Part Two: Who is Amber Rae Johnston?

WADESBORO — Since the body of Wadesboro’s Jane Doe was discovered during a May 2022 land survey in a wooded area behind the National Guard Armory in Wadesboro, two main contenders for her identity have emerged; April Michelle Reid and Amber Rae Johnston.

Exposed to the elements for approximately nine months, the skeletal remains are believed to belong to a caucasian woman around 30-40 years of age and roughly 5”3 to 5”11 in height.

Both Reid and Johnston are within the identified age and height range, and both women were possibly headed to Myrtle Beach traveling the roads either by hitchhiking, as in Reid’s case, or by Greyhound bus, as in Johnston’s.

Under Anson County Sheriff Scott Howell, a NamUs [National Missing and Unidentified Person’s System] profile was established for Jane Doe and a new detective appointed in charge of her case. Since then, there has been some positive movement made towards identifying her.

Last seen on still images taken by a private landowner’s trail camera, Jane Doe is pictured in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 21, 2021, between 1:30 and 4:33 a.m. These images were not officially released to the public until January 2024 when they were uploaded to Jane Doe’s case file in NamUs. The woman in the images is wearing only a black Secret Treasures 34C bra, what appears to be leggings, and is barefoot.

With the public now involved, tips about Reid and Johnston poured in. Dental records easily ruled out Reid as a possibility.

Due to inconsistent dental visits, Johnston cannot conclusively be ruled out as a candidate for Jane Doe, and her mother, Pennsylvania native, Sharon Johnston, looks at the still images taken by the trail camera and says she knows the half-naked woman she sees in them is her daughter.

Aside from her sudden and jarring appearance on the trail camera, there are no other clues as to how Jane Doe traveled to Wadesboro or got lost in the woods.

Living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, 36-year old Amber Johnston is believed to have gone missing from the Winston Salem Greyhound bus station on August 17, 2021. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend, Jarrett Ward, and was living alone in Bullhead City, Ariz., at the time of her disappearance.

After the breakup, Ward claimed to Amber’s mother he left Amber in Bullhead City and headed to Las Vegas, Nev., where he obtained a Greyhound bus ticket through Catholic Charities to return to his hometown near Myrtle Beach.

With Amber now alone in Bullhead City, a curious incident occurred August 8, 2021 at approximately 8 a.m. when Amber went swimming with a man she just met and left all of her belongings, including her shoes and wallet, on the water’s edge while she swam, and the man went to get a floating device. He claimed to law enforcement when he returned, Amber was nowhere to be found and he was not sure if she drowned. The man provided Amber’s ID to law enforcement as “proof.”

Drones and rescue crews were called in to search the water, though before long Amber’s landlady called to let police know Amber had returned safely to her apartment.

Sharon finds this story very strange as she says her daughter is a very careful person who would never leave her ID and clothing in the possession of someone she barely knew.

Amber allegedly left Bullhead City August 16, 2021, traveling east.

Ward claimed to Sharon that Amber was actually traveling to Myrtle Beach to get back together with him, even sending Sharon screenshots of conversations between himself and Amber.

Conflictingly, a friend of Amber’s also shared messages with Sharon that she received from Amber, in which Amber states she wants to get away from Ward’s alleged physical abuse, away from drugs, and be back with her family in Pittsburgh. Amber allegedly asked this friend to help her find a bed at a rehab center near her family.

Around August 15, 2021, Amber’s cell phone pinged in Flagstaff, Ariz., when she posted on Facebook she was ready to come home to Pittsburgh and turn herself in for some warrants she was facing there.

A silent video was uploaded to Amber’s Facebook page during the time Amber should have been on the Greyhound bus of someone on a bus trip traveling through Birmingham, Ala., according to the exit signs appearing in the footage. The video has no sound, no image of Amber, and law enforcement assures Sharon they do not believe Amber traveled through Birmingham. Sharon says she has been told by some of Amber’s friends they believe the video to be an old one of Amber’s. It is unclear why or who uploaded it to Amber’s Facebook account in August 2021.

The detective in charge of Amber’s missing person’s case is Bullhead City Detective Scott Sharpe. He has previously confirmed through tracking Amber’s digital ticket purchases, Amber purchased a bus ticket while in Winston Salem to travel to Pittsburgh, Penn.

Sharon says, “She boarded the bus in Bullhead City, and then the bus route she was on went to many stops on the way out east. When she got to Winston-Salem, that is where she booked her Pittsburgh bus pass. It was marked ‘Paid, Issued,’ but never used.”

Ward provided Sharon with screenshots of conversations he allegedly had with Amber where she stated to Ward that she got a hotel room about an hour out from the beach and wants him to come and stay with her there before they head back to Myrtle Beach together. She also mentions to Ward some women at the hotel are bothering her. Amber does not tell Ward how she is traveling or if she is with anyone.

According to Detective Sharpe, Amber’s cell phone last pinged in Charlotte and Ward claimed to Sharon that Amber used his SNAP benefit card at the Flying J gas station August 19. Sharpe has told Sharon Amber’s phone was either discarded or shut off in Charlotte.

Sharon said she was told by Ward that Amber only took a few things in a bag with her when she left Arizona.

According to Amber’s landlady, and later confirmed to Sharon by Arizona law enforcement, Amber actually took most of her belongings with her when she left.

Sharon says her daughter always traveled with a bag, and this is important because rabbit hunters visiting Wadesboro from Florida in February 2022 allegedly found a bag in the woods near the location where Jane Doe’s remains would be found in May 2022. The hunters admitted to stealing money from the bag, but could not recall the color of the bag or any of its contents. Searches conducted by the rabbit hunters with members of the Anson County Sheriff’s Office have been unsuccessful in locating the bag.

Amber’s mother claims her daughter was acting irrational and saying she believed someone was following her a month prior to her bus trip. She also told her mother she was afraid of Ward and his mother, and that Ward often stole her phone, which granted him access to her bank accounts and government granted monetary benefits.

Amber’s ex-boyfriend is now deceased from a drug overdose.

Ward was never brought in for official police questioning prior to his death.

It was later proven by Arizona law enforcement Amber’s SNAP benefits and social security disability benefits were drained during the time of her disappearance up until her account was turned off.

Learning about Amber’s financial information through Detective Sharpe’s investigation into her daughter’s disappearance, Sharon said at one point Ward sold Amber’s SNAP benefit card to another individual, Jerrett Leary, for drugs. Digital tracking of Amber’s banking information showed her debit card was used by people other than just Ward and Leary to make online purchases.

Sharon, and one of Amber’s children, have submitted their DNA and are currently waiting for it to be compared with the DNA of Wadesboro’s Jane Doe.

Should the DNA be a match, one has to ask where Amber was from the time she got off the bus in Winston Salem August 17, 2021 until she appeared wandering around the woods in Wadesboro on the trail camera August 21, 2021?

Amber’s birthday is March 5 and this year is a special one- she will be 40- years old. Her mother and children are desperate for answers to where she is and how she got there. More than anything, they want her to come home.

Sharon hopes the DNA results she was told might come in January 2025 will now come in time for her daughter’s birthday, though with the day fast approaching, her hope of a DNA match for Amber’s birthday feels less and less likely to happen.

At the time of her disappearance in August 2021, Amber was 5”6, approximately 150 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Amber Johnston is asked to contact Detective Scott Sharpe at (928) 763-1999 in reference to case number 22-00520 or the Anson County Sheriff’s Office at (704) 694-4188.