About 30 people and nine dogs searched the Hillsboro Community Civic Club grounds Sunday, looking for clues to help with the investigation into the disappearance of Amanda Jones in 2005.
No evidence was found. However, the search accomplished at least one goal – keeping Jones’ name before the public in the hopes that someone will provide information about her wherea-bouts, giving her family the closure they need, said Marshia Morton, a volunteer with the Com-munity United Effort, also known as the CUE Center for Missing Persons, a national nonprofit organization “serving missing persons nationwide,” according to its website.
“We’re hoping to bring awareness so someone will read this or see this in the media and come forward,” said Morton, the CUE state director for Missouri and Tennessee. “We just try to keep hope alive and we’re praying for closure for the family.”
Jones, who lived in Pevely, was 26 and nine months pregnant with her second child when she disappeared Aug. 14, 2005, from the Hillsboro civic club grounds, where she had met Brian Westfall, the man she said was the father of her unborn son.
Later that day, her car was found unlocked on the civic club parking lot, but her purse, keys, wal-let and cell phone were missing.
In 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it had new information in the case, but would not elaborate. Soon afterward, the FBI also announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of what became of Jones and her baby.
Morton, who lives in Cape Girardeau, said CUE conducted an extensive search of the civic club grounds Sunday. The group includes investigators from various law enforcement and emergency response agencies who volunteer for CUE.
“We started at 9 a.m. and went to 5 p.m.,” she said. “We took our time. We took all day.”
Morton said the dense foliage surrounding the grounds made the search difficult. “The civic cen-ter owns 25 acres; we searched the wooded areas,” Morton said. “We were only searching on the civic center property.”
Before the search began, a butterfly release was held in Jones’ memory, and a lot of her family and friends attended, Morton said.
Jones’ mother, Bertha Propst of Festus, who attended, said she appreciates CUE’s efforts on be-half of her family.
“They’ve really been wonderful since the very beginning,” said Propst. “They organized the search. We’re just trying to do whatever we can.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office had a representative present for the search in the event any evidence was found, said Grant Bissell, a spokesman for the office.
He said the Sheriff’s Office considers the case an ongoing investigation.
“It’s an open and active missing person investigation,” Bissell said. “We follow up every lead.”
Anyone with information about Jones is asked to contact the FBI in St. Louis at 314-589-2500 or online at tips.fbi.gov. Or, they may call the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau at 636-797-5515.