NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Amore Wiggins’ body was found more than 10 years ago in Opelika, Alabama, but until last week, she had been known by a different name as investigators worked to find out her identity, what happened to her and deliver justice.
It was last week when investigators confirmed the identity of Opelika’s Jane Doe as Amore, who was born in 2006. Her mother, Norfolk native Sherry Wiggins, mourned and reflected on the loss of her daughter, who she named Amore for love.
“He called me, and he was like, ‘I don’t want to tell you this,’ he said, ‘but it’s definitely Amore,'” Sherry Wiggins said an investigator told her.
She said she had made some mistakes and lost custody of Amore in 2009.
At that point, she thought Amore would have a better life with her father, Lamar Vickerstaff, who was stationed in Norfolk with the Navy at the time.
“A man of honor with a job like that,” Wiggins said. “Things did look better for him.”
Opelika, Alabama investigators found Amore’s remains behind a trailer Jan. 28, 2012. She would have turned six that month.
They said Lamar grew up in Opelika, but moved around with his job.
Investigators said they traveled to Naval Station Mayport in Florida to speak with Lamar and his wife, Ruth.
“Vickerstaff did not provide investigators with any information on the identity of Baby Jane,” said Opelika Police Chief Shane Healey. “Ruth, who’s has been married to Lamar since May 2006, advised detectives she didn’t know Lamar’s daughter or who may be the mother of Baby Jane.”
Investigators said Amore was never enrolled in school or reported as a missing person in the states where Lamar Vickerstaff was stationed.
Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff were arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Florida Jan. 17 and are being held on a fugitive warrant of extradition.
Investigators confirm the couple is expected to face charges related to Amore’s death in Opelika.
In a statement, the Navy said it “can confirm that Senior Chief Engineman Lamar Vickerstaff, Jr., assigned to Afloat Training Group Mayport, was arrested by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pursuant to a warrant issued in Opelika, Alabama, Jan. 17, 2023 charging him with felony murder. We are aware of the arrest and are cooperating fully with local law enforcement.”
Wiggins said she tried to see her daughter, but Lamar Vickerstaff wouldn’t let her.
“I’m not making any special arrangements for you to see your child,” Wiggins said he told her. “You don’t care about her. She’s OK over here with us.”
But little did she know Amore wasn’t OK.
Wiggins said she went to court to try and get visitation, but by 2013, she said her appeals were exhausted, and she had been paying child support up until this year.
Investigators said learning Amore’s name was emotional for them.
“Many of us said we did not want to leave our time at this police department,” Healey said, “until we had her name.”
Now they have her name, and suspects in custody in connection to her death, while Amore’s mother continues to mourn.