By Laura Marlow
For the Leader
Amanda Jones’ family watched her 40th birthday come and go on Oct. 6 with no formal memorial, but they have not quit searching for answers about what happened to her when she went missing more than 13 years ago.
“We used to (hold a birthday event) for a lot of years, but it just got too hard for her daughter,” said Amanda’s mother, Bertha Propst of Festus.
“I kind of silently have my own little talk with her every year, though, on her birthday. I remember.”
And that’s what the Propst family hopes the rest of the community will do – remember Amanda, who went missing in August 2005, when she was 26.
The family – which also includes Amanda’s father, Hugh Propst, and her daughter, Hannah Jones, as well as her two siblings and other relatives – hopes new activities and fundraising efforts will bring the case to the forefront of public consciousness, perhaps catching the eye of someone who has new information.
“There’s someone out there who knows something, who saw something,” Propst said.
Within the next two weeks, a billboard with Amanda’s face on it will go up along I-55 in southern Jefferson County, and a trivia night is planned for Nov. 17 in Imperial. (See related story.)
“We’re wanting to raise enough money to hire a private investigator,” Propst said. “We need to find out what happened to her.”
Without a trace
Amanda was 26 and just days away from giving birth to her second child when she disappeared from the Hillsboro Community Civic Club grounds in Hillsboro on Aug. 14, 2005.
She had gone to the site to meet with Brian Westfall, the man she believed was the father of her unborn son, whom she planned to name Hayden. Later that day, her car was found unlocked on the Civic Club’s parking lot, and her purse, keys, wallet and cell phone were not found.
In 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it had new information in the case, but would not elaborate or provide details. Shortly afterward, the FBI also announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the whereabouts of Amanda and her baby.
“The reward (which is still available) is kind of unusual,” said Rebecca Wu, spokesperson for the FBI’s St. Louis headquarters. “Typically, a reward is offered only if there’s a conviction in the case. But this is a reward just for information. We want to make sure the public knows that.”
In the last few years, there hasn’t been much visible movement on the case, although work continues behind the scenes.
“The FBI is still actively investigating the case along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office,” Wu said on Oct. 19. “We continue to get tips, and we run every one of them down. In fact, I just spoke to the case agent, and they are tracking down a lead even as we speak.”
New efforts are underway to raise money for the investigation and awareness about the case.
Lamar Sign has agreed to donate the use of a billboard at Hwy. 61-67 and I-55 just south of Festus, where Amanda’s photo will be posted.
“Those go for like $1,500 a month,” Propst said. “We only have to pay for the vinyl, and that’s $250. We are very thankful for this company doing this enormous donation. It should be up in the next two weeks.”
Propst said Lamar officials told her the sign would remain up until the company receives a request for the billboard from a paying customer.
“If that happens, they said they will put Amanda’s vinyl on another billboard,” she said. “So she will still be out there, just maybe not at the same location.”
Others also have stepped up to help the family keep the case in the public eye.
“We have been blessed with this mother-daughter duo, Joy and Desiree Jones – no relation – who have stepped up and helped us get the case back out in front of people,” Propst said. “They approached me a few months ago about wanting to bring it back into the public. They are the ones planning the trivia night.
“We’ve passed out about 100 yard signs, and just this week, the UPS Store in Festus donated 200 flyers, which was a blessing. Every little blessing helps, and we’re thankful for that.”
A GoFundMe page called “Justice for Amanda and Hayden Jones” that a relative created on Sept. 10 has drawn $455 in donations.
Wu said the FBI considers public awareness a high priority.
“Publicity helps. We really appreciate it,” she said. “Over time, people may decide to come forward with information. I don’t know how common that is, but it does happen.
“And we do want to remind people about the reward.”
‘You just don’t know’
Propst said the family continues to wrestle with the uncertainty of not knowing the fate of Amanda and her child.
“This has devastated the whole family. None of us has been the same since this happened,” she said. “I would rather have lost her to death than to be in this unknown, this limbo. That’s harder on my heart than if she had just died.
“At least we would know what happened, and we’d be able to process the loss and move on. But we wonder: Did they suffer? Was it immediate? All kinds of things go through your mind – you just don’t know.”
Amanda’s daughter, Hannah, who was 4 when her mother disappeared, has gradually taken on a more active role in the case.
“Hannah has had a lot of hands-on experience about the case; we haven’t kept anything from her,” Propst said. “We take it day by day. She’s a very mature girl, very strong. She has had to grow up fast, especially without a mother or father.”
Hannah’s father and Amanda’s former husband, Scott Jones, died in 2007.
“She can go to her dad’s grave and pay respects, but she has nothing for her mom,” Propst said. “Hannah has gone through so much in her life; if she could put her mama to rest, that would take a huge burden off her.”
The Propsts have a realistic view about the kind of closure they can expect in the case; they don’t expect their daughter and grandson will walk through the door someday.
“I just want to find her,” Propst said. “She’s out there somewhere, and we need to know where. We want to be able to put her to rest properly, and then I want justice for whoever was involved. We don’t want revenge, but whoever it is needs to be held accountable for what they did.”
Capt. Gary Higginbotham of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the public isn’t always aware of the progress of the investigation – and that is a deliberate move on the part of law enforcement.
“In any criminal case, there are things we can’t release,” he said. “We want to keep some things hidden, to keep from people jumping in and claiming knowledge or involvement when they don’t really know anything. The hidden information can be used to ensure the legitimacy of real evidence.
“Believe me, we would like nothing more than to solve this.”
Asked what she would like the community to know about her long-missing daughter, Propst answered simply.
“That she has not been found,” Propst said. “That she’s still out there, and we need everybody’s help.”
Propst appeals to anyone who might have any information, no matter how insignificant it might seem.
“Please help us. You’ve got to look at it like, what if it was my daughter, my mother, my sister? You can make an anonymous tip and nobody would know who it is,” Propst said.
“Amanda was a very loving, compassionate person. She would help anybody. I need the person who knows something to be compassionate, and come forward.”
Propst said her family is more than ready to put down their burden.
“If it wasn’t for our faith in God, we would not have made it this far,” she said. “Thirteen years is a long time.”
Anyone with information concerning Amanda Jones is asked to contact the FBI in St. Louis at 314-589-2500 or online at tips.fbi.gov. Or, contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at 636-797-5000.