A 5 year old girl's body is found 28 miles north of where she vanished Amanda Marie Dougherty, a lovely 5-year-old Caucasian girl known to her family as “Mandy,” lived with her parents and young brother in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In the early morning hours of September 22, 1994, Mandy vanished from her home. Her father had last seen her asleep in her bed around midnight. When he went to wake her at about 6 a.m., he discovered her bed was empty. The family’s two pit bull dogs, known to be protective, had been in the house all night but had not barked or made any noise. Investigators found no signs of a break-in or forced entry, deepening the mystery of how the little girl was taken from her room while her family slept nearby.
A few days later, Mandy’s small, nude body was discovered in a shallow waterway in Palm Beach County. An examination determined she had been strangled with a wire that was found twisted around her neck. Investigators believed she had been killed shortly after she disappeared.
Her body was so decomposed from the time in the water that her father was unable to make a visual identification. Officials ultimately had to use an X-ray taken two years prior to positively identify her remains.
The circumstances of Mandy’s abduction led police to conclude that her killer was likely someone who knew her and her family. The absence of a forced entry and the silence of the family’s dogs suggested the perpetrator was familiar with the house layout and was comfortable around the animals. Despite this working theory, the investigation never led to a suspect.
No one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Amanda Dougherty. Her case grew cold over the years and remains unsolved.
