Amanda Dawn Gallion, 14, of Gillette, Wyoming, was last seen walking to school during the morning hours of October 13, 1997. The Gallion family had moved to Gillette from the Kansas City, Missouri area only about six weeks earlier. Amanda never arrived for classes that day; her school did not notify her parents she was absent, and the family did not realize she was missing until roughly 6 p.m. that evening, when her father reported her disappearance to the Gillette Police Department. Amanda had reportedly packed personal belongings before leaving home. Investigators at the time believed she may have run away with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Patrick Ghering, who told police he last saw her at approximately 7:15 a.m. that day. Six days later, on October 19, 1997, Ghering's red pickup truck was found abandoned behind a business on Second Street in Gillette, parked facing the wrong direction; the driver's seat was positioned closer to the steering wheel than Ghering typically sat. Two watches — one a keepsake from Amanda's recently deceased grandmother — and a handwritten letter identified as being in Amanda's handwriting were found inside. Ghering has not been seen or heard from since. Amanda is described as 5'2", 100 lbs, with naturally dark blonde hair (dyed black at the time of her disappearance) and blue eyes.
The Gillette Police Department holds jurisdiction over Amanda's case; the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has assisted. The case was initially classified by some agencies as an endangered runaway, but investigators have since pursued the possibility of foul play, noting that Amanda's Social Security number has shown no activity since October 1997. Wyoming authorities reopened the investigation in 2000 after Montana investigators linked it to convicted child predator Nathaniel Bar-Jonah; unidentified remains found on his property did not match Amanda's DNA, and he was never charged in her case. In 2007, a South Dakota inmate, Aloysius Black Crow, alleged that another inmate, James Strahl, had confessed to raping and killing Amanda and disposing of her body in Keyhole Reservoir; a side-scan sonar search of the reservoir found no evidence tied to the case, and Black Crow was later convicted of perjury for providing false information, undermining the claim's credibility. Strahl has never been charged in connection with Amanda's disappearance. The case remains open and unsolved. Amanda's case is catalogued with NamUs as MP6095 and with NCMEC as case #840281. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Gillette Police Department at (307) 682-5155. Case Number 9713388.
