In 1991, 20-year-old Angela Hammond lived in the small town of Clinton, MO. At the beginning of the year, Angela discovered she was pregnant and she and her boyfriend, Rob Shafer, got engaged. The relationship was happy. Both of the couple’s families were excited about their future together. Shafer planned to join the military
On Thursday, April 4, 1991, Angela spent the day with Rob and her mother. At 9pm, Angela dropped Rob off so he could babysit his little brother. She promised to call him later that night. Angela then spent time with a female friend until 11:15pm. After the friends separated, Angela went to a payphone to call Rob because she did not have a home phone and wanted to say goodnight. They talked for half an hour.
At 11:45pm, Angela told Rob she was getting frightened because she noticed a green Ford F150 pickup truck circling around her. While they were talking, a man got out of the truck and walked to the adjacent payphone booth to Angela. The man went back to his truck and returned with a flashlight. Angela asked him if he needed to use the phone.
It was then that Rob heard his girlfriend scream. He threw his phone down and raced to the payphone he knew Angela was using. It was only 7 blocks away.
As he rushed to the payphone, Rob passed a truck. He saw a woman fighting with the male driver and heard Angela scream “Robbie”. He turned his vehicle around and followed the truck but two miles later his car broke down and he lost sight of Angela and the green truck. Rob was able to hitchhike to the police station and arrived shortly after midnight where he reported the crime.
A recreation of Angela’s abduction aired as part of an early episode of Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack. Angela’s story starts at the 30:30 mark:
Police examined Rob’s car and confirmed it was broken down. Angela’s car was found near the payphone she used. Her purse was inside.
Rob was initially considered a suspect. A really depressing fact is that in the United States, a leading cause of death for pregnant women is that they are murdered by their partner. However, Rob volunteered to take a polygraph test and passed. He is no longer considered a suspect.
The small town of Clinton came together to search for Angela, but extensive searches turned up nothing. The pickup truck Angela described to Rob was very specific: an older green f150 with a fish/lake scene on the back window. Police looked into 1600 trucks that fit this description without getting any leads.
To this day, Angela Hammond has not been seen or heard from. No arrests were ever made in her case.
