Amber Wilde was a 19-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay working on becoming a pediatrician. Amber kept a detailed diary throughout her life and this chronicle is now giving the police hope that this case can be solved. Clues in this diary lead to a suspect, but 20 years have passed with no arrests. What happened to Amber and why does her aunt believe she’s buried somewhere under the asphalt of Hwy 29?
Wednesday, September 23, 1998:
Amber was in a minor car accident on her way to school. Amber had rear-ended the car in front of her. Although the accident was minimal, she hit her head hard on the windshield and complained of an intense headache. The drivers exchanged phone numbers and the day continued for both. Unfortunately, this would be Amber’s last day.
Amber checks in with the medical staff at the school and they advise her that she may have received a concussion. She called her father and relayed the events to him and he promised to call periodically throughout the day to check on her. The last call he received from her was around 7 pm. He was scheduled to call her first thing in the morning to make sure that she was feeling ok before she went to class.
That call went unanswered as well as several others. A worried father went to her apartment to check on her and although he found nothing obviously disturbing, he knew something was wrong. His daughter was pregnant and she had been having issues with the father of her child.
A few days pass without any word before the police found Amber’s abandoned car parked in the parking lot of Lambeau Field. Strangely, the car was unlocked, the phone was still charging on the front passenger seat, and her purse was locked in the trunk. Nothing looked odd or out of place until her father looked closer. Amber Wilde is reported as 5′ 2″ – 5′ 4″. (Some people fuss over this discrepancy, but as a short girl myself, I find my height determined by my stilettos.) The father noticed the drivers’ seat was pushed all the way back. There was no way his daughter could have driven the car with the seat in that position.
Was this a clue or was this an intentional diversion? To make things even worse, two days before her disappearance Amber’s car had been serviced and the mileage had been noted at that time. Now an extra 900 miles were on the odometer. Where had this car been?
In Amber’s diary, she outlined the love affair she had been having with a man named Schneider. When she became pregnant this narrative changed drastically. She began to document their phone conversations. Schneider didn’t want his fiancé or his family to find out about Amber and he didn’t want a baby. He even tried to convince her, according to Amber, to have an abortion. She refused. Could this be the motive behind Amber’s disappearance? Or, could she have run off to start a new life? Her family says it’s not possible and the police tend to agree.
When police interview Schneider he denies everything claiming that he never touched her. His fiancé claims Amber was nothing more than a love struck teenager that had an infatuation with her man. Unfortunately, the phone records indicate that there were over 60 phone calls between Schneider and Wilde. Was he fighting for his innocence against a determined teen, or was the love affair a reality?
When Crime Watch Daily approached Schneider about this case he refused to talk. I’m sure that’s what his attorneys want him to do. What I find even more disturbing about this case is the comments by online skeptics. Some vilify the man before he can be proven guilty, but most vilify the victim claiming she had no right to approach Schneider’s family. She was a teenager that had been in love with an older man. Was he promising her the world? Who knows? But, whatever the case may be, it is never acceptable to murder someone.
As with all my cases, if you have any information please contact the Green Bay Police Department (920) 448-3200.
Check Out Synova’s Chasing Justice Video On This Case: (New Episodes Premiere on Tuesday 7pm Central)
This blog post is an excerpt from Synova’s book: Snatched
Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)
Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer
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