Left and Center: Amanda circa, 1991
Right: Age Progressed to age 24
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: December 27, 1991
Missing From: Fairfield, Solano County, California
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: May 7, 1987
Age: 4 years old
Height and Weight: 3’5″ and 59 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian Female, Blonde hair, Blue eyes, Amanda occasionally develops a rash around her mouth, she has light brown moles on her forehead and near her nose, her ears are pierced and she has a frail dimple, Amanda might use the nickname “Nikki”
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A pink nylon jacket with short sleeves, a dark purple colored short sleeved shirt, purple corduroy pants, white sneakers with a pink trim, Amanda was last known to be wearing Santa Claus earrings
NCMEC Number: 763225
Details of Disappearance
Amanda was last seen in Fairfield, California on December 27th 1991. She was last known to be with her brother and a playmate about 4 houses away from her own home. She left them at some point between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm so that’s why could ride her bicycle to another friends home. The friend lived around the corner and approximately 8 houses away from her home. She never arrived to that friends home and was never seen or heard from again. Her bicycle was found abandoned a few blocks away from her home later in the evening.
Investigators conducted extensive searches of the area but found no trace of Amanda. They did find a pair of child sized blue socks. It unknown if they belonged to Amanda and there’s no mention of what type of socks she was wearing that day. The socks were found in the street.
Search dogs were able to trace Amanda’s scent from Larchmont Drive to Oliver Road. The scent then traveled to a a nearby McDonalds Restaurant at the drive through then east on Travis Boulevard to the westbound Interstate 80 on ramp. Investigators suspect that Amanda was abducted by a non family member. They think she was forced into a vehicle when she was at Larchmont Drive and Salisbury Drive.
Many suspects have been named in relation to her presumed abduction. Her case may be linked to the abductions of other girls in the Bay Area.
In 1979, Tara Cossett Cossey vanished while going to get her mother sugar from a store in San Pablo, California. In June of 1988, Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia was abducted from the front of her house as she played with a jump rope in Pinole, California. In November of 1988, Michaela Joy Garecht was abducted from the outside of a market as she was retrieving a scooter in Hayward, California. In January of 1989, Ilene Beth Misheloff was kidnapped while she walked home from school in Dublin, California. Authorities have not conclusively linked the cases but believe that they may be connected.
A man named Timothy Binder has been treated as a suspect in Amanda’s abduction for years. He’s suspected in the other cases of kidnapped girls as well. He was described as weird and odd and may have been playing mind games with the families of the abducted children. He may have been manipulating them into believing he was involved in the kidnappings. Binder came to be suspected after he sent girls of the Bay Area cards because they were “lonely”.
Investigators asked Amber Swartz-Garcia’s mother, Kim, to maintain a friendship with him in order to see if he knows the whereabouts of the missing girls. She agreed that he seemed to be playing mind games and was manipulative. He did not reveal anything of significance in the cases. Binder strongly resembled a man sought in Ambers disappearance. It should also be noted that his van had pictures of young children in it. There were also posters of Ambers disappearance were on the sides of his van.
Binder would frequently visit the grave of Angela Bugay, she was 5 years old when she was kidnapped and murdered in Antioch, California on November 19th 1983.
Angela’s body was found buried in a shallow grave a few days after her disappearance. Tim was considered a suspect in her unsolved murder for years until it was solved in 1995. Her mothers ex boyfriend, Larry Graham, was charged with killing her in April of 1996 after his DNA was found to be a match to a semen sample found on her body. He was convicted of killing her in 2003. He took his own life in his jail cell in 2009.
Investigators traced the scents of Amanda and Amber to Bugay’s grave. He has not been connected to the girl’s disappearances. He sent various letters and odd things to police and the FBI. Prior to Michaela’s abduction, he told the FBI that he beloved the next child to be taken would be 9 years of age. Michaela’s kidnapping took place shortly after he told them this. She was 9 years old when she was taken.
In 1990, Binder sent a holiday card to a FBI profiler. The card depicted a child holding up 4 fingers. Amanda’s presumes abduction took place in December of 1991. He was named as a suspect in 1992 and his home was searched but nothing was found. She was 4 years old when she disappeared. He also sued Amanda’s hometown of Fairfield for defamation of character and won a $90,000 settlement.
A man known as Curtis Dean Anderson has also been mentioned as a possible suspect in Amanda’s case. He is also considered a possible suspect in the 1999 disappearance of Karla Rodriguez. In 1999, he kidnapped 7 year old Xiana Fairchild from Vallejo, California and held her captive for several weeks before he murdered her. He’s also bragged of kidnapping 11 other girls.
In 2007 he confessed to abducting and killing Amber Swartz Garcia. He died a month after his confession while he served prison time. He stated that he forcefully abducted Swartz as she played in front of her home and took her with him to Arizona. He stated that Amber was sedated until he murdered her in a motel room near the Tucson area of Arizona. He allegedly disposed of her body near Benson, Arizona.
No evidence was found by investigators to corroborate his confession. They initially closed the investigation into her case but it reopened in 2013. He was not been charged in Amanda’s case before his death and investigators are unsure of his involvement in the case.
In June of 2001, investigators received a tip that Amanda was possibly lured to a house in Salisbury Street and murdered there. They also received information that her body would be found in the crawlspace of the home. Searches of the home took place but no trace of Nicole was ever found. She had actually been to that house the day before her abduction because she wanted to play with two young children there.
Amanda has never been seen again and her disappearance remains unsolved. Foul play is strongly suspected.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Fairfield Police Department 707-428-7355
Source Information
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children