Amber Alyssa Tuccaro was born on January 3, 1990, in Fort Chipewyan (Alberta, Canada). Her parents had Indian roots, and Amber herself belonged to the Mikisew Cree First Nation, an organization associating the indigenous people of Canada. However, she was not raised by biological parents. The girl was adopted. It was a common practice in Canada that indigenous children grew up far away from their families. This was motivated by the children's welfare and the desire to assimilate them with the rest of society.
Amber's adoptive parents were Vivian and Andrew Tuccaro. Amber lived in their house with her four older brothers. The mother, also known as Tootsie, described her daughter as a cheerful girl who loved to sing, laugh and make others laugh. Her younger brother Paul, with whom Amber was very close, remembered her in a similar way. The man mentioned that the sister was ambitious and full of energy. Her dream was a career as a dancer or singer. Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be less kind and the woman had trouble finding any job.
At 19, Amber gave birth to a son, Jacob, whom she raised alone. Nothing is known about the child's father. According to relatives, the boy was the most important for the young Canadian. Jacob was only 14 months old at the time of his mother's disappearance. A 20-year-old woman and her son lived with their parents in Fort McMurray. It is a small town in northern Alberta. Tuccaro has moved to women's centers several times. It can be assumed that this was due to an attempt to gain independence. Ultimately, however, the woman always returned to her family home.
In August 2010, Amber decided to take a short vacation with her son and friend Evangeline. Women knew each other for a short time. They met at one of the aforementioned women's shelters. Tootsie had concerns about this trip. Amber assured her, however, that she would only be gone for two days. Ultimately, the financial argument prevailed. The friends managed to hunt down cheap airline tickets. Both women were in financial difficulties and would not have traveled otherwise. On Tuesday, August 17, the three boarded the West-Jet plane.
After a short flight, Tuccaro checked in with her son and friend at a motel in Nisku. Women chose this accommodation because its price was very attractive. To stay in a hotel in nearby Edmonton, if they wanted to visit, they would pay much more. It is worth adding that the airport was located in Nisko, not the capital of the Alberta province. This is also a typical situation for many other airports around the world, which are often located on the outskirts of large cities.
On August 18, the first day after arriving, Amber decided to leave the motel alone. Around 8 p.m. she left Jacob in the care of a friend. According to some sources, the woman went out to buy something to eat. According to others, she was so eager to see Edmonton that she decided to go there earlier.
None of my friends had a car at the time. To save money, they also decided not to rent a car on the spot. So the only means of transport was hitchhiking. According to some sources, Amber was last seen after she left the motel. Others say someone noticed her getting into the car.
The next day (August 19), Evangeline contacted Tootsie because Amber had not returned from Edmonton. The woman's mother immediately began to suspect that something bad might have happened. For she knew Amber would not have left her son long, especially with someone she had known recently. So Vivian reported her daughter to the Canadian police.
Unfortunately, this report was not taken seriously. Officers said Tuccaro was probably partying and will soon return to his son or contact loved ones. The days passed, and there was still no sign of Amber. However, the police still did not see anything suspicious in this and did not take any steps to find the woman. Investigators reportedly received information that the missing woman had been seen near Edmonton. Even if that was the case, the Canadian police failed to confirm it. It was easier for them to conclude that the problem was not solved and Amber escaped of her own accord.
The investigation began only on September 23, which is more than a month after the woman's disappearance. Meanwhile, it took the authorities four months to interrogate Vivian. It is worth adding that discrimination against indigenous people is quite common in Canada. Citizens of Indian origin are also much more likely to fall victim to crimes. This is especially true of women, many of whom are raped or murdered. Probably the policemen were prejudiced against Amber because of her origin, so they did not do their job. Another reason could be sheer incompetence and inexperience in handling this type of case.
It was also a very serious neglect of the investigators that Evangeline was reportedly never interrogated. It is so strange that the woman spent the last moments with Tuccaro before her disappearance and probably knew the most about her plans for the unlucky evening. Another failure of the RCMP (that is, the Canadian police) was the destruction of Amber's belongings before they were checked by investigators.
In 2019, police officials apologized to the Amber family for all their mistakes and omissions. The relatives, however, rejected these apologies because they felt that they were not sincere. They claimed that it was a play to the public.
On August 28, 2012, two years after Tuccaro's disappearance, a short excerpt from a telephone conversation was published. It lasts about a minute, although the conversation itself lasted about 17 minutes. During the recording, you can hear a terrified and nervous Amber talking to a man who agreed to drop her off in his car. The woman asks the man several times where he is taking her. She noticed that they were driving along side roads, not the highway, and in the wrong direction. Finally, the connection drops off unexpectedly.
Tootsie reportedly warned Amber about hitchhiking before. She once told her daughter to call someone and talk on the phone during a ride like this. Tuccaro obviously followed this advice. While driving from Nisku to Edmonton, she contacted her brother. He was in prison at the time, and every conversation was taped. If it were not for this, we would probably never know the course of events.
This recording was the first breakthrough in the case. It provided clear evidence that something had to happen to Tuccaro and that the perpetrator was most likely the driver who picked up the woman as a hitchhiker. Investigators decided to spread the conversation, hoping that someone would recognize the man's voice.
The most interesting thing is that three women reported to the police. They all named the same man as a suspect. However, the police ruled out that he was the perpetrator. It was another controversial behavior on their part. Among the Internet users interested in the case, there were voices that the alleged perpetrator actually repeatedly tried to use foreign women. However, some people were indignant that the police had waited so long to make the material available to the public.
Only four days after the recorded conversation was published, horse riders discovered a human skeleton and skull. It was on a country estate near Leduc (Alberta). These remains were quickly examined. It was established that it was the body of Amber Tuccaro.
The remains were found approximately 17 minutes' drive from the motel where the missing woman had left. Interestingly, the last Amber phone call lasted the same time. The woman is believed to have been killed shortly after the end of the call. The killer must have murdered her in or near his car and abandoned the body in the field.
The Amber family requested the exhumation of the woman's remains. The relatives wanted the tests repeated because they doubted whether the found body really belonged to Amber. The suspect was supposed to have a short time spent on identification and differences in dental records. After all the mistakes of the police, they had every right to doubt.
One of the obvious suspects seems to be the man named by the three women who heard the recording of the phone call. Given the number of mistakes made during the investigation, his exclusion by the police from among the potential perpetrators does not really mean much. At the same time, no evidence was found that would allow the man to be accused.
In January 2020, a man made several posts on social media. He wrote in them that his father (who lived in the Edmonton area) had murdered Amber Tuccaro, as well as several other women in Canada and the United States over the years. Relatives were to confirm that the voice on the recording was similar to the informant's father. The man passed the information on to the police. Investigators admitted, however, that it was a wrong report, and the man removed entries about the alleged perpetrator from social media.
The Tuccaro family speculates that Evangeline may have had something to do with Amber's death, or at least knew more than she revealed. However, it is likely that the woman lied about Tuccaro's return to the motel because she believed she would be there soon. She also knew that her friend's mother would panic if she found out about her daughter's disappearance.
Yet another theory is that a serial killer was responsible for Amber's death. Four women, who were also indigenous people of Canada, died in a similar way. They were all prostitutes.
Unfortunately, this puzzle still awaits a solution today. Had it not been for one of the worst investigations in Canadian police history, the matter might have been cleared up.
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