Post by CrepedCrusader on Jun 16, 2020 22:01:10 GMT
Amber Creek was born July 2, 1984, and was raised in the Chicago suburb of Palatine, Illinois. Amber Creek was sexually abused at a young age, which resulted in her being taken away from her mother and placed in her father's care. She was described as a "normal" girl until mid-1996, when her behavior changed. Shortly after graduating from junior high, she began suffering from bouts of depression, and started abusing alcohol and drugs. It was rumored that she may have engaged in prostitution to make money. She was also a frequent runaway. At some point, Amber's father took her to a police station and requested that she be removed from his custody. After unsuccessful attempts to place her in foster care, Amber was placed in a group home.
On January 23, 1997, Amber ran away from a Chicago juvenile shelter. It took the Department of Child and Family Services five weeks to report her missing. She was last seen at a two-day party at a Motel 6 in suburban Rolling Meadows in early February. Amber left the party with two men, and was never seen alive again.
On February 9, 1997, a girl's body was found by hunters in a nature reserve near Burlington, Wisconsin. She'd been raped and beaten, and she'd been bitten on the neck. Her cause of death was asphyxiation caused by a plastic bag being wrapped around her head. A bookstore receipt was stuck to one hand, and the word "hi" was written in black ink on the other. Unable to identify the girl, she was buried as a Jane Doe, her tombstone provided thanks to money raised by Racine County residents. About 100 local residents attended the funeral, with sheriff's deputies acting as pallbearers.
In June, 1998, the Wisconsin Jane Doe was positively identified as Amber Creek through dental records and DNA. Police would zero in on the two men who were seen with Amber at the motel party, but DNA would later clear them. The case then went cold for a decade and a half.
In October, 2013, an Oklahoma crime lab began re-examining fingerprints taken from scenes of unsolved murders. The following February, the lab examined Amber's case. They got a hit, matching a print taken off the garbage bag with that of 36-year-old James Paul Eaton, whose prints were on file due to an arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia in 2000. Eaton was 19 at the time of the murder, and lived in the town where Amber grew up, Palatine. Investigators began tailing Eaton, and eventually got a DNA sample off a discarded half-smoked cigarette. It was a match, and Eaton was arrested.
Eaton was charged with first-degree murder and concealing a body, which carried a sentence of life in prison; he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Investigators tried to get a confession out of him by showing him pictures of Amber when she was alive juxtaposed with those of her body after it was found, but were unsuccessful. Some of the information gathered from the first day of questioning was ruled inadmissible by a judge because police did not stop questioning Eaton or provide him with a lawyer until after his third request.
On October 25, 2016, Eaton plead no contest to a reduced charge of first-degree reckless homicide and was sentenced to 40 years with the possibility of parole after 10.
Amber's family believes that Eaton did not act alone, and at least one other man was under investigation for suspected involvement, but has never been named or charged.
Links:
journaltimes.com/news/national/dead-girl-linked-to-party/article_52660f1f-9994-5ef5-8470-a3c1fe93195d.html
www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-amber-creek-homicide-sentencing-met-20170124-story.html
www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-xpm-2014-04-08-chi-amber-creek-murder-racine-palatine-20140406-story.html
www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-wisconsin-cold-case-20140409-story.html
On January 23, 1997, Amber ran away from a Chicago juvenile shelter. It took the Department of Child and Family Services five weeks to report her missing. She was last seen at a two-day party at a Motel 6 in suburban Rolling Meadows in early February. Amber left the party with two men, and was never seen alive again.
On February 9, 1997, a girl's body was found by hunters in a nature reserve near Burlington, Wisconsin. She'd been raped and beaten, and she'd been bitten on the neck. Her cause of death was asphyxiation caused by a plastic bag being wrapped around her head. A bookstore receipt was stuck to one hand, and the word "hi" was written in black ink on the other. Unable to identify the girl, she was buried as a Jane Doe, her tombstone provided thanks to money raised by Racine County residents. About 100 local residents attended the funeral, with sheriff's deputies acting as pallbearers.
In June, 1998, the Wisconsin Jane Doe was positively identified as Amber Creek through dental records and DNA. Police would zero in on the two men who were seen with Amber at the motel party, but DNA would later clear them. The case then went cold for a decade and a half.
In October, 2013, an Oklahoma crime lab began re-examining fingerprints taken from scenes of unsolved murders. The following February, the lab examined Amber's case. They got a hit, matching a print taken off the garbage bag with that of 36-year-old James Paul Eaton, whose prints were on file due to an arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia in 2000. Eaton was 19 at the time of the murder, and lived in the town where Amber grew up, Palatine. Investigators began tailing Eaton, and eventually got a DNA sample off a discarded half-smoked cigarette. It was a match, and Eaton was arrested.
Eaton was charged with first-degree murder and concealing a body, which carried a sentence of life in prison; he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Investigators tried to get a confession out of him by showing him pictures of Amber when she was alive juxtaposed with those of her body after it was found, but were unsuccessful. Some of the information gathered from the first day of questioning was ruled inadmissible by a judge because police did not stop questioning Eaton or provide him with a lawyer until after his third request.
On October 25, 2016, Eaton plead no contest to a reduced charge of first-degree reckless homicide and was sentenced to 40 years with the possibility of parole after 10.
Amber's family believes that Eaton did not act alone, and at least one other man was under investigation for suspected involvement, but has never been named or charged.
Links:
journaltimes.com/news/national/dead-girl-linked-to-party/article_52660f1f-9994-5ef5-8470-a3c1fe93195d.html
www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-amber-creek-homicide-sentencing-met-20170124-story.html
www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-xpm-2014-04-08-chi-amber-creek-murder-racine-palatine-20140406-story.html
www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-wisconsin-cold-case-20140409-story.html