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

I don't have any info besides what I posted on her casefile. What really, really, REALLY pisses me off is that the police originally wrote Amy off as a runaway and wouldn't dust her room to get her fingerprints no matter how much her mom begged. Months later, the police finally agreed to do it, but by then the Florida humidity had taken its toll and the prints had melted.

With the lifestyle Amy lead after her disappearance, she was probably arrested a few times, which would have lead to her being fingerprinted. I don't know if the connection would have been made, but it certainly would have helped. ARGH...it makes me so mad. A simple act could have stopped this whole tragedy right there and poor Susan and the rest of the family wouldn't have to still be waiting for answers 30 years later.
 
Amy Billig of Coconut Grove, Florida was 17 when she disappeared on 4 March 1974. It was believed by the family and by many others that Amy went for a ride with outlaw motorcycle "bikers" who were gathering for a yearly run from Daytona Beach. Her camera was found two days later on the Florida Turnpike, but Amy was never seen again. Information which came to her family from various sources indicated that she stayed with the bikers for some time, but bikers who would initially offer to help, quickly changed their minds and became uncooperative.
 
Thank you for the information. Was any film recovered from the camera? I wondered if there were any pictures that might have been developed that may have any clues.
 
periwinkleblur said:
Thank you for the information. Was any film recovered from the camera? I wondered if there were any pictures that might have been developed that may have any clues.

When the film inside her camera was developed, one of the photos showed a vine covered building with a white brick house in the background. The vine was not native to Florida and the building was not familiar to Billig family.
 
Most of the photographs were overexposed and worthless, I think. One of them showed a van that, oddly, was identical to the van owned by a man who was later charged with harassing and tormenting Amy's mom about her disappearance. Could be a coincidence though.
 
meggilyweggily said:
I don't have any info besides what I posted on her casefile. What really, really, REALLY pisses me off is that the police originally wrote Amy off as a runaway and wouldn't dust her room to get her fingerprints no matter how much her mom begged. Months later, the police finally agreed to do it, but by then the Florida humidity had taken its toll and the prints had melted.

With the lifestyle Amy lead after her disappearance, she was probably arrested a few times, which would have lead to her being fingerprinted. I don't know if the connection would have been made, but it certainly would have helped. ARGH...it makes me so mad. A simple act could have stopped this whole tragedy right there and poor Susan and the rest of the family wouldn't have to still be waiting for answers 30 years later.


I lived in Miami during this time and for many years after. I bore a slight resemblance to Amy and cannot tell you how many times I was stopped and questioned. Not only by police but by citizens as well. I cannot speak to what the police did, but there was publicity in this case and there was a lot of local interest generated. I have always been haunted by the case, especially with feelings of how easily bad things happened to sweet young girls.
Of course, six years later, Jean Marie Stewart was abducted and the nightmare came even closer to home...
 
Check out the thread on Lady of the Dunes in the Cold Case files, this site. There has been a computer reconstruction done of a young woman found dead in Cape Cod, Mass in July 1974. According to a story by Eric Williams in the Cape Cod Times, there was a lot of biker activity in the vicinity at the time. The computer reconstruction bears a strong resemblence to photos of Amy.
 
Is there any info on whether or not Amy Billig had gold crowns. It says the woman found on the beach had extensive gold crowns.
 
I can't for the life of me find a website that states this info. If anyone else can please post.

It is time to give her mother some peace.
 
Case file Case File 20UFNJ has strong similarities as well.
 
Mother's death ends quest to find child

Page=Guestbook&PersonID=14190461"]Sign a guestbook for Susan Billig [/url]
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SUSAN BILLIG 1925-2005
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Mother's death ends quest to find child

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For more than 30 years, Susan Billig looked for her daughter, Amy. On Tuesday, the Coconut Grove woman passed away, never having found her.
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[size=-1]BY DAVID OVALLE[/size]
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[size=-1]dovalle@herald.com[/size]
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Susan Billig died without ever finding her daughter.

The Coconut Grove woman -- whose 31-year quest to find her missing teenage daughter took her from drug dens to prisons across the country and even across the Atlantic -- died Tuesday of complications from a heart attack. She was 80.

''I don't think she ever found peace,'' said her son, Josh Billig. ``She took that as a really tough wound right to the grave.''

The story of Billig and her daughter Amy has reverberated in Miami for more than a generation. Some have forgotten the details over the intervening three decades, but not Billig, who remained a stoic figure undaunted by time.

EDITED DUE TO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
 
What a sad, sad story.

Hopefully their spirits are reunited now.
 
Oh my, that was such a sad story. A mother who never gave up hope... even after so long. She can do in death what she couldn't do in life; find her daughter & hold her again.

I can't read these stories at work, they make me cry! :(
 
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11839787.htm

Posted on Wed, Jun. 08, 2005



Tim Chapman/Herald Staff
MOTHERS SEARCH ENDED: Susan Billig died without ever finding her daughter.


R E L A T E D L I N K S
• Sign a guestbook for Susan Billig



SUSAN BILLIG 1925-2005


Mother's death ends quest to find child

For more than 30 years, Susan Billig looked for her daughter, Amy. On Tuesday, the Coconut Grove woman passed away, never having found her.

BY DAVID OVALLE

dovalle@herald.com


Susan Billig died without ever finding her daughter.

The Coconut Grove woman -- whose 31-year quest to find her missing teenage daughter took her from drug dens to prisons across the country and even across the Atlantic -- died Tuesday of complications from a heart attack. She was 80.

''I don't think she ever found peace,'' said her son, Josh Billig. ``She took that as a really tough wound right to the grave.''


....

On a personal note, I knew this dear lady. She and I met many times over the years of searching for our girls. She was my rock for many years. She was a great and gracious lady, with all the courage any Mom would ever need. And remained a class act, even as she followed bikers into dives, psycho "tipsters" into the abyss, and well meaning citizens into the endless cycles of "she was here just a few months ago". Bless you, sweet Susan. Go gently and find the peace that eluded you here. You'll have your answers now. We'll meet again soon
 
This poor women had one hell of a rough life, not knwoing what had happened to her daughter. At least she has the answers now.
 

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