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Lavinia Thompson

Amber Waterman: couple charged in relation to kidnapping and murder of pregnant woman to steal baby

2022-11-24

Police arrested a couple on Nov. 4, 2022 for abducting and murdering a pregnant woman in order to steal her baby, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement from the Western Missouri District Attorney’s office.

The statement explains that between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 2022, 42-year-old Amber Waterman kidnapped Ashley Bush, who was 31 weeks pregnant. Law and Crime reports that Bush was 33-years-old.

The criminal complaint details how on Oct. 31, at about 6:30 p.m., Bush was reported missing by her fiance, Joshua Willis. He told police that on Oct. 28, he and Bush met a woman who went by the name “Lucy” at the public library in Gravette, Arkansas, the complaint says. Bush and “Lucy” discussed employment opportunities at a company called Conduent, the complaint says. Law and Crime reports that Bush and “Lucy” had met online while Bush was seeking work-from-home opportunities.

Willis told police he recalled Lucy driving an older, tan pickup truck, according to the complaint.

Later that evening, “Lucy” messaged Bush with a request to meet her supervisor with Conduent in Bentonville, Arkansas on Monday, Oct. 31, at 9:00 a.m., the complaint says. The DOJ adds that “Lucy” later messaged Bush again that night at about 11:00 p.m. to tell Bush they would meet at the Handi-Stop convenience store in Maysville, Arkansas on Oct. 31 to meet the supervisor.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4HhSDV_0jHvcfFJ00
Amber WatermanPhoto byMcdonald County Detention Center

Willis drove his fiancée to the store where they met “Lucy”, and he noted that “Lucy” was driving the same tan pickup truck he’d seen at the library, the complaint says.

At about 3:00 p.m., Willis received a message from Bush informing him she was in Gravette, Arkansas, on her way to the store where he was to pick her up, the complaint says.

He told police that while he was waiting for his fiancée, he saw the same tan pickup truck drive past the store, turn on Highway 43 and head north, noting that “Lucy” was driving with Bush in the passenger seat, the complaint says. Willis added that he tried calling Bush but her phone went straight to voicemail, the complaint says.

When Willis met Benton County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) detectives on Nov. 1, he told them he found Bush’s phone on the side of Highway 43, then rode with detectives to the location, the complaint says. Detectives retrieved the phone, gaining access with the passcode Willis gave them, the complaint says.

On the phone, detectives found “Lucy’s” Facebook account, seemingly created on Oct. 25, 2022 under the name “Lucy Barrows”, which had a public post offering to get rid of “a bunch of baby items if any moms need them”, the complaint says.

Upon returning Willis to the store, a witness approached the detective, and said on Oct. 31, he and another man were traveling south on Highway 43 when they saw a man driving north throw a red and black cell phone from the vehicle window, the complaint says. The detective confirmed with both witnesses that the truck they saw was a blue or light gray Chevrolet pickup truck, the complaint says.

The phone soon gave up the truth of what happened that day, as the complaint explains how the BCSO received records from Facebook, which revealed that the “Lucy Barrows” account was, indeed, created on Oct. 25, 2022, at 10:45 p.m. The detective traced the IP address to a man named Jamie Waterman, residing in Pineville, Missouri, the complaint says.

While reviewing records and the recovered phone, another detective compiled a timeline of events based on Bush’s Google Maps account, the complaint says. The phone recorded travel from Gravette to Maysville at 11:07 a.m. on Oct. 31, then left the Maysville area at about 11:41 a.m., returning to Maysville at about 6:51 p.m., the complaint says.

Bush’s Gmail account also revealed that her phone left Maysville, Arkansas and traveled to an area near Pineville, Missouri, at 1:09 p.m., the complaint says. Between 1:09 p.m. and 1:28 p.m., Bush’s phone was near Laughlin Ridge Road in Pineville approximately .15 miles from the Waterman residence, the complaint adds.

On Nov. 1, 2022, BCSO detectives paired with detectives from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Missouri to travel to the Waterman residence, the complaint says.

The couple granted consent for the detectives to search the residence and outbuildings, during which time one detective noted a tan Chevrolet pickup truck which matched the description Willis said “Lucy” had been driving, the complaint says. The detective spotted what he thought to be blood stains on the center console, steering wheel, and headliner in the truck’s interior, the complaint says.

Amber Waterman claimed that on Oct. 31, she had been at the residence all day with her son and her husband’s cousin’s daughter, then went into labor later that afternoon, the complaint says. Amber had the woman call 911, then they drove to meet the ambulance at a store in Mcdonald County, the complaint says.

Amber claimed to have given birth to a stillborn child that evening, and when the detective asked if he could see her phone, she claimed she lost it, the complaint says.

As for the tan pickup truck, Amber claimed she was the only person with keys to the vehicle, the complaint says. She also told a detective she didn’t know Bush, but she knew “Lucy” from when they previously worked at Walmart, the complaint continues, though Amber said they weren’t close and she had last seen “Lucy” a few weeks before in a store.

Upon talking to Jamie Waterman, Amber’s story began to unravel, as he told a detective that he went to work on Oct. 31 at 6:00 a.m., and when he came home for lunch at noon, the tan truck was not there, and no one was home, the complaint says. He drove the blue GMC pickup truck that day and returned to work, though at 4:30 p.m., Amber called him and said she was having a miscarriage, the complaint says.

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Jamie WatermanPhoto byMcdonald County Detention Center

Jamie returned home to take Amber and the two children to the store to meet an ambulance, and he denied having any knowledge of Bush’s case, the complaint says.

The tan pickup truck was seized due to the potential presence of blood during this search, and on Nov. 3, 2022, MCSO and BCSO detectives returned with the FBI and a search warrant for the residence, the complaint says.

Jamie was interviewed again at his workplace, where he said that he saw the blood inside the truck on the evening of Oct. 31, but assumed it had been from Amber’s miscarriage and pregnancy complications, though he added that Amber never revealed where the blood came from, the complaint says.

After she cleaned the blood from the truck, she burned the rags she’d used in a burn barrel in front of the home, to which Jamie added trash from the residence, the complaint says.

Jamie also admitted that on Nov. 2 when detectives initially came to the home, he knew of Bush’s disappearance, yet claimed it was because of social media coverage, the complaint says. Jamie explained that it wasn’t until detectives left at 5:00 a.m. on Nov. 2 that Amber admitted to him she killed Bush, quickly changing the story to pin the murder on “Lucy”, the complaint says.

Amber led Jamie to Bush’s body at about 6:30 a.m., he said, describing the body as fully clothed, covered in a blue tarp, and lying face-down beside a boat adjacent to the house, the complaint says. Amber allegedly dragged the body on the tarp to a fire pit behind the residence and asked Jamie to get some gasoline, the complaint says.

Jamie described how he retrieved a gallon of chainsaw bar oil, and Amber allegedly lit the tarp, poured about a third of the oil over the body, and collected wood to add to the fire, the complaint says.

Jamie added that he dragged a small sofa next to the fire and thought that Amber added that to the flames, too, the complaint says. The fire burned for about an hour, he said, after which Amber doused it with water from the garden hose and allegedly told Jamie to pull the body from the pile, the complaint says.

He stated the body was still very hot, so he got another tarp and wrapped the body into it, then moved it into the bed of his blue pickup truck, the complaint says. The couple allegedly drove the body a short distance away from the residence, due to his truck’s transmission problems, then placed the body on the ground and removed the tarp, which Amber later allegedly burned, the complaint says.

Jamie led agents and detectives to where he and Amber had left Bush’s body, which was still there, the complaint says, adding that a charred human hand and bone fragments were also found in the burn pile.

The DOJ statement says that Amber Waterman has been charged with one count of kidnapping resulting in death, while Jamie is charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death.

On Nov. 16, 2022 in Arkansas, both Watermans were indicted by a federal grand jury for the charges, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Amber has also been charged with two counts of capital murder and kidnapping, the Gazette says. The body of the infant, Valkyrie Grace, was found in a different location in Missouri, the Gazette says, citing court documents.

Law and Crime reports that the local prosecutor plans on seeking the death penalty against Amber.

“People do evil things. And that someone would prey upon a pregnant woman at her most vulnerable state is unimaginable but unfortunately that’s the world we live in,” Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said during a Nov. 3 press release.

There is no evidence Jamie participated in the murder itself, the Gazette says. Amber’s next court date is Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Benton County, the Gazette says, adding that the Watermans are being held without bond in the Greene County jail in Springfield, Missouri.

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