In the late summer of 2015, a 33-year-old woman named Amanda Maria Crawford, also known as Jade, was last seen in Cookeville, Tennessee. A mother who was known to be in regular contact with her son, her communication with her family abruptly stopped under troubling circumstances. At the time of her disappearance on August 15, 2015, Amanda was 33 years old, stood between 5'4' and 5'5', and weighed around 140 to 145 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, with several distinctive tattoos, including a flower tattoo stretching from shoulder to shoulder, butterflies on her left arm, and a depiction of a fairy on either her stomach or right arm.
Amanda's disappearance occurred shortly after she married James Willis Pharis. The couple had been living in his camper at the Twin Lakes Catfish Farm and Campground in the Baxter area of Putnam County.
Pharis, who was a wanted felon with a history of serious crimes including child molestation and terroristic threats, was a man whose past was reportedly unknown to Amanda. The last confirmed sighting of Amanda was at the campground before Pharis claimed he was taking her on a trip. However, he was later seen by himself at a Walmart. Not long after Amanda was last seen, on September 11, 2015, Pharis was arrested for driving under the influence. Amanda was not with him at the time of his arrest, and he offered no helpful information regarding her whereabouts. When his family came to retrieve his truck and camper, there was no trace of Amanda, and they were reportedly unaware that the couple had even married.
The investigation into Amanda's disappearance has been fraught with challenges and unanswered questions. A formal missing person's report was not filed until June of 2016, a significant delay that hampered early efforts to locate her. Pharis was subsequently imprisoned in Georgia for failing to register as a sex offender and was released in September 2017. He has consistently denied having any knowledge of what happened to Amanda. In a phone call from jail after his arrest, he made a cryptic comment to his family, stating there was 'no problems with the girl,' and when questioned further, replied, 'there is no girl.' Despite the disturbing circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the suspicions raised by Pharis's criminal history and statements, Amanda's case remains unsolved. Her family, particularly her son, has been left without answers, and the passage of time has not diminished their search for the truth.Last Seen: Aug 15, 2015
