OPELIKA, Ala. (WRBL) — Nearly 11 years after her skull was found in Opelika, Alabama, “Baby Jane Doe” has been identified and her father has bene charged in her death.
“Opelika Baby Jane Doe” has been identified as Amore Wiggins — daughter of 37-year-old Sherry Wiggins.
The father of Amore Wiggins, 50-year-old Lamar Vickerstaff Jr., was taken into custody in Jacksonville, Florida Tuesday, where he is charged with murder. Lamar’s wife, Ruth Vickerstaff, was also arrested and charged with failure to report a missing child.
The case of Baby Jane Doe began in 2012 in Opelika, Alabama, when a small skull was found behind a mobile home off Hurst Street. An anthropological assessment of Baby Jane Doe’s bones suggests she had may have been abused and malnourished before her death.
The search for her killer most recently expanded to Virginia and North Carolina.
“In October of 2022, Jane Doe’s father was identified as 50-year-old Lamar Vickerstaff Jr. Mr. Vickerstaff was born and raised in Opelika, Ala. before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. During his lengthy Navy career, he resided in Norfolk, Va., Honolulu, Hawaii and Jacksonville, Fla. In December of 2022, Opelika Detectives traveled to the Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla. where Mr. Vickerstaff is currently stationed, to notify him of his daughter’s death. During the meeting Mr. Vickerstaff did not provide investigators with any information on the identity of Jane Doe. Detectives then met with Mr. Vickerstaff’s wife, Ruth Vickerstaff. Mrs. Vickerstaff, who has been married to Lamar since May of 2006, advised detectives she did not know his daughter or who may be the mother of Jane Doe,” OPD Chief Shane Healey said.
In December 2022, detectives met with Sherry Wiggins, who confirmed she was the biological mother of Jane Doe. Wiggins is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and said she gave birth to a baby girl named Amore Joveah Wiggins in January 2006. Wiggins provided documentation showing that Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff obtained legal and physical custody of her daughter in 2009, at which time her visitation with Amore was suspended. Ms. Wiggins also provided documents indicating that she has continuously paid child support to Lamar Vickerstaff since 2009, said police.
“Detectives reached out to the school boards and pediatric clinics in several states where Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff resided and determined that Amore was never enrolled in school nor was, she reported as a missing person. With this information, Opelika detectives met with the Lee County District Attorney’s Office to determine charges related to the death of Amore Wiggins,” said Chief Healey.
They are both being held at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pending extradition to Lee County.
Police said that once they were able to locate Amore’s mother, she was vital in their search for answers in the case. Police say the mother had been trying to reconnect with Amore for several years after Vickerstaff gained custody. Police say her mother is not from Alabama and continued making regular child support payments to Vickerstaff, not knowing the little girl was Opelika’s unidentified Baby Jane Doe.
“It’s a case that sticks with you, and what we want more than anything is to put a name with that face,” Healey said. “She was badly abused and lived a tough life, and there is nothing fair about what she had to go through at all. We just hope we can give her a small amount of justice if we can just find out her name.”
Investigators say the case remains ongoing as they continue to learn more about Amore and her time with her father and his wife. If you have any information that may help investigators please contact Opelika Police Department at (334) 705-5260 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Tips can also be submitted through the Opelika Police Mobile App. You can remain anonymous.
