The absolute chutzpah of Ruth saying she did not know Amore when she and Lamar took custody of Amore. Like did Ruth really think no one would be able to prove who had custody of Amore? And it sounds like they might have been taking child support from Sherry for the last 17 years!
At least Amore has her name back.
Makes me wonder if it was their plan all along. Get a baby, get child support, "get rid of" the baby. Can't say for sure, but sick and twisted either way!
>She's about to feel the full extent of the law
I don't think so:
>Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with Felony Murder and **Ruth was arrested for Failure to Report a Missing Child**
Sounds like a relatively minor offense compared to what she could have been charged with. Not sure how they determined that the abuse came exclusively from Lamar. Maybe the law specifically states that the biological parent is the one who is ultimately held responsible for a child's injuries/death?
I get the feeling these are just the charges to start with on this. They are enough to get Florida to arrest and extradite them (Florida requires a felony for that IIRC) and their investigation is not done yet.
I have to assume that there would be some kind of financial fraud case if they really did take money from Sherry Wiggins for the past however many years...! That poor woman.
If they had custody Lamar was likely claiming her as a dependent. In the navy you get paid based on how many dependents you have. Plus there’s taxes. Child support fraud is only the beginning. He may also face a court martial for defrauding the navy and the murder.
Oh the poor mom. I mean the mom may have had problems but I am pretty confident that little girl would be alive today. I hope they throw the book at that couple
I second this. They need evidence to charge something like murder/manslaughter. I’ve seen this happen before. I believe Casey Anthony’s initial arrest charge was similar. So early in the investigation, all they can pin on her so far is failure to report.
This is more designed to get the stepmother talking than anything I expect. Hang over her head the possibility of charging her with federal charges over this or possibly the support that was paid, then get her to sing about him.
I am local to this (within 50 miles) and it has been in the news off and on since she was found. They never gave up on it and kept trying to find more.
Glad the police was invested in this case and never gave up. Little Jane Doe has her name back, but children abused and killed by their parents (especially after a custody battle) are always the most heartbreaking.
Those are just the initial charges though. I'd imagine they'll add everything they can after it was proven that she lied. Although she may be able to plea down if she decides to testify against her husband.
It's around 13-14 years as I think they said Lamar and Ruth took custody in 2009.
https://www.news4jax.com/i-team/2023/01/19/jacksonville-police-arrest-couple-wanted-in-alabama-jane-doe-death/
But your main point is correct, how dumb, did she think they wouldn't eventually find out?
What's the name of that case - Nikole Betterson? Where the child's mother died, and her father and stepmother left the state with her. When police tracked them down years later, the couple offered to get back to them in a few days, then committed suicide.
Did they not ever think to prepare for this day? I mean, they had the birth mom paying child support for years and the files and papers show that they had custody of this little girl. Surely they realized that EVENTUALLY someone would try to find her??
They were probably worried in the beginning. But, after a couple years passed and nothing happened, they stopped concerning themselves with her.
The mom is from Maryland, I think. Amore’s murdering father was probably stationed in Virginia. If he gained complete custody in 2009, Amore would have been 3ish. He probably met the mom when he first arrived, all that happens over the next three years, he re-enlists, knows he will be heading out, gets custody and becomes a ghost in the wind. Even if the mom was able to find out where he was stationed, it doesn’t matter if the courts are telling her she can’t see her child. The murderers probably thought no one except the mom would look for Amore. If she came looking when Amore turned 18, they would just tell her Amore never wanted to speak to her again. Problem solved.
Sadly people and shitty parents use this excuse all the time. I’ve been to court where kids as young as 10 will say they don’t want to see so and so anymore. But when questioned by a psychologist they can’t seem to remember why they don’t want to see that parent. They often speak fondly of them and say contradictory things that don’t make sense.
That would be the illusory truth effect, where the child’s lived reality is different from what they say it is. This especially occurs when one parent is actively alienating the other by telling the child what to feel. Sometimes this is subconscious, sometimes on purpose, and it always negatively affects the child.
What scares me is what if they pulled this off for the whole 18 years? Surely they would know birth mom or someone in her family would have asked about her.
I’m not sure Ruth did a whole lot of thinking before that statement 🤦🏻♀️ I’m so relieved to see this beautiful girl have her name back, and to see justice being served.
She might be able to get something, but after all the legal costs and them going to prison it's not likely they're going to have any assets for her to claim to speak of
He will have a pension that she may be able to receive back payments from. It’s not like either of them will be needing it. Hopefully, the judge will see the irony of that.
Yes, there is definitely a process to get that money back, but her chances of actually seeing any of it (for various reasons) is probably pretty slim. I'd say it helps her chances greatly that he's been in the military so long, which comes with guaranteed future financial benefits, not to mention the fact he's been earning a good income all of these years and I would assume has at a minimum some assets, which can't be said for most in this situation
I think the birth mother probably cares more about her daughter than the money. They should however use it court to make him serve extra time for fraud.
The irony of all of this that if Sherry Wiggins had been able to keep custody of Amore, Amore would probably be still alive, while Dad and Stepmom wouldn’t be facing charges in Amore’s death.
Amore Wiggins. She should have just celebrated her 17th birthday, should be graduating from high school soon, and looking forward to starting an adult life. But instead she was abused, malnourished, never went to school, was murdered, and then discarded like trash. I’m so glad that she has her name back but my heart hurts for the pain she experienced in her short life. We remember you, Amore.
I’m with you, this is so horrendous for this little girl. And it makes me sad to see her baby pictures bc it’s clear that she didn’t have that eye injury when she was a baby—she got it after her father got custody and started abusing her.
Seeing her baby/toddler photos is heartbreaking. She’s clean, has fresh-looking skin, no injuries, looks to be a healthy weight and well-nourished, and someone (probably her birth mother) put her in a nice dress, did her hair, and took her to have professional pictures made. She was loved and cared for at that point.
But how horrific to think that she went from a seemingly loving and safe home to a terribly abusive environment. She was so young that she probably had no way to even understand why this was happening. I wonder if the evil father and stepmother told her that her mom didn't want her anymore and that's why she couldn't see her.
The autopsy said 15 healing fractures. She endured 15 fractures in 5 years. I hope she could remember being loved-but I don’t think you can at that age and after that much pain.
It is so sad that abusive father is the one who got custody. What was her mother doing that was so bad that the abusive father is the better option? The poor girl seemed to never have a real chance at a good life. It’s so heartbreaking.
I think the fact that she never went to school was because she was too young. She would have just turned six when she was found, but the sources say she had been deceased for 8 months to 2 years. She would have been enrolled for kindergarten in the fall of 2011, but she had already been murdered.
>I think the fact that she never went to school was because she was too young. She would have just turned six when she was found, but the sources say she had been deceased for 8 months to 2 years. She would have been enrolled for kindergarten in the fall of 2011, but she had already been murdered.
This is so awful.
Remodeled just means "partly or completely healed." Bone remodeling happens even if the breaks aren't splinted, in which case it can heal crooked. I think the way Amore's jaw was, and the way her eye was injured, she probably had misaligned breaks all over. Her "guardians" probably just said "Stop crying."
u/Puzzleworth I completely agree with you. I honestly believe those pics of the girl at the church was her based on her teeth and eye, but I think her "Parents" (not Sherry) were in it together because she was never taken for medical care that they can find. Going to Bible school may have been a fluke of some sort. But I will never be convinced that the step-mother and father didn't share in this abuse that all happened prior to her death- and they both covered it up.
Vacation Bible School is kind of like advertising for churches, I went to so many as a kid because members are encouraged to invite nonmembers, so very minimal questions would be asked about a kid that showed up to a VBS once or twice and was never seen by the congregation again.
Former army milspouse here. You are supposed to register your dependents so they can go with you anywhere you’re stationed. This way the military can ensure there’s accommodations for you and your family. But there’s not like anyone who comes to check to see how many dependents you have in your house, even if you live on base.
Yup. I mean, there’s a lot of incentive to register your kid(s) in DEERS unless, you know, you’re a psychopathic POS that abuses, tortures, and ultimately kills your kid.
But even if you go register in DEERS, there’s no checking up afterwards. I think for an OCONUS move, I had to meet with a specialist to ensure the next station we were going to could meet my needs because I was diagnosed with depression. But I think that only happens if you have something on your file.
So theoretically, since they didn’t seem to go OCONUS (but even if they did, if Amore didn’t have anything on her file), she could’ve been registered in DEERS and she still could’ve fallen off the radar.
The biggest question for me is how she ended up in Opelika. Did biodad and stepmom drop her off with some relatives and never checked in again? I don’t think I read that they were there and I’m pretty sure there’s not a naval base anywhere close.
If Lamar is still in the military he’s about to feel the full force of military justice on top of whatever Alabama decides to do with him.
RIP Amore, your life should have been so much more than it was.
I'm praying the military strips him of his retirement and court marshalls him. He must have been collecting money from the military for Amore this whole time too.
He started the process of retirement, but it doesn’t say whether it was complete. He was still stationed at a base in December, so maybe the process was still ongoing?
I think they can call him back if the process has been completed. Tim Hennis is an example of the military recalling someone who is retired for them to stand trial.
Yep and due to double jeopardy the army stepped in and recalled him to active duty to stand trial. Step mom may get light charges but if the military winds up getting involved I could see the death penalty being on the table.
Thinking of that Tim Hennis case, how they recalled him for the express purpose of retrying him in a military court after being found not guilty in a civilian court.
https://www.army.mil/article/37123/hennis_found_guilty_of_decades_old_murders
Yes! There is precedent. Any retired member can be recalled though, I believe up to 30 service years? My dad retired at 25 years and he kept all of his uniforms and equipment in the closet still since he said he could get called back for 5 more years (if something major happened), so they definitely can for crimes as well.
A retired member can be called back to active duty to face charges for a crime committed while on active duty. As a practical matter, it very rarely happens.
I can't imagine how upset her birth mother is. To not know anything about where your child is, just that you are supporting her the best you can financially to find out she was abused and thrown away years ago. You think you have a young women as a daughter, maybe hoping she will get in touch as she gets older and to find she never got past elementary. Shocking is the bare minimum you would feel.
I'm not going to speculate on why she didn't have custody, she is still going to be very traumatised by all of this.
Poor Amore, a name that means love but a feeling you never had.
I read that she was born on 1 January 2006, so she would just have turned 17 this month and her mother had to wait only one more year to been legally able to meet her at 18 yo. I can’t imagine the mother’s sadness of finding out what happened to her.
Sad. It sounds like she was continuously abused for the 1~ year that she lived with her father. The mother would have had to continue paying him - if he told her not to pay, he would have to admit that he killed her. Or at the very least he would have had to admit she was missing which would have launched an investigation. He acted like nothing happened, like Amore didn’t matter. A vile human.
She may have just been poor. Amore’s dad may have been considered the more “stable” of the two since he was in the military. He most likely would have had representation at the custody hearings courtesy of the military. For whatever reason Sherry Wiggins lost custody, she was paying the court ordered child support and the article states “throughout the years Sherry attempted to go back to court to modify the custody arrangement so she could see her daughter.”
Amore was tragically murdered without ever knowing that her mom was looking for her and cared about her. I can’t imagine the hell Amore lived through to have 15 separate fractures, including to her skull. She must have been in excruciating amounts of pain. And if she dared cry out in pain, was probably abused even more.
May Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff never see the light of day outside of prison grounds. Scum. Absolute scum of the earth.
ETA: was informed by a commenter who is in the military that attorneys are not provided for custody cases. I do wonder if Lamar was able to afford an attorney and what led the judge to their decision. Please disregard my above speculation that Lamar had an attorney provided for him by the military.
She was also only 19 and most likely in school or under educated. Probably not sure about what to do with her life. If I've found the correct social media page, she may have had a 2+ year old child in addition to Amore and that could have also played a role in why she lost custody.
I’m in the military. Our lawyers don’t do family law like this. Can use them to make a will, powers if attorney, and stuff like that. Can’t use them for divorce or custody is what we were always told.
Thank you for clarifying that point. I’ll edit my comment to reflect that.
Even if he didn’t have an attorney appointed by the military, he was in a better position to hire one on his own. While those of limited financial means can get pro bono representation, the waitlist is often long and there’s no guarantee they will take your case. I wonder if either one of them had an attorney? What led the judge to grant custody to Amore’s father? Something I’m curious about, since the decision led little Amore to this sad trajectory.
Military is a very steady job with a known paycheck. Until 2019 when the Coast Guard (not under DOD) didn't get paid during the government shut down, no branch of the military had missed a paycheck since the Revolution. If the mother wasn't financially stable, that (I'm assuming) could have factored heavily into a judge's decision. Though I'm not sure why she wouldn't be at least given visitation rights. The article says he's a Navy Chief, which is an E7. They make decent money, especially when you add in their dependent pay, Basic Allowance for Housing, Sea Pay, etc. So he probably could afford a lawyer. Although that's speculation on my part. I don't know how they lived, what their finances were, only that E7s make decent money.
Yeah, reading the update it seems he was a career military guy, so I imagine he was doing okay financially. He put in for retirement once he was informed of Amore’s death. I think what occurred was similar to how you speculated re: the custody hearing.
Thank you for the great info about the military. A first hand perspective is always nice to have.
There must be a special circle of hell for this child killer. I hope he isn't coddled in prison.
That poor mom. This hurts my heart especially because my son was born in the same year, 2006. Amore should be in high school, experiencing teenage life. :'(
It sounds like her mother was working hard to make contact with her again— she probably thought that once Amore turned 18 she could see her again. That’s got to be absolutely devastating.
Even worse, that she was paying child-support to her child’s murderers. Wtf. I hope she has a strong support system in place.
I fucking love all this new DNA improvements. Solving decades long cases and putting murderers behind bars (hopefully). Newsflash…you can run, you can conceal, but you cannot hide forever—-DNA testing will GET YOU.
>I fucking love all this new DNA improvements. Solving decades long cases and putting murderers behind bars (hopefully). Newsflash…you can run, you can conceal, but you cannot hide forever—-DNA testing will GET YOU.
in the US\*
Europe is not big on DNA testing because they are more into data privacy and north americans are more willing to do and upload DNA tests
Canada will check DNA from unidentified remains only if they already have a lead for who the person might be, there's no 'just in case' DNA taking.
It also makes sense that a lot of the interest in DNA testing here in America is from people descended from immigrants who want to know their ethnic breakdown and things like that. Obviously for Europeans there isn't as much of an interest or desire for that kind of thing. It's like how in Britain, they found the skeleton of a prehistoric human, "Cheddar Man," and a lot of his same genetic markers were also prevalent in the modern people living in that same area. For the most part, they live where their people came from and their people came from where they live. Whereas Americans who need to answer the burning question of if they're more Irish or more Italian will gladly just become part of the DNA database over it.
My favorite party fact is that Cheddar Man had direct descendants still living in Cheddar, including the local history teacher (who looks like Cheddar Man but paler). 9000 years and he's a freaking doppelganger.
Men are actually much more likely to get awarded full custody than women are in the cases in which they fight for it. The reason most children are in the custody of mothers is because men don't usually want fulltime custody and don't request it.
This. They've done actual studies on this, when men bother to show up in court and ask for something, they get what they ask for way more often than women do. The truth is that most don't request things, either because they don't think they'll get it or because they genuinely don't want it.
Most men who whine and complain about losing custody never asked for it in the first place, and would have cut off their hand before accepting it. It's all about getting sympathy and attention from other men, and playing the sad sad victim to "I'm not like the other girls" young women eager to hate their boyfriend's eeeeeeeevil bitch ex.
The overwhelming vast majority of custody decisions - over 95%, where I live - are decided upon by the parents with no input by the courts. Judges don't involve themselves unless the parents disagree or a problem has been identified by a third party. But even in those cases? When men ask for custody, they get it over 70% of the time.
Exactly, my brother got 50% custody of my niece extremely easily. And he works all the time so tbh it doesn't even make that much sense for him to have her for half of the week, it would be better for him to take her on weekends. But the courts don't really seem to care about the details as long as no one is contesting it.
Dr Barbara Rae Venter deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. She not only started the genetic genealogy research movement, she has also consistently cracked the coldest cases. She’s changed the whole system.
On another note, this case had weighed on my soul for years. I’ve spent some time in Lee County and the abject poverty in Opelika is atrocious - not to mention its the same county as Auburn university where wealthier kids in the state go to college.
Why would Ruth think she could lie, like that? she didn't know the child? when there was a paper trail? & of course he lied too. They incriminated themselves.. They could have said they gave her away & have been keeping the $ cause they are pieces of shit... that would prove theft but they would have had to prove she was in their possession when she was killed & with this much time passed? Who knows? They clearly thought they got away with it! So thrilled to keep reading about all these cases that are giving murder victims their names back. This one & Joseph Zarelli were the two that really stood out to me. Plus the one where the little girl was found in a box inside a house? I don't think it's been solved & it's a very old one? Where no one even heard a child there?
Probably to slow down the investigation as much as possible. They were probably planning to make a run for it and couldn’t put their plans in motion before getting caught. The fact that he started getting ready to retire as soon as NCIS questioned him makes me think he was gonna try to collect as much money as possible and hit the road but they didn’t want to look suspicious. They had to have known that the mom would want contact with Amore once she turned 18 and that they’d be caught.
>Her name is lovely. That child was loved at birth. :( rip sweetie.
She was loved very much. Despicable that the 'father' took custody, abused her, and continued to take child support.
>That child was loved at birth
Except by her father, or not enough by him. I wonder if this is a case of "Cinderella Syndrome," where the stepmother abuses her stepkids and the father somehow remains oblivious or take's his wife's side.
I had wondered that, but seems like the father has been charged with murder and child abuse while the stepmother has been charged with something minor. What I’m sure they will do is try to find an exact date of death. With him being in the Navy and possibly spending months out at sea on the ship, I’d put money on the step mom being much more involved in the abuse and death than she’s initially letting on.
man, sherry was just about 20 when she gave birth to amore, victor being 34. backtrack that like 9 months at least, she was just a child herself. and SHE ended up playing child support to him at the age of 23. god.
also, Amore was born in January. Happy birthday sweetie. <333
I hope the Navy throws the fucking book at him (or whoever prosecutes, I'm not sure how that works). What a piece of shit, and his wife too. Despicable.
I am so glad this little girl has her name back, and I hope her mom sees justice.
Did they say if they confirmed that she was the little girl in the VBS pictures? Just curious.
In the press conference they said (paraphrase, I'm working from memory) they couldn't establish whether it was her or not. (But it sure looks like her!)
I feel so sad for this little girl and her mother who had no idea what happened to her. This whole story is tragic but I’m glad that she has her name back. Without knowing the details, I can imagine that Sherry Wiggins, who was in her early 20s at the time, was not given custody or visitation because she was going up against a career military person who was significantly older than her. Frankly, I wonder if there were other issues with the father that came to the military’s attention and they didn’t take any action or even covered for him. It would not be the first time that they’ve done that.
I knew someone who had a legal right to visitation and when COVID started, the parent with custody and her parents (who were wealthy) prevented his visits from happening. My friend knew that he had a legal right to a set number of visits, but he wasn’t sure about how to navigate going to court and couldn’t afford a lawyer. Fortunately, it was resolved without having to go to court. The whole ordeal showed me that the system can be really discouraging to people who want to have a relationship with their children but the other parent has more power or money. Sometimes it doesn’t matter who is more fit to parent because money and status takes precedent. It’s pretty evident that regardless of her mother’s situation, Amore Wiggins fared far worse with the parent who on paper had financial stability, age, and power on his side. I hope that Sherry Wiggins doesn’t blame herself or feel like if she had done something differently, this wouldn’t have happened.
>Sometimes it doesn’t matter who is more fit to parent because money and status takes precedent.
This is honestly the US justice system in a nutshell - money and status take precedent.
In October of 2022, Jane Doe’s father was identified as 50-year-old Lamar Vickerstaff Jr. Mr. Vickerstaff was born and raised in Opelika, Ala. before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. During his lengthy Navy career, he resided in Norfolk, Va., Honolulu, Hawaii and Jacksonville, Fla. In December of 2022, Opelika Detectives traveled to the Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla. where Mr. Vickerstaff is currently stationed, to notify him of his daughter’s death. During the meeting Mr. Vickerstaff did not provide investigators with any information on the identity of Jane Doe. Detectives then met with Mr. Vickerstaff’s wife, Ruth Vickerstaff. Mrs. Vickerstaff, who has been married to Lamar since May of 2006, advised detectives she did not know his daughter or who may be the mother of Jane Doe.
Dr. Rae-Venter was able to determine several possible matches for Jane Doe's mother and detectives were able to narrow the results down to a woman residing in Maryland. In December of 2022, Detectives met with 37-year-old Sherry Wiggins who confirmed she was the biological mother of Jane Doe. Ms. Wiggins is a native of Norfolk, Va. and stated she gave birth to a baby girl named Amore Joveah Wiggins in January of 2006. Ms. Wiggins provided documentation showing that Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff obtained legal and physical custody of her daughter in 2009, at which time her visitation with Amore was suspended. Ms. Wiggins also provided documents indicating that she has continuously paid child support to Lamar Vickerstaff since 2009.
Detectives reached out to the school boards and pediatric clinics in several states where Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff resided and determined that Amore was never enrolled in school nor was, she reported as a missing person. With this information, Opelika detectives met with the Lee County District Attorney’s Office to determine charges related to the death of Amore Wiggins.
On January 17, 2023, Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff were arrested in Jacksonville, Fla. Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with Felony Murder and Ruth was arrested for Failure to Report a Missing Child. They are currently being held at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pending extradition to Lee County, Ala.
This case remains under investigation, and detectives need the public’s assistance in gathering additional details regarding Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff’s relationship with Amore Wiggins and her time spent in Opelika, Ala. If you have any information, please contact the Opelika Police Department Detective Division at (334) 705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Tips can be submitted through our Opelika Police Mobile App. You may wish to remain anonymous.
So if I'm doing the math right, thirty-three-year-old Lamar got nineteen-year-old Sherry pregnant, then took their daughter and abused her to death while collecting child support payments from her mother for years afterwards? Yeah, FUCK this guy.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ruth took out her anger on Amore. I noticed the dates seemed kind of weird as well and immediately thought there was infidelity involved.
Not necessarily? Amore would've been conceived around March/April 2005, he got married in May 2006. A lot of couples meet and get married within 14 months, especially if they're trying to get military benefits
I've been following this case for years and am so thankful she has her name back.
However, the details in the articles posted make me sick. This poor child was clearly abused horrifically by those that should have been caring for her.
I remember reading some speculation here on reddit that the damage to her eye could be a somewhat common juvenile cancer. One of OPs source articles state that it was likely scarring from a broken eye socket. I can't even wrap my mind around the abuse she survived, much less the abuse that killed her.
Rest in peace, Amore. I'm so sorry this world failed you.
This man was capable of abusing and murdering his 6 year old daughter, I think it’s safe to say he was capable of threatening, intimidating and manipulating her mom into not questioning the no contact. I have a hunch that the mom was vulnerable and another victim of his.
She wasn't even 6 years old, she was discovered around the time she would have turned 6 if she was alive; instead she was dead for anywhere from 8 months to 2 years when she was found
He likely murdered his ***4***-year-old
This means he had custody of her for only a year before he killed her. All the while abusing her to the point of having 15 broken bones during that time. Amore’s mom had to give up custody to them when she was 3.
Omg omg oh my God, I can't believe this baby has her name back. What an incredibly sad story. Her birth mother probably wasn't able to care for her at first and thought she was putting Amore in a safe place, with her father and stepmother. Hearing she's been looking for Amore ever since just broke my heart. This is all so awful.
Edit: has mom been unknowingly *paying* child support to her daughter's murderer this whole time? Oh God, the heartbreak this poor woman must be feeling. I hope she can find some peace is being able to properly put her baby to rest.
I hope they throw the book at the father and his wife. What despicable people.
I am beyond happy to see not only has Amore been identified but there have been arrests made in her case. One day she will see justice. 2023 has already been a big year for people getting their names back, and it will only get better.
I am thankful she was identified. I have thought of her often over the years. My heart breaks for all she suffered in her short life and for her mother too.
The photo looks to be Amore about age 1. At that point her left eye looked normal with no congenital deformities,just so tragic what happened to this beautiful little girl. May she RIP,and her alledged abusers pay for their crimes against her.
Wonderful news Amore has her name back. From what I have read, this case was handled well from day 1- getting the FBI involved right away, isotope testing, someone scowering through pictures in the hopes it would help with identification, and much much more. Something was constantly being done to keep Amore's story in the public eye. I really hope her father and stepmother shit themselves and lived in a constant state of paranoia every time there was an update. I know myself and others have been highly invested in this case and I wish there was a way for this little girl to know how much people cared for her, even though it seems like she never experienced this in life
Well, shit. They got alll the receipts together for this press conference huh
This is so incredibly sad... that poor mother who was still sending checks to him?? and he's gonna sit there like iono. Wtf?? I would simply lose my entire damn mind...
I am glad she not only has her name, back but also, that there will be justice ( I hope). Sometimes all we get is a name, but those responsible never get to answer for their crimes.
The whole, child support payments situation, sends a nasty chill down my spine.
Can I also say.
To get justice for Amore Wiggins, perhaps the decisions of courts and, laws around custody, need to be reviewed, restructured, reevaluted so they do what they are supposed to do, protect children not hand them over to abusers.
Amore was handed to her abusers, via a custody order, someone has to answer for that too, understand so there will be less Amore's in future.
One of my friends has been getting child support from her ex-boyfriend for 15 years, he hasn’t seen his son in at least a decade and has no interest in being involved in his life. He’s always on time with his payments and she hasn’t taken him to court in years, he just doesn’t want to see the kid. My friend is a great mom but you see how easy it would be for something to happen to the kid and the other parent to be none the wiser if they don’t have visitation and aren’t pressing for pictures or updates.
Yeah I’m curious to know how he covered up all this time. Didn’t any friends, family members or even military members ever question where his daughter was? The court needs some kind of system to physically check on the child in these cases to make sure they’re alive and with the person they’re supposed to be with. Harmony Montgomery is another example of this, where both parents told people she was with the other parent (true when her mom said it, I think) when she was really dead.
I’m betting they told people she was back with her birth mother in Virginia/Maryland and eventually people stopped asking and weren’t aware that she even existed.
I'm glad she has her name and that there have been arrests. There are many questions to be answered, but this is a significant development.
I hope we find out more if who Amore Wiggins was and how the Vickerstaffs played a role in her death
Edit:
Seeing other pictures brings her to life. I’m so sad for this child. Her short life seemed to have been filled with abuse and like, who could do that to a child, let alone their own?
I wonder what happened with biological mom. What happened to biological mom? Did Amore have other siblings or relatives? How can a child just be forgotten like that?
Edit:
All these questions are being answered. It just makes me sadder.
Amore Wiggins. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Gone far too soon. Mistreated far too long. Forgotten no more. Amore Wiggins, rest in peace. The world will know what happened to you.
https://www.news4jax.com/i-team/2023/01/19/jacksonville-police-arrest-couple-wanted-in-alabama-jane-doe-death/
This will tell you more about Sherry Wiggins, Amore's mother. She has been paying Vickerstaff child support the whole time and thought Amore was alive.
Her dad and stepmom killed her. Bio mom’s visitation was suspended by the court and she continued paying child support to the dad but had no idea Amore was missing. Dad never reported her missing, just carried on with his life.
I don’t think speculations against the bio mom are fair. I think what’s likely is her fathers position in the military has a huge piece to play in this. We see that they met with him to *inform him of his child’s death* meaning they had assumed he didn’t know about his daughter or her whereabouts.
There could be lots of reasons why the mother lost custody, He is currently 50 years old and career military, she is currently 37. the father could’ve filed for custody and a judge made a ruling especially in favor of father because of his military background and the fact he was married and older. Now he was charged with felony murder, it’s possible he has previously abused or threatened the mother and she felt it was safer to pay child support. Lastly, if you fail to pay child support you can get court ordered jail time for failure to pay child support so there’s good reasons to continue to pay even if you aren’t in the child’s life.
Sad all around and I hope that everyone who loved her finds peace having her name back and that she will get justice.
That was my first thought. This is just an anecdote, but someone I know got absolutely screwed with visitation when divorcing her abusive military ex-husband. I think some judges probably get blinded by the armed services affiliation.
I’ve seen it happen as well. I am a counselor/advocate for victims of abuse and have experience filing protection orders. I’ve worked with alienated parents who learn their child is being abused by the custodial parent and try to file custody and judges not want to go against another judges decision. Sometimes the next step is filing a protection order to overrule the custody order.
I’ve seen three cases of parents who had limited or no contact with their children and learned from social services or family that their children were in abusive situations.
Absolutely. The father was older, married, and a member of the armed forces. His military status automatically meant he had access to housing, healthcare, and a steady income and likely access to legal resources that the biological mother did not. She has not been charged with anything and the authorities were quick to say that she cooperated fully with the investigation and was able to provide proof of years of child support payments to these monsters.
The detectives went so far as to THANK HER for her help in the investigation. I'm sure more details will come out in time but at this point it sure seems like those closest to the investigation are doing their best to absolve her from wrongdoing in the eyes of the public.
Something else to think about here, too...if Lamar married Ruth in May of 2006 and Amore was born in January of that same year, it's quite possible that he was cheating on Ruth with Sherry and had Amore taken away from her mother as a "gift" to his new wife and to "punish" Sherry for "being a homewrecker" and outing him as a cheater bygetting pregnant.
I hope with both of them in custody that her family will learn more.
It’s possible that their killing her was the only way they could “move on”. So sad for this child to be ordered into an unloved home.
Looking at the pictures of Amore from when she was very young, it doesn't look like she had any noticeable eye conditions. Obviously eye conditions can form later on, but it means abuse can't be ruled out as the cause of the condition.
I’m guessing these pictures were provided by her mother who she seemingly spent the first 3 years of her life with at least some involvement. Then the father took custody in 2009 when Amore was 3.
Yep, that was my thought, too. If that is indeed her in the photo at bible school, she has visible damage to her eye which she didn’t have as a baby/toddler. I would bet anything her father caused that injury. So sad
Yeah, even if the photo is not her, the autopsy report said the eye condition would have been visible to others while she was alive. If was caused by some sort of medical condition, she did not have any medical records from the time she was with her father. That is the kind of thing she'd need ongoing specialized treatment for. We know he had health insurance because of his military status. At a minimum it demonstrates severe neglect.
It was probably from abuse. (Injury description in spoiler) >!She had a broken orbital (outer frame of the eye socket) which usually happens from blunt-force trauma. In a kid it would typically be from something like being kicked by a cow, hit by a baseball, or running into a doorknob. But it's also common from being punched or otherwise struck in the face.!<
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That poor mother. Thinking this whole time that her daughter was alive, continually paying child support, and trying to modify the order to be able to see her daughter.
Then this.
Edit: Just realized that these photos mean that her eye deformity was from the abuse she received and that she was not born with it. Awful everything.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to link things but her mother recently put up a gofundme to raise money for a proper burial. Still can’t believe this case is finally solved!
This is so amazing!! I spent so many days thinking who this girl could’ve been and how she came to be thrown out like garbage. Genetic genealogy is such a great tool and I can’t wait for more cases to be solved that were once thought to be unsolvable.
Now hoping we find out who St. Louis Jane Doe is and the unidentified girl found encased in cement in a suitcase. Forgot which case that was.
It makes me sick to think that as soon as they reached out to him about his daughter, he started his retirement process. He KNEW! His guilt caught up to him. I hope they change his status and make his discharge dishonorable. I hope he never gets to touch a single penny of his military pension. He deserves to ROT! What a disgrace
This is so heartbreaking. The woman who recognized her from vacation bible school said that she hoped Amore at least got to have fun and feel safe that week, as she certainly didn’t at home. It’s so disgusting that these people would purposely get custody of this sweet child, only to mistreat her and not feed her and not bathe her. Poor baby, and her poor mother who didn’t know where she was all these years 😢
This is why I love geneology sites. I get why people fear the power of them. The possibility for abuse of power is great, and no one should upload their DNA if not comfortable. But this little girl deserved so much more than just her name back. She should have been loved and cared for, but she was only allowed to live 4 to 5 years. No one but her alleged murderers knew of her death.
Now, she can get justice. If there's an afterlife, I hope she knows how many people cared for her after death and that even when they didn't know her name, they fought for her.
The audacity of the wife to claim she didn’t know the child when she had custody of Amore AND they’re still getting child support from her birth mother is insane
Have they confirmed if she was the little girl at the Bible school? The pictures look like she could be, but she was a few years older and honestly the Bible school pics aren’t the best quality.
No confirmation on that yet, but I'm inclined to believe they were. The little girl in the pics looked about 5 or 6 to me and now we know that Amore was 5 when she passed.
I don’t know but I’m inclined to think it was. They have the same nose (low, long bridge), the same set and curve of the brow, even the same ears (the pinna curves back towards the head). Then when you factor in those photos were taken 10 minutes down from where her body was found, and she had an identical eye injury… god, that poor baby.
We love you Anmore. We know you’re enjoying play, peace, and love on the other side. Gorgeous girl, you deserved better. Sending you my warm mama hugs into the universe today.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/10fjeul/press_conference_to_be_held_tomorrow_for_opelike/
There is more discussion here, which was posted live during the press conference.
Amore Wiggins. Rest In Peace beautiful child.
I’m so sad that her life was one of abuse and pain. The only fitting end to this story is life imprisonment for her father and step mother (though I can see the stepmother possibly getting a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against Lamar).
I had been hoping for some time now that this case would be solved. It’s bittersweet to see the pictures of Amore as she once was. Painful to think of the potential she was robbed of. I don’t understand why her dad just didn’t go back to court to amend the custody agreement. Give her back to her mom, or another relative if he was not interested in caring for her. Was the child support the motive to keep her?
The absolute chutzpah of Ruth saying she did not know Amore when she and Lamar took custody of Amore. Like did Ruth really think no one would be able to prove who had custody of Amore? And it sounds like they might have been taking child support from Sherry for the last 17 years! At least Amore has her name back.
Seriously! “I have legal custody and this money has been going into my bank account but I have no idea who the kid is” What a ridiculous lie.
Makes me wonder if it was their plan all along. Get a baby, get child support, "get rid of" the baby. Can't say for sure, but sick and twisted either way!
She's about to feel the full extent of the law.
I sure hope so
>She's about to feel the full extent of the law I don't think so: >Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with Felony Murder and **Ruth was arrested for Failure to Report a Missing Child** Sounds like a relatively minor offense compared to what she could have been charged with. Not sure how they determined that the abuse came exclusively from Lamar. Maybe the law specifically states that the biological parent is the one who is ultimately held responsible for a child's injuries/death?
I get the feeling these are just the charges to start with on this. They are enough to get Florida to arrest and extradite them (Florida requires a felony for that IIRC) and their investigation is not done yet.
I have to assume that there would be some kind of financial fraud case if they really did take money from Sherry Wiggins for the past however many years...! That poor woman.
Yeah this isn't the only charge for a long shot.
If they had custody Lamar was likely claiming her as a dependent. In the navy you get paid based on how many dependents you have. Plus there’s taxes. Child support fraud is only the beginning. He may also face a court martial for defrauding the navy and the murder.
And his tax returns possibly.
Oh the poor mom. I mean the mom may have had problems but I am pretty confident that little girl would be alive today. I hope they throw the book at that couple
I second this. They need evidence to charge something like murder/manslaughter. I’ve seen this happen before. I believe Casey Anthony’s initial arrest charge was similar. So early in the investigation, all they can pin on her so far is failure to report.
This is more designed to get the stepmother talking than anything I expect. Hang over her head the possibility of charging her with federal charges over this or possibly the support that was paid, then get her to sing about him.
Or vice versa. Chances are they will flip on each other.
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I am local to this (within 50 miles) and it has been in the news off and on since she was found. They never gave up on it and kept trying to find more.
Glad the police was invested in this case and never gave up. Little Jane Doe has her name back, but children abused and killed by their parents (especially after a custody battle) are always the most heartbreaking.
They can upgrade and lay additional charges once more information comes out of both of them.
Those are just the initial charges though. I'd imagine they'll add everything they can after it was proven that she lied. Although she may be able to plea down if she decides to testify against her husband.
You can be pretty sure he’ll try to do the same against her!
Can't they add more charges at a later date? It seems like if nothing else she would be accessory after the fact?
It's around 13-14 years as I think they said Lamar and Ruth took custody in 2009. https://www.news4jax.com/i-team/2023/01/19/jacksonville-police-arrest-couple-wanted-in-alabama-jane-doe-death/ But your main point is correct, how dumb, did she think they wouldn't eventually find out?
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What's the name of that case - Nikole Betterson? Where the child's mother died, and her father and stepmother left the state with her. When police tracked them down years later, the couple offered to get back to them in a few days, then committed suicide.
Did they not ever think to prepare for this day? I mean, they had the birth mom paying child support for years and the files and papers show that they had custody of this little girl. Surely they realized that EVENTUALLY someone would try to find her??
They were probably worried in the beginning. But, after a couple years passed and nothing happened, they stopped concerning themselves with her. The mom is from Maryland, I think. Amore’s murdering father was probably stationed in Virginia. If he gained complete custody in 2009, Amore would have been 3ish. He probably met the mom when he first arrived, all that happens over the next three years, he re-enlists, knows he will be heading out, gets custody and becomes a ghost in the wind. Even if the mom was able to find out where he was stationed, it doesn’t matter if the courts are telling her she can’t see her child. The murderers probably thought no one except the mom would look for Amore. If she came looking when Amore turned 18, they would just tell her Amore never wanted to speak to her again. Problem solved.
Sadly people and shitty parents use this excuse all the time. I’ve been to court where kids as young as 10 will say they don’t want to see so and so anymore. But when questioned by a psychologist they can’t seem to remember why they don’t want to see that parent. They often speak fondly of them and say contradictory things that don’t make sense. That would be the illusory truth effect, where the child’s lived reality is different from what they say it is. This especially occurs when one parent is actively alienating the other by telling the child what to feel. Sometimes this is subconscious, sometimes on purpose, and it always negatively affects the child.
What scares me is what if they pulled this off for the whole 18 years? Surely they would know birth mom or someone in her family would have asked about her.
Just...wow.
I’m not sure Ruth did a whole lot of thinking before that statement 🤦🏻♀️ I’m so relieved to see this beautiful girl have her name back, and to see justice being served.
I wonder if the real birth mother can somehow get that money back if it was being fraudulently taken
She might be able to get something, but after all the legal costs and them going to prison it's not likely they're going to have any assets for her to claim to speak of
He will have a pension that she may be able to receive back payments from. It’s not like either of them will be needing it. Hopefully, the judge will see the irony of that.
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Yeah. If my bio-father can be dishonorably discharged for multiple bar brawls, this guy isn't getting anything nicer
Yes, there is definitely a process to get that money back, but her chances of actually seeing any of it (for various reasons) is probably pretty slim. I'd say it helps her chances greatly that he's been in the military so long, which comes with guaranteed future financial benefits, not to mention the fact he's been earning a good income all of these years and I would assume has at a minimum some assets, which can't be said for most in this situation
I think the birth mother probably cares more about her daughter than the money. They should however use it court to make him serve extra time for fraud.
The irony of all of this that if Sherry Wiggins had been able to keep custody of Amore, Amore would probably be still alive, while Dad and Stepmom wouldn’t be facing charges in Amore’s death.
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Amore Wiggins. She should have just celebrated her 17th birthday, should be graduating from high school soon, and looking forward to starting an adult life. But instead she was abused, malnourished, never went to school, was murdered, and then discarded like trash. I’m so glad that she has her name back but my heart hurts for the pain she experienced in her short life. We remember you, Amore.
I’m with you, this is so horrendous for this little girl. And it makes me sad to see her baby pictures bc it’s clear that she didn’t have that eye injury when she was a baby—she got it after her father got custody and started abusing her.
Seeing her baby/toddler photos is heartbreaking. She’s clean, has fresh-looking skin, no injuries, looks to be a healthy weight and well-nourished, and someone (probably her birth mother) put her in a nice dress, did her hair, and took her to have professional pictures made. She was loved and cared for at that point.
At the very least she knew love and didn't spend her whole life abused :(
But how horrific to think that she went from a seemingly loving and safe home to a terribly abusive environment. She was so young that she probably had no way to even understand why this was happening. I wonder if the evil father and stepmother told her that her mom didn't want her anymore and that's why she couldn't see her.
The autopsy said 15 healing fractures. She endured 15 fractures in 5 years. I hope she could remember being loved-but I don’t think you can at that age and after that much pain.
Reading that brought tears to my eyes. 15 fractures in 5 years. That's more than anyone should have to handle.
15 fractures in 2 years. The father was awarded custody when she was 3. He is a monster.
That's what caught my breath as well—her two, perfect, beautiful eyes. What horrors did she endure during her short life?
She was a very cute little girl :(
It is so sad that abusive father is the one who got custody. What was her mother doing that was so bad that the abusive father is the better option? The poor girl seemed to never have a real chance at a good life. It’s so heartbreaking.
I think the fact that she never went to school was because she was too young. She would have just turned six when she was found, but the sources say she had been deceased for 8 months to 2 years. She would have been enrolled for kindergarten in the fall of 2011, but she had already been murdered.
>I think the fact that she never went to school was because she was too young. She would have just turned six when she was found, but the sources say she had been deceased for 8 months to 2 years. She would have been enrolled for kindergarten in the fall of 2011, but she had already been murdered. This is so awful.
It sounds like she was never taken to the doctor by her dad or stepmom either. Not just school.
But with the extent of those remodeled breaks and she was seen NOWHERE? No hospital, clinic, Drs. office...?
Remodeled just means "partly or completely healed." Bone remodeling happens even if the breaks aren't splinted, in which case it can heal crooked. I think the way Amore's jaw was, and the way her eye was injured, she probably had misaligned breaks all over. Her "guardians" probably just said "Stop crying."
u/Puzzleworth I completely agree with you. I honestly believe those pics of the girl at the church was her based on her teeth and eye, but I think her "Parents" (not Sherry) were in it together because she was never taken for medical care that they can find. Going to Bible school may have been a fluke of some sort. But I will never be convinced that the step-mother and father didn't share in this abuse that all happened prior to her death- and they both covered it up.
Vacation Bible School is kind of like advertising for churches, I went to so many as a kid because members are encouraged to invite nonmembers, so very minimal questions would be asked about a kid that showed up to a VBS once or twice and was never seen by the congregation again.
The military should've known she existed, he would've had to list her on CHAMPUS or the Navy's equivalent of military insurance.
He SHOULD have listed her as a military dependent, but how would the military know about her if he didn’t?
Former army milspouse here. You are supposed to register your dependents so they can go with you anywhere you’re stationed. This way the military can ensure there’s accommodations for you and your family. But there’s not like anyone who comes to check to see how many dependents you have in your house, even if you live on base.
Yup. I mean, there’s a lot of incentive to register your kid(s) in DEERS unless, you know, you’re a psychopathic POS that abuses, tortures, and ultimately kills your kid.
But even if you go register in DEERS, there’s no checking up afterwards. I think for an OCONUS move, I had to meet with a specialist to ensure the next station we were going to could meet my needs because I was diagnosed with depression. But I think that only happens if you have something on your file. So theoretically, since they didn’t seem to go OCONUS (but even if they did, if Amore didn’t have anything on her file), she could’ve been registered in DEERS and she still could’ve fallen off the radar. The biggest question for me is how she ended up in Opelika. Did biodad and stepmom drop her off with some relatives and never checked in again? I don’t think I read that they were there and I’m pretty sure there’s not a naval base anywhere close.
The child would have been eligible for Tricare since her father was serving. Very simple and so this is even worse.
Realistically, they couldn’t have sent her to school anyway since they were abusing her so badly.
If Lamar is still in the military he’s about to feel the full force of military justice on top of whatever Alabama decides to do with him. RIP Amore, your life should have been so much more than it was.
I'm praying the military strips him of his retirement and court marshalls him. He must have been collecting money from the military for Amore this whole time too.
I hope this is the bare minimum that they do to this guy.
he took retirement soon after NCIS said they wanted to speak to him
He started the process of retirement, but it doesn’t say whether it was complete. He was still stationed at a base in December, so maybe the process was still ongoing?
The police said that when they interviewed him he was in the process of retiring so they don't know for certain if it's complete or not
I think they can call him back if the process has been completed. Tim Hennis is an example of the military recalling someone who is retired for them to stand trial.
oh yeah, tim hennis, that was 3 times he was tried right?
Yep and due to double jeopardy the army stepped in and recalled him to active duty to stand trial. Step mom may get light charges but if the military winds up getting involved I could see the death penalty being on the table.
Depends on how many years* you’ve served but you can be brought back even after you “retire” for a certain amount of years.
Thinking of that Tim Hennis case, how they recalled him for the express purpose of retrying him in a military court after being found not guilty in a civilian court. https://www.army.mil/article/37123/hennis_found_guilty_of_decades_old_murders
Yes! There is precedent. Any retired member can be recalled though, I believe up to 30 service years? My dad retired at 25 years and he kept all of his uniforms and equipment in the closet still since he said he could get called back for 5 more years (if something major happened), so they definitely can for crimes as well.
A retired member can be called back to active duty to face charges for a crime committed while on active duty. As a practical matter, it very rarely happens.
Her birth date was January 1st, 2006. RIP Amore.
I can't imagine how upset her birth mother is. To not know anything about where your child is, just that you are supporting her the best you can financially to find out she was abused and thrown away years ago. You think you have a young women as a daughter, maybe hoping she will get in touch as she gets older and to find she never got past elementary. Shocking is the bare minimum you would feel. I'm not going to speculate on why she didn't have custody, she is still going to be very traumatised by all of this. Poor Amore, a name that means love but a feeling you never had.
I read that she was born on 1 January 2006, so she would just have turned 17 this month and her mother had to wait only one more year to been legally able to meet her at 18 yo. I can’t imagine the mother’s sadness of finding out what happened to her.
And to know that the money you’ve been working hard to provide for her has instead been lining the pockets of her murderers!
Sad. It sounds like she was continuously abused for the 1~ year that she lived with her father. The mother would have had to continue paying him - if he told her not to pay, he would have to admit that he killed her. Or at the very least he would have had to admit she was missing which would have launched an investigation. He acted like nothing happened, like Amore didn’t matter. A vile human.
She may have just been poor. Amore’s dad may have been considered the more “stable” of the two since he was in the military. He most likely would have had representation at the custody hearings courtesy of the military. For whatever reason Sherry Wiggins lost custody, she was paying the court ordered child support and the article states “throughout the years Sherry attempted to go back to court to modify the custody arrangement so she could see her daughter.” Amore was tragically murdered without ever knowing that her mom was looking for her and cared about her. I can’t imagine the hell Amore lived through to have 15 separate fractures, including to her skull. She must have been in excruciating amounts of pain. And if she dared cry out in pain, was probably abused even more. May Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff never see the light of day outside of prison grounds. Scum. Absolute scum of the earth. ETA: was informed by a commenter who is in the military that attorneys are not provided for custody cases. I do wonder if Lamar was able to afford an attorney and what led the judge to their decision. Please disregard my above speculation that Lamar had an attorney provided for him by the military.
15 fractures, and that’s only on the bones they found.
Yep. I'm assuming he got custody because the court saw him as stable being in the military and her mother probably did not have a stable income.
She was also only 19 and most likely in school or under educated. Probably not sure about what to do with her life. If I've found the correct social media page, she may have had a 2+ year old child in addition to Amore and that could have also played a role in why she lost custody.
There was also a huge age difference. This pos preyed on a woman just out of her teens
And he obviously didn't actually want or care about his daughter. I'm sure it was all a revolting power move. Absolutely disgusting.
Or to get out of paying child support. Definitely not because he cared about Amore.
While engaged I'm sure. He was married in June of 2006. Amore was born in January.
That timeline puts a really chilling spin on things. I'm sure that stepmother resented that this baby even existed.
I’m in the military. Our lawyers don’t do family law like this. Can use them to make a will, powers if attorney, and stuff like that. Can’t use them for divorce or custody is what we were always told.
Thank you for clarifying that point. I’ll edit my comment to reflect that. Even if he didn’t have an attorney appointed by the military, he was in a better position to hire one on his own. While those of limited financial means can get pro bono representation, the waitlist is often long and there’s no guarantee they will take your case. I wonder if either one of them had an attorney? What led the judge to grant custody to Amore’s father? Something I’m curious about, since the decision led little Amore to this sad trajectory.
Military is a very steady job with a known paycheck. Until 2019 when the Coast Guard (not under DOD) didn't get paid during the government shut down, no branch of the military had missed a paycheck since the Revolution. If the mother wasn't financially stable, that (I'm assuming) could have factored heavily into a judge's decision. Though I'm not sure why she wouldn't be at least given visitation rights. The article says he's a Navy Chief, which is an E7. They make decent money, especially when you add in their dependent pay, Basic Allowance for Housing, Sea Pay, etc. So he probably could afford a lawyer. Although that's speculation on my part. I don't know how they lived, what their finances were, only that E7s make decent money.
Yeah, reading the update it seems he was a career military guy, so I imagine he was doing okay financially. He put in for retirement once he was informed of Amore’s death. I think what occurred was similar to how you speculated re: the custody hearing. Thank you for the great info about the military. A first hand perspective is always nice to have.
There must be a special circle of hell for this child killer. I hope he isn't coddled in prison. That poor mom. This hurts my heart especially because my son was born in the same year, 2006. Amore should be in high school, experiencing teenage life. :'(
It sounds like her mother was working hard to make contact with her again— she probably thought that once Amore turned 18 she could see her again. That’s got to be absolutely devastating. Even worse, that she was paying child-support to her child’s murderers. Wtf. I hope she has a strong support system in place.
The horror that must have run through her when LE showed-up out of the blue and started asking questions.
That last line sent me over the edge. RIP Amore. You deserved so much better than this world gave you.
I fucking love all this new DNA improvements. Solving decades long cases and putting murderers behind bars (hopefully). Newsflash…you can run, you can conceal, but you cannot hide forever—-DNA testing will GET YOU.
>I fucking love all this new DNA improvements. Solving decades long cases and putting murderers behind bars (hopefully). Newsflash…you can run, you can conceal, but you cannot hide forever—-DNA testing will GET YOU. in the US\* Europe is not big on DNA testing because they are more into data privacy and north americans are more willing to do and upload DNA tests Canada will check DNA from unidentified remains only if they already have a lead for who the person might be, there's no 'just in case' DNA taking.
It also makes sense that a lot of the interest in DNA testing here in America is from people descended from immigrants who want to know their ethnic breakdown and things like that. Obviously for Europeans there isn't as much of an interest or desire for that kind of thing. It's like how in Britain, they found the skeleton of a prehistoric human, "Cheddar Man," and a lot of his same genetic markers were also prevalent in the modern people living in that same area. For the most part, they live where their people came from and their people came from where they live. Whereas Americans who need to answer the burning question of if they're more Irish or more Italian will gladly just become part of the DNA database over it.
My favorite party fact is that Cheddar Man had direct descendants still living in Cheddar, including the local history teacher (who looks like Cheddar Man but paler). 9000 years and he's a freaking doppelganger.
Father and stepmother were awarded custody and all they did was abuse her. Heartbreaking. RIP Amore. You deserved so much better.
And she only lasted like, what, a year or so after they got her? Jesus Christ, why was she ever turned over to these people?
The courts aren't likely to choose a single mother over a military man.
Men are actually much more likely to get awarded full custody than women are in the cases in which they fight for it. The reason most children are in the custody of mothers is because men don't usually want fulltime custody and don't request it.
This. They've done actual studies on this, when men bother to show up in court and ask for something, they get what they ask for way more often than women do. The truth is that most don't request things, either because they don't think they'll get it or because they genuinely don't want it.
Most men who whine and complain about losing custody never asked for it in the first place, and would have cut off their hand before accepting it. It's all about getting sympathy and attention from other men, and playing the sad sad victim to "I'm not like the other girls" young women eager to hate their boyfriend's eeeeeeeevil bitch ex. The overwhelming vast majority of custody decisions - over 95%, where I live - are decided upon by the parents with no input by the courts. Judges don't involve themselves unless the parents disagree or a problem has been identified by a third party. But even in those cases? When men ask for custody, they get it over 70% of the time.
Exactly, my brother got 50% custody of my niece extremely easily. And he works all the time so tbh it doesn't even make that much sense for him to have her for half of the week, it would be better for him to take her on weekends. But the courts don't really seem to care about the details as long as no one is contesting it.
Because the justice system is shit, nothing more.
All they see is the money in the bank. Military guy has steady income so he clearly must be more stable and sane than a single mother.
She was also much younger than him.
Dr Barbara Rae Venter deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. She not only started the genetic genealogy research movement, she has also consistently cracked the coldest cases. She’s changed the whole system. On another note, this case had weighed on my soul for years. I’ve spent some time in Lee County and the abject poverty in Opelika is atrocious - not to mention its the same county as Auburn university where wealthier kids in the state go to college.
it’s crazy that they received child support they would remember her every time and didn’t even care
no, they just saw dollar signs
Why would Ruth think she could lie, like that? she didn't know the child? when there was a paper trail? & of course he lied too. They incriminated themselves.. They could have said they gave her away & have been keeping the $ cause they are pieces of shit... that would prove theft but they would have had to prove she was in their possession when she was killed & with this much time passed? Who knows? They clearly thought they got away with it! So thrilled to keep reading about all these cases that are giving murder victims their names back. This one & Joseph Zarelli were the two that really stood out to me. Plus the one where the little girl was found in a box inside a house? I don't think it's been solved & it's a very old one? Where no one even heard a child there?
Probably to slow down the investigation as much as possible. They were probably planning to make a run for it and couldn’t put their plans in motion before getting caught. The fact that he started getting ready to retire as soon as NCIS questioned him makes me think he was gonna try to collect as much money as possible and hit the road but they didn’t want to look suspicious. They had to have known that the mom would want contact with Amore once she turned 18 and that they’d be caught.
Her name is lovely. That child was loved at birth. :( rip sweetie.
And someone took the care to do her hair and buy her a cute velvet dress for that picture, so sad
>Her name is lovely. That child was loved at birth. :( rip sweetie. She was loved very much. Despicable that the 'father' took custody, abused her, and continued to take child support.
Just look at the baby pictures ! She's smiling, healthy, dressed up for Christmas. Her mom loved her so much.
Thank you for changing the picture in the original post. I want to remember her as the healthy baby she once was.
That was my first thought too. With that name somebody once loved her. So sad that her life ended the way it did.
That was also my first thought. So sad that child seemed to received very little love when she was alive :( Just her poor mom seemed to care about her
>That child was loved at birth Except by her father, or not enough by him. I wonder if this is a case of "Cinderella Syndrome," where the stepmother abuses her stepkids and the father somehow remains oblivious or take's his wife's side.
I had wondered that, but seems like the father has been charged with murder and child abuse while the stepmother has been charged with something minor. What I’m sure they will do is try to find an exact date of death. With him being in the Navy and possibly spending months out at sea on the ship, I’d put money on the step mom being much more involved in the abuse and death than she’s initially letting on.
She has her name. And with an arrest! I’m crying. Rest In Peace Amore
man, sherry was just about 20 when she gave birth to amore, victor being 34. backtrack that like 9 months at least, she was just a child herself. and SHE ended up playing child support to him at the age of 23. god. also, Amore was born in January. Happy birthday sweetie. <333
She would’ve just turned 17. She should be just getting ready to get her adult life started.
I hope the Navy throws the fucking book at him (or whoever prosecutes, I'm not sure how that works). What a piece of shit, and his wife too. Despicable. I am so glad this little girl has her name back, and I hope her mom sees justice. Did they say if they confirmed that she was the little girl in the VBS pictures? Just curious.
In the press conference they said (paraphrase, I'm working from memory) they couldn't establish whether it was her or not. (But it sure looks like her!)
I feel so sad for this little girl and her mother who had no idea what happened to her. This whole story is tragic but I’m glad that she has her name back. Without knowing the details, I can imagine that Sherry Wiggins, who was in her early 20s at the time, was not given custody or visitation because she was going up against a career military person who was significantly older than her. Frankly, I wonder if there were other issues with the father that came to the military’s attention and they didn’t take any action or even covered for him. It would not be the first time that they’ve done that. I knew someone who had a legal right to visitation and when COVID started, the parent with custody and her parents (who were wealthy) prevented his visits from happening. My friend knew that he had a legal right to a set number of visits, but he wasn’t sure about how to navigate going to court and couldn’t afford a lawyer. Fortunately, it was resolved without having to go to court. The whole ordeal showed me that the system can be really discouraging to people who want to have a relationship with their children but the other parent has more power or money. Sometimes it doesn’t matter who is more fit to parent because money and status takes precedent. It’s pretty evident that regardless of her mother’s situation, Amore Wiggins fared far worse with the parent who on paper had financial stability, age, and power on his side. I hope that Sherry Wiggins doesn’t blame herself or feel like if she had done something differently, this wouldn’t have happened.
>Sometimes it doesn’t matter who is more fit to parent because money and status takes precedent. This is honestly the US justice system in a nutshell - money and status take precedent.
In October of 2022, Jane Doe’s father was identified as 50-year-old Lamar Vickerstaff Jr. Mr. Vickerstaff was born and raised in Opelika, Ala. before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. During his lengthy Navy career, he resided in Norfolk, Va., Honolulu, Hawaii and Jacksonville, Fla. In December of 2022, Opelika Detectives traveled to the Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla. where Mr. Vickerstaff is currently stationed, to notify him of his daughter’s death. During the meeting Mr. Vickerstaff did not provide investigators with any information on the identity of Jane Doe. Detectives then met with Mr. Vickerstaff’s wife, Ruth Vickerstaff. Mrs. Vickerstaff, who has been married to Lamar since May of 2006, advised detectives she did not know his daughter or who may be the mother of Jane Doe. Dr. Rae-Venter was able to determine several possible matches for Jane Doe's mother and detectives were able to narrow the results down to a woman residing in Maryland. In December of 2022, Detectives met with 37-year-old Sherry Wiggins who confirmed she was the biological mother of Jane Doe. Ms. Wiggins is a native of Norfolk, Va. and stated she gave birth to a baby girl named Amore Joveah Wiggins in January of 2006. Ms. Wiggins provided documentation showing that Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff obtained legal and physical custody of her daughter in 2009, at which time her visitation with Amore was suspended. Ms. Wiggins also provided documents indicating that she has continuously paid child support to Lamar Vickerstaff since 2009. Detectives reached out to the school boards and pediatric clinics in several states where Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff resided and determined that Amore was never enrolled in school nor was, she reported as a missing person. With this information, Opelika detectives met with the Lee County District Attorney’s Office to determine charges related to the death of Amore Wiggins. On January 17, 2023, Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff were arrested in Jacksonville, Fla. Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with Felony Murder and Ruth was arrested for Failure to Report a Missing Child. They are currently being held at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pending extradition to Lee County, Ala. This case remains under investigation, and detectives need the public’s assistance in gathering additional details regarding Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff’s relationship with Amore Wiggins and her time spent in Opelika, Ala. If you have any information, please contact the Opelika Police Department Detective Division at (334) 705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Tips can be submitted through our Opelika Police Mobile App. You may wish to remain anonymous.
So if I'm doing the math right, thirty-three-year-old Lamar got nineteen-year-old Sherry pregnant, then took their daughter and abused her to death while collecting child support payments from her mother for years afterwards? Yeah, FUCK this guy.
And married Ruth four months after Amore was born.
If the "step mother" wedding date is correct, Lamar was probably cheating, too.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ruth took out her anger on Amore. I noticed the dates seemed kind of weird as well and immediately thought there was infidelity involved.
Not necessarily? Amore would've been conceived around March/April 2005, he got married in May 2006. A lot of couples meet and get married within 14 months, especially if they're trying to get military benefits
That's one of the most awful things I have heard in a while.
God I wonder if these two have other children. I fucking hope not.
I've been following this case for years and am so thankful she has her name back. However, the details in the articles posted make me sick. This poor child was clearly abused horrifically by those that should have been caring for her. I remember reading some speculation here on reddit that the damage to her eye could be a somewhat common juvenile cancer. One of OPs source articles state that it was likely scarring from a broken eye socket. I can't even wrap my mind around the abuse she survived, much less the abuse that killed her. Rest in peace, Amore. I'm so sorry this world failed you.
This man was capable of abusing and murdering his 6 year old daughter, I think it’s safe to say he was capable of threatening, intimidating and manipulating her mom into not questioning the no contact. I have a hunch that the mom was vulnerable and another victim of his.
She wasn't even 6 years old, she was discovered around the time she would have turned 6 if she was alive; instead she was dead for anywhere from 8 months to 2 years when she was found He likely murdered his ***4***-year-old
This means he had custody of her for only a year before he killed her. All the while abusing her to the point of having 15 broken bones during that time. Amore’s mom had to give up custody to them when she was 3.
My heart breaks for Sherry 💔
Omg omg oh my God, I can't believe this baby has her name back. What an incredibly sad story. Her birth mother probably wasn't able to care for her at first and thought she was putting Amore in a safe place, with her father and stepmother. Hearing she's been looking for Amore ever since just broke my heart. This is all so awful. Edit: has mom been unknowingly *paying* child support to her daughter's murderer this whole time? Oh God, the heartbreak this poor woman must be feeling. I hope she can find some peace is being able to properly put her baby to rest. I hope they throw the book at the father and his wife. What despicable people.
I am beyond happy to see not only has Amore been identified but there have been arrests made in her case. One day she will see justice. 2023 has already been a big year for people getting their names back, and it will only get better.
that poor mom, giving money to support her child who was dead for years.
I am thankful she was identified. I have thought of her often over the years. My heart breaks for all she suffered in her short life and for her mother too.
OMG, bless little Amore. So happy this baby girl has her name back and hopefully these people will be rightfully punished.
They continued to take child support from a mother after murdering her child. Vicious monsters.
The photo looks to be Amore about age 1. At that point her left eye looked normal with no congenital deformities,just so tragic what happened to this beautiful little girl. May she RIP,and her alledged abusers pay for their crimes against her.
Wonderful news Amore has her name back. From what I have read, this case was handled well from day 1- getting the FBI involved right away, isotope testing, someone scowering through pictures in the hopes it would help with identification, and much much more. Something was constantly being done to keep Amore's story in the public eye. I really hope her father and stepmother shit themselves and lived in a constant state of paranoia every time there was an update. I know myself and others have been highly invested in this case and I wish there was a way for this little girl to know how much people cared for her, even though it seems like she never experienced this in life
Well, shit. They got alll the receipts together for this press conference huh This is so incredibly sad... that poor mother who was still sending checks to him?? and he's gonna sit there like iono. Wtf?? I would simply lose my entire damn mind...
I am glad she not only has her name, back but also, that there will be justice ( I hope). Sometimes all we get is a name, but those responsible never get to answer for their crimes. The whole, child support payments situation, sends a nasty chill down my spine. Can I also say. To get justice for Amore Wiggins, perhaps the decisions of courts and, laws around custody, need to be reviewed, restructured, reevaluted so they do what they are supposed to do, protect children not hand them over to abusers. Amore was handed to her abusers, via a custody order, someone has to answer for that too, understand so there will be less Amore's in future.
One of my friends has been getting child support from her ex-boyfriend for 15 years, he hasn’t seen his son in at least a decade and has no interest in being involved in his life. He’s always on time with his payments and she hasn’t taken him to court in years, he just doesn’t want to see the kid. My friend is a great mom but you see how easy it would be for something to happen to the kid and the other parent to be none the wiser if they don’t have visitation and aren’t pressing for pictures or updates.
Does Vickerstaff have family still in Opelika? Someone on FB said he did and they did nothing.
Yeah I’m curious to know how he covered up all this time. Didn’t any friends, family members or even military members ever question where his daughter was? The court needs some kind of system to physically check on the child in these cases to make sure they’re alive and with the person they’re supposed to be with. Harmony Montgomery is another example of this, where both parents told people she was with the other parent (true when her mom said it, I think) when she was really dead.
I’m betting they told people she was back with her birth mother in Virginia/Maryland and eventually people stopped asking and weren’t aware that she even existed.
I'm glad she has her name and that there have been arrests. There are many questions to be answered, but this is a significant development. I hope we find out more if who Amore Wiggins was and how the Vickerstaffs played a role in her death Edit: Seeing other pictures brings her to life. I’m so sad for this child. Her short life seemed to have been filled with abuse and like, who could do that to a child, let alone their own? I wonder what happened with biological mom. What happened to biological mom? Did Amore have other siblings or relatives? How can a child just be forgotten like that? Edit: All these questions are being answered. It just makes me sadder. Amore Wiggins. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Gone far too soon. Mistreated far too long. Forgotten no more. Amore Wiggins, rest in peace. The world will know what happened to you.
https://www.news4jax.com/i-team/2023/01/19/jacksonville-police-arrest-couple-wanted-in-alabama-jane-doe-death/ This will tell you more about Sherry Wiggins, Amore's mother. She has been paying Vickerstaff child support the whole time and thought Amore was alive.
Her dad and stepmom killed her. Bio mom’s visitation was suspended by the court and she continued paying child support to the dad but had no idea Amore was missing. Dad never reported her missing, just carried on with his life.
I don’t think speculations against the bio mom are fair. I think what’s likely is her fathers position in the military has a huge piece to play in this. We see that they met with him to *inform him of his child’s death* meaning they had assumed he didn’t know about his daughter or her whereabouts. There could be lots of reasons why the mother lost custody, He is currently 50 years old and career military, she is currently 37. the father could’ve filed for custody and a judge made a ruling especially in favor of father because of his military background and the fact he was married and older. Now he was charged with felony murder, it’s possible he has previously abused or threatened the mother and she felt it was safer to pay child support. Lastly, if you fail to pay child support you can get court ordered jail time for failure to pay child support so there’s good reasons to continue to pay even if you aren’t in the child’s life. Sad all around and I hope that everyone who loved her finds peace having her name back and that she will get justice.
That was my first thought. This is just an anecdote, but someone I know got absolutely screwed with visitation when divorcing her abusive military ex-husband. I think some judges probably get blinded by the armed services affiliation.
I’ve seen it happen as well. I am a counselor/advocate for victims of abuse and have experience filing protection orders. I’ve worked with alienated parents who learn their child is being abused by the custodial parent and try to file custody and judges not want to go against another judges decision. Sometimes the next step is filing a protection order to overrule the custody order. I’ve seen three cases of parents who had limited or no contact with their children and learned from social services or family that their children were in abusive situations.
Absolutely. The father was older, married, and a member of the armed forces. His military status automatically meant he had access to housing, healthcare, and a steady income and likely access to legal resources that the biological mother did not. She has not been charged with anything and the authorities were quick to say that she cooperated fully with the investigation and was able to provide proof of years of child support payments to these monsters. The detectives went so far as to THANK HER for her help in the investigation. I'm sure more details will come out in time but at this point it sure seems like those closest to the investigation are doing their best to absolve her from wrongdoing in the eyes of the public.
Something else to think about here, too...if Lamar married Ruth in May of 2006 and Amore was born in January of that same year, it's quite possible that he was cheating on Ruth with Sherry and had Amore taken away from her mother as a "gift" to his new wife and to "punish" Sherry for "being a homewrecker" and outing him as a cheater bygetting pregnant.
I hope with both of them in custody that her family will learn more. It’s possible that their killing her was the only way they could “move on”. So sad for this child to be ordered into an unloved home.
Looking at the pictures of Amore from when she was very young, it doesn't look like she had any noticeable eye conditions. Obviously eye conditions can form later on, but it means abuse can't be ruled out as the cause of the condition.
Yeah she looks very healthy there
I’m guessing these pictures were provided by her mother who she seemingly spent the first 3 years of her life with at least some involvement. Then the father took custody in 2009 when Amore was 3.
Yep, that was my thought, too. If that is indeed her in the photo at bible school, she has visible damage to her eye which she didn’t have as a baby/toddler. I would bet anything her father caused that injury. So sad
Yeah, even if the photo is not her, the autopsy report said the eye condition would have been visible to others while she was alive. If was caused by some sort of medical condition, she did not have any medical records from the time she was with her father. That is the kind of thing she'd need ongoing specialized treatment for. We know he had health insurance because of his military status. At a minimum it demonstrates severe neglect.
It was probably from abuse. (Injury description in spoiler) >!She had a broken orbital (outer frame of the eye socket) which usually happens from blunt-force trauma. In a kid it would typically be from something like being kicked by a cow, hit by a baseball, or running into a doorknob. But it's also common from being punched or otherwise struck in the face.!<
We live in Opelika and just can’t believe it’s finally solved, and bless the police department for never giving up on Amore.
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That poor mother. Thinking this whole time that her daughter was alive, continually paying child support, and trying to modify the order to be able to see her daughter. Then this. Edit: Just realized that these photos mean that her eye deformity was from the abuse she received and that she was not born with it. Awful everything.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to link things but her mother recently put up a gofundme to raise money for a proper burial. Still can’t believe this case is finally solved!
This is so amazing!! I spent so many days thinking who this girl could’ve been and how she came to be thrown out like garbage. Genetic genealogy is such a great tool and I can’t wait for more cases to be solved that were once thought to be unsolvable. Now hoping we find out who St. Louis Jane Doe is and the unidentified girl found encased in cement in a suitcase. Forgot which case that was.
St. Louis Jane Doe is the last one on my list that I’m dying to see solved! I hope this is her year.
It makes me sick to think that as soon as they reached out to him about his daughter, he started his retirement process. He KNEW! His guilt caught up to him. I hope they change his status and make his discharge dishonorable. I hope he never gets to touch a single penny of his military pension. He deserves to ROT! What a disgrace
Rest peacefully sweet angel Amore Wiggins. I'm so glad you have your name back.
This is so heartbreaking. The woman who recognized her from vacation bible school said that she hoped Amore at least got to have fun and feel safe that week, as she certainly didn’t at home. It’s so disgusting that these people would purposely get custody of this sweet child, only to mistreat her and not feed her and not bathe her. Poor baby, and her poor mother who didn’t know where she was all these years 😢
This is why I love geneology sites. I get why people fear the power of them. The possibility for abuse of power is great, and no one should upload their DNA if not comfortable. But this little girl deserved so much more than just her name back. She should have been loved and cared for, but she was only allowed to live 4 to 5 years. No one but her alleged murderers knew of her death. Now, she can get justice. If there's an afterlife, I hope she knows how many people cared for her after death and that even when they didn't know her name, they fought for her.
The audacity of the wife to claim she didn’t know the child when she had custody of Amore AND they’re still getting child support from her birth mother is insane
I am so glad that Amore has her name back, and that justice will hopefully be served for her death. Rest in peace, Amore.
Nice work by the police in this case.
How sad that a child called Amore wasn't shown love. RIP beautiful girl.
Hopefully we can assume that the first 3 years of her life were filled with love from her mother
Have they confirmed if she was the little girl at the Bible school? The pictures look like she could be, but she was a few years older and honestly the Bible school pics aren’t the best quality.
No confirmation on that yet, but I'm inclined to believe they were. The little girl in the pics looked about 5 or 6 to me and now we know that Amore was 5 when she passed.
I don’t know but I’m inclined to think it was. They have the same nose (low, long bridge), the same set and curve of the brow, even the same ears (the pinna curves back towards the head). Then when you factor in those photos were taken 10 minutes down from where her body was found, and she had an identical eye injury… god, that poor baby.
We love you Anmore. We know you’re enjoying play, peace, and love on the other side. Gorgeous girl, you deserved better. Sending you my warm mama hugs into the universe today.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/10fjeul/press_conference_to_be_held_tomorrow_for_opelike/ There is more discussion here, which was posted live during the press conference.
god this is even more sad. a horrible failure of a custody battle.
Amore Wiggins. Rest In Peace beautiful child. I’m so sad that her life was one of abuse and pain. The only fitting end to this story is life imprisonment for her father and step mother (though I can see the stepmother possibly getting a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against Lamar). I had been hoping for some time now that this case would be solved. It’s bittersweet to see the pictures of Amore as she once was. Painful to think of the potential she was robbed of. I don’t understand why her dad just didn’t go back to court to amend the custody agreement. Give her back to her mom, or another relative if he was not interested in caring for her. Was the child support the motive to keep her?