The Disappearance of Amanda Simmonds

It was Friday, August 21, 1998 when a young woman named Amanda Simmonds disappeared. Here is her story.

***

Amanda was out with her friends for her 18th birthday. It was Thursday night, the 20th of August, when her and her friends spent the night out in the town.

Jessica, Amanda’s best friend, had her brother Mike, 21, buy all of them some alcohol. She also convinced him to be their ride so they weren’t drinking and driving.

The girls all planned to spend the weekend at a cute little cabin three hours north west of their town. The trip was planned for months.

Amanda and her friends had saved each penny they earned at their jobs. Amanda worked at a restaurant as a waitress. Jessica worked at a coffee shop. Diana worked at the local movie theater. Melissa helped out at her dad’s construction job doing secretarial work.

Friday morning came. The morning of Amanda’s birthday. She had a slight headache from the night before. She took a couple of aspirin, made some coffee, and finished packing because they were all supposed to meet each other by noon at the cabin. She also had to make a quick trip to the market to pick up some snacks.

After all was done, she grabbed her packed bags, groceries, and phone charger. This is when the nightmare began.

Amanda was making her way to the cabin when her front passenger tire blew. She was in the middle of nowhere. She didn't see many cars on her way. It was around an hour into her trip, so she still had a long way to go before she got to the cabin.

As she was analyzing the damage, she heard a noise in the woods. She didn’t think much of it because she was used to those kinds of noises having grown up camping.

Amanda heard a noise again. This time it was louder and had more of a crunching sound, like someone was walking on leaves.

She turned to look, but was ambushed by a dark clothed figure. The next thing she knew, she blacked out.

***

When Amanda came to, her head was pounding. The pain was as if someone had bashed her head against the wall. Each thump of her heartbeat was beating heavy in her chest. A pulse so loud in her head, pain hammering every part of her brain.

She was able to focus enough to see a person in black before blacking out again.

The second time Amanda came to, a figure was sitting in a chair next to her. She jumped, startled by his presence. She knew this person was a man based on his height and build, but she couldn't make any features since he had a hood on and the lighting wasn’t very good.

She tried to speak, but something covered her mouth. She tried to move, but couldn’t. Her hands and feet were bound to the chair she was sitting on. Tears started streaming down her face.

The person got up, looked at her, and said, "I am going to take off the duct tape. If you scream, you die." She looked at him in horror. She nodded and then he took the tape off. She begged for her life, telling him she would do anything, to please let her go.

He walked over to a nearby table, not seeming to care about Amanda’s pleas. She couldn't make out what the man was doing.

After what felt like eternity, the guy turned around, a knife in his hand. Amanda begged and pleaded with him not to do this. He just looked at her and approached her slowly.

Once he was standing right over her, he buried his knife in her stomach. She screamed in pain. He plunged the knife again. She screamed more. All she could feel was a lot of pain.

Amanda didn’t know how many more times he stabbed her. She only saw the motion of his arm being swung towards her.

Her body suddenly felt numb. She no longer felt pain. Her body had already collapsed on the floor at this point, chair and all, which she was completely unaware of this even happening.

The last thing Amanda remembered was thinking she was going to die and that she hoped people would find her. She cried. Not because she was dying, but because she couldn't remember the last time she told her family she loved them.

***

Amanda woke up again. This time, she could see the man putting dirt on her. He was burying her alive, although he may have thought she was already dead.

She was only able to open her eyes. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel anything. She was only able to look up.

She thought of her friends and family. That was the last thing she remembered before closing her eyes and taking her last breath.

***

Amanda opened her eyes, saw darkness, and got up. She didn’t know how she did it, but she did and when she stood up, she was standing in dirt in the middle of woods.

It didn’t take long to realize what was going on. Amanda turned around and saw her body. She was bloody, eyes closed, mouth partially opened. She was covered in dirt, leaves, and branches. She was staring at her own dead body.

***

This happened 27 years ago. The only thing Amanda knows is that her body was dumped in the woods. She doesn’t know if it was near the house she was taken to because she had passed out at that point.

An extensive investigation took place, but to this day, the location of Amanda’s remains are still a mystery. Nobody knows exactly where she is. It may be that nobody ever will. She may end up being another cold case. She could be one now.

***

Being that very little information about the case was ever found or released to the public, those reading this are probably wondering how I know so much about what happened when nobody else does. Well, let me tell you.

That woman that disappeared to never be found? That woman was me. Yes. I am Amanda Simmonds and that was the story of how I died.