'WE JUST WANT YOU HOME,' TRI-STATE MOM AMIE OWENS

Summary

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: "WE JUST WANT YOU HOME," TRI-STATE MOM AMIE OWENS

Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Nancy Grace
Guests: Amy Owens' daughter Robin Hunter; daughters-in-law Kayla Johnson, Jackie Hurt; Brian Fitzgibbons (USPA Nationwide Security); Dr. Janie Lacey (Psychotherapist); Sydney Sumner (Crime Stories Investigative Reporter)
Topic: The disappearance of Amy Owens – a beloved mother of three and grandmother of five.

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

Nancy Grace investigates the mysterious disappearance of Amy Owens, a devoted Tri-State mother who vanished after a series of unusual and concerning text communications. With the help of Amy's family and a panel of investigative and psychological experts, Nancy pieces through Amy's last known movements, her relationships, and troubling clues, issuing a heartfelt plea for information and for Amy’s return.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. Family Realizes Amy Is Missing

[03:52]

• Robin Hunter (Amy’s daughter): First noticed something was wrong when Amy abruptly stopped texting.
  • "We always had a pretty good conversation. So once that happened, I just knew something was going on."
• Nancy highlights the importance of recognizing changes in "patterns of life," such as abrupt cessation of communication as a crucial starting point for a timeline.

[05:52]

• Brian Fitzgibbons: Explains how deviation from routine text response indicates a "major departure" and begins the investigative timeline.

---

2. Amy’s Voice and Family Bonds

[07:56]

• Nancy plays a voicemail from Amy to her son, highlighting her love and devotion.
  • "You can hear the love coming out of her voice for her son right there. And I don't believe there's any way that she would intentionally separate herself from her children." – Nancy Grace

---

3. Initial Search Efforts

[08:57]

• Robin and family report Amy missing on social media, contact her friends, and circulate flyers.

---

4. Family Dynamics and Last Communications

[10:19]

• Kayla Johnson (daughter-in-law): Recounts the growing worry as Amy’s communication goes silent; shares that Amy’s relationship with her son Michael was also close.

[10:53]

• Sydney Sumner: Amy's communication slowed; her last message stated she was in Kentucky with "this person."
  • Nancy and panel stress importance of reconstructing Amy’s typical routine to identify disruptions.

---

5. Amy’s Routine & Job

[16:07]

• Jackie Hurt (daughter-in-law): Amy was an axe-throwing instructor—her job was both a source of joy and a routine anchor.
  • "She would teach people how to throw the axes and kind of like deal with the parties and stuff. And it kind of became her own personal hobby."
• Dr. Janie Lacey: Points out that happy, engaged people rarely leave such routines voluntarily.

[19:15]

• Amy left her job months prior; phone service was cut off, limiting communication to Wi-Fi areas. Last in-person family contact was July 23, 2024, at her grandmother's house.

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6. Last Known Whereabouts

[20:13]

• Sydney Sumner: Amy last seen at her grandmother’s house in Goshen, Ohio. Her phone only worked on Wi-Fi; last known conversation was March 30.
  • Family knew only that she was with a "romantic partner" in Kentucky, but location details were extremely vague; several major cities within possible range.

---

7. Text Message Timeline

[23:26]

• Nancy reads through Amy’s final texts, highlighting the increasing concern from family, Amy’s vague responses, and eventual silence.
  • Example exchange:
    • “What do you mean what’s going on with me?”
    • “I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last two days. What’s going on with you? You don’t answer. Two days. I need to talk to you.”
    • “Okay, just forget it. Why are you so distant?”
    • “I’m okay. I’m just going through a lot,” (Amy’s reply – short, uncharacteristic).

---

8. Was Amy Actually Sending the Texts?

[25:57]

• Dr. Janie Lacey: Raises the possibility that someone else could have been sending these final, unusually terse texts.
  • “That would normally be the baseline, especially if it was out of her norm to communicate or brush off her family … especially when it came to her grandkids ... that would put, in my opinion, out of her norm.”
• Family also mentions Amy’s messages were much shorter than usual, adding suspicion.

---

9. Relationship with Jeff and Danger Signs

[27:09]

• Brian Fitzgibbons: Focuses attention on "Jeff," the man Amy mentioned she was with in Kentucky; reports indicate Amy was unhappy with Jeff and considering leaving him.
  • “Someone knows who Jeff is. Someone knows where Jeff is from. Someone knows where he resides. And that is the immediate focus.”
    [28:16]
• Sydney Sumner: Confirms Amy said she felt uncomfortable around Jeff, did not trust him, and he’s the last known person to see her. [29:46]
• The family located a Jeff with an address in Pineville, Kentucky, via phone cloud backups and a search warrant to Verizon.
  • Uncertainty remains whether the phone number is traceable or if it’s a “burner phone” not tied to Jeff’s identity in an official record.

---

10. Toxic Relationships and the Lethality of Breakups

[35:00]

• Nancy Grace: Emphasizes the risk of violence when women leave or consider leaving, citing homicide as the leading cause of death for pregnant women and those exiting toxic relationships.
• Dr. Janie Lacey:
  • "When women with histories of domestic violence or toxic relationships, they are [at] significantly elevated risk when they're attempting to leave or transition the relationship … The perpetrator is losing control."
  • Discusses trauma bonds: long-standing exposure to volatility can make stable relationships feel foreign or even "boring" to survivors, which explains why women may return to unhealthy partners.

---

11. Vehicle and Additional Lead Challenges

[43:24]

• Amy did not have a car; text revealed Jeff prevented her from purchasing one.
  • "There's actually text messages with her friend saying she's trying to get a car. And this Jeff guy, there's one text saying that he did not let her get the car she was looking at." – Jackie Hurt

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12. Uncharacteristic Communications

[44:31]

• Family repeatedly notes Amy’s last texts lacked her familiar phrasing and length, further deepening suspicions about her final interactions.

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13. The Kentucky Connection: Known and Unknown

[45:58]

• Amy only briefly and vaguely told her daughter and a friend she was in Kentucky with Jeff.
• Family never met Jeff or heard of him prior, though Amy tended towards "repetitive types" in relationships, per her daughters-in-law.

---

14. Personal Messages and Pleas

[46:32]

• Heartfelt on-air pleas from Amy's daughters-in-law:
  • "We just want you home. We just want you back with us. Your grandkids miss you, we miss you and we're looking forward to reuniting with you." – Jackie Hurt ([46:45])
  • "We are doing everything that we can to try to find you. We're confused … So if anybody knows anything, please reach out." – Kayla Johnson ([47:03])
• Nancy Grace repeats the tip line multiple times: Brown County Sheriff’s Office, 937-378-4435.

---

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• "You can hear the love coming out of her voice for her son right there. And I don't believe there's any way that she would intentionally separate herself from her children." – Nancy Grace [08:34]
• "Routine, habits, pattern or life … That pattern of life, establishing the routine of where she is, who she's with, who she's communicating with … is victimology." – Brian Fitzgibbons [12:01]
• "She always wrote books. She would write us, like, big, huge text messages. So those little short and sweet messages, it definitely didn't feel right." – Jackie Hurt [44:31]
• "We just want you home. We just want you back with us. Your grandkids miss you, we miss you and we're looking forward to reuniting with you." – Jackie Hurt [46:45]
• "When women with histories of domestic violence or toxic relationships, they are significantly elevated risk when they're attempting to leave … because the person who ... not wanting them to leave is losing control." – Dr. Janie Lacey [35:00]
• "Amy said, 'I'm in Kentucky with Jeff.' … But ... we're on the topic of talking about if it's not even Amy. I mean, could someone be pushing a story for all we know?" – Kayla Johnson [45:58]
• "Nine out of ten cases involving women involve a toxic, controlling relationship. ... Every possible effort should be focused on trying to identify who this Jeff is." – Brian Fitzgibbons [42:02]

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IMPORTANT TIMESTAMPS

• [02:32] – Case introduction: disappearance of Amy Owens.
• [03:52] – Daughter notices Amy is missing; last text messages.
• [07:56] – Amy’s voicemail to her son.
• [10:53] – Timeline of Amy’s fading communication.
• [16:07] – Details on Amy’s job and routine.
• [19:15] – Last in-person contact and limitations of Amy’s phone.
• [20:13] – Amy last seen at grandmother’s; “with Jeff in Kentucky.”
• [23:26] – Readthrough of Amy’s final text messages.
• [27:09] – Discussion of “Jeff” and focusing police investigation.
• [29:46] – Pineville, KY, connection and phone cloud data.
• [35:00] – Risks of leaving a toxic relationship.
• [43:24] – Vehicle status and controlling behavior of Jeff.
• [44:31] – Family’s concerns about the authenticity of Amy’s final messages.
• [46:45] – Family’s direct messages to Amy and the public.
• [47:20] – Tip line and appeal for help.

---

CONCLUSION

This episode powerfully details the disappearance of Amy Owens, weaving together heartbreaking family testimony, expert investigative insights, and pointed analysis on the dangers women face in toxic relationships. Her family's unwavering love, their dogged search for answers, and the chilling possibility that a controlling partner is involved render Amy's case both urgent and emblematic.

If you have any information about Amy Owens’ disappearance, please call the Brown County Sheriff's Office at 937-378-4435.

---

For listeners—this episode is an intense, compassionate, and comprehensive examination of a mother’s vanishing, the terror of her family, and the critical importance of quick action, pattern recognition, and community involvement in missing persons cases.

Transcript

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We just want you home. Tri State mom Amy Owens vanishes tonight, her family joining us, desperate for Amy's return. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

[Narrator]

A mother of three vanishes without a trace after a series of disturbing text messages.

[Amy Owens (voice recording)]

This is your mama. I love you. And I wanted to just hear your handsome voice and tell you how much I missed you.

[Nancy Grace]

Where is beloved mother Amy? Put yourself in the family's shoes. Now, that's something as a trial lawyer in criminal law, you are never allowed to ask a jury to do, put themselves in the shoes of the victim. But tonight, that's what I'm asking you to do in our search for Amy. Joining us, an incredible panel. But first, I want to go out to two special guests joining us, Robin and Kayla, the daughter and daughter in law of Amy Owens. Ladies, thank you for being with us. First to Robyn. This is Amy's daughter. When did you realize your mom is missing?

[Robin Hunter]

If you look back at the text messages, it stopped. And I knew something was wrong. We always had a pretty good conversation. So once that happened, I just knew something was going on.

[Nancy Grace]

You knew instinctively?

[Robin Hunter]

Yes.

[Nancy Grace]

So you text a lot with mom Amy and you noticed that suddenly the texts weren't being returned and you knew then something was wrong? Is that what you're saying, Robin?

[Robin Hunter]

Yes.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. I just want to follow up on that very quickly before we go forward because, Robin, as you know, when you're building a case, you look at every single fact and everything it can show what it can prove. Straight out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining us. Director Operations, USPA Nationwide Security. Why Fitzgibbons? Tonight, Fitzgibbons leads a team of investigators that travel the world, literally finding and extracting missing people. He is a former Marine and an Iraqi War vet. Brian, right there. Can I tell you how many times that I have had witnesses tell me? Well, she didn't return my call. And that's very unusual. With my twins, who are 18, and my husband, we text throughout the day. We rarely call, but we text. And if I don't hear back from them, I know something's off. It could be something as simple as John David's in the middle of a physics test or Lucy's in one of her Habitat humanity meetings. It could be anything like that. But I know something is not the routine. And I've had a lot of cases, timelines start with failure to respond to a text. So what Robin Hunter is saying in my mind is the beginning of my timeline.

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

Yeah, absolutely. And we have to realize that these devices that we live with really add into what we would call A pattern of life. So these, these texts not being responded to in a timely fashion is a major departure from a routine in that in Amy Owen's pattern of life in communicating with her children and adding one thing to this, and I know that Robin and Kylie can probably add to this, it's been reported that there was issues with her speakerphone, that she wasn't speaking on the phone with people, that just texts were coming in. So a major departure in a pattern of life is certainly a beginning of a timeline.

[Nancy Grace]

And, you know, we've had cases start with timelines with the barking of a dog. And the, you know, ultimate case in that is the O.J. simpson double murder of his wife and Ron Goldman, his ex wife, I might add, the dog, Akita, had a quote. Plaintiff. Well, that was the witness's description, not mine. In the Nancy Guthrie case, we have a dog, her backyard neighbor's dog began barking crazily around 2am, which is around the time Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped. So timelines can start in many, many ways. The significance is when you start your timeline, you rule scenarios in or out. You rule people in or out based on their alibis, based on various players movements at that time. For instance, if mom Amy had been, let's see, driving cross country to visit a girlfriend at that time, that's when, that's where we'll start looking. If she had been going to the mall at that time, that's where we start looking. So the timeline is critical. I want you to hear Amy in her own voice, in her own words. Listen.

[Amy Owens (voice recording)]

Yes, I am trying to reach Mr. Kylan Hurt. This is your mama. I love you. And I wanted to just hear your handsome voice and tell you how much I missed you and was thinking about you, the kids and Jackie, and how much you just made me smile from ear to ear. I'm so proud of you, Kylan. To hear you have a voicemail about your own company. You amaze me every day. I love you, I miss you. And I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you. Give me a call whenever you get a chance. Kiss the kids, please. I love you.

[Nancy Grace]

Bye.

[Kayla Johnson]

Bye.

[Nancy Grace]

You can hear the love coming out of her voice for her son right there. And I don't believe there's any way that she would intentionally separate herself from her children. Back to Robin Hunter. This is Amy's daughter. So you notice your mom is not texting back anymore. What, if anything, do you do at that time?

[Robin Hunter]

So at that point, I didn't really have much I was able to do, but we started making like missing people, missing person reports on Facebook. We texted a lot of her friends asking if they've heard from her as well. We reached out to Landsar to have them post something like a flyer for her as well.

[Nancy Grace]

What was her frame of mind, Robyn, when you last spoke to your mom or last texted with her, what could you glean?

[Robin Hunter]

I know she was going through a lot at that point in time. That's. But she's always been like, I don't know, it's really hard to explain.

[Nancy Grace]

In addition to Robin Hunter, this is Amy missing mom Amy Owens daughter is her daughter in law. Two of them, Kayla Johnson and Jackie Hurt, both Amy's daughters in law trying to find their mother in law, Amy Owens To Kayla, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Keala. Now, your mom seemingly dropped off the map around the time that she stopped texting. What do you recall of that time period?

[Kayla Johnson]

At one point, then it just stopped and we realized that, you know, something was wrong.

[Nancy Grace]

What is her relationship with her son? I know she's got a great relationship with Robyn. What about with her son?

[Kayla Johnson]

She always had a good relationship with Michael. They always stayed in communication. You know, they're pretty close.

[Nancy Grace]

Joining me now, Crime Stories investigative reporter Sydney Sumner, who has been investigating the case herself. Sydney, let's just start at the beginning. What do we know?

[Sydney Sumner]

Well, we know that Amy has a close relationship with her three grown children, with her five grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with them. She's visiting on a very frequent basis. And then she starts to kind of disappear. The communication slows down. She isn't coming by as frequently. It's harder and harder to get her to respond to your calls, to your text messages. And the last thing they know is she sends a text, I'm with this person. I'm in Kentucky. And that's it. That's the last time anyone ever hears from Amy.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, I want to follow up on what you just said, but I also want to establish Sydney, what was her normal routine? Then I'll circle back to Kentucky. Brian fitzgibbons, USPA Nationwide security is so important to establish the daily routine of the victim, what they were doing on a typical day, because when that is interrupted or disrupted, that also helps you set your timeline. Agree? Disagree.

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

Absolutely agree. Routine, habits, pattern or life? Right. So we have an event here when Amy went missing. And you know, we can look at this leading up the time leading up to that event as the fuse. And then the blast is the last time we hear from her. Right. So that pattern of life, establishing the routine of where she is, who she's with, who she's communicating with, what are plans, locations. This is a very basic victimology that we would start with to make sure we have a full understanding of the full scope here of this business.

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[Nancy Grace]

crime stories with Nancy Grace. Well here's an example Brian. In the Nancy Guthrie search, when she did not show up the morning on a Sunday morning with her group of friends that they would, they got together every Sunday morning to live stream the church service. They would get together every Sunday since COVID to livestream the church service. When she didn't show up, that's when everyone was alerted she was missing because she broke routine. You're absolutely right. Straight out to Jackie Johnson. This is Amy's daughter in law Jackie regarding her daily routine. What was her last job before she went missing?

[Jackie Hurt]

Her last job was it was an axe throwing job that she absolutely loved.

[Nancy Grace]

So Jackie hurt, you stated your mom had an axe throwing job. What is that?

[Jackie Hurt]

She was an instructor and so she would teach people how to throw the axes and kind of like deal with the parties and stuff. And it kind of became a her own personal hobby. Honestly, she absolutely adored it.

[Nancy Grace]

Now when you say she would set up deal with the parties, what do you mean? Like groups.

[Jackie Hurt]

So the way it's set up is groups of people would come in and like, I mean it could, it could range from just it's one group or like.

[Robin Hunter]

Yeah, like a group or like a person.

[Kayla Johnson]

Yeah. That just go in for like a, you know, weekend activity or something.

[Jackie Hurt]

Yeah.

[Nancy Grace]

To Dr. Janie Lacey joining us, licensed psychotherapist, CEO of Life Counseling Solutions and author of how to Heal from a Toxic Relationship. She's the host of let's Talk about it with Janie Lacey. Dr. Janie, thank you for being with us. You know, a lot of people have varying degrees of social connection. They go out every night, they rarely go out their homebodies. But their job is something that typically is routine. In other words, they rarely miss work. And hearing about her job that she loved so much makes me consider that part of this equation. Because if she doesn't show up for the job or she leaves the job, I find that significant.

[Dr. Janie Lacey]

I find that significant as well. Because when women who genuinely love their work or they enjoy that part of their life, they don't generally just walk away from their lives. They tend to leave gradual signals. Whether they become distanced, there's some type of conflict or detachment. So what it sounds like what Amy's family is describing is the opposite, that she was engaged, that she loved her job. If she considered it a hobby. Right. I would think that that was probably rebuilding. So it's not typical that you would just leave those things behind voluntarily, Nancy.

[Nancy Grace]

And it's not just a job. She's an axe throwing expert and the class was near Cincinnati about a 30 minute drive from where she was in Goshen. So it's not just a job, it's something she loves doing. To Jackie Hurt joining us, this is Amy's daughter in law. Jackie. What do you and Kayla, I want to refine this remember about the time, the few days, the weeks surrounding the time that Amy seemingly disappears. What is your recollection?

[Jackie Hurt]

I recollect that the communication really, really slowed down. We know that she had left her job a couple months prior to her disappearance. And she it was around January, her phone service got shut off. And that's when I got we were guessing she was on WI Fi and it was very, very slim communication, if we even got any at all. And her last known like physical appearance with Our family was July 23rd of 2024 at her grandmother's house. After that we everything else is over the phone. We don't really know.

[Nancy Grace]

Sydney Sumner joining us from Crime Stories. Now according to Ohio's Brown County Sheriff's Office, Amy was last seen on Goshen Road in Goshen. What do we know about the circumstances of her last known spotting?

[Sydney Sumner]

I think that was at her grandmother's house. Amy was visiting family. She was keeping up with her kids and her grandchildren. And after that, that's when she disappeared. She was communicating only over WI fi. She didn't have cell service in between. So her phone did not work unless she had a WI FI connection. And the last conversation she had with anyone was March 30th. And her children are worried at this point. They are they're threatening to do a wellness check because they know that something is off in their communications with their mother. But unfortunately they don't know where she is. And Amy doesn't communicate where she is. The only thing that they know from Amy was that she was staying with a romantic partner in Kentucky and just Kentucky. She did not elaborate. And there are several cities within two hours. Lexington, Louisville are both within two hours of Cincinnati. So those could be places where she could end up, but she could be six hours away. So we really are going off of very little to try and figure out Where Amy might be.

[Nancy Grace]

Now, this mom, Amy Owens, incredibly family oriented, Always kept contact with family, never missing a holiday. Christmas, Easter, birthdays, special occasions with all of her children. A loving mom of three children, grandma of five children who love her, desperate to bring her home. Amy Owens, 5 3, £125, bright hair, sometimes highlighted, beautiful blue eyes. The family conducting searches on their own. How could you, a loving mother and grandmother, just disappear, vanish off the face of the earth? I guarantee you she didn't just vanish. Take a look at Amy Owens. The tip line. 937-378-4435. Repeat, 937-378-4435.

[Narrator]

Amy Owens Children are distraught and desperately searching for answers after their beloved mother disappears into thin air.

[Amy Owens (voice recording)]

How much you just made me smile from ear to ear. I'm so proud of you, Kylan. You amaze me every day. I love you, I miss you and I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you.

[Family Member]

No matter what's ever happened or no matter what's ever going on, she has always come back to her safe place. So I definitely have strong belief that. That this is not her will, that this is not something she has chose to do. It would mean the world to us if we could get a tip of which way to look. I don't necessarily like the word closure because that could mean a multitude of things. I would really strongly say where we want answers.

[Nancy Grace]

You are hearing from our friends at Fox 56 and Lex 18. Amy Owens family desperate tonight for answers. Please put yourself just for a moment in their shoes. Mom gone, no leads. Joining us, an all star panel to make sense of what we know about Amy's disappearance seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth. We've talked a lot about text suddenly stopping, becoming sporadic and stopping. Let's take a look at some of the last texts and try to determine what, if anything, we can glean. She says, what do you mean what's going on with me? Response. I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last two days. What's going on with you? You don't answer. Two days. I need to talk to you. Can you call me? Okay, just forget it. Why are you so distant? And it goes on. I'm going to do a wellness check on you. If you don't answer. I'm okay. I'm just going through a lot says Amy, and you can't talk to me. Nobody's heard from you. I'm worried. Erica said you're with someone named Jeff and more. Are you Alive. Yes. Sorry. A lot going on. Just checking on you. Stay safe. We're supposed to be having bad storms. You guys stay safe, too. What have you been up to? Answer, please. Need to ask a serious question about my kid. Hello. What is going on with you? Hello. Question mark, question mark, question mark. And then the texts end. Can you imagine that happening when you're texting your mother straight out to special guest joining us, Dr. Janie Lacey. Dr. Janie, when that's your only connection, the only way you're speaking to your mom, she's not calling back. You tell her you're going to do a wellness check. That doesn't seem to make an impression because my mom would say, no, no, no, don't call police. I'll call you right now. Amy didn't do that. Which makes me suspicious. Was that not even Amy on those texts? See where I'm going with this? And then in addition to the wellness check, they try a soft spot. Hey, I need to ask you an important question about your grandchild. She still didn't call. Dr. Janey.

[Dr. Janie Lacey]

Yeah, I would agree with you, Nancy, that I would be looking at it in two ways. One, if that was her norm of communicating with her kids, kind of brushing them off, and if it wasn't, then the possibility absolutely could be with someone else that had her phone that potentially was communicating on her behalf, or was she so occupied or preoccupied with whatever was happening in that moment when potentially in survival mode or just in panic mode was pressed to really focus on whatever was happening in front of her. But that would be as we're talking about patterns and routine and habits and how someone normally communicates, that would normally be the baseline, especially if it was out of her norm to communicate or brush off her family, especially when it came to her grandkids, because it sounded like she was such a loving grandmother, which would put, in my opinion, out of her norm.

[Nancy Grace]

Back to Brian Fitzgibbons, director operations, USPA Nationwide Security, specializing in finding missing people. That's why he's joining us here tonight along with Amy's family. I want to hear your thoughts and how you would approach this.

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

The first and obvious approach here is Jeff. Okay. This individual who Amy communicated that she was with him and by the way, also communicated to family members. It's been widely reported that she was planning on potentially leaving him, looking at vehicles on Facebook Marketplace and not having a good time with Jeff, that there were issues in that relationship. So the focus really needs to be on finding out when did she encounter this Jeff, where did they first meet. Someone knows who Jeff is. Someone knows where Jeff is from. Someone knows where he resides. And that is the immediate focus. Finding Jeff will unlock being able to find Amy.

[Nancy Grace]

Sydney Sumner. Joining us, crime Stories investigative reporter Sydney. How does this guy named Jeff factor into the timeline?

[Sydney Sumner]

She told her family she was staying with Jeff and mentioned that she wasn't very comfortable with him. This wasn't someone she trusted and she felt like she wasn't in a great situation. But Jeff is the last known person to be with Amy. And Amy tells her family she's staying with him in Kentucky. So he fits in. He is one of the last people to possibly have seen Amy.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, hold on. Brian Fitzgibbons. Wouldn't this be a matter of if she's texting, I'm with Jeff. Wouldn't this be a matter of triangulating her phone, finding out where she was? I mean, we see it happen in cases all the time. That's move number one. Where was her phone last known to be?

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

Yeah, and I think in this case it now becomes a matter of resources devoted by law enforcement to this case. Now I think the immediate thing is the family. I believe the family has this phone number for Jeff. If they do, I'm certainly willing to help on any way that I can. But the first, the first step is finding Jeff.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, let me, let me follow up with that. To Kayla Johnson and Jackie Hurt, the daughters in law of Amy, Jackie or Kayla, Is that correct? We have a phone number for Jeff?

[Jackie Hurt]

I don't know. I don't know if we specifically have a phone number, but they were able to locate a Jeff in her phone with an address in Pineville, Kentucky? Yeah.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, hold on. That's significant. Pinesville, Kentucky. Are you saying pine is in a pine tree?

[Robin Hunter]

Yep.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, when you say they were able to locate an address for Jeff, who is they?

[Jackie Hurt]

We heard it from the Brown County Sheriff's office.

[Nancy Grace]

Great, that's good news. So they have, they don't have her actual phone, but they have accessed it through the cloud, is that right?

[Kayla Johnson]

Basically did. And they got a search warrant to. For Verizon for her phone record. So we essentially had a call log of like the numbers that were in contact with Amy's phone.

[Nancy Grace]

That is huge. That's the first good news I've heard tonight. Okay, hold on. Stop everything. Jackie Keel. I feel like it's Christmas morning. Wife. It's Gibbons. And they have access to her phone through pursuant to search warrant. And they've gotten Jeff's address. Then what are we waiting On.

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

Well, I think to clarify that, and the family can correct me here, but I believe they found someone named Jeff in her phone and a phone number. And that phone number is registered to the location of Pineville, Kentucky. So it brings us back to, hey, resources, can the family identify who Jeff was, how they met, when they met, where they met, where they went. These are the next steps.

[Nancy Grace]

So, Brian, you lost me in your reasoning. If they know where the phone was registered and addressed, whether he lives there or not, that is a lead. You go to that address, you find out who lives there. If they know Jeff, if they have seen Amy, and you go from there. I mean, it's got to be something to him, wouldn't you think? His lka, last known address, his childhood home, where he was living at the time. It could be any number of addresses. So I'm sensing from you that's a dead end, but I don't agree. Why are you saying that?

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

So here's the deal. You can go to Walmart and buy a burner phone, right? That burner phone is going to have a number. That number will have a location assigned to it. Okay? And in this case, that location is Pineville, Kentucky. That number was saved in Amy's phone with the name Jeff. So law enforcement didn't necessarily get a registration saying Jeff with the last name, last known address. What they had was listed in Amy's phone, manually typed in Jeff. Here's this number. And I'm speculating here, but let's say it's a burner phone, a prepaid phone. That phone would not have a full registration. We just have an idea on where it was purchased.

[Jackie Hurt]

Mom,

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[Nancy Grace]

It's time to come home. From our friends at wkrc, an Ohio

[Narrator]

family is torn apart when their mother, Amy Owens, goes missing. Endless texts and calls from their children left unanswered.

[Nancy Grace]

The search is on for a missing mom, Amy Owens, last known to be with new friend named Jeff. That's all we know. Straight out to Dr. Janie Lacey, Psychotherapist, CEO, Life Counseling Solutions. You can find [e-mail] now we are hearing her daughter, her daughter's in law, talking about how she was not happy with this relationship with Jeff and considering ending it. The single most dangerous time for women is when they either a are pregnant. Homicide. The number one cause of death amongst pregnant women. Not hypertension, high blood pressure, not gestational diabetes. No, not heart attack. It's homicide. I could not believe that statistics when I first learned about it. And I actually cross examined on air the author of the article in the New England Journal of Health and she was right. I didn't believe it until I spoke to her and questioned her doctor Jamie but she's absolutely correct. The statistics bear it out. Pregnancy and when you're trying to leave the relationship. I learned that as a volunteer at the Batter Women's Center Hotline. Explain why, why that is such a dangerous time for women and possibly for Amy.

[Dr. Janie Lacey]

Well, women with histories of domestic violence or toxic relationships, they are significantly elevated risk when they're attempting to leave or transition the relationship because the person who would be not wanting them to leave is losing control. They're losing control and then that is becomes the single most important part when the person who is the batterer or the perpetrator, when they lose the control, they try to gain the control. And this is where the, where the danger happens. But you know what I would want people to know and understand about this in particular, Nancy? It's not about when we think about the women in these relationships. It's not about stupidity or making a wrong choice. It is not about the, the choices they make when women grow up or live for years in environments where love comes with danger or the brain. It's because the, the brain literally wires itself to associate potentially intimacy with intensity, which is with volatility. So they keep finding men who feel familiar, even when familiar is harmful. And it's what we call a trauma bond. And without intervention, those bonds are incredibly powerful. So, so Amy may have known something was wrong in her relationship, especially if her family's reporting she was trying to get out. So that tells me she had an awareness. And awareness alone isn't enough. She needed support. And right now that's what she needs, is for someone to come forward. In my opinion, Nancy, someone knows something.

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Doctor Janie Lacey. You just stated that so eloquently. I have a dear friend that I worked with on air when I was on air, and she's a producer and she was considering marriage. She called me, went, nancy, I'm bored with him. I'm like, quickly marry him. Your last relationship was just, let me say, turbulent. And that's certainly a euphemism. Putting perfume on the pig. Lots of arguments, breakups, makeups, that whole thing. Suspicious about whereabouts, what he was doing. He wants to live like that. And she was used to it. You see what I mean? And then she gets a great guy. Loving, dependable, handsome, the works. And she's bored. Like, don't you see what you're doing? You've been in this other cycle for so long, you don't even understand how to respond when you've got real love, a real man. Not somebody that drags you through the mud back and forth every other week, but somebody that treasures you and takes care of you or tries to. Not that you need taking care of, but somebody that wants to help you in life. You're not used to a real relationship, a loving relationship. Guess what? She's married. She just had her first baby and she writes me all the time, thank goodness you told me to stick with this guy. I don't mean be unhappy because you're not suitable. But when you've been in these turbulent relationships, you don't know when you're in a good one because it's not what you're used to. You're missing that adrenaline up and down. Am I saying it correctly? Dr. Janie probably not.

[Dr. Janie Lacey]

You are saying it in a way that most people can understand. Right. We have a nervous system and our nervous system gets used to the routines what it and doesn't know whether it's healthy or not. So it's what we call intermittent reinforcement, which then creates these relationships to be very addictive. That intermittent reinforcement basically is when someone treats you bad. They also treat you well at times. But what you do is you hold on to those moments of when they're going to treat you well at times. So you endure those, relate the times where they're not treating you as well. And that creates that come here, go away, and you stay for the breadcrumbs. And that usually is grounded in some level of childhood trauma that's been untreated and unhealed. So it makes sense in the context of these stories if we don't just judge women with the choices of the men, but if we look at the context, there's a nervous system that says this is safe, even though they're not safe. And as you mentioned with your example, some someone who could be stable, they could be safe, they could be healthy, says the nervous system, says this is danger. That's not where we're used to. So then we hear that they're boring, we don't have chemistry, we don't have compatibility. And then they go back to what is familiar and not familiar. Feels like it's chemistry. It feels like all these other things, but it's usually the same familiar toxic relationship they've had in the past.

[Nancy Grace]

NANCY Brian Fitzgibbons joining us, USPA Nationwide Security. You have handled so many more than you can count, I'm sure. Missing people cases, it's typically women and children that go missing. And very often when it's a woman, it's on the heels of a toxic relationship.

[Brian Fitzgibbons]

100%. You know, it's almost nine out of 10 cases involving women involve a toxic, controlling relationship. And in this case, we don't know much about this Last relationship. Other than a handful of messages exchanged with family that are deeply concerning. And that's, that's what leads me to say that every possible effort should be focused on trying to identify who this Jeff is, where he's from, and where they were in Kentucky together. That I think that major leads in this case can come from Kentucky if provided we can identify Jeff.

[Nancy Grace]

Straight back out to Keala Johnson and Jackie Hurt. These are Amy Owens daughters in law, and that speaks a lot to her. A lot of people hate their mother in law. I've been really blessed. I loved my mother in law and father in law since I have ever known them. We never had a single cross word, not even once. And apparently that's really rare to kill. And Jackie, couple of quick questions. Is your mom connected with a vehicle? Did she have a car, and if so, what was the make and model?

[Jackie Hurt]

She did not have a car. There's actually text messages with her friend saying she's trying to get a car. And this Jeff guy, there's one text saying that he did not let her get the car she was looking at. So I don't know what that means, but I know she was trying to get a vehicle to get home. That those text messages have made that very clear.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, right there, if my husband told me, you cannot get a car, he had put out a hand and pull back a nub right there. Telling her she can't, can't get. Would not let her get a car. Okay, that's not good. So no car attached. The reason I'm asking Keila and Jackie is because very often we have solved cases based on getting a description of a vehicle. Okay, so that's a no go. In other cases, I've been suspicious that the victim is not the one texting. Was her language, her vernacular, the way she texted normal in her last texts.

[Jackie Hurt]

I remember she always wrote books. She would write us, like, big, huge text messages. So those little short and sweet messages, it definitely did, like, didn't feel right.

[Kayla Johnson]

Didn't feel like that was her really. To be honest,

[Nancy Grace]

I'm so glad you're telling me that. In the Gabby Petito case, which is a case we investigated extensively, a red flag was raised when Gabby's texts said something like, here's an example. If my sister wrote me and said, tell Elizabeth Stokes Grace hello instead of tell mother hello, I would know something was really wrong. And that's what happened in Gabby's case. So I find it significant that you find her text pattern to be different. So do you have any idea how she met or how she knew Jeff.

[Jackie Hurt]

We kind of always knew kind of about them. This just.

[Kayla Johnson]

She was like a reoccurring. She would go back to the same kind of guys a lot of the time. So, you know, they would be together and then fall out, you know, like you do. And so we would normally recognize the men, but this guy was someone that we hadn't had a chance to, like, meet. And we never heard his name.

[Jackie Hurt]

And it was kind of like, who's Jeff?

[Kayla Johnson]

Yeah, we never remember a Jeff or recall a Jeff.

[Nancy Grace]

So. So question. Why do you believe they're in Kentucky?

[Kayla Johnson]

The only thing we have to go off of is that Amy said, I'm in Kentucky with Jeff. And that is so vague. And like we said, we're on the topic of talking about if it's not even Amy. I mean, could someone be pushing a story for all we know? Like, that's totally off from what's actually happening. We don't know. That's like literally our only indication that she was in Kentucky.

[Jackie Hurt]

She said that to her friend and her daughter. So we have two separate messages stating that she was in Kentucky. Yeah, so. But the messages with her friend as well, those very vague and very short as well.

[Nancy Grace]

Just like with her daughter to kill. And Jackie, if Amy can hear you tonight, what is your message to her?

[Jackie Hurt]

That we love you and we are looking for you. We just want you home. We just want you back with us. Your grandkids miss you, we miss you and we're looking forward to reuniting with you.

[Nancy Grace]

Kayala.

[Kayla Johnson]

We are doing everything that we can to try to find you. We're confused. We don't know what's wrong. We don't know what happened. So if anybody knows anything, please reach out. And we're doing everything we can to find you.

[Nancy Grace]

The family now searching for Amy on their own. In addition to law enforcement, they have a GoFundMe. Help us seek answers. Bring our mom Amy home. If you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of Amy Owens, please call Brown County Sheriff's 937-378-4435. Repeat, 937378, 4435. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye.

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