Missing / Located Persons > Rocky Mountain: CO, MT, UT, and WY
Missing Woman: Amy Ahonen--CO--07/08/2011
LoriDavis:
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2012/08/21/ile_camera/localnews/doc502d5fa31e0c4646835199.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Around Downriver: Taylor family continues search for missing woman
Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2012
By Shannon Rossi
Heritage Media
Amy Ahonen was last seen July 8, 2011 — one day before her 38th birthday — at her home just outside Denver.
More than a year later, police have no clues about her disappearance, but her family isn’t giving up hope.
The Taylor native has four siblings, Andrea, Annette, Andrew and Alison, as well as her parents, still living in the Downriver area.
She graduated from Kennedy High School in Taylor and attended Eastern Michigan University to pursue a degree in interior design.
After college, Amy moved with her high school sweetheart to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he attended school.
“They moved to Fort Meyers, Fla. where they got married,” said Amy’s sister, Annette Ahonen of Southgate.
Amy was working at a successful interior design firm in Florida when she and her husband visited friends in Denver.
“She just fell in love with Denver,” Ahonen said. “She’s been living there for about five years.”
Not long after moving to Denver, Amy and her husband divorced and he moved back to Florida.
While living in Colorado, Amy got involved in many activities, such as curling and hockey, went out with a group to watch Red Wings hockey games and attended church regularly.
“Amy is really just like our mom,” Ahonen said. “She’s so giving and always thinks of others before herself. Amy is very social. She has so many friends in Denver, who all came together because of her.”
Amy has been missing now for more than a year. Her family first had a suspicion that something might be amiss when they called Amy to wish her a happy birthday on July 9, 2011.
“We’re all out here in Michigan. We started to worry when we called and texted Amy for her birthday and there was no answer from her,” Ahonen said.
“Our mom called me and asked if I’d heard from Amy, because she couldn’t get through.”
Though the Ahonen family left voicemails and text messages for Amy, they never received a response from her. Ahonen had the phone number of one of Amy’s friends who was staying with her at the time, having just moved from Florida to Colorado.
“At the time, Amy’s friend just kind of brushed it off,” she said. “She said she was sure nothing was wrong, that Amy would call the next day. I relayed the information to my mom, but I still could sense the worry in her voice.”
The next day, July 10, Amy’s friend called Ahonen to let her know that Amy still had not come home. She was reported missing that day.
“My oldest sister Andrea and I were the first to find out that Amy was missing,” Ahonen said. “We kind of hesitated for a little while before telling our parents, but then finally we had no choice but to tell them.”
The whole family called off work that day and spent their time at Andrea Ahonen’s home monitoring the phone and computer for any information on where Amy might be. They talked with police officers and detectives in Denver.
“It was hard because we’re here in Michigan,” Ahonen said.
Later that day, Amy’s Jeep was found abandoned on the side of Highway 6, which enters a scenic mountainous area. Her car was unlocked and contained her purse, keys and other personal items.
“That was so out of the ordinary for Amy,” she said. “Our dad has always been adamant that we lock our cars.”
Though police originally worried that Amy might have gone into the river in Clear Creek Canyon, divers, helicopters and other searches turned up no trace of her. Investigators still haven’t found anything.
“They have no leads. No one has found anything, not a piece of clothing, not a sandal, nothing,” Ahonen said.
For the past year, the Ahonen family has spent holidays and birthdays without their beloved sister and daughter. Ahonen’s mother just celebrated a birthday July 23, the second birthday she’s had since Amy’s disappearance.
“Christmas was somber,” Ahonen said. “It was a holiday that Amy always came home for. There are kids in the family, so we had to appear upbeat, but it was very hard.”
Amy’s family and friends remain dedicated to the search for her.
“Amy is on our minds every day,” her sister said.
Her many friends in the Denver area still have missing posters featuring Amy’s picture and information in coffee shops, in order to keep her face in people’s minds.
The family recently traveled to Denver for prayer service at the church Amy attended. They met with detectives who have been working on the case and were given the chance to say what they needed to say and ask questions.
“There are still no leads in Amy’s case. But I think it was reassuring to talk with the detectives in person, rather than on the phone,” Ahonen said.
The family was in Denver for Amy’s 39th birthday.
“We took my parents to a lot of places that Amy would have loved to visit with them,” she said.
When the Ahonens were in Colorado, the local news aired stories updating Amy’s case and putting her face back in the public eye to remind people that she is still missing.
Friends and family are holding fundraisers in Michigan, Florida and Colorado to raise money to hire a private investigator to search for Amy.
“We’re hoping that a private investigator could take a different angle and look into things that the police couldn’t,” Ahonen said.
There also is a Facebook page, Find Amy Ahonen, dedicated to sharing memories of Amy and raising awareness about her case. Information can be found at www.findamy.org.
“I really have no idea what happened,” Ahonen said. “I know Amy better than almost anyone. She would never have hurt herself, because she’d be too worried about how it would affect the family. And she would never just leave, never just walk away.”
The longer Amy is missing, the harder it is for her family, but they said they remain hopeful that she’ll be found.
“When I’m missing her, posting on the Facebook page helps me to talk about my feelings,” her sister said. “I don’t know if Amy can see the page, but it almost feels like I’m talking to Amy.”
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page
Go to full version