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

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
I really hope they find out what happened to her one day.

suzanne

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
Is there anything new on her case?

suzanne

 

[Shecky]

I'm not aware of any updates, her mother passed away a few years ago (2005, I believe). I do check her charley project and doe network page often. I would truly love to see this resolved.

 

[kevmob77]

Was going through some unidentified cases in Florida from 1974 on... have these been ruled out?

http://doenetwork.org/cases/515uffl.html- DNA Pending
http://doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html-
http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase178.html- possibly older

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
Did they ever check this Jane Doe too.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/20ufnj.html

suzanne

 

[kevmob77]

Fixed the link to the doenetwork.org from my above post... sorry about that. Was going through some unidentified cases in Florida from 1974 on... have these been ruled out?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/515uffl.html Pending exhumation/DNA
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase178.html

Note: I sent an email to the authorities listed on the doenetwork.org for these Jane Doe's. Asked for a response in regards to email being received. I'll update if anything comes of it.

 

[kevmob77]

(continued from above post)

I received an e-mail from the Tampa/Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Office in regards to Jane Doe http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/515uffl.html. Here is a copy of email:

Good morning,

I am in receipt of your e-mail and will follow up to see if any action was ever initiated with these 2 cases.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Pete Bihorel, D-ABMDI
Manager/Investigation Sect.
Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Dept.
11025 N. 46th St.
Tampa, Fl. 33617
813-276-2098- Telephone
813-272-6268- Fax
[email protected]
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam

Still waiting for a response on the other two Jane Doe's.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase178.html

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
Please let us know what they find out ok?

suzanne

 

[Patience]

Hi
Please let us know what they find out ok?

suzanne

I agree as I would also like to find out any doe possibilities that have been ruled out. I found this article from 05, sorry if it has already been posted. I have always wanted to hear a resolution to this case one way or another.

http://www.thegrovefirst.com/SueBillingobit.html

​

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
I have too.

suzanne

 

[kevmob77]

(continued from above post)

I received an e-mail from the Tampa/Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Office in regards to Jane Doe http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/515uffl.html. Here is a copy of email:

Good morning,

I am in receipt of your e-mail and will follow up to see if any action was ever initiated with these 2 cases.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Pete Bihorel, D-ABMDI
Manager/Investigation Sect.
Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Dept.
11025 N. 46th St.
Tampa, Fl. 33617
813-276-2098- Telephone
813-272-6268- Fax
[email protected]
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam

Still waiting for a response on the other two Jane Doe's.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase178.html

Still have not heard anything from the ME. I'll send another email just to make sure it's being followed up on.

 

[Blackwatch]

I just finished reading the book about Amy Billig and I wasn't convinced she was taken by a motorcycle gang. There is just no evidence of it. Yes, they did ride through town that day, but other than that and some "leads" by gang members (which went nowhere), there is NO evidence whatever. In fact, the whole thing seemed like a game they were playing with Sue. I wonder if Amy wasn't grabbed by a local pervert using the bikers as cover.

My opinion only.

 

[SeekingJana]

I well remember the early " Unsolved Mysteries" shows on Amy, when her mother was traveling to Europe and trying to deal with hardened bikers for info about Amy.
My perception at the time was that they didn't know a thing about Amy, and were simply stringing the older, wealthy, grieving mother along for sick kicks.

One clue may come in the article linked above from " The Grove", which includes a nice quote from Edna Buchannan, one of my fave mystery writers.

The article, in the factual information section says"
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."

Disappeared near her family's home. She was most likely never close to a biker. I wonder if any neighbors were ever questioned or considered to be POIs?
This almost has a Martha Moxley type of crime overtone to me, except that Martha's body was found very quickly.

 

[meggilyweggily]

Amy may have disappeared near her home, but I definitely believe bikers were involved in her disappearance. She was last known to be hitchhiking. I read the book about her case and it says her mother nearly caught up with her once or twice. There was independent evidence to verify this -- in one instance a witness (not a biker) who remember specific details that matched Amy.

 

[txsvicki]

I remember either sending in, or thinking of sending info to an email link years back about Amy. My relative once had an acquaintance who was a sickly discarded "old lady" of a Bandido biker. To me, she looked exactly like Amy would have looked if older, but I'm not sure the height was right. She went by a different name and I tried to find out if she had family, but my relative hadn't seen her in awhile after I got a computer and saw Amy's story. If I remember right, my relative believed that she did have mother nearby, but I think I sent the tip in anyway .

 

[Blackwatch]

Amy may have disappeared near her home, but I definitely believe bikers were involved in her disappearance. She was last known to be hitchhiking. I read the book about her case and it says her mother nearly caught up with her once or twice. There was independent evidence to verify this -- in one instance a witness (not a biker) who remember specific details that matched Amy.

I believe the operative words would be "nearly caught up with her once or twice". She never did catch up with her. Those bikers had her running from Seatlle to Oklahoma City, back to Florida, and all over the place, yet she never got a glimpse of Amy, nor one shred of evidence.

Bikers are not known for their truthfulness and I'm going to compare this to the Caylee Anthony case. Before Caylee was reported missing, Cindy said she was in touch with Casey who always had a good excuse why she couldn't talk to Caylee, and this went on for 30 days between family member. Sociopaths, be they Casey or bikers (and I believe most bikers are) lie as a matter of course, and some enjoy pulling people's strings - which is what I believe happened in the case of Amy's mother. What they did was dangle a carrot in front of her and, many times, they did get money, etc., out of her.

By the "independant witness", do you mean the lady who ran the small shop were a girl matching Amy's description came in to buy tea? If so, I don't believe Amy was the only girl/woman who bought that brand of tea. So many other people "thought" they saw Amy and even arranged for her mother to view the girl - it was never Amy, only a look-alike.

Paul mentioned a scar on her wrist, I believe. Many girls have scars on their wrist; I think it was a lucky guess or Amy's mother had inadvertently let that slip out. Point is, Amy's mother never got to see the girl with the scar on her wrist.

I live in an area where a biker gang is well established and met a lot of "members". I used to hang out with guys on the fringe and, believe me, all they care about is money, power, and where their next "hit" is coming from and they'll do or say anything to get it, even lying to a grief-stricken mother, which is what I believe they did.

I respect your opinion even if I disagree, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your wonderful site, The Charley Project, and all the time and hard work that goes into it. You've done a wonderful job. Thanks again.

 

[HesterMofet]

Blackwatch, I agree with you. I always felt so bad for Amy's mother because I believe she was lead on a wild goose chase by people could get a few dollars out of her. I think (or hope) there is more awareness now of shams and people trying to make money off the families of the missing. Even so, someone like Henry Blair and his 20+ years torment of Susan Billig was far worse than the guys trying to make a fast buck. I cannot imagine the suffering this woman went through and she never, ever gave up looking for Amy. She was stronger than I could ever be.

 

[Shecky]

While I definitely think the biker connection is a possible scenario, I think it is important to remember that Sue never had any solid proof that it was Amy she was following. When Sue was in Seattle, she got some very promising leads on a young woman who looked very much like Amy. The woman was even said to walk with the same unique gait that Amy did. It really seemed as though the search would soon be over, but a family friend went to see this woman in person, and confirmed that it was not Amy.

As for other supposed sightings, they could have been Amy and they could have been cases of mistaken identity as well. Amy was a lovely, but not terribly unique looking young woman.



I think this is one of the reasons that this case is so very intriguing. The answer at times seemed so very close, and yet to this day, over 30 years later, it is still a complete mystery.

 

[Searching101]

Very interesting to read about. I would love to know what happened to Amy but after 30 years it is doubtful.

 

[kevmob77]

(continued from above post)

I received an e-mail from the Tampa/Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Office in regards to Jane Doe http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/515uffl.html. Here is a copy of email:

Good morning,

I am in receipt of your e-mail and will follow up to see if any action was ever initiated with these 2 cases.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Pete Bihorel, D-ABMDI
Manager/Investigation Sect.
Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Dept.
11025 N. 46th St.
Tampa, Fl. 33617
813-276-2098- Telephone
813-272-6268- Fax
[email protected]
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam

Still waiting for a response on the other two Jane Doe's.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase178.html

Hey all, I finally got a response back. They are checking out this UID mentioned from my previous posts. Here's the email:

Hello,

I did contact a Det Orustegie with the Miami PD and he advised me they had already submitted specimen to the FBI's CODIS program, as we did, and at this point all we can do is wait to hear from the FBI if there is a match.

Thank you,



Pete Bihorel, D-ABMDI
Manager/Investigation Sect.
Hillsborough County Med. Exam. Dept.
11025 N. 46th St.
Tampa, Fl. 33617-2000
813-914-4509 Telephone
813-914-4596 Fax
[email protected]
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam