DNA evidence was crucial again.
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A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office task force arrested a husband and wife linked to the mysterious death of a young girl in central Alabama.
The case of the “Opelika Jane Doe” has garnered national attention, leaving investigators without answers for more than 11 years. The FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC, worked with local authorities to get leads on the case.
On Tuesday, members of JSO’s Community Problem Response Unit, known as CPR, received warrants from the Opelika Police Department for the arrest of Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff.
Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with aggravated child abuse and failure to report a missing child. Ruth Vickerstaff was charged with failure to report a missing child. Investigators said Ruth was not the child’s biological mother.
Detectives arrested Ruth Vickerstaff near her Northside home after pulling her over on a traffic stop. Her husband, Lamar Vickerstaff, turned himself in minutes later after someone drove him to the spot of the traffic stop.
“The concern is fight or flight at this point,” said Lt. Rickie Valentine, a JSO supervisor involved in the arrest. “We don’t know everything; is he going to go ahead and take that opportunity and just start on the run. Instead, he was with his friend, his friend drove him directly here. They came up to the stop sign exited, put his hands in the air walked out, we peacefully took him into custody, walk back, put him in a police car. She’s been secured.”
Officers booked both into the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Facility. Lamar Vickerstaff had been in the U.S. Navy, most recently stationed at Naval Station Mayport.
The I-TEAM learned he was the chief engineman on the missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham. He previously had been assigned in Norfolk and Hawaii. The I-TEAM learned he retired recently after Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, asked to speak with him on base at Mayport.
Opelika police said they found the body of a young girl, believed to be between the ages of 4 and 7, in January 2012, behind a mobile home park. Police suspect she was killed in 2010 or 2011, according to NCMEC.
According to an FBI bulletin, investigators believed the child had been abused and malnourished for years. They deduced she was blind in one eye due to possible physical abuse. Officers shared photographs of the girl’s shirt and a lock of her hair to attract tips.
No child had been reported missing in the area, so detectives had very little information to go on. Years later, they found pictures of an unidentified girl matching the description at a vacation bible school in the area. The images were taken in summer 2011, but no one from the school had information about the child’s identity or her parents. Opelika police hoped sharing the photos would bring them leads.
In December 2022, using DNA evidence, detectives tracked down who they believe to be the child’s mother, 37-year-old Sherry Wiggins, who lives in Maryland. Opelika police said Wiggins confirmed she gave birth to a baby named Amore Wiggins in 2006 and provided documentation that the Vickerstaffs had legal and physical custody of her daughter starting in 2009. She showed she paid child support to Lamar Vickerstaff since then. Officers thanked Wiggins for her help with the case.
Police said the Vickerstaffs never reported the girl missing and continued to collect child support from the girl’s mother for more than a decade.
Opelika police are asking anyone with information about the case or the Vickerstaffs to contact them immediately.
Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff made first appearance Wednesday afternoon on fugitive warrants. They were ordered held without bond pending an extradition hearing Feb. 17.
The I-TEAM reached out to a spokesperson for the FBI who confirmed they assisted, but deferred comment to Opelika police.
Jacksonville police arrest couple wanted in Alabama ‘Jane Doe’ murder
A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office task force arrested a husband and wife linked to the mysterious death of a young girl in central Alabama.
A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office task force arrested a husband and wife linked to the mysterious death of a young girl in central Alabama.
The case of the “Opelika Jane Doe” has garnered national attention, leaving investigators without answers for more than 11 years. The FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC, worked with local authorities to get leads on the case.
On Tuesday, members of JSO’s Community Problem Response Unit, known as CPR, received warrants from the Opelika Police Department for the arrest of Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff.
Lamar Vickerstaff was charged with aggravated child abuse and failure to report a missing child. Ruth Vickerstaff was charged with failure to report a missing child. Investigators said Ruth was not the child’s biological mother.
Detectives arrested Ruth Vickerstaff near her Northside home after pulling her over on a traffic stop. Her husband, Lamar Vickerstaff, turned himself in minutes later after someone drove him to the spot of the traffic stop.
“The concern is fight or flight at this point,” said Lt. Rickie Valentine, a JSO supervisor involved in the arrest. “We don’t know everything; is he going to go ahead and take that opportunity and just start on the run. Instead, he was with his friend, his friend drove him directly here. They came up to the stop sign exited, put his hands in the air walked out, we peacefully took him into custody, walk back, put him in a police car. She’s been secured.”
Officers booked both into the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Facility. Lamar Vickerstaff had been in the U.S. Navy, most recently stationed at Naval Station Mayport.
The I-TEAM learned he was the chief engineman on the missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham. He previously had been assigned in Norfolk and Hawaii. The I-TEAM learned he retired recently after Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, asked to speak with him on base at Mayport.
Opelika police said they found the body of a young girl, believed to be between the ages of 4 and 7, in January 2012, behind a mobile home park. Police suspect she was killed in 2010 or 2011, according to NCMEC.
According to an FBI bulletin, investigators believed the child had been abused and malnourished for years. They deduced she was blind in one eye due to possible physical abuse. Officers shared photographs of the girl’s shirt and a lock of her hair to attract tips.
No child had been reported missing in the area, so detectives had very little information to go on. Years later, they found pictures of an unidentified girl matching the description at a vacation bible school in the area. The images were taken in summer 2011, but no one from the school had information about the child’s identity or her parents. Opelika police hoped sharing the photos would bring them leads.
In December 2022, using DNA evidence, detectives tracked down who they believe to be the child’s mother, 37-year-old Sherry Wiggins, who lives in Maryland. Opelika police said Wiggins confirmed she gave birth to a baby named Amore Wiggins in 2006 and provided documentation that the Vickerstaffs had legal and physical custody of her daughter starting in 2009. She showed she paid child support to Lamar Vickerstaff since then. Officers thanked Wiggins for her help with the case.
Police said the Vickerstaffs never reported the girl missing and continued to collect child support from the girl’s mother for more than a decade.
Opelika police are asking anyone with information about the case or the Vickerstaffs to contact them immediately.
Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff made first appearance Wednesday afternoon on fugitive warrants. They were ordered held without bond pending an extradition hearing Feb. 17.
The I-TEAM reached out to a spokesperson for the FBI who confirmed they assisted, but deferred comment to Opelika police.
