endure a 21-year persecution of the worse kind a parent could imagine. Henry Johnson Blair, not identified until 1995, would call Susan Billig and torment her by telling her that her daughter was part of a captive of a sex ring organization. He would then change his story and claim that he had Amy. The calls stopped when FBI agents were able to trace the calls to his cellular phone." (BBM)

Wow! He called the mom for 21 years? And he wasn't involved? Even though Amy referenced someone very much like him in her journal? Yeah I'm not buying it. He sounds much more suspicious to me now.

Blair also harassed other families of missing children. He was just a sad sob.

 

[kemo]

I’ve always been skeptical of the “biker gang” story. Sure, plenty of individual bikers are hardened criminals capable of about anything but it seems pretty far fetched to attribute a whole organized gang to participation in the abduction and rape of a young girl off the street. I have no experience with biker gangs but I have known a few ex-cons. I get the impression that many guys who gladly sell drugs, commit armed robbery and even kill, when necessary want, nothing to do with rape or any type harm to “ innocent “ women. In addition, they would not appreciate it when someone commits a serious crime and then brings it to their door-step, exposing them to not only prosecution but “ bad standing” in prison. Sure, an Old Lady who cheats on, steals from or otherwise betrays a gang member is fair game but not some teenager seen walking down the street.

The diary reference to “Hank” would be quite a coincidence if Henry Blair Johnson was harassing Amy’s mother but was not involved in her murder. Still, coincidences do happen. As a Federal Law Enforcement officer, his work record would have been available. It would be interesting to know whether or not he was on the job at the time . Johnson was married 12 days before the disappearance. I bet Law Enforcement knows when they got back from the honeymoon.

Apparently Amy was on her way to her father’s gallery where she was going to get some money and then have lunch with some friends “ downtown”. The gallery was less than a half mile from her house. No way would she hitchhike that short a distance. I’ve wondered if there really was a lunch date with her friends or if that was just a ruse to cover up what she was really up to. Does anyone know? If there was a planned lunch, was it in downtown Miami or downtown Coconut Grove? That is where the gallery was and where there are plenty of restaurants. There would have been no need to hitchhike or accept a ride. The most likely explanation is that she arranged for someone to pick her up and take her first to her fathers gallery and then to where ever she was going. She was not picked up at her house however because some construction workers claim to have seen her walk by. It just may have been “ Hank”; who ever he was.

 

[JSolt1210]

Apparently Amy was on her way to her father’s gallery where she was going to get some money and then have lunch with some friends “ downtown”. The gallery was less than a half mile from her house. No way would she hitchhike that short a distance. I’ve wondered if there really was a lunch date with her friends or if that was just a ruse to cover up what she was really up to. Does anyone know? If there was a planned lunch, was it in downtown Miami or downtown Coconut Grove? That is where the gallery was and where there are plenty of restaurants. There would have been no need to hitchhike or accept a ride. The most likely explanation is that she arranged for someone to pick her up and take her first to her fathers gallery and then to where ever she was going. She was not picked up at her house however because some construction workers claim to have seen her walk by. It just may have been “ Hank”; who ever he was.

BBM.

According to The Charley Project, "Amy never arrived at the office and her friends never saw her that evening." No mention is made that the friends denied or were surprised at the mention of a lunch date so I tend to believe the plans were real.

However, Amy could've made secret plans prior to the lunch date and visiting her father's gallery. And according to this Miami Herald article, "Blair and his wife say they either returned to Miami [from their honeymoon] 10 days later, or 13 days later. They do not recall which. Amy was abducted on March 5th -- 12 days after the Blairs' wedding."

Actually, if Hank had been seeing Amy romantically on the side, then this kind of makes sense. Think about it: in February he tells Amy he'll be away for two weeks at the end of the month. He doesn't mention the reason is his wedding and honeymoon. Any couple wants to see each other as soon as possible after time apart. If he did return shortly before March 5th, she may have wanted to see him before going to the gallery and lunch date. According to the same article, he lived "at Sunset Club Apartments in South Miami." How close is this in relation to Amy's house, the gallery, and downtown?

Could it be something as simple as Hank forgot to take off or hide his wedding ring, Amy realized his "vacation" really was his marriage and threatened to expose him, and he made her disappear right then and there?

 

[BillieL]

Blair also harassed other families of missing children. He was just a sad sob.

That is interesting. Which families?

 

[kemo]

That is interesting. Which families?

This is very interesting. Do you have a reference? If he had a history of harassing other parents of missing children, and he was clearly uninvolved in their disappearances, it would tend to support his innocence in this case; abet a deranged pathetic loser.

The whole Hank thing is still quite a coincidence.

 

[Murkywaters]

That is interesting. Which families?

I'm going through Amy's mother book to see if i could find the quote, I was mistaken, I don't believe he admitted to harassing any other families of missing children but admitted Susan wasn't his first or last victim.

Here are some interesting tid bits though.

On page 136, when questioned by investigators and shown the evidence of his phone records he admitted he looked up Susan Billig's number after seeing the case profiled on Unsolved Mysteries. He maintained that he was ''just manipulating the facts," as he had learned to do as an undercover cop. He blamed it as a ''Obsessive compulsive behavior'' and that the Miami Herald section was his form of ''soft *advertiser censored*'' and that he called other people but they would usually tell him during the first conversation that he was a crack pot then hang up.

On page 155, when pressed in court about whether he harassed other families of the missing, Blair stated ''None i guess,'' and even went on to blame Susan for not doing the ''logical thing'' and just hang up. He claimed Susan would also ring him back.

Blair said unspeakable things to Sue, one of them was that the bikers wanted a ''Mother-daughter team'' and offered Susan a sick deal to be traded to one of the bikers.

 

[JSolt1210]

On page 136, when questioned by investigators and shown the evidence of his phone records he admitted he looked up Susan Billig's number after seeing the case profiled on Unsolved Mysteries.

That's interesting because, according to the Miami Herald article I found, "Five months later [after Amy's disappearance, August 1974]..., Billig got another call from the same pay phone. This time, the caller spoke: 'I have her,' he said. 'This is Hal Johnson.'"

When Blair was arrested in 1995, "he admitted to calling her for more than 17 years, using the name Hal Johnson." But according to the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, Amy's case "first aired on the January 26, 1994 episode." So he already had her number before the Unsolved Mysteries episode, which aired one year prior to his arrest.

 

[Murkywaters]

That's interesting because, according to the Miami Herald article I found, "Five months later [after Amy's disappearance, August 1974]..., Billig got another call from the same pay phone. This time, the caller spoke: 'I have her,' he said. 'This is Hal Johnson.'"

When Blair was arrested in 1995, "he admitted to calling her for more than 17 years, using the name Hal Johnson." But according to the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, Amy's case "first aired on the January 26, 1994 episode." So he already had her number before the Unsolved Mysteries episode, which aired one year prior to his arrest.

Mhmm, interesting. Blair appears to have lied about that then. He also lied about the amount of times he harassed Susan.

 

[Markybug]

Was the photo of a white van on her found camera ever published?