boyfriend sees abducted girlfriend in truck, his car breaks down in pursuit

[KesslerGrey]

There was an episode that originally aired years ago about a guy whose girlfriend was abducted outside of her job while she was talking to him on a payphone. He tried driving there and actually saw her speeding by him in the back of the abductors vehicle, he did something to stop and turn around to follow them that ultimately caused his car to break down and end his pursuit. When did this episode air, does anyone know any info, updates, the individuals names, location, etc.

[Lou]

I remember that story. A witness saw a blue pickup truck with some type of mural across the back window. I used to love the show when it was on prime time tv, and now I watch it on Lifetime. Is there anywhere to get updates on the old stories?

[Kane]

The crime in question occured in Clinton, MO in 1991. Unsolved Mysteries first aired that segment sometime during the 1991-92 season (probably in early 1992). The kidnapping is believed to connected to several other kidnappings in the area (in one of these cases, a kidnapping victim turned up dead). No update has ever been given, indicating that the case has yet to be solved.

[dynoguy88]

Kane is right. And the girls name was Angela Hammond, known to all her friends as Angie. She was abducted while talking to her boyfriend Rob on a pay phone. She gave the description of the kidnapper and how he was driving an old pick up truck that had a decal on the back window of a fish jumping out of water.

When he drove to go find her, and the pick up truck passed, he turned the car around, but it was such an old station wagon that he damaged the transmition when he threw it into reverse. Eventually, the car gave out and the kidnapper got away with Angie.

You really have to feel sorry for that Rob guy. If it wasn't for his old car, he could easily have chased the guy down and Angie would be saved. Very sad.

[Kane]

That's right. I forgot her name for a while. I thought her name was Kelly, but now I remember it was Angela Hammond. Sadly, there has been no update on her disappearance, which pretty much indicates that she remains missing :(

[Ninjaman]

This is an old post, but perhaps it's good to revive discussion on some of these older cases. With regard to the Angela Hammond case in Clinton, MO, I think it was dynoguy88 who said that if it weren't for his old car breaking down, he could have easily chased the man down and saved Angela. I guess I wouldn't be so quick to say that. Who knows what would have happened. What could he do against the abductor? He could have fought him, sure, but as we don't know what weapons the mysterious man had at his disposal, the situation could have turned out to much more grisly. Above all, everything is purely speculative with regard to this case, as there was even some doubt about whether the boyfriend was telling the truth about what happened.

[U.M. Fanatic]

I have firmly believed that the maniac that kidnapped Angela Hammond would've also done harm to her boyfriend, if he had caught up with them. I just cant see him stopping the attacker by himself, because the perp showed he REALLY wanted to take Angela. There's no telling what he would have done to her boyfriend if they had met face to face.


I seem to recall other posters saying that an executed serial killer, Kenneth Allen McDuff, had something to do with her disapperance. I just wonder if he ever confessed to her kidnapping. If not, theres probably no telling where he disposed of her. :(

[Kane]

I seem to recall other posters saying that an executed serial killer, Kenneth Allen McDuff, had something to do with her disapperance. I just wonder if he ever confessed to her kidnapping. If not, theres probably no telling where he disposed of her. :(

Well, my understanding is that Kenneth McDuff was a person of interest, but I don't think he was ever officially declared a suspect in the case. He reportedly confessed to about eight murders, all of which were Texas killings (including three teenagers in 1966, and five women during the early 1990s). However, the cops haven't ruled out the possibility that he had killed others. Some believe he killed as many as 14 people. But now that he is dead, the exact number will never be known.

However, it's not unusual to never know the actual number of a serial killer's murders. For example, Ted Bundy admitted to as many as 30 murders, even though he was convicted of no fewer than 23 killings. Also, Henry Lee Lucas, confessed to literally hundreds of murders, but cops believe his actual body count was far less than that (perhaps only ten murders).

[justins5256]

Geeze, considering the number of times this is asked, they ought to put this question and answer on the top of the front page or in an FAQ or something. :rolleyes:

What do you say TJ?

Justin

[U.M. Fanatic]

This doesn't get asked any more often than Cindy James or the Wackers or Tara Calico or any of the hundreds of ghost stories, etc, etc, etc. I do agree however that until there is a more convenient way to see a complete list of the most popular cases, like a FAQ, then this is the only way to talk about these cases.

[Awsi Dooger]

I don't know why everyone is skeptical the boyfriend could have done any good. What's the expression, love conquers all? He could easily have knocked the car off the road, or drawn enough attention for a police officer or someone else to join in the chase. Remember, the driver had two preoccupations if there was an extended chase; keeping Angela in check and eluding the boyfriend. The boyfriend merely had to pursue. And decide on a course of action, of course.

Also, it wasn't necesarily an old car that doomed the boyfriend's chase. He flipped it into reverse while going forward. That can derail even modern so-called luxury vehicles, at least temporarily. Believe me, I know from experience. I have the bottom end model of one so-called luxury line. Last year I got cute and tried to coast down a mountain on a freeway in California. I overshot the neutral setting and slipped into reverse for maybe a second. That shocked the electronic system to the point I had no power, no power steering, no dashboard settings and everything generally went haywire. I was lucky to coast to a stop. The car started fine after that. I guess Angela's boyfriend wasn't as fortunate.

[Ninjaman]

I was just being practical with my comment about the boyfriend. Sure, it's possible that he could have ended up doing some good by chasing the other vehicle. However, there are a whole lot of other variables. For example, we don't know how much fuel was in either one of the vehicles. If they kept driving, one of them would eventually run out of gas. That would affect the outcome greatly. Since this took place quite awhile ago, the boyfriend wouldn't have had access to a cell phone in order to call the police. All I was getting at was the fact that we just don't know. As far as "love conquers all", it's a nice sentiment, and I wish that real life were as simple as a superhero movie. However, it is not.

[Blackout]

i never really baught the boyfriends story, i wouldnt be surprised if he "had something to do with it", if you know what I mean

of all the times for his car to break down :crazy:

[dynoguy88]

i never really baught the boyfriends story, i wouldnt be surprised if he "had something to do with it", if you know what I mean

of all the times for his car to break down :crazy:


Nah. I really don't think the boyfriend did it. I would think telephone records to his house would prove that Angie really called that evening. Plus the fact that his car was really damaged (from throwing it into reverse while going forward which really destroyed the transmission) would also verify his story.

If he reallly killed her, where would he have dumped her body? He never left town the day she was abducted so surely her body would have been found when the search party checked everywhere. And besides, what would the motive be?

He seemed devasted while being interviewed, trying to hold back his tears. He would have to be a hell of an actor if he really did away with her. You can usually tell when UM "interviewies" are guilty as sin, but Angie's boyfriend never came accross that way to me.

[Blackout]

did they indeed have the telephone records?? if so, then i retract my statement

[crystaldawn]

I always believed the boyfriend's story. I don't remember them saying on the segment, but where there any witnesses to the abduction or the brief chase? According to the reenactment it seemed to happen in downtown Clinton and you would have thought someone would have witnessed either one to help corroborate the boyfriends story.

[Ninjaman]

Does anyone have this segment on tape? If so, maybe they could verify whether or not there was any discussion about phone records in the segment? It has been a long time since I've seen this one, but I think I vaguely remember them saying something about phone records. If there were such records, I also believe that this would exonerate the boyfriend.

[dynoguy88]

I'm pretty sure Rob was already cleared as a suspect.

I have this segment on tape and I don't believe they even mentioned the telephone records. I just assumed the police would have checked them to clear him as a suspect right away. It's just common sense. Also, Rob was babysitting his little brother when Angie called him that night. I'm sure he could coroborate that Rob recieved the phone call, heard Angie scream, dropped the phone and ran out of the house to his car like the segment said.

The segment said he became a suspect at first because there were no witnesses who saw the chase. But if the segment was perfect in their recreation, you can tell all those down town buildings were closed, so there obviously wouldn't have been many people around. I've visited small towns that are similiar in size to Clinton. All of the down town businesses and restaraunts are usually closed before it's even dark, especially on weekends. Angie's kidnapping took place late at night so I can see how there wouldn't have been many people around.

Why Unsolved Mysteries never mentioned the things that could clear Rob (the broken car, the telephone records, the brother, etc) is beyond me. I guess it's not impossible, I just find it highly unlikely that he could have done the deed. Remember, Rob and Angie went to a barbecue that evening, so I would assume there would be plenty of witnesses who could back that up. He then had to be home to babysit his brother. There was simply no time for him to have killed her but if he did, she surely she would have been found by now because he wouldn't have made it very far.

[Ninjaman]

I think you're right, dynoguy. We have to remember that UM recreations, while trying to give an accurate picture of the events, are also made by people who, in the back of their minds, realize that they need to make the show entertaining. Therefore, it's really easy to understand why they may not wish to give away too much information. If there would be ANY doubt at all that Rob was telling the truth, I'm sure that Unsolved would jump all over it. If he were a serious suspect, I think they would have made a bigger deal out of the accusation. Think about the case of Paul Pollis. Technically, there was no evidence to charge him with a crime, but the UM segment basically said that he was guilty.

[crystaldawn]

Another thing to bear in mind with these UM stories is that some details are left out on purpose. I have the "Live from the Telecenter" broadcast and they were going behind the scenes at the telecenter. They said that 2 or 3 key details are left out of every case so as to better tell if information they receive from the calls is legitimate. I suppose they see if anyone who calls in would know those details that UM purposely left out. Which makes me wonder what the key details are they leave out of all of these stories.