By Tori Richards
March 16, 2007
WHITTIER, Calif. (Crime Library) — It's been seven weeks since Amber Lee Hill's decomposed body was found wrapped in plastic, resting among bushes halfway down a steep ravine.
Her funeral has come and gone. The media attention over her disappearance and the horrifying discovery of her body has dissipated. What's left are a few scant clues and dogged detectives who hope to solve the case.
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Amber Hill |
"There's not a day that goes by that we don't work on this," said Whittier police Lt. Chuck Ketelsleger, who is in charge of the detective bureau. "We have a detective on this case who is determined solve this."
Unfortunately, police don't have much to go on.
Hill, 38, was last seen leaving her job at the Coca Cola bottling plant in east Los Angeles County around 6 a.m. on Jan. 9. Security cameras caught her driving away alone. She was supposed to arrive home within 30 minutes but never did, said her live-in boyfriend, Antonio King. He later reported her missing to police.
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Whittier California |
A week later, her drivers license and car registration were found in a wilderness area of Whittier, a city about 20 miles north of where she lived and worked. Then, more bad news. A week after that, on Jan. 23, her abandoned car was found in the city of La Palma, which is 10 miles from the bottling plant and near her home. A security guard in a business complex noticed that the car had been parked there for a week and notified police.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and opened the car. A sizeable amount of blood was in the trunk. Whittier police doubled their efforts in the area where Hill's personal items were found and the next day a cadaver dog located the body.
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Body removed |
With news helicopters buzzing above and a small army of media perched across the ravine from where the body rested, coroner officials painstakingly removed Hill's corpse using a gurney and crane. She was still wearing her Coca Cola work uniform and had been partially wrapped in plastic.
Next Page
Decomposed Body in Ravine Id'd as Missing Amber Lee Hill
Amber Lee Hill's Abandoned Car Found with Blood in the Trunk
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