Andrew John Amato, 4 years old, went missing from Webster, MA on September 30, 1978.
4 year old Andy Amato was playing with his cousin and sister outside of his home on Richards Ave, near the Ash Street trailer park. He was last seen in a wooded area where he tripped, dropped his weeble toy, had a meltdown and refused to leave. His sister and cousin went to get help and when they came back, he was gone.
Have you seen this child? Andrew John Amato
Andrew John Amato
Andrew Amato - The Polly Klaas Foundation
Missing Persons | Webster, MA
Then Andrew stumbled and injured himself, dropped and lost his favorite toy, then began crying and running in circles. He refused to leave without the toy. His cousin told him to stay put and walked back to the family's home for assistance at approximately 10:30 a.m. but Andrew disappeared by the time they returned to the woods. He has never been heard from again.
An extensive search of the area, which lasted ten days and included the National Guard, produced no clues as to Andrew's whereabouts. He and his sister and cousin had been forbidden to play in the woods, and had sneaked there on the day of his disappearance.
Andrew disappeared only fifty yards away from Route 52, which is now Interstate 395. Some people theorize that he wandered over to the road and was picked up by a motorist passing through. Webster, Massachusetts is on the Connecticut border and also only a ten to fifteen minute drive from Rhode Island.
Authorities excavated a wooded area off of Minebrook Road in June 1998, nearly 20 years after Andrew disappeared. Investigators learned that evidence related to his case may have buried in the forest, which was approximately five miles from the location of Andrew's disappearance. The search failed to produce any materials connected to his case.
Officials discovered a handwritten list of names entitled "Lake Webster" in Nathaniel Bar-Jonah's possessions in Montana in December 2001. A photo of Bar-Jonah is posted with this case summary. Bar-Jonah, whose given name was David P. Brown, was raised in Dudley, Massachusetts.
He was convicted of the abductions and attempted murders of two Massachusetts boys in 1977. Bar-Jonah was also charged with the 1996 murder of Zachary Ramsay in Montana, but the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence in October 2002. Zachary's remains have never been located.
Bar-Jonah was named as a possible suspect in the 1973 Connecticut disappearance of Janice Pockett and the 1997 disappearance of Amanda Gallionfrom Wyoming. He has never been charged in connection with either of the cases. Bar-Jonah was convicted of child molestation in Montana in February 2002. He died of a blood clot in a Montana prison in April 2008, at age 51.
Investigators began pursuing another lead in Andrew's case in November 2003. A man, whose identity has not been released, confessed to his murder in 1999. He died of lung cancer shortly thereafter. His family did not report it to the police for four years. Authorities excavated a rural area near Burrillville, Rhode Island, as specified in the confession, but they didn't find anything of interest.
Some news reports stated that Andrew's name was on the Lake Webster list, but these accounts were incorrect and nobody has been able to tie Bar-Jonah to Andrew. Foul play is suspected in Andrew's case.
The claims that Nathanial Bar Jonah (aka David Paul Brown) could have been involved in this disappearance as a known pedophile and predator living in Webster, MA in the 1970s are interesting. Bar Jonah was in the Bridgewater State Mental Hospital, following his attempted murder of two boys from White City Theater in Shrewsbury, MA in 1977. But, I've recently learned that they sometimes let the patients there out on furloughs. Bar Jonah was kicked out of MA and send to Montana where he ultimately landed himself in prison again after being implicated in several crimes against children. He died in prison. Details in the link below (WARNING, DISTURBING CONTENT) -
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah
NOTE - Bar Jonah may have been in Walpole, not Bridgewater, in 1978 - can anyone confirm?
The lead suspect in the case is a Rhode Island laborer who made a deathbed confession to a family member in 1999, shortly before succumbing to cancer. His family came forward and told the police in 2003. Based on information provided, searches have been done on multiple occasions in an area of Burrillville, RI. The area is vast and the child was small, 38 lbs. After 46 years, there would be little to find. There is a newspaper photo of this man on the search for Andrew, and he was the one who found his weeble toy in the leaves in an area that had previously been searched. He told people he came to the scene to help with the search, after hearing about the.missing boy on his CB radio. Searches were also done in the Minebrook area of Webster, MA, based on a tip from a Webster man, but, according to what I've read, nothing of evidentiary value was found there.
Porchlight International for the Missing & Unidentified-Amato, Andrew - (09/30/78)
Andrew Amato Disappeared From Webster 40 Years Ago Today
There were many missing children in the northeast (specifically MA) in the 1970’s, and a child sex trafficking raid in Revere in 1977. Andy’s Mickey Mouse t-shirt was found in Woburn, MA, not far from Revere.
12 Arrested as Child Molesters in a Boston Area Ring (Published 1977)
Do you have any theories or information on this case?
Did he wander up to the highway and get snatched up?
Was it someone in the trailer park that killed him?
Could he be alive and out there somewhere today?
Could he have fallen into one of the swamps, or been hidden in a swamp?
The area had woods, swamps, lakes...see google map below. It was also very close to a major highway:
Ash St & Richard Ave · Webster, MA 01570
This case has been on my mind for years and I can't believe all these years later, they've never found him. Please post or reach out with any thoughts, leads, etc. - thank you!
4 year old Andy Amato was playing with his cousin and sister outside of his home on Richards Ave, near the Ash Street trailer park. He was last seen in a wooded area where he tripped, dropped his weeble toy, had a meltdown and refused to leave. His sister and cousin went to get help and when they came back, he was gone.
Have you seen this child? Andrew John Amato
Andrew John Amato
Andrew Amato - The Polly Klaas Foundation
Missing Persons | Webster, MA
Details of Disappearance (from the Charlie Project) https://charleyproject.org/case/andrew-john-amato
Andrew resided in a mobile home on Richards Avenue in Webster, Massachusetts. He played in the woods behind nearby Ash Street Trailer Park with his seven-year-old sister and their six-year-old cousin during the morning hours of September 30, 1978. Andrew and his cousin went deeper into the woods without his sister.Then Andrew stumbled and injured himself, dropped and lost his favorite toy, then began crying and running in circles. He refused to leave without the toy. His cousin told him to stay put and walked back to the family's home for assistance at approximately 10:30 a.m. but Andrew disappeared by the time they returned to the woods. He has never been heard from again.
An extensive search of the area, which lasted ten days and included the National Guard, produced no clues as to Andrew's whereabouts. He and his sister and cousin had been forbidden to play in the woods, and had sneaked there on the day of his disappearance.
Andrew disappeared only fifty yards away from Route 52, which is now Interstate 395. Some people theorize that he wandered over to the road and was picked up by a motorist passing through. Webster, Massachusetts is on the Connecticut border and also only a ten to fifteen minute drive from Rhode Island.
Authorities excavated a wooded area off of Minebrook Road in June 1998, nearly 20 years after Andrew disappeared. Investigators learned that evidence related to his case may have buried in the forest, which was approximately five miles from the location of Andrew's disappearance. The search failed to produce any materials connected to his case.
Officials discovered a handwritten list of names entitled "Lake Webster" in Nathaniel Bar-Jonah's possessions in Montana in December 2001. A photo of Bar-Jonah is posted with this case summary. Bar-Jonah, whose given name was David P. Brown, was raised in Dudley, Massachusetts.
He was convicted of the abductions and attempted murders of two Massachusetts boys in 1977. Bar-Jonah was also charged with the 1996 murder of Zachary Ramsay in Montana, but the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence in October 2002. Zachary's remains have never been located.
Bar-Jonah was named as a possible suspect in the 1973 Connecticut disappearance of Janice Pockett and the 1997 disappearance of Amanda Gallionfrom Wyoming. He has never been charged in connection with either of the cases. Bar-Jonah was convicted of child molestation in Montana in February 2002. He died of a blood clot in a Montana prison in April 2008, at age 51.
Investigators began pursuing another lead in Andrew's case in November 2003. A man, whose identity has not been released, confessed to his murder in 1999. He died of lung cancer shortly thereafter. His family did not report it to the police for four years. Authorities excavated a rural area near Burrillville, Rhode Island, as specified in the confession, but they didn't find anything of interest.
Some news reports stated that Andrew's name was on the Lake Webster list, but these accounts were incorrect and nobody has been able to tie Bar-Jonah to Andrew. Foul play is suspected in Andrew's case.
The claims that Nathanial Bar Jonah (aka David Paul Brown) could have been involved in this disappearance as a known pedophile and predator living in Webster, MA in the 1970s are interesting. Bar Jonah was in the Bridgewater State Mental Hospital, following his attempted murder of two boys from White City Theater in Shrewsbury, MA in 1977. But, I've recently learned that they sometimes let the patients there out on furloughs. Bar Jonah was kicked out of MA and send to Montana where he ultimately landed himself in prison again after being implicated in several crimes against children. He died in prison. Details in the link below (WARNING, DISTURBING CONTENT) -
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah
NOTE - Bar Jonah may have been in Walpole, not Bridgewater, in 1978 - can anyone confirm?
The lead suspect in the case is a Rhode Island laborer who made a deathbed confession to a family member in 1999, shortly before succumbing to cancer. His family came forward and told the police in 2003. Based on information provided, searches have been done on multiple occasions in an area of Burrillville, RI. The area is vast and the child was small, 38 lbs. After 46 years, there would be little to find. There is a newspaper photo of this man on the search for Andrew, and he was the one who found his weeble toy in the leaves in an area that had previously been searched. He told people he came to the scene to help with the search, after hearing about the.missing boy on his CB radio. Searches were also done in the Minebrook area of Webster, MA, based on a tip from a Webster man, but, according to what I've read, nothing of evidentiary value was found there.
Porchlight International for the Missing & Unidentified-Amato, Andrew - (09/30/78)
Andrew Amato Disappeared From Webster 40 Years Ago Today
There were many missing children in the northeast (specifically MA) in the 1970’s, and a child sex trafficking raid in Revere in 1977. Andy’s Mickey Mouse t-shirt was found in Woburn, MA, not far from Revere.
12 Arrested as Child Molesters in a Boston Area Ring (Published 1977)
Do you have any theories or information on this case?
Did he wander up to the highway and get snatched up?
Was it someone in the trailer park that killed him?
Could he be alive and out there somewhere today?
Could he have fallen into one of the swamps, or been hidden in a swamp?
The area had woods, swamps, lakes...see google map below. It was also very close to a major highway:
Ash St & Richard Ave · Webster, MA 01570
This case has been on my mind for years and I can't believe all these years later, they've never found him. Please post or reach out with any thoughts, leads, etc. - thank you!
