Most Spooky with Jane Scratchaway: The Case of Angela Hammond

Angie Hammond: missing since 1991 :(

Hi I'm Sgt. Jane Scratchaway and I hope you aren't alone because I am going to tell you about some of the spookiest cases I have ever encountered. 

Often I do undercover work, collecting evidence that would otherwise go unnoticed by human detectives. A sock, a piece of string,  a bottle cap, or other things that often go ignored by conventional investigators can give us cats great leads in solving crimes.

Today I found myself restless between naps, and thinking about an old case that always left a hairball in my throat. So, I headed down to the Betamax archives to revisit the case of Angie Hammond - a sweet girl gone missing.

Angela Hammond went missing from Clinton, MO in 1991 and the last contact she had with anyone was her boyfriend Rob. 

I submit the following archive clip for your viewing before I give you my theory:

 Everybody got that? Good. Now, I know we are far more wary of strangers now than we were twenty years ago, but if you sense danger, even if you're down to your last dime and on a pay phone - if there's a threat, you get out of where you are. 

The phone booth as it stood in 1991 (it has since been replaced by a lamppost).

Angie could have called her boyfriend collect from another phone, in a safer location. But I'm not putting the blame on this poor girl. Her only fault, in this cat's opinion, was in trusting Rob.

Rob kept Angie on the phone long enough for this "stranger" to pull up next to Angie and kidnap her. Angie was able to describe where she was, what the guy's truck looked like, and what he was wearing, before he grabbed her.

My theory? Rob staged this. He had Angie give him the details not out of concern, but to make sure this large guy actually got her. I think maybe Rob hired someone to kidnap Angie, had her tell him these things to make sure the guy actually followed through with his part of the deal, and then drove to "find her" to make sure the job was done.

There was ample time for Rob to notify the police.

The only question that keeps me awake for minutes at a time - the one thing that leaves a funny taste in my Fancy Feast, is why?

A little known fact: Angela was four months pregnant (and not by Rob) when she was abducted. Maybe it was an early "family values" agenda, or the network didn't see this as an issue for their prime time viewing audience, but someone over at the network omitted this in the retelling of the case. Whatever the reason, this is something that makes this story a little more than a simple snatch and grab.

The whole reason for Rob continuing his relationship was that he (at least overtly) wanted to "do the right thing," even though he wasn't the father.

I'm not saying Rob had a hand in this kidnapping. I'm just saying that the prospect of raising a child that wasn't his may have put too much stress on Rob, and maybe he wasn't thinking straight at the time - be it keeping Angela on the phone while she was abducted, to perhaps setting the whole scenario in motion at a much earlier point.

If you have a better theory I’d be glad to hear it.

Signed,

Sgt. Jane Scratchaway