OPD identifies the girl as Amore Wiggins. OPD announced that law enforcement has arrested Lamar Vickerstaff and Ruth Vickerstaff in connection to her death. Both were arrested in Jacksonville, Fla., prior to Thursday’s press conference and are in custody.

On Jan. 28, 2012, her skeletal remains were found in a wooded area behind a mobile home off Hurst Street in Opelika. No one knew who she was or where she was from.

Detectives believed she was killed in 2010 or 2011 and was between 4 and 7 years old. Earlier reports stated she was likely malnourished and physically abused before her death.

Throughout the years, Opelika detectives never gave up on the case and continued to hope that one day this young girl would find peace through justice.

With assistance from Othram Inc., an advanced forensic DNA company in Woodlands, Texas, another step towards justice has been made.

Kristen Mittelman, Othram Chief Development Officer, and her husband David, Othram CEO, built the lab for the company in 2018, and about two years ago, they were given the DNA to start working on this case.

Using the new investigative method of DNA technology called Forensic Genetic Genealogy and Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, forensic scientists were able to build a genealogical family tree and identify Wiggins’ parents.

Kristen Mittelman said they were able to confirm a 100% parent-child relationship with the father, Lamar Vickerstaff, and the mother, Sherry Wiggins.

“This is one of the most horrible cases we’ve ever worked here at Othram for a couple of reasons,” Mittelman said.

One being that the DNA was “in terrible shape.”

“When she was found, according to all the anthropological reports you can read and see that she was clearly neglected, abused and it was obvious she endured abuse for a very long time,” Mittelman said.

Wiggins’ DNA was also contaminated with bacteria and other nonhuman components after being outside for a long period of time.

The technology involved in Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing builds a digital profile from DNA evidence that normally wouldn’t be usable.

“So, instead of confirming identity, you can actually upload them to genealogical databases that are consented for law enforcement use, and you can infer where this person left the DNA at the crime scene, whether it’s a victim or perpetrator, where they belong in a family tree and that’s exactly what happened here,” Mittelman said.

After building the profile and getting enough data, Mittelman said they turned the information over to Barbara Rae-Venter, a well-known genealogist who helped police identify the Golden State Killer. She was able to identify where Wiggins belonged in her family tree.

After Othram received this information and confirmed Wiggins’ relationship to Lamar Vickerstaff and Cheryl Wiggins, Mittelman said they found out more of the story.

Around 2009, Lamar Vickerstaff got custody of three-year-old Wiggins and brought her to Alabama with his wife Ruth Vickerstaff. Cheryl Wiggins lost visitation rights and lost contact with her daughter, according to Mittelman.

“(Amore Wiggins) was then obviously mistreated, neglected, abused and found dead in 2012 three years later,” she said.

Mittelman said this discovery should bring hope to other cases that have gone cold. With improving technology, she’s also hopeful that one day there won’t be any more cold cases.

“There is technology here that can take some of these hopeless cases and actually get justice for these victims and bring these victims’ names back into the world,” she said. “Eventually all of these cold cases will be tractable, and they will be solved, and people won’t have to wait decades to find out what happened to their loved one or where they are and they will be able to get these answers that they deserve.”