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

[Murkywaters]

I just got done reading the book co-written by her mom in 2001 and wow. I don't know what to think. I'm not sure I trust Branch- because quite honestly, every biker she talked to was like "yeah that's Amy!" But yet it never was.. to me that shows that at the time, Amy was a very generic , normal looking teenager. I believe that her disappearance has nothing to do with motorcycle gangs.

As for "Hal Johnson," what a jerk. I need to research him more to see where I stand with his involvement.


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I remember reading that Susan had a stack of photos of ''fake Amy's'' women who were suspected of Amy, but were not and showed them to witnesses to make sure they were seeing the right one. The biker girl named Willow in Seattle who everyone swore was Amy, but wasn't. Susan got to meet her, she was a beautiful girl but she could tell from seeing the girl from doorway that the wasn't Amy. She confessed to Susan that she was a runaway. Susan offered her money for a plane trip home, she declined and said that if she had a mother like her, she never would have left.

 

[Murkywaters]

I created a thread for Kimberly Rae Doss. She disappeared from Jacksonville, Florida in 1979. Her mother believed she was also abducted by the Outlaws. Kimberly's uncle had stolen money from gang members , so i guess she might have been the payment.

 

[thenotebook]

I just read the book as well. Heartbreaking read.

One part I am hung up on is why she would hitchhike to her father's gallery only a half mile away. She never arrived and obviously planned to go there to get money since she had just called him only minutes before. My feeling is that she could have ran into someone she knew on her walk to the gallery.

I can't rule out the biker theory but I also think this Hank guy could be involved. Hank is not a terribly common name, and the South America comment in her diary is interesting. Does anyone know how much older Hank was than Amy? I know he had just gotten married so most likely in his 20's in 1974.

Maybe she was walking to the gallery, he was driving by and picked her up and then harmed her.

 

[Curious-Cat]

I just read the book as well. Heartbreaking read.

One part I am hung up on is why she would hitchhike to her father's gallery only a half mile away. She never arrived and obviously planned to go there to get money since she had just called him only minutes before. My feeling is that she could have ran into someone she knew on her walk to the gallery.

I can't rule out the biker theory but I also think this Hank guy could be involved. Hank is not a terribly common name, and the South America comment in her diary is interesting. Does anyone know how much older Hank was than Amy? I know he had just gotten married so most likely in his 20's in 1974.

Maybe she was walking to the gallery, he was driving by and picked her up and then harmed her.

I suspect Hank also. I wonder why LE didn't seem to take him seriously as a suspect. The only things I can think of is that they were able to track that he was on his honeymoon in San Francisco at the time of Amy's disappearance. Or maybe he passed a polygraph with flying colors. I read a Miami Herald article online that said Hank was 27 when he got married 12 days before Amy's disappearance. It is believed he may have still been on his honeymoon at the time. But I've always suspected he may have been stalking Amy, saw her walking that day, offered her a ride and she thought he was an innocent flirt. Maybe they went to smoke pot or something and he either attacked her or made a pass at her and she threatened to expose him.

Hank reminds me a little of Larry Gene Bell who abducted and murdered Shari Smith and then taunted the mother. So I think it's very possible Hank did it.

I wonder what possessed Amy to take a picture of the vehicle that was found on her camera. It was as if she had a premonition and took the photo for evidence. But why was the camera on the side of the road going toward south Florida from the Orlando area? I imagine the perp driving and seeing a cop, fearful that he was going to be pulled over, threw the camera out the window. Otherwise, you would think he would have ditched it somewhere that it couldn't be found.

I sure wish Sue Billig could have found her Amy.

 

[Satch]

What a heartbreaking read here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article161085109.html

I suspect Hank as well. Too much circumstantial evidence for this not to be investigated as well as it should have. Amy's notebook entry about "Hank" in the story above is chilling.

Did Johnson ever go to trial? Where is he now?

Satch

 

[Satch]

What a heartbreaking read here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article161085109.html

I suspect Hank as well. Too much circumstantial evidence for this not to be investigated as well as it should have. Amy's notebook entry about "Hank" in the story above is chilling.

Did Johnson ever go to trial? Where is he now?

Satch

Why didn't parents in those days teach their children NEVER to hitchhike or accept rides from strangers? Think of not only Amy's case, but so many abductions that never would have happened if kids would have learned how bad hitchhiking was in the first place.

Satch

 

[Satch]

I just finished reading Without A Trace. I am confused as to what to believe happened. It does seem likely that Paul Branch was involved somehow and that he knew her. I am iffy on believing the supposed deathbed story. He never got all that much money or help from Sue Billig and it's hard to believe he would have traveled and worked with her and kept on with the ruse for so many years if he knew Amy was dead.

The Blair guy is interesting and I really think the "Hank" in Amy's diary and Mr Blair are the same person. The fact that they were both going to South America seems too far of a stretch not to be the same person. There is also the photo on her camera of the white van and the possible witness statement that someone saw her get into a van the day she disappeared. At this point I still think her being abducted by a motorcycle gang is more likely than Blair killing her. I do think he was somehow obsessed with her, but I have doubts about him killing her.

Overall, I think she is most likely no longer with us, no matter which of the men was involved. It's sad that her parents had to go to their deaths without ever having any answers, but I believe they are all together again now.

This case gives new meaning to the word "Tragic." I think poor Amy lived a life of horror following the abduction and may have been sold into a sex ring following her abduction, "Paul Branch", "Dave" and especially "Hank Johnson." Amy may have come into contact with many bad people had she lived for a long period of time.

I think she was tormented and abused. Really a painful double-edged sword. If on the other hand, if Amy was killed, I think she was killed quickly. So many people claimed to have "seen" her, but never could help her Mother Susan and Father Ned, establish a connection to her to find closure. I think Hank Johnson is the most likely suspect who knows what happened to Amy.

Amy was described as very sweet, kind, yet I think vulnerable. I read that she was seen as a "flower child." These people, often associated with the Hippie Movement lived for the moment, and were very free-spirited. Rarely did they see strangers as potentially bad people. If Amy was this type of person, she could have been easily manipulated by a predictor. Sadly, I think Amy has passed away. I wish Susan and Ned could have found some closure for what happened to their daughter.

Satch

 

[Ibiz]

Where was her father at during all this?

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm getting sick to my stomach....reading all this sickening things said to her mum.....and really that doesn't happen a lot..................Pughhhh

 

[Satch]

A good article with several theories: (2010)

http://deaniepeters-missingangels.blogspot.com/2010/10/amy-billig-missing-36-years.html

Satch

 

[Markybug]

Bump for amy.

Cant picture her hitch hiking 1/2 mile ?

Any updates on the picture posted a page back , thats very similar to her?

 

[Raging Ranter]

Bump for amy.

Cant picture her hitch hiking 1/2 mile ?

Any updates on the picture posted a page back , thats very similar to her?

Apparently it was common for kids in her circle to do just that. The oppressively hot and humid Miami summers made walking even short distances a chore. This was especially true for so many of them whose families had recently moved there from cooler regions (Amy's own family had moved to the Grove from New York City for example.) Hitching a ride for even short distances was exactly what they did all the time.

 

[JustCryssy]

I was looking through the folder of Eileen Hynson who went missing from Napa and in the folder someone posted a list of 50 pictures that was found in William Richard Bradford’s possession. I am not able to move that list over here so if someone can I would appreciate it. In my humble opinion, #34 in the pictures resembles Amy and after reading about Bradford he made his way through Florida in the 70’s (unsure of date). What do you all think?

William Richard Bradford | Photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Edit: Added link

YES, I realize this is from 2016.

I was just reviewing and looking at the picture you mentioned.

 

[Richard]

Next March will mark 45 years since Amy went missing. Just read an old book (1987) by Edna Buchanan which included her story. Title: The Corpse had a Familiar Face.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Why didn't parents in those days teach their children NEVER to hitchhike or accept rides from strangers? Think of not only Amy's case, but so many abductions that never would have happened if kids would have learned how bad hitchhiking was in the first place.

Satch[
/QUOTE]
Parents did tell us not to hitchhike. So did teachers, police officers and all kinds of other adults. We did it anyway. I stopped hitchhiking for awhile when so many hitchhiking women were turning up murdered . When Kemper was arrested for these killings, I started hitchhiking again.

 

[dotr]

Bumping..
Amy Billig – The Charley Project
Amy Billig

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• 
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• • Missing Since 03/05/1974
  • Missing From Coconut Grove, Florida
  • Classification Non-Family Abduction
  • Date of Birth 01/09/1957 (62)
  • Age 17 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'5, 110 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A denim miniskirt and cork platform sandals.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Amy has a two-inch appendectomy scar on her abdomen. She may have a tattoo. She has a high-stepping gait.

 

[kdsmith21]

I created a thread for Kimberly Rae Doss. She disappeared from Jacksonville, Florida in 1979. Her mother believed she was also abducted by the Outlaws. Kimberly's uncle had stolen money from gang members , so i guess she might have been the payment.

I was looking yesterday for a thread for her, I am from Jacksonville... thank you

 

[kdsmith21]

YES, I realize this is from 2016.

I was just reviewing and looking at the picture you mentioned.

I see a resemblance... the nose upturned looks a little different but could just be the angle of the photo

 

[kdsmith21]

I created a thread for Kimberly Rae Doss. She disappeared from Jacksonville, Florida in 1979. Her mother believed she was also abducted by the Outlaws. Kimberly's uncle had stolen money from gang members , so i guess she might have been the payment.

nothing new in the thread... and it is locked for comments and posting... :-(

 

[dotr]

Bumping for Amy..
She was 17. Headed to her father’s Miami gallery. Then she was never seen again
Updated February 25, 2019
"Some have forgotten the details over the intervening three decades, but not Billig, who remained a stoic figure undaunted by time.

This much we all know: On March 5, 1974, 17-year-old Amy disappeared near the Billig’s Coconut Grove home. She was on her way to her dad’s art gallery in the Grove, then a Bohemian enclave.

Some said Amy accepted a ride from a biker. Others said she got into a van or pickup truck.

Clues were strewn across the state — her camera along Florida’s Turnpike in Central Florida; her hairbrush at a convenience store in Kissimmee.

Susan Billig had searched for her daughter, Amy Billig, since 1974 when she disappeared from Coconut Grove. Tim Chapman Miami Herald File
And there was Susan Billig, knocking on doors, passing out fliers, calling police, holding news conferences. She painstakingly checked out the stories she was told: Amy was seen buying tea in Seattle; a biker was with her in Tulsa; she was a sex slave in Saudi Arabia.

The years melted away and the twists turned tragic, but never hopeless.

Her husband, Ned Billig, died of lung cancer in 1993. When he died, she was recovering herself — also of lung cancer. Ned’s dying words to his wife: “I want to see Amy before I die.''

Amy Billig disappeared when she was 17. Miami Herald File
“Who knows what condition she is in — beaten to the point where she has no memory. If she is alive, she’s been through such harrowing experiences.”

Doctors have described to Susan Billig the psychology of persons held captive.

“It’s a survival tactic, you forget everything to survive, like prisoners of war.”

Amy Billig was headed to her father’s gallery in Coconut Grove when she disappeared. Miami Herald File

Read more here: She was 17. Headed to her father’s Miami gallery. Then she was never seen again