Crime & Safety

Pinole Police Reopen Amber Swartz Case

The announcement comes less than a month after an online petition asked the police to keep searching for the girl who disappeared in 1988.

The Pinole Police Department said Tuesday it is reopening the case of a girl who has been missing since she vanished while jumping rope in her front yard 25 years ago.

The move comes four years after police declared Amber Swartz’ disappearance solved following the jailhouse confession of a convicted child molester and murderer who said he kidnapped and killed the seven-year-old in 1988 and then buried her body outside of Benson, AZ. But Curtis Dean Anderson died shortly after confessing and Amber’s body has never been found.

“Since the formal closure of the case in 2009, the Pinole Police Department has continued to follow up on information provided to the agency in an effort to recover Amber Swartz. In spite of those efforts, Amber has not been found. It is hoped that opening the case will encourage information exchange regarding the case and to generate information that might lead to the recovery of Amber Swartz,” the police department announced in a press release.

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A petition on Change.org asking the police department to reopen Amber’s case has recently garnered more than 1,200 signatures.

The Pinole Police Department is asking that anyone with information regarding Amber’s disappearance, or location is encouraged to call 510-724-8950.

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