Wednesday marked six days since 40-year-old Amber Manthorne from the Alberni Valley was last seen.
With police appealing again for information, a man, claiming to be Amber’s boyfriend, reached out to CHEK News. Though many believe he was the last to see Amber, he says he was not.
Search and rescue personnel are no longer searching the Cassidy area south of Nanaimo, but friends have plastered the area with posters as they hunt for Manthorne.
Neighbours, close to where her Jeep was found, say they are looking everywhere.
“Everybody is looking. We’ve checked all the buildings that a person could go into that you don’t go to regularly,” said Steve Stupich.
Manthorne’s 2021 Jeep Compass was found Friday afternoon on McGillivary Way near Nanaimo.
After she disappeared, police said she may have been with a man.
He was identified as Justin Hall, whom Manthorne had been dating for close to a year.
Though they had recently broken up, Manthorne told a friend on the phone she was going to see Hall Thursday night. Friends believe she left her home on Great Central Lake west of Port Alberni the night before her Jeep was found.
“She had a gift with her for him. She was planning to see him that night,” said Kristie St. Claire, a family friend.
Mounties found Hall earlier this week.
“Investigators are really not in a position to disclose the specifics about where he was located or when but we can say that we have been in contact with him and investigators have followed up with him so the search for Amber continues. We’ve closed that piece off and we continue to search for Amber,” said Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet of BC RCMP.
On Wednesday, CHEK News got a message from Hall’s email address.
“…I did not hurt my girlfriend. I do not know why she isn’t back home,” wrote Hall.
“After our argument, I panicked, and I just wanted to get away from everyone. I wasn’t able to contact anyone because I didn’t have a cell phone, and by the time I did it was too late, I was already guilty in your eyes.”
The email goes on to say, “I read a pamphlet that was posted around Nanaimo that I was the last person with Amber. That is not true. I spoke to the RCMP and told him what happened that night. I understand that everyone is very on edge but I am part of this too. I lost the only person that still had my back. I have been calling her cell just to hear her voice and then I cry till I have no tears left. I would give anything to get her in my arms.”
Those running the Facebook group Finding Amber Manthorne are organizing independent searches with police guidance as many want to get actively involved.
“They want to help they want to be part of the solution. They want to bring her home,” added St. Claire.
Police would like any dashcam video that may show Amber’s Jeep between last Thursday evening and when it was found Friday afternoon.
Kendall Hanson
