Unsolved: The Amanda Tusing Case.
On June 14th, 2000, Amanda Tusing (21) was headed back to her home after spending a good portion of the night with her fiance, Matt Ervin, at his apartment in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She lived in another city called Dell, Arkansas with her parents. It was around 11:30pm when Matt told her to call him when she got home safely and she began to make the 40 mile drive back home on Highway 18. Two hours passed without Amanda calling Matt so he called her parents to ask about her. Matt and her parents realized that Amanda never made it home and was missing.
Amanda’s father, Ed, immediately jumped in his car from Dell while Matt jumped in his car from Jonesboro. Both men drove toward Highway 18, the route Amanda would have been traveling on. Amanda’s car was found halfway between Jonesboro and Dell. She had pulled off into an area around houses and under a street light. When they approached the car, the keys were still in the ignition. It appeared as if her car was turned off abruptly in the middle of her windshield wipers swiping across the windshield. Her dead cell phone was found in the passenger seat and there was a Coke can sitting in the drink holder that was still cold. Matt turned the car on to see if anything was wrong with the car where Amanda could have wandered off to find help, but everything appeared to be in perfect condition.
Police showed up and processed the vehicle for forensic analysis. Partial fingerprints and a few traces of hair were found, but they were just too inconsistent to make a positive identification.
3 days after Amanda vanished, hunters were in an area known as Big Bay Ditch, 12 miles away from where her car was found near Lake City. It had been raining heavily and the ditches in the area were flooded with water. As the hunter passed by one of the ditches, he found Amanda’s body face down in the water. Police assessed the scene and weren’t able to find any signs of trauma to her body, even scratches and bruises.
Her fiance was brought in for questioning three separate times and given a polygraph. He was the only person of interest that police had, but he passed the polygraph and maintained a solid story. The FBI joined Amanda’s case and developed a profile of the killer; around 50 years old, a white male, lived close to where the body was found, and possibly a serial killer who has done this before.
A medical examiner could not find any cause of death. They couldn’t conclude that Amanda had been suffocated, but they also couldn’t confirm that she had drowned because was absolutely no water in her lungs. The only water that was found was in her nasal passage which made police believe she was tossed into the water after death. The medical examination also determined that there was no sign of a sexual assault.
A very popular theory connected to Amanda’s case came from Amanda’s parents. Growing up, they always taught her to pull over into a well populated, lit area if she was being pulled over by a police officer. Everything within her car was untouched and it seemed as if she willingly got out of her car quickly. Therefore, her parents believe that Amanda may have fallen victim to a police officer or someone impersonating one. Other people believe that Amanda could have given her trust to someone else who is deemed easily trustworthy such as, the elderly, a child, a military member, or people who appear wounded. Everyone who lived in the area where Amanda’s body was found willingly took polygraph tests and passed.
In 2001, Unsolved Mysteries attempted to cover Amanda’s case. They reached out to Matt Ervin to participate in the segment, but Matt denied their request for an in person interview. Due to Matt refusing to talk, her case was never aired.
Anyone with information about Amanda Tusing should contact the Craighead County Sheriff's Department at (870)-933-4551.
