Summary
Overview
Crime Junkie hosts Ashley Flowers and Britt investigate the tragic case of Amanda Winkowski, a 20-year-old who disappeared in December 2008 after being dropped off at a house in Buffalo, New York. Her mother Leslie camped outside the house for a month before Amanda's frozen body was discovered across the street. Despite two conflicting autopsy results and DNA evidence linking suspects, the case remains unsolved, highlighting systemic failures in investigating crimes involving vulnerable victims and the limitations of legal statutes.
Amanda's Disappearance and Leslie's Desperate Search
When Leslie Brill Messeroll stopped hearing from her daughter Amanda in December 2008, she tracked her to the home of 42-year-old Adam Patterson. Finding Amanda's belongings but no Amanda, Leslie forced Adam to show her where he'd last seen her daughter—a house on Spring Street owned by Antoine Gardner. Despite police checking the house, Leslie's instincts told her Amanda was there, leading her to camp outside in her yellow Monte Carlo for weeks in freezing Buffalo weather.
- Leslie hadn't heard from Amanda, who normally called every day, and found her belongings at Adam Patterson's house on December 7th
- Adam claimed he dropped Amanda at a house in Buffalo on December 5th and she never returned to his car after two hours
- Leslie saw Amanda's purse, makeup bag, and phone charger at Adam's house, contradicting his story
- Buffalo PD searched Antoine Gardner's Spring Street house but claimed they found nothing
- Leslie began staking out Antoine's house, spending weeks sleeping in her car watching for any sign of Amanda
" And this story today begs the question, what would you do if you knew your missing daughter went into a house and never came out? Would you camp out in front of it all day and night, refuse to leave? "
" On the very night she left, her daughter's frozen body turned up just yards from where she had been camped out. Is that a coincidence? I think not. "
The Discovery of Amanda's Body
On January 9th, 2009, the first morning Leslie wasn't watching the house due to starting a new job, Amanda's body was discovered. She was found frozen and naked, head-first in a residential garbage bin in an alcove across from Antoine's house—the very area Leslie had been watching. The timing and location raised immediate suspicions, especially since a BOLO had been issued for that specific trash can days earlier.
- Amanda's body was found on the first day Leslie left her stakeout to attend job training
- The body was discovered frozen and naked, head-first in a garbage bin directly across from Antoine Gardner's house
- A BOLO for the specific garbage bin had been issued on January 5th, four days before the body was found
- No wheel tracks or footprints led to the bin, suggesting it was placed before morning snow, likely when Leslie had gone home
" Buffalo PD had found Amanda's body. It was in this snowy alcove of the church that was directly across the street from Antoine's house. Leslie finds out that Amanda was frozen and naked head first in a residential garbage bin. "
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