AMBER CATES - 16 yo (2004) - Maury County/Columbia TN

Columbia TN ---- The FBI is
helping in a renewed effort to find a teenager from Maury County who
has been missing for six years. Since Amber Cates, 16, vanished,
detectives have investigated for years but turned up nothing.
“If she's not on this earth, then she's with our Maker and she's OK,”
said Trudy Cates Currington.Amber’s mother, Trudy Cates
Currington, said she doesn't know where her daughter could be. Police
questioned the last person who was with her and another man in prison,
but it did not lead to any arrests.“We were close. She wouldn't
have left me without a word,” said Currington.Sheriff Enoch
George said Maury County is now teaming up with the FBI to work on cold
cases, and the first case is Amber’s disappearance.“The FBI has a
lot more sophisticated equipment than we have,” said George. “I feel
like the more agencies that pull together to work to keep law and order
in Maury County, I feel like we'd be better off.”Another part of
this new partnership will also include a billboard from the FBI that
will be used to solicit information about Amber's case.“There are
a lot of cases all over the nation that they really put a lot of
emphasis on, and Amber's case has had some, but it needs to be not just
for me and my family. It’s great it’s first, but there are a lot of
families in the same situation,” said Trudy.Maury County
detectives sent DNA from Amber's mother to a lab in Texas to see whether
her remains might be in any database of bodies that have been
recovered.

A birthday is usually a time to celebrate, but for a family in Maury
County, it's a reminder of what they're missing.
Amber Cates was 16 when she disappeared nearly six years ago. Now,
there's hope a hairbrush might help find her.“A lot of things go
through my mind. Some good, some not so good,” said Brenda James,
Cates’s sister. “At first I thought she just ran away, but I don't think
that now."James had just gained custody of her younger sister in
April 2004. She recalled the last day she saw her.“She was just
anxious that day about going to her mom's. She left from her mom's and
went to town with somebody and never came back,” she said.Investigators
said Amber ran away with James Gordon. He told detectives he left Cates
with a man known as "California."“I tracked him down to a federal prison in
Talladega, Ala.," said Maury County Sheriff Detective Jerry Williams,
who picked up the case in 2007. “I believe that there are people that
she stayed with or hung with or so-called her friends that know where
Amber's at or what happened to Amber."After few leads in six
years, Williams tried something new last month.“We have gotten
DNA sample from her mother, and we have also gotten a hairbrush that was
hers from her sister's house,” said
Williams.That DNA will be entered into a national database and
compared to unidentified remains found across the country.“All of
the unidentified people that fall into her category -- as far as
weight, height, age group -- could be tested against that, because she
could be anywhere," Williams said.“We all love her and we want
her home,” said James.So for Amber's 22nd birthday, her sister
will wait and pray for a new piece of evidence to rekindle her hope.“If
she don't want to come home, that is fine; just let us know,” said
James.The DNA was sent to a lab at the University of North Texas.
It will be analyzed and matched to remains, but Williams said it could
be this summer or even the fall before they hear anything.Anyone
who knows anything about the disappearance of Amber is asked to call the
Maury County Sheriff's Department.

Amber Cates went missing in April of 2004. Since then, her family has
continued to hold out hope that one day she would return. Monday there
was a bit of positive news for the family.
In an effort to drum up new information along with possible clues
into the case, the local sheriff's office held a press conference
unveiling a billboard featuring Amber's picture.



Local law enforcement stressed that they have not given up on the
case and neither has the family.
"It's hard, very hard and I've dealt with it on my own," said Brenda
James, Amber's sister.
It's been a pain James has lived with for 6 years. The last day she
saw her 16-year-old sister Amber was on April 11, 2004.
"Six years of nothing. I mean nothing. Everything's been a dead end,"
said James.
The Maury County Sheriff's Office announced they're teaming with the
FBI in a renewed effort to bring attention to the case.
A billboard posted in Columbia bears the picture of what Amber looked
like the day she disappeared along with a computer generated photo of
what she'd look like as a 22 year old today.
"The main thing we're trying to do here with Amber Cates is to find
anybody who has any knowledge of her disappearance so we can bring some
resolution to the family," said Keith Moses with the Memphis field
office of the FBI.
James wants an opportunity to move past the heartache.
"Just not knowing, don't know if she's dead or alive or held captive
somewhere. All I want to know is that she's OK," said James.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Maury
County Sheriff's Office or Crime Stoppers.

For the first time, a search is set to find a Maury County teen who disappeared six years ago.The
family of Amber Cates plans to search the Duck River for her body. It
will be the first physical search since her disappearance.Cates has been missing since April 2004, when she left her mother's house with a friend and never returned home.Only
sixteen at the time, Cates is registered with the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children. Her face has even appeared on an
FBI-funded billboard. But the investigation into her disappearance by
the Maury County Sheriff's Department is now a cold case."Somebody,
somewhere, knows Amber or has seen her. Of course, we'd like to talk
to them, and a lot of people we have," said Detective Jerry Williams.Williams said every lead or tip is fully investigated, but few have garnered results.Ready for answers, Cates' family is turning to intuition."There's
two areas here in Maury County, two members of my family have eery
feelings about going over two bridges. For our own piece of mind, we'd
like to have it searched," said Brenda James, Cates' sister.James plans to search the Duck River between the Carpenter and Riverside Bridges. She knows she isn't likely to find her sister there, but is compelled to search."We want to find her whether it is good news or bad," she said.The search is expected in the next couple weeks. A non-profit group has offered a dive team at no cost to aid in the search.

A renewed effort to find a missing Columbia teenager brought in some leads, so now the FBI is increasing the reward.Amber Cates disappeared six years ago when she was 16 years old.


Age progression facsimiles
She was last seen when she left her mother's Maury County house with a friend.This spring, the Maury County Sheriff's Department and the FBI took a fresh look at the case. Though they won't get into specifics, investigators said they have gotten some new tips.Now the FBI is offering up to $25,000 for information in the case.

Family seeks closure in disappearance of Amber Cates

Posted: Apr 05, 2013 9:16 PM CDT
Updated: Apr 19, 2013 9:17 PM CDT
Reported by Adrianne Flores



COLUMBIA, TN (WSMV) - It's a question that has haunted a Middle Tennessee family for nearly a decade: where is Amber Cates?

Cates was just 16 years old when she vanished nine years ago after she and a friend left her mother's home in Columbia to grab a bite to eat.

Cates hasn't been seen since, but her family and police haven't given up hope of finding her.

"It's not easy," said Cates' sister, Brenda James.

Not a day goes by James doesn't think about her baby sister. The emotions are still raw and the pain just as fresh as the day she disappeared: April 11, 2004.

"You hope for the best but you think the worst," James said.

Over the years, James has held vigils, put up billboards and even plastered Cates' picture on the side of 18-wheelers, hoping to spark leads.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-enhanced photo of what Cates may look like today.

While Maury County Sheriff's Detective Jerry Williams said the department has run down dozens of leads over the years, none of them have panned out.

"That's why it's so important to us to keep her name out there, so someone will recognize her," Williams said. "I do believe there's somebody out there that knows, and that's the person we want to talk to."

They hope to bring Cates' family closure, one way or another.

"I always hope for the best, but I know there's a possibility that she's not alive anymore," Williams said.

"I just want anybody that knows, have a heart and say something, so we can get over - I can get over," James said.

There is now a $25,000 reward for any information leading to Cates.

Meanwhile, her sister is holding a candlelight vigil April 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Maury County Park in Columbia.

In addition to raising awareness, James is hoping to raise about $7,000 to outfit 500 tractor-trailers with Cates' picture.

For more information on the vigil, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/254699074664212.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/21895667/family-seeks-closure-in-disappearance-of-amber-cates

Maury County teen still missing after 10 years

Posted: Mar 23, 2014 8:58 AM CDT
Updated: March 23, 2014 011:11 AM
By Quinn Schuler, Reporter

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. - Amber Cates, 16, disappeared April 11, 2004 from Maury County.
 
Detectives don't know what happened to her but are considering foul play.  Her social security number has never been used, meaning she's never had a driver's license or opened any accounts.

Over the years, her older sister and guardian, Brenda James, has organized vigils and been very outspoken about who she believes might have taken her.

"Whoever knows, I hope it's just eating them alive. It's got to be really hard to deal with or they are cold-hearted, very cold-hearted," James said in a past interview with News 2.

Brenda said she dropped Amber off at her mom's house in Culleoka where she was going to spend spring break.

Amber left her mom's and never came back.

Detective Jerry Williams said the teen had run away in the past, missed a lot of school, hung around older men, and was involved in drug activity.

He said they're considering all possibilities, from her running away to someone killing her.

In 2010, the FBI posted her photo on a billboard with a composite of what she might look like now.

Det. Williams said they have chased down potential leads in Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and Mexico, but haven't had any luck.

Det. Williams said they've interviewed the older men she used to hang around with and still consider them persons of interest.

"I know somebody knows something. I just wish they'd come forward," James said.

James is planning a candlelight vigil for Amber on April 12 at 6 p.m. at the White Oak Shelter in Maury County Park.

If you have any information on this case, contact Det. Williams at 931-375-8693 or 931-626-8907.  You could also email him at jwilliams@maurycounty-tn.gov.

http://www.wkrn.com/story/25049115/maury-county-teen-still-missing