All About the Terrifying Abduction of Angela Marie Hammond

20-year-old Angela Marie Hammond grew up in the heart of Clinton, Missouri. She was an extrovert, happy-go-lucky, and looked forward to spending the rest of her life with her fiancé, 18-year-old Rob Shafer. The couple was preparing for the birth of their first child and gushed about their future together.

Then, on the night of April 4, 1991, a terrifying incident occurred and later shocked the community, leaving people wondering if a long-standing mystery would ever be solved.

While Angela was on her way home after dropping Rob off in front of his home, she stopped at a phone booth in the parking lot of a Food Barn grocery store and called Rob to tell him where she was. She noticed a man in a light green pickup truck circling the parking lot during the phone conversation. The man parked only a few feet away from the phone booth and exited his truck. Angela was worried and described the man as “dirty, bearded, and wearing overalls”. She also mentioned the truck as a “green late 1960s FORD model with a decal of a fish jumping out of water on the back window”.

The man began searching the interior of his truck with a flashlight, and Angela told Rob that he was “looking for something”. Initially, he appeared to be placing a call in the second phone booth, but he changed his mind and returned to his truck. Angela grew anxious as she described the man’s creepy behavior to Rob. Then, Rob told her to ask the man if he needed to use the phone. Although she was hesitant to follow Rob’s suggestion, she did, and the man answered, “No”.

Suddenly, Angela screamed into the phone receiver, and Rob sped to the Food Barn parking lot in his car. While diving, Rob noticed the same pickup truck Angela described during the phone call drive past him in the opposite direction. He heard Angela scream his name, and he made an abrupt U-turn to pursue the truck. Unfortunately, his transmission stopped working after a sharp turn, and he felt helpless as he watched the truck drive down the road and into the night.

Angela’s mother, Marsha Cook, was frantic and worried about her disappearance due to her pregnancy. She was four months pregnant, and her health may have been in danger. Tragically, she vanished without a trace, and her family received no answers to their questions. Her case ran cold despite the effort investigators made to retrace her steps.

Investigators focused on three other disappearances that occurred within an 80-mile radius of Clinton County and also a few months before Angela's abduction:

On January 19th, at around 10 p.m., 42-year-old Trudy Jean Blecher Darby, a former secretary of a public school, was working her shift at the K&D Country Corner Store in Camden County when she noticed a man standing outside. She phoned her son, Waylon Darby, and described the man’s suspicious behavior. Although she didn’t mention she was frightened or in danger, Waylon drove to the store.

Trudy had vanished without a trace before Waylon arrived, and the strange man was nowhere to be found. Waylon was alarmed that the store was left unattended and called the Camden County Sheriff’s Department. When trooper Jimmy Mays of the Missouri Highway Patrol searched the scene, he discovered that a car, coat, and purse had been left behind, and $200 was missing from the cash register.

Two days later, a concerned resident conducted his own investigation based on a neighbor’s claim of gunshots near the Little Niangua River. He discovered evidence of blond hair and other DNA on a road in the area and contacted the police. Mays and another officer observed the hair and a .38 caliber casing.

Trudy’s body was discovered in the river during an aerial search. Medical Examiner Dr. Jay Dix confirmed Trudy had been assaulted and shot twice at point-blank range with a shotgun.

In 1993, Jessie Rush revealed to his former neighbor, Carl Blakely, that he was involved in the abduction and murder of Trudy. Blakely informed Mays about the revelation. Jessie’s former girlfriend, Gretchen Chastain, also mentioned to Mays that Jessie told her about his involvment.

During an interview, which was conducted by Mays, Jessie initially denied he was present but then retracted his statement.

Jessie’s half-brother, Marvin Chaney, was implicated as the second suspect.

Chaney and Rush were convicted of first-degree murder and received life without parole. However, they were never connected to Angela’s disappearance.

30-year-old Cheryl Ann Kenney locked the doors of the Quality Convenience Store, which was located on Business Highway-71 in Nevada, Missouri, and disappeared on the night of February 27, 1991. Her car was discovered in the parking lot, but was cool to the touch—an indication her car was never moved after her shift. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Investigators theorized that as Cheryl walked to her car, she could have encountered a strange man who parked in front of the store, ran off, and then was abducted after the man gave chase.

On the night of August 21, 1991, in Galena, Cherokee County, Kansas, 18-year-old Karol Marlene Sullens headed home after working a shift at the Valley of the Dolls nightclub, where she was employed as an exotic dancer. She was last seen sitting with two dark-haired men in a pickup truck parked in front of the club. Also, $300 and a pile of Karol's clothing were found on the scene.

According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Don Davis and Donald Kidwell were the men identified as suspects in Karol’s disappearance. Davis claimed he and Kidwell were with Karol, and he drove her to a remote location. However, he never revealed her whereabouts or what occurred after she was dropped off.

Although investigators initially suspected the three cases were linked to Angela’s disappearance, no evidence has surfaced to validate their suspicion. Nor did the investigations result in a possible connection between all of the women.

Rob was considered a suspect due to his close relationship with Angela. However, although investigators were unable to verify his alibi, he was cleared of any wrongdoing one week later.

In 1991, an unconfirmed sighting surfaced in Canada. Russell Smith of Manitoba spotted a woman who resembled Angela leaving a drugstore. He was adamant about the woman’s identity and recognized her from a missing persons poster he saw while visiting family members in Urich, Missouri.

Investigators suspected two horrifying possible scenarios related to Angela’s disappearance:

Angela could have been mistaken for the daughter of a police informant who received a threatening letter, which referred to his daughter as “foxy”. The scenario is based on the report of an unidentified man who tirelessly harassed the informant. The letter was mailed the same night Angela’s abduction occurred.

On the other hand, Angela could have become a hostage in an extortion plot. She would have been held for ransom, and was transported to an undisclosed location not far from where she was abducted, if she were mistaken as the target’s daughter.

One horrific detail about Angela's case is that Rob overheard the man say, "I didn't need to use the phone anyway." Also, according to Rob, the line went dead as Angela screamed.

Sadly, Angela is still missing and is considered endangered. The man who abducted her hasn’t been identified, and his pickup truck hasn’t been traced. Also, no clues, sightings, or composite sketches have surfaced since Angela’s abduction.