Unsolved Ohio: Who killed Amy Jo Nelson? Family wants answers in 2017 homicide
Ever since Amy was found dead in New Straitsville, a Perry County village with a population of around 650, her family has been conducting its own investigation in a search for closure. Amy's mother, Pam Nelson, described her as 'the sweetest person.'
'She had a funny personality, very funny,' Amy's sister, Abbie Vann, added. 'Even when she was upset, she would always try and joke.'
Throughout Amy's life, she dealt with multiple medical conditions, including the autoimmune disorders Lupus and Antiphospholipid Syndrome. This resulted in her being placed on a variety of medications by doctors since she was 14 years old, which led to nonprescribed drug use, Vann said.
Despite pushing through blood transfusions, chemotherapy, months-long hospital stays and other effects of her conditions, Amy's life was cut short on Sept. 18, 2017. Around 11 a.m. that morning, while working as a nurse, Pam received a call from Amy's phone. She stepped into the hallway and answered the call, but it wasn't Amy. The call came from Amy's boyfriend's mother, who shared news that made Pam collapse on the floor.
Where Columbus drivers are likely to get parking tickets
'She told me Amy passed away in her sleep,' Nelson said.
A coroner's report states someone reported the incident to 911 at 10:47 a.m., but does not specify who. Nelson and Vann rushed to the residence where Amy was found dead – an apartment on Main Street, where Amy and her boyfriend had stayed the night. Vann said the couple often crashed at acquaintances' places. When Nelson and Vann saw Amy, they said they immediately believed foul play was involved because she had injuries on her face.
Nelson asked the two responding officers with the New Straitsville Police Department, an agency with a part-time chief, to reach out to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to assist with analyzing the scene.
'I said 'Are you going to call the BCI?' after I looked at Amy and they said, 'No, there's no crime scene, ma'am,'' Nelson said. 'I said, 'You've got to be kidding. Look at her.''
Nelson and Vann speculated Amy's prior drug use may have led police on the scene to assume she died of an overdose. An autopsy revealed that Amy had both prescribed and nonprescribed medications in her system, but also confirmed the drugs did not cause her passing.
Ohio again examines funding police pensions
Amy's death was ruled a homicide, caused by 'repeated' blunt force trauma to the head. A Perry County coroner's report by Dr. Bradley Wilson claims Amy's boyfriend said she had 'fallen' within 48 hours of her death, but did not provide further context.
'The extensive head and brain injuries are not consistent with a simple fall and are consistent with injuries incurred by multiple blunt force trauma given the other body injuries, it appears the decedent was assaulted by another person or persons,' the report reads.
Since the ruling, the BCI and Perry County Sheriff's Office have been assisting the police department with the case. Amy's family said they are meeting with a sheriff's detective each month about the investigation.
Nelson and Vann point to the original handling of the scene by law enforcement as one of the main reasons they believe the case is unsolved. Nelson claimed an individual at the scene was cleaning the apartment while Amy was still lying dead on the bed where she was found, which could have resulted in destroyed evidence.
'It's frustrating how everything was handled,' Vann said. 'We wouldn't be here if it was handled correctly.'
Opening statements made in Ohio doctor's defamation trial against Mount Carmel
Nelson said that Amy's access to drugs attracted the wrong people into her life who 'wanted her for her pain medication.' Through conducting their own interviews and obtaining records, Amy's family has come to believe the motivation behind the homicide was related to her pills and that multiple people were involved.
'We're not stopping until we get to the bottom of it, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who killed her,' Nelson said.
NBC4 reached out to the three law enforcement agencies involved in Amy's case for comment. The Perry County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond, and the New Straitsville police chief said he has only held the position for a few weeks and deferred to the other agencies. The BCI said it is not currently actively investigating the case and also deferred to the other agencies.
Amy's family is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest in the homicide. They asked anyone with a tip to contact the Perry County Sheriff's Office at 740-342-4123.
If you're a family member of an individual with an unsolved missing persons or homicide case in Ohio, reach out to aboldizar@wcmh.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
18 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
5 injured in Bronzeville shooting, police say
Five people were injured, one seriously, in a shooting Monday afternoon in the Bronzeville neighborhood, authorities said. Police officers responded to a call of a person shot at the 700 block of East 43rd Street just before 3:30 p.m. and found five victims had been struck by gunfire, Chicago police said. A woman in her 60s was shot in the right leg and transported to UChicago Medicine in serious condition, according to a preliminary police notification. Four others were injured in the shooting, including a 35-year-old man who was shot in the arm, a 39-year-old man who was shot in the arm, a 44-year-old man who was shot in the foot and a 72-year-old woman who was shot in the shoulder, police said. The four victims were transported to UChicago Medicine, where they were listed in good condition, police said. Charles Nelson had just gotten out the door on his way to a concert in Millennium Park Monday afternoon when gunfire exploded up his South Side block. Nelson, 71, got down to the ground and waited through what he estimated was a full minute of shooting. When he got up again, almost 40 shell casings lay in the street and five people had been wounded. Nelson, wearing a shirt that read 'Bronzeville: The Musical,' said he and his neighbors had been complaining to local leaders about shooting and other hazards between Langley and Cottage Grove avenues for years. No one was in custody and no other offender information was immediately available as of Monday afternoon, as Wentworth area detectives investigated, police said. The shooting comes after thirteen people were shot, two fatally, on the West Side in what appeared to be separate incidents early Sunday morning. The fatalities included an 18-year-old, identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as Kaleb Williams, and a 22-year-old woman whose identity had not been released as of mid-afternoon Monday.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Yahoo
Woman accused over death of boys in car crash
A 29-year-old woman is due in court in connection with the death of two children in a car crash. The boys, aged six and eight, were killed after the car they were in collided with another vehicle in Sutton on Sea in October 2023. Another person in the car was hurt and three people in the other vehicle were seriously injured. Amy Sheppard, of Mumby Road, Huttoft in Lincolnshire, who was driving the car in which the boys were passengers, is accused of two offences of causing death by careless driving and three offences of causing serious injury by careless driving. Ms Sheppard is due to appear at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on 28 August. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices.
Cosmopolitan
31-07-2025
- Cosmopolitan
Amy Bradley's brother just debunked his own conspiracy theory about her disappearance
True crime fans have been gripped ever since Netflix's retelling of Amy Bradley's disappearance, Amy Bradley is Missing, first aired – and now, her younger brother, Brad, has been sharing his own unconfirmed theories about how his sister seemingly vanished over 25 years ago. Here's what we know about Amy Bradley's brother today and his thoughts on what could have caused his sister to go missing from the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship, Rhapsody of the Seas, while en route to Curaçao back in 1998. Brad Bradley is Amy Bradley's younger brother who was also on board the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship along with their parents, Ron and Iva, at the time of Amy's disappearance. Since she vanished on 24 March 1998, the family have refused to give up hope and continue to raise awareness of Amy's disappearance. Over the years, there have been numerous alleged sightings of Amy, everywhere from Barbados to California, leading some to believe she could have been kidnapped and sold into the illegal human trafficking industry in the Caribbean. Another alleged theory is that Amy was murdered and thrown overboard, however there is no evidence to confirm either theory. Now, Amy's brother, Brad, has spoken out about a further conspiracy theory he has in relation to his sibling and is appealing for information. These days, along with the docuseries, Brad is continuing to fight to find his sister by posting on social media platforms such as X and TikTok. In one post he thanked those who've offered support. "I wanted to convey how meaningful it is to me and the entire family, how much love and support and prayers and car[e] there's been in Amy's story after all these years," Brad said in one TikTok video. "It's one of the most heartening things I've ever experienced in my life." However, he also told People magazine the family have faced a torrent of abuse, "Over the years, we've grown some pretty thick skin, because there's always that side, you have the side of prayers, and support, and love, and caring, and all that good stuff. And then you have people just trying to chew us up and spit us out." One possibly unexplored angle which was not included in the series, or so Brad claims, is his idea that members of the religious organisation (or cult, depending on who you ask) Scientology could have had some involvement in Amy's vanishing. The controversial group has been the subject of many documentaries itself. On X, Brad has described how, in their distress shortly after Amy went missing, his parents requested for a priest to join them on board the ship to pray and for comfort. While one couldn't be found, the family were instead visited by two members of the Scientology church, who, in Brad's eyes, were asking intensely personal and suspicious questions, such as what Amy's favourite snacks were or her preferred brand of cigarettes. "They told us that they assist people who are grieving and suffering loss through various methods," Brad claims. He has also recalled two women seen speaking to Amy prior to her disappearance and has appealed for information on them. "The night before Amy disappeared, 23 March, 1998, during the pool party before we went to the dance club, Amy was talking to two black women in matching uniforms off to the side for close to an hour," he wrote on X. "The uniforms were not Royal Caribbean uniforms. They had on navy blue knee length skirts and lighter blue, button-up oxford shirts. Remember that. "My parents walked over to them to let Amy know they were going to bed. When they walked up, the two ladies, who had appeared very friendly during their conversation with Amy, did not speak or introduce themselves when my parents came over. We do not know who these women were. The FBI says they are aware of who they are, but would never share any information regarding them with us." He added, "Over the next couple weeks after returning home to Virginia, I did a lot of research about Scientology, the Freewinds [a ship owned by a Church of Scientology-affiliated company], Sea Org, etc. and found that the uniforms of some of the staff on the Freewinds MATCHED what the two black ladies that Amy was talking to the night before were wearing. I believe it is possible that those ladies boarded our ship with the group of performers and a large entourage of people that boarded the ship in Aruba that night. "I believe it is possible that they were Sea Org recruiters that coerced/convinced Amy to meet them in the morning for a tour of the Freewinds. I believe it is possible that she agreed, she went, and then was not able to get back off of their ship." He later, however, rolled back on this theory, claiming he'd spoken with former members of Scientology who were on Freewinds at the time and who "explained to me that they think the possibility of Amy being taken onto the Freewinds, by any measure, would be extremely unlikely". "They all, however, say it is really weird that those two guys came to our room in the Otrabonda hotel that night," Brad noted. "They explained their methods and all felt that the methods I described sounded in line with what they do in those situations where they are counselling people with grief and loss and may have well been just trying to help us, however weird the situation may have been." He added, "Now, I think I have been satisfied enough that the chance that Amy was taken onto that ship and/or into Scientology is close enough to zero to put it to bed." Brad and the family are still urgently calling for any members of the public who have any information to get in touch via amybradleyismissing@ They have also started a GoFundMe in a bid to finance their continued search for Amy.
