Amber Elaine Lundgren (20) was last seen on June 7, 1997, leaving a nightclub called Bar Code on 81 Broadway Street, Asheville, North Carolina.
Her remains were found later that day off Azalea Road. Her case remains unsolved.
To this day, her friends and family wonder what happened to Amber.
Her friend Nadia, who is mentioned in this article, emailed me and answered some of the questions I had raised in my previous post about Amber.
Here are the details that Nadia gave me:
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-The stab wound was to her neck. She bled to death within 15-30 seconds.
-She did not carry a purse that night but used her pockets.
-Amber did not have dirt under her fingernails; she had no fingernails as she bit them constantly. Her fingers were more-or-less molded back together at the morgue because they were so sliced up from defensive wounds. Amber’s autopsy took place at the state crime lab in Raleigh.
-Amber was not murdered at the location where her body was discovered according to detectives. The witness saw the man in the middle of the night at the location where her body was found. It is assumed that he was dumping her then.
-Amber was NOT living a wild party life. There was never any evidence to support this narrative and it was always obviously victim-blaming. Amber did have a boyfriend, Paul. They had been dating for years. They were very sweet with one another.
-About reporting Amber missing, we were suppose to have a garage sale on Saturday morning (Amber did not have a shift at Pier 1) and she didn’t show up. I went looking for her, checked the apartment, saw that the car was still downtown, and called her family, the hospitals, her boyfriend, and the police, all in the morning. Her mom and uncle blew me off. The hospital and police said that they didn’t have anyone listed by that name. No one asked me for her description! Only at 5 pm, when I called the sheriff and finally got a nice lady on the line who would listen to me, was I patched through to the police, and the identification process began.
– On Amber visiting Bar Code: the owner of the bar came into Pier 1 where Amber worked. He needed to finish the interior decoration of the new club. He met Amber who helped him extensively making the selections over multiple visits. She provided excellent customer service and had an eye for design. The bar owner was so appreciative that he gave her some passes and she, of course, was excited to see the work that she had done installed in the bar.
– Amber was looking for her friends to leave and go home. She was the designated driver and had the car keys. She could not find them and started searching. Why she could not find them? Had they left without her?
-Terry Alvin Hyatt has not been ruled out with DNA. It doesn’t seem to be a priority for law enforcement since he is already behind bars.
Note AdS: Hyatt was sentenced to death for the 1979 robberies, rapes, and murders of Betty Sue McConnell (21) and Harriet Delaney Simmons (40) in Buncombe County, NC. Both women were stabbed to death.
Rest in peace, Amber Elaine Lundgren.
